The meth addict Walt met in the store last night was played by our neighbor, who is mainly a stand-up comic, continuing Breaking Bad's mission of taking funny people and putting them into bleak dramatic roles.

They should learn from "The Wire" that bleak doesn't have to be unfunny.

I am all caught up! Leverage has been pimped!

So, I think I might be one ep of Breaking Bad behind, because I've been watching on iTunes, but I am so enjoying this show. It's like the Sopranos in some ways, but better.

I don't have time to write a P-C style report (I love reading those), but here are my thoughts.

1. I think this show is all about identity (but without problematic rape and human trafficking). Walt, faced with his death, is trying to figure out who he is. Yeah, this all started with him trying to take care of his family, but there's more to it than that. He's had chances to walk away in the past, and didn't take them. He doesn't need to be Heisenburg anymore, but he loves it too much. It makes him feel strong/good about himself and he can't bear to walk away from that. Jesse too. He was a stoner loser but now he's an up and coming drug lord. He wants to be a tough guy, I think, but he also treats Walt like a father. I don't know why, but I think it's so funny that he still calls Walt Mr. White.

2. I love the character of Hank. At first I thought he was just a blowhard dumb cop - sort of a foil for his smarter but less athletic BIL, but he's a badass in his own way too. He took Tuco out with a handgun. But at a price! Walt is thriving in his new role but Hank is suffering a bit in his.

3. I think this show is smartly written. Little stuff seems to pay off. So Hank has run into Walt connections three times now in his DEA stuff (or Walk led him to DEA stuff). Someone who was not Walt's BIL might have put it together by now, but anyone who knew Walt would never picture him as Heisenburg.

4. My parents live near Albuquerque and it's so much fun to see local shops and scenery on TV.

Anyway, I could go on, but I'm enjoying watching a show that sticks with me after it's over.

I've been interested in Breaking Bad. Should I watch Breaking Bad or Mad Men next?

I haven't seen Mad Men. I think I've read more raving about it, though. But I do like BB a lot. The first season is only 8 episodes (I think) and the entire story so far takes place over just a few weeks. (Although it's funny because this season, they've mentioned "the economy" a few times, which makes me laugh because there was no "the economy" two weeks ago in show time. It's not inconsistent or anything. Just funny.)

Personally, I love the premise - chemistry teacher with lung cancer turns to cooking meth to provide for his pregnant wife and teenage son. I mean, how kooky is that? I was listening to a podcast today and the guy (I assume the show runner but not sure) said that he pitched to story as "good guy goes bad, by choice" which I think is cool because haven't we all wanted to be bad occasionally?

I'd nominate Mad Men (mainly because I haven't seen BB), which is awesome, but I'm also curious what you'll think of Mad Men.

Hee. Recognizing stuff was one of the reasons I ended up not watching Breaking Bad. It was all too close to home in many literal ways for me.

Breaking Bad is the darker of the two, which is saying a lot because Mad Men is quite dark. I think Mad Men has a little more visual flair than Breaking Bad, but both are dealing with identity crises in their own interesting ways.

They are both really good, P-C. I am more into Breaking Bad at the moment because it is actually airing, so new shows to watch. Breaking Bad is a more personal show, it's really all about Walt - the supporting characters are three dimensional real people, but they are definitely supporting Walt's story. Mad Men is more about the time and society in general, though the personal stories are also very compelling.

Yeah, this all started with him trying to take care of his family, but there's more to it than that.

I think that while we the audience can see that, Walt hasn't admitted it to himself, yet. He can do all these bad things because he "has to", but without the justification he'll have to face that he's done some seriously bad shit. It's fascinating. And it's killing me the way he has been alienating his wife and son by spending all his time doing illegal stuff "for them".

I'm an episode behind at this point, also. I sometimes put off watching it because of the bleak, though currently I just have kind of a lot of TV backed up on the DVR.