Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray delivers great video and superb audio in this exceptional Blu-ray release
Walter White is a down-on-his-luck chemistry teacher struggling to make ends meet for his wife and
physically challenged son. Everything changes when Walter receives a startling diagnosis: terminal lung
cancer. With only a few years to live and nothing to lose, Walter uses his training as a chemist to cook and
sell crystal meth with one of his former students. As his status grows, so do his lies, but Walt will stop at
nothing to make sure his family is taken care of after he's gone, even if it means putting all their lives on the
line.
Never mind that Breaking Bad offers an extraordinarily entertaining look at the world of drug manufacturing and dealing on a smallish personal
level; the series is truly a success, instead, because of its ability to so wonderfully weave in the interpersonal drama that flows from, is shaped by, and
in return influences the inner-workings of the drug business. The series's full-circle approach never fails it, almost every episode building on stories
past and logically -- though sometimes fantastically, but always within the realm of reasonable development -- expanding on the drama and the
intricacies of the characters and their relationships with one another. It all began simply enough with a question of the workings of human nature at
its most basic level; can a man -- an otherwise ordinary, everyday, daresay invisible human being -- faced with certain demise, sacrifice his integrity
and jeopardize whatever future remains for the sake of the well-being of his family? Perhaps just as important, if not more so, is the question of
whether he can accept what he's become, using his knowledge that was once a source of goodness and honest work to create addictive and destructive
drugs, perhaps used to ruin those very same minds he only recently enriched? Is his new life one he lives, merely accepts, or comes to despise? How
far will the consequences of his actions reach? Will they tear apart his soul, destroy his family, or even throw a community or region into chaos? Such
is the beauty of Breaking Bad; the show explores the life of a chemistry teacher-turned-meth manufacturer honestly and with no figurative
stone left unturned. The series is ever-evolving, but now through three seasons it has yet to betray its integrity, lose steam, or fail to further enhance
the complex and absorbing drama that's made it one of the finest shows of the past decade.
Fe chef.
Below are spoilers for the first two seasons of 'Breaking Bad'.
Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and his entire New Mexico community is struggling to come to terms with the airline disaster that dropped wreckage
and body parts all over town. Of course few know the truth, that Walter and his former meth-making partner Jesse (Aaron Paul) were at least
indirectly involved with the crash, a result of a grieving father losing sight of the task at hand in the critical job of maintaining air traffic patterns
after his daughter died of a drug overdose. Jesse has moved on to rehab, and Walter has
removed himself from the local drug scene. Walter's marriage is on the rocks; his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) wants a divorce, a difficult proposition to
be
sure with a new baby in play, and the family feud is taking its toll on Walter Jr (RJ Mitte) as well. Walter's brother-in-law, Hank, is as obsessive as
ever in tracking down a the local drug manufacturer known as "Heisenberg," but with so much money on the line and a pair of hit men on his trail,
his work is about to become much more dangerous. In the meantime, local businessman and narcotics kingpin "Gus" (Giancarlo Esposito) has plans
to both lure Walter back into the fold and sieze control over the entire region's booming drug business.
Season three of Breaking Bad continues the downward spiral of its characters; though they may benefit in the short-term, Walter's actions
as a
master "chef" only serve to tear asunder his life and the lives of those he loves. He's faced with difficult choices throughout, and whether he makes
the right or wrong decisions seems to promise only more heartache and hurt. In that sense, the show continues to deliver both terribly haunting
and
impossibly intense episodes and story lines that will leave viewers both breathlessly surprised and outright horrified as decisions are made, lives are
threatened, secrets are revealed, allegiances are challenged, partnerships are formed, suspicions are raised, relationships are broken, and motives
are questioned, and all
the
while Breaking Bad remains true to all the things that made it great before and continues to make it great now. For all of the drama in the
series, never does it feel at all manufactured somewhere other than within the realm of possibility or outside the grounds on which the series was
created. Never even does series creator Vince Gilligan's show ever feel like it's even coming close to jumping the figurative shark; the writers so
wonderfully understand not only the characters and the lives they live, but the world that surrounds them, allowing them to continue the series and
pile on the drama and action without sacrificing the integrity of anything inside the fictional Breaking Bad universe.
Even after many episodes and three seasons, Breaking Bad continues not only its storyline, but the development of its characters. Actions
have long-lasting repercussions both physically and emotionally, not to mention the strains on family structures and the damaging air of uncertainty
that always hangs over every decision, every day. The show always impresses through its ability to so finely craft its drama at the family level; the
familial structure -- immediate, greater, and figurative "families" alike -- is constantly redefined, reinforced, threatened, broken, pieced back
together, and sent through that same cycle all over again, all the while the series wonderfully plays with the notion that some know why things are
happening as
they are and others don't. Not only is it a game of survival, it's a game of how well those in-the-know -- with that list slowly but surely expanding --
keep those in the dark out of the loop so as not to further strain or even forever break the delicate but always-shifting balance that exists. It's truly
amazing to look at how the series has developed its characters; how so much can go so wrong, how complicated things can become, when a man
takes his fate in stride and places his family's future first, "breaking bad" in the name of good but in no way ever predicting the absolute chaos that
would follow and the hard work -- harder, even, than manufacturing and selling meth with and for some of the worst people around -- that is
necessary to hold things together, perhaps even more challenging even than when Walter was only a cancer-ridden chemistry teacher and not the
master meth manufacturer known as Heisenberg.
Perhaps what's most impressive about Breaking Bad, and as evidenced in the third season in particular as Walter
White's world begins a rapid descent into absolute madness, is how viewers may see in Walter both a compassionate family man and a monster, a
man
who's both easy to love and easy to loathe. Is Walter a hero for doing whatever is necessary to save his family and so expertly conducting damage
control after many of the resultant disasters, or is he a villain for breaking the law and allowing chaos to reign in his life and in the lives of those he
loves? Breaking Bad, when it comes to Walter, is one giant gray area, and such masterful manipulation of the character is the series's
greatest asset. Bryan Cranston impeccably balances this delicate question; though he has in so many ways become a monster, he fights everyday
to maintain that the path he's chosen is benefitting the greater good, even as greater and greater bad comes from it. Cranston's performance is
nothing short
of masterful; he seemed to have an absolute grasp on the character since day one, but he's so fully immersed himself in the character that by the
end of season three he's shaped Walter into, arguably, one of the finest characters television has ever produced. It simply never fails to amaze that
even after all this time one cannot precisely pin Walter as hero or villain, and that seems as if it will hold true under almost any reasonable future
developments in the series. Cranston's supporting cast is excellent, too; season three sees Giancarlo Esposito -- playing the character "Gus" who
runs a local branch of the "Los Pollos Hermanos" fast food chicken chain as well as an industrial laundromat, both fronts for something far more
impressively illegal -- play a
much larger role and have a far greater hand in shaping events within the Breaking Bad universe. His performance is stunningly
spectacular; Esposito epitomizes the
calm and collected "villain" -- again, however, within that gray area, but certainly leaning towards the "bad" side of the ledger -- with unmatched
poise that makes the
character incredibly intimidating, even through his absolutely calm and collected demeanor.
Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season looks great on Blu-ray. Sony's 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer is the very definition of crisp, satisfying
high definition imagery. Despite some slight banding and a few edge halos, the image is remarkably clean and stable, sharp and very well detailed across
the board. Facial and clothing textures are spectacular, and even the swirls on the brushed metal equipment used in Walter's and Gus's secret meth
cooking facility and the unique textures of the almost spacesuit-looking suits worn by the revenge-minded cousins look remarkably lifelike and real.
Colors are wonderfully steady, whether the bright cooking suits or more naturally mundane shades. Some of the hotter border area shots are
overcooked in a warm, bronze appearance, but such seems the filmmaker's intent and is perfectly replicated on Blu-ray. Flesh tones are steady natural,
but blacks can be a little too absorbing a few times, with a touch of noise lingering around the darker corners. The image sometimes appears a little
glossy and flat, but is at times accentuated by a nicely resolved layer of grain. This is certainly not a perfect transfer, but the problems are few and
scattered, leaving the bulk of the image looking about as good as anything else out there.
Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season features a highly proficient DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack that handles the series's every sonic
nuance with unflinching clarity and ease. The track is fairly active and aggressive for what amounts to a drama-oriented television show; there are
spurts
of action, but Breaking Bad is primarily a dialogue-driven show, and Sony's soundtrack handles that critical component with the expected
effortlessness of a major TV show released through a top studio. The track occasionally wields an impressively deep low end and expends a great
amount of energy in several instances, utilizing every speaker in the configuration to envelop the listener in each unique environment, whether a
scorching
border desert or a sterile hospital interior, inside of which much of the action during a handful of episodes takes place near the tail end of the season.
Scattered
gunfire is marvelously powerful and frighteningly loud and clear, and less potent but no less impressive sound effects, such as the repeated ringing of a
bell attached to a wheelchair, are crystal-clear and real-life accurate. Plenty of small but critical mood- and location-setting ambient effects are naturally
integrated into the presentation, including chirping birds, passing traffic, and general background clatter inside the hospital setting. Sony's done a fine
job with Breaking Bad's soundtrack, and even as an element that might not be considered critical to one's enjoyment of the series, the quality
soundtrack does indeed enhance the experience greatly.
Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season contains a vast collection of bonus content spread across all three discs. Below is a breakdown of
what's included on both an episode-by-episode and disc-by-disc basis.
Disc One, episode-specific features:
Episode One, No Más:
Audio Commentary: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Skip Macdonals, Dave Porter, and Michael Solvis
Deleted Scenes (480p, 2:04): School Assembly Announcement and I Should Have Called First.
Audio Commentary: Vince Gilligan, Betsy Brandt, George Mastras, and Michael Slovis.
Deleted Scene (480p, 0:34): Talking Shop...Teachers.
Disc Two, individual features:
Silent But Deadly: The Brothers Moncada (1080p, 8:36): A look at the roles played by Luis and Daniel Moncada.
Team S.C.I.E.N.C.E. (1080p, 4:03): This digital/animated "Jesse Pinkman Production" looks at a make-believe world where he and
Walter are scientific superheroes.
Inside Breaking Bad (1080p, 1:15:07): A series of brief behind-the-scenes featurettes that cover each season three episode as
well as a few specific scenes and additional content. The non episode-specific featurettes include The Opening of Season 3, The Hay Truck, The
Cousins Visit Walt, Walt's Aztek, The Cast on Season 3, Bryan Cranston Answers Fan Questions, and Aaron Paul Answers Fan Questions.
Better Call Saul Commercials and Testimonials (1080p, 10:21): Tiger Trouble? Better Call Saul!; Wayfarer 515: We're All Victims (A
Message From Saul); Saul Says: "Sue 'Em Now;" Letters to Saul: Did I Murder an Old Man?; Another Satisfied Client of Saul Goodman: Badger;
and Three Satisfied Clients of Saul Goodman.
Deleted Scene (480p, 1:00): How Can You Not See That?
Episode Eleven, Abiquiu:
Deleted Scenes (480p, 1:31): The Routine and It Could Be Awhile.
Episode Twleve, Half Measures:
Audio Commentary: Bryan Cranston, Adam Bernstein, Bill Powloski, Peter Gould, Jonathan Banks, and Michael Slovis.
Deleted Scene (480p, 0:35): I Gotta Go.
Episode Thirteen, Full Measure:
Audio Commentary: Vince Gilligan, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Bob Odenkirk, and Jonathan Banks.
Deleted Scenes (480p, 5:31): Our Future's So Bright..., Who Do?, Option A, and Behooves Us.
Disc Three, individual features:
The Breaking Bad Family Photo Album (1080p): A slideshow containing photographs of cast and crew.
The Music of Breaking Bad (1080p, 4:34): Composer Dave Porter and others discuss the importance of music to the series and
the various sounds, characters, and themes it evokes.
Hit and Run (1080p, 3:19): A look at the process of creating a "brutal, realistic, and horrifying" visual effect featuring a car running over
people.
AMC News Visits the Breaking Bad Writers' Room (480p, 3:33): AMC's Jacob Soboroff visits with series Creator/Executive
Producer Vince Gilligan and others as they discuss what makes the show successful and the process of writing the stories for each episode.
Gag Reel (480p, 3:17).
Mini Video Podcasts (1080p, 1:08:13): Episode 301:' No Más;' Episode 302: 'Caballo Sin Nombre;' Episode 303: 'I.F.T.;' Episode
304: 'Green Light;' Episode 305: 'Más;' Episode 306: 'Sunset;' Episode 307: 'One Minute;' Episode 308: 'I See You;' Episode 309: 'Kafkaesque;'
Episode 310: 'Fly;' Episode 311: 'Abiquiu;' Episode 312: 'Half Measures;' and Episode 313: 'Full Measure'.
Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season is every bit as good as it predecessors, if not even slightly better. The series continues to grow its
characters and expand its drama without sacrificing the extraordinary yet nevertheless mostly realistic scenarios that are bred from the primary
storyline. That it focuses on human drama first is a real strength, as is its ability to paint its characters as real, many existing as neither heroes nor
villains but simply people caught up in extraordinary circumstances of Walter's own doing. Breaking Bad is just about the best thing going on
television right now,
not to mention quickly becoming one of the finest programs of the past decade or more. Season four can't come quickly enough. Sony's Blu-ray release
of Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season sports strong technical presentations as well as a bounty of extra features, earning it my
highest recommendation.
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