Netflix Series: Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad is an AMC neo-Western drama series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Although the debut season, in January 2008, lasted only seven episodes (shortened due to the writers' strike), it was soon renewed for a full second season and ultimately ran for five seasons, the finale of which aired on September 29, 2013.

Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a high school chemistry teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with unrecognized genius in his field, receives a diagnosis of inoperable lung cancer after a lifetime of playing it safe. His world begins to fall apart when he realizes that medical bills will damage his family's future; in addition to raising a teenage son with cerebral palsy (RJ Mitte), he and his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) have a baby on the way.

After going on a ride-along with his DEA brother-in-law Hank Schrader (Dean Norris), Walter witnesses his former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), escape a drug bust thanks to his luck. Seeing potential scale in the meth market, Walter blackmails Jesse and makes him a proposition: Walter will use his chemical knowledge and Jesse's drug knowledge to produce meth and make them both rich, thus saving Walt's family from financial ruin.

Their product, nicknamed "Blue Sky" for its bluish hue, is a sensation in the drug trade for its purity - a benefit of having an unparalleled chemist creating the drug. But their work attracts the worst attention from local pushers and law enforcement. The two find themselves juggling production problems, rival suppliers, psychotic distributors and federal investigations, but also struggling with personal problems when the work takes its toll on their loved ones and their psyches.

A prequel focusing on lead character Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) debuted in February 2015 under the title Better Call Saul. The film delves into the underworld life of Alberquerque before Walter White, with several of the cast reprising their roles. The Netflix sequel film, El Camino, was released in October 2019 and concludes Jesse's story, representing the grand finale of the entire Breaking Bad universe.

Sony made an official Spanish-language remake of the show, Metástasis. The show follows the same general premise as Breaking Bad, but changes some specific details of the setting and characters to allow Latin American audiences to better understand the story. Due to the fact that it follows the standard programming format of telenovelas, Metástasis was able to air daily without the original series' weekly schedule or breaks between seasons. As a result, it debuted on Unimás on June 8, 2014 and broadcast its finale just under three months later.

The show's co-stars include Anna Gunn and RJ Mitte as Walter's wife Skyler and son Walter Jr. and Betsy Brandt and Dean Norris as Skyler's sister Marie Schrader and her husband Hank , a DEA agent. Among others, Bob Odenkirk plays Walter and Jesse's sleazy lawyer, Saul Goodman, Jonathan Banks plays private investigator and fixer Mike Ehrmantraut and Giancarlo Esposito plays drug kingpin Gus Fring. The final season introduces Jesse Plemons as the ambitious Todd Alquist and Laura Fraser as Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, a cunning business executive who secretly manages Walter's global meth sales for his company.

The first season of Breaking Bad received generally positive reviews, while the remainder of the series received unanimous critical acclaim. Since its conclusion, the series has been praised by critics as one of the greatest television series of all time. In the first three seasons it had a moderate success with audiences, but the fourth and fifth seasons recorded a moderate increase in viewers when it was made available on Netflix shortly before the premiere of the fourth season. Viewership increased dramatically with the premiere of the second half of the fifth season in 2013. At the time the series finale aired, the series was among the most-watched cable programs on American television. The show has received numerous awards, including 16 Primetime Emmy Awards, eight Satellite Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Peabody Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards and four Television Critics Association Awards. Cranston has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times, while Aaron Paul has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series three times; Anna Gunn is a two-time Primetime Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In 2013, Breaking Bad entered the Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed television series of all time.

Better Call Saul, a prequel series featuring Odenkirk, Banks, and Esposito reprising their roles from Breaking Bad, plus several other people with recurring and guest appearances, debuted on AMC on February 8, 2015, and is currently airing its sixth and final season. The sequel film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie starring Paul was released on Netflix and in theaters on October 11, 2019.

Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, between 2008 and 2010, Breaking Bad follows Walter White, a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher who transforms into a ruthless player in the local meth trade, driven by the desire to provide financially for his family after he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He initially produces only small batches of meth with his former student Jesse Pinkman in a meth lab, but Walter and Jesse eventually expand to produce larger batches of a special blue meth that is incredibly pure and creates high demand. Walter takes the name "Heisenberg" to disguise his identity. Because of his drug-related activities, Walter finds himself at odds with his family, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) through his brother-in-law Hank Schrader, local gangs, and Mexican drug cartels (including their regional distributors ), putting his life and that of his family at risk.