Product Description

Popular water-cooler drama about an unremarkable and uncharismatic chemistry teacher, Walter, who discovers new passion in his life after he learns he has terminal cancer. Now that they’ve launched their drug business, there’s no turning back for Walt and his young partner, Jesse. Using Walt’s knowledge of chemistry to cook up high-grade methamphetamine to pay for Walt’s cancer treatments, the pair is thrust into a netherworld of murder, mayhem and the twin threats of exposure and arrest. Amid suspicions about her husband’s fidelity, Walt’s wife Skyler faces an unexpected pregnancy and a grim financial outlook that forces her back to work for a boss she once threatened to sue for sexual harassment. The prospect of leaving his family penniless catapults Walt headlong into the deal to end all deals, elevating his reputation in the eyes of criminals and cops alike, but bringing him and Jesse to the brink of disaster while potentially making them rich beyond anything they could have dreamed up.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #693 in DVD
• Released on: 2010-03-16
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 615 minutes

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Stills from Breaking Bad: The Complete Second Season (Click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

As Good as The Shield and The Sopranos
I'll try to keep this short. If you've read the other reviews, you know the premise of the show. It has received many accolades and some awards. But you know what, there are many really good shows out there now, and it can be hard to keep up with all of them. So if you are still undecided as to whether this show is worth an investment of your time and money, I hope this helps.

If are an avid fan of the Sopranos and The Shield, you will love Breaking Bad.

Do you remember how both of those shows would, at their very best, leave you staring at the screen, with your heart pounding, saying to yourself "Holy S---"? Well, there are moments like that in Breaking Bad. Like the Sopranos, it effectively mixes dark comedy and violence. Like The Shield, it has episodes and plotlines that are incredibly intense. And like both of those shows, it features a protagonist leading a double life. The performance of Bryan Cranston, like those of James Gandolfini and Micheal Chiklis is one of the finest ever seen on televison. Your move.

Surpasses the first in every way
Now that everything was established in the short first season (writers strike) the second season gets things really going.

I will not spoil but I will say this show is now falling into history. It's one of the greatest shows of all time and will most likely only get better from here.

Too ugly a subject for HBO & Showtime.
HBO & Showtime passed on this idea -- everybody except AMC.

The current meth epidemic started as "crank" which bikers kept in their crank case and which helped them stay awake, and it was also used by truckers. I actually took some when I was hitchhiking across the country one time and riding with truckers and didn't think anything about it. It did not produce euphoria, just inability to sleep. Also soldiers in the blitzkrieg style of war used it, so Hitler et al. thought it was God's gift.

Now there's nothing good about amphetamines. We might as well have the return of smallpox. (I read somewhere that 30% of smallpox victims who survived were blind. In addition to all the ugliness of death and disfiguration.)

So the creators of this show evidently said, What should we juxtapose with the ugliness of meth? How about a person whom the viewers identify with because he's like Manuel on "Fawlty Towers" -- John Cleese said in an interview that the character the viewers identify with most is Manuel and the character they perceive as having the least control is also Manuel. (Character they perceived as having the most control was Sybil Fawlty, and also they liked her the least.) The dad in the movie "Parenthood" (Steve Martin's character) said, "My whole life is 'hafta.'" That kind of character.

So this is what you have. The lead character is a high school teacher, works part-time at a car wash, is pushed around by his wife and boss and treated with no respect by his extended family, has no respect for himself and in general "has given up on life" according to the show's creator, and then on top of that he gets terminal cancer. On the one hand you want him to be cured and to move away and have a job and family whom he actually loves, and for decades wake up in the morning saying, "I am so happy! Why am I so lucky?" And on the other hand, this person is about as evil as anyone could be, because he decides to manufacture crystal meth.

The creator of the show, Vince Gilligan, actually said they found the actor Bryan Cranston when they were doing a story on "X-Files" and said who can we get whom the audience will still like after he does all these dastardly things. He said they auditioned a lot of actors, but Bryan Cranston was a revelation.

So the lead character decides to cook meth because he is going to die in a year or two anyway and he wants to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars for his family. His wife is pregnant and he wants her to stay home with the baby. She had a low salary when she did work, as a bookkeeper. They also have a teenager. He has cerebral palsy and needs to go to college and get a job where he works with his mind. He is always going to need a lot of money for medical care and special equipment.

Also the lead character is willing to try a treatment for his inoperable, terminal cancer which his wife finds for him, but it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars which his insurance will not pay for.

A warning: some people would not consider watching this show because it's all drugs and violence. But to me, it's about as dramatic as you can get. The meth epidemic is about as welcome as the Black Plague dropping by for a visit in the Middle Ages. But on the other hand, you really want this character to escape and have a happy ending.