The Show
Breaking Bad is a top quality show. The production, story, and acting are arguably the best on television today. Few TV shows make me so eager to watch one episode to the next until they’re all finally complete and I’m left hungering for the next season. Season three is my favorite season thus far. Or well, at least since the original which introduced us to Walter White, a fifties-something high school chemist teacher who led an innocent and productive family life. Unfortunately, he is diagnosed with cancer, and with only a modest income, realizes that he will not leave his family in good financial condition when he dies.
He decides to do something, anything, to help his family while he still has time. Together with one of his drug-addicted former students, Jesse, the two being to cook crystal meth. Only this recipe, with Walter’s intimate knowledge of chemistry, is the best the streets have ever known. To fast forward a bit, and skip over numerous details for the sake of this review, the duo begin to make thousands of dollars selling this highly addictive crystal meth. All the while they battle relationship issues, other drug dealers, the law, and numerous other dramatic challenges in really unique and surprising ways.
So season three begins immediately after the fatal plane crash caused by a grief-stricken air traffic controller whose daughter died of a drug overdose. The wreckage from the head on plane collision has littered Walter’s street, somewhat symbolically of the state of Walter’s marriage. The first few episodes focus on several plot threads, with Walter primarily dealing with an angry wife, Skyler, who is pushing for a divorce. Meanwhile, Jesse is in rehab, trying to kick his long-running drug habit. In Mexico, two silent, tough looking brothers are crossing the border in search of Walter. Who are these guys? What business do they have with Walter? Those questions are but one of many that are introduced and answered by the show in creative and satisfying fashion.
Other characters from the second season, including Gus and Saul, play huge roles in the third season. Gus and Walter reach a new business relationship and Saul is in the middle, playing both sides where it benefits him and trying to keep Jesse and Walter from getting at each others throats. As with the previous two seasons, relationships are powerful, changing, and so very important to how this season plays out. To put it simply, it’s impressive to watch unfold.
Season Three Blu-ray
Each season of Breaking Bad has been on Blu-ray, but this is the strongest release the series has had yet due to being loaded with extra features. Of course, the presentation quality is also superb. The only issue I would mention about the presentation is actually with the disc menus. For some reason, and this could be due to my Blu-ray player, scrolling through the menu (be it the Top Menu or the Pop-Up Menu) is really slow. It would take one or two seconds just to scroll from one menu option to the next.
As far as video and audio presentation, this release does not disappoint. It helps that the direction and cinematography of the series is so smart and well executed. A variety of shooting techniques are used to draw you into the scene and the raw technical quality of the show shines largely because of this. I did not experience any technical issues at all, and in fact found myself regularly surprised at the detail in the image quality, be it the pores and stubble of Walter’s face or the beautiful landscape of Albuquerque.
There are a ton of extra features (over ten hours) in this set including audio commentary on more than half of the episodes, three uncensored episodes, deleted scenes, and lots of featurettes. Each disc contains episode-specific content, some features are in SD. Here’s the breakdown:
Disc 1
-Audio Commentary on No Mas and Mas with multiple cast and crew
-White Heat: Cranston On Fire
-Pizza of Destiny: Cranston’s Greatest Shot
-Deleted Scenes, Unused Footage
Disc 2
-Commentary on Sunset, One Minute, I See You, and Kafkaesque with multiple cast and crew
-Silent But Deadly: The Brothers Moncada
-Team SCIENCE
-Deleted Scenes
-Twenty episodes of Inside Breaking Bad
-Better Call Saul Commercials
Disc 3
-Commentary on Fly, Half Measures, Full Measure with multiple cast and crew
-The Breaking Bad Family Photo Album (Blu-ray Exclusive)
-The Music of Breaking Bad
-Hit And Run
-AMC News visits the Breaking Bad writers’ room
-Gag Reel
-Deleted Scenes
-Mini video podcasts for each episode
Let’s get to the summary…
