Break-King Weeds

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Better things are happening in television right now than in film. My wife Kelly and I are big fans of Breaking Bad, the OTHER show on AMC, the first being Mad Men. It stars Bryan Cranston, the dad from Malcolm in the Middle, as brilliant high school chemistry teacher Walter White, who learns he has lung cancer and not long to live. As a way of raising money to leave for his seven-month pregnant wife and their seventeen-year-old cerebral palsy-stricken son, Walt teams up with a former student of his to cook and distribute crystal meth. His meth is super, super pure, becomes a phenomenon in the drug culture of Albuquerque, NM, and before anyone knows it, Walt's brother-in-law, the DEA agent, is hot on the trail of ABQ's newest drug kingpin.

It is a BRILLIANT show. So funny, and suspenseful, and sad. And suspenseful. Super SUPER suspenseful. Like a more domestic version of The Shield. Yet I know only one other person who watches it. He is, of course, hooked on it. But whenever I ask people if they've seen it, or tell them what it's about, they almost always respond with the exact same sentence: "Oh... you mean like Weeds."

Over the last year or so I have heard over and over how good Weeds is, and, having never seen it, could only shrug when people would bring it up in response to Breaking Bad. So, finally, Kelly and I rented it. So far, we've watched the first eight episodes of Season 1. And what's the verdict?

I like it a lot! It's tons of fun, the writing is super sharp, and watching the show is like eating candy. You can easily pound a whole disc in one night. On top of that, Mary-Louise Parker is painfully hot and Kevin Nealon is hilarious.

That said, it is no Breaking Bad. Not even close. Where Weeds introduces characters and storylines only to abandon them carelessly and never mention them again, Breaking Bad doesn't make a move without purpose. Where Weeds cheats hardcore by showing scenes and sometimes even introducing whole plot points in the "Previously On" that never happened in previous episodes, Breaking Bad is so intricately plotted and planned out it puts Lost to shame.

Consider: over the course of season 2 (which just ended) four episodes begin with an abstract black-and white shot of an eyeball floating on water that goes on to reveal a stuffed teddy bear, missing an eye, sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool. With each successive episode that begins this way, the opening sequence goes on a little longer, showing more of the scene. A person in a hazmat suit fishes the bear out of the pool, sticks it in an evidence bag. We follow them into the front yard of the house. It's our main characters' house. There are two bodies on the driveway being zipped into bodybags. Whose bodies? We can't tell. That brings us three episodes in on this sequence of intros. They culminate in the season finale, which finally reveals what this black-and-white sequence has been building up to all season... and it is unbelievable. It's so unpredictable, in fact, that my first reaction was actually "Nooo.... that was too out of left field. That couldn't have been what they intended all season." But then you go back and examine those opening sequences. And suddenly every little detail, from the angle of smoke on the horizon to the TITLES of the episodes, prove that the writers are in fact geniuses. And that yes, the entire thing was planned.

I'll give you one more example of how brilliant this show is. About a third of the way into season 2, our main character Walt is becoming a pretty big figure in the New Mexico drug world, going by the name Heisenberg and showing up for meetings in shades with a black coat and hat. This brings us to an episode that sums up the entire story up that point in the form of a mariachi song. You have to see this to believe it:

That was the opening of an episode of Breaking Bad. See what I mean? It's funny, ridiculous, but suspenseful at the exact same time. AND it gives you all the exposition you need without it ever feeling like exposition.

The truly amazing thing about the show is how, like The Shield before it, it centers around a thoroughly unlikable protagonist and somehow makes you care for him and root for him. It takes this really brilliant guy, Walt, who is clearly the smartest guy in the room, and has him struggle and claw his way through life, making rookie mistakes that make you smack yourself in the face. But at the same time you think to yourself "I would do it the same way he's doing it." Ask yourself: what would you do if there was someone who knew your secret and was threatening to blackmail you... and then you find yourself standing over that person's bed as they overdose and begin choking on their own vomit? Would you save that person's life? Or would you let that person die, knowing that they will take your secret with them?

By the end of the second season it's become clear just how far-reaching Walt's actions have been, and just how huge the consequences of those actions are. Created by Vince Gilligan, who wrote many of the best episodes of The X-Files, the ones that started off funny but ended up giving you chills, and who also played the Fluke Monster who hid in the PortaPotty, Breaking Bad is epic, it's terrifying, it's hilarious and it's heartbreaking.

I have no doubt that Weeds will, over its run, venture further into the suspenseful aspect of main character Nancy's chosen profession as suburban pot dealing mom. But any way you slice it, the storytelling of the show just doesn't compare. As I said, it's a lot of fun, and I will watch it through to the end. But Breaking Bad is on a whole other level. It's not even playing the same game.

Now I know, I know. People get very protective and defensive of the shows they love. But do me a favor. If you're a fan of Weeds and think it's truly great, watch Breaking Bad. By the end of season 2, if you can honestly say Weeds is the better show, well, I look forward to that debate!

Speaking of amazing shows no one is watching, why is nobody watching Kings? Apparently its ratings have been so low that it's already been canceled, which boggles my mind. It's reminiscent of the deaths of Arrested Development, Firefly, Swingtown, and the near death of 30 Rock until Sarah Palin made people realize how awesome Tina Fey is.

Kings is the richest, most literate television show since Deadwood. And I don't say that lightly. Deadwood is in my top three faves. Writeups will call the show a retelling of the biblical story of King David. And yes, it is in many ways. But truth be told, the show works on levels beyond that.

Where to begin? The plot is complex, but suffice it to say it centers around the malevolent King Silas (Ian McShane, who may be my favorite actor), who rules over the fictional kingdom of Gilboa, standing in as a monarchic version of the United States. A group of prisoners are taken by the enemy nation of Gath and one soldier, David Shepherd, crosses enemy lines to rescue them. Unbeknownst to David, among the prisoners is Jack Benjamin, the king's son. And so David becomes a national hero and crucial chess piece in the world of Silas and his kingdom. He falls in love with Michelle, the princess, and learns of corruption running so deep it tests his faith and loyalty in ways that will tear him apart.

Central to the show's premise is the concept that Gilboa is not simply a monarchy, but one deeply rooted in religion. One of the king's advisors is a minister who claims to speak directly for God. People talk about God a lot in this show. His whims and desires hold sway over many of their decisions. But periodically throughout the series, certain things happen that suggest that, in the world of Kings, God is not simply an object of faith. He is scarily, physically real. And if He is anything, He is an Old Testament God. Vengeful, capable of great cruelty.

What this show does so brilliantly is force the viewer to constantly reevaluate his/her loyalties. Who is the good guy? Who is the bad guy? Is the king's brother-in-law, plotting a coups from behind the scenes, really the man we should fear?

This, and the show breaks your heart. In the pilot episode there is a scene where David stands before the Gath army and delivers a monologue that had me blubbering like a little girl by its end.

That was the scene that had me hooked. I will grant that that first episode ends with a scene that plays as a goofy misstep for a show so serious and grand in scope. But in light of everything that had come before, it had won me as a regular viewer. And sure enough, the show is like a great novel.

Kelly is quick to point out how Shakespearean it is, and she's absolutely right. Characters and dialogue play like the greatest of literature's tragedies, and specifically like those of Shakespeare. The parallels are constant.

So why is no one watching? I've asked some friends, and one of them said that it looked like something that would get cancelled soon, so he didn't want to get invested in it. Well, turns out he was right. And that's a shame. It's a shame that so many of the best shows get the axe before people have even had the chance to discover them.

I suspect Kings will end with much unresolved. I don't see how they can wrap everything up in the last couple of episodes. But still, if it does make it to DVD, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Especially if you consider yourself a fan of great television. In fact, all the episodes are online here. This is not CSI: SVU. This is not Criminal Minds. This is not any of the schlock out there that runs for twenty years and yet never breaks new ground. Kings is consistently challenging, rewarding, and breathtaking.
I, for one, will miss it.