Becoming the One Who Knocks: Innovations
as a Response to Social Strains in AMC’s
B reaking B a d
Following Hank Schrader’s brief comparison o f cockroaches and
criminals at a family barbeque, W alter White asks his brother-in-law the
pivotal question presented throughout five seasons o f A M C ’s Breaking
Bad : “Where do they come from? Criminals like the one you . . . I mean ,
what do you think makes them who they are?” (“Breakage”). As a show
delineating a cancer-stricken chemistry teacher’s transformation into
New M exico’s largest methamphetamine manufacturer, Breaking Bad
provides its viewers a unique (and often humorous) commentary on
criminality in America that analyzes the motivations behind lawless
action throughout many o f its episodes. The pilot opens by presenting
W alter as a man with little to no autonomy in his life: his family is
controlled by his overbearing wife, Skyler; he works two jobs in which
he is consistently disrespected; he is burdened by his financial Situation;
and he has been recently diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.
Emasculated and oppressed by a capitalistic society, W alter is a socially
strained archetype: an everyman for the recessionary twenty-first
Century. As David R. Koepsell and Robert Arp suggest, '''‘Breaking Bad
emerged on the airwaves at a critical time in American history. Deep in a
never-end[ing] recession, losing confidence with our technical and
innovative prowess worldwide, outpaced by competitors, and nervous
about the future and what we leave the next generation, we are all W alter
White” (vii). However, unlike many individuals negotiating difficult
economic times, W alter refuses to continue living his life feeling that he
lacks free will; as a result, he tums to a life o f crime in an effort to cope
with his painful Situation. His joum ey throughout five seasons o f
Breaking Bad consists o f circumventing arduous social structures in an
effort to provide for his family and discover a sense o f freedom in a
highly commercial society. As W alter suggests, to be successful in
America an individual must “get out in the real world and . . . kick that
bastard as hard as you can right in the teeth” (“Better Call Saul”). Unable
to do so conventionally, W alter achieves this aim by cooking
methamphetamine, becoming a successful drug lord, and giving
Albuquerque, New Mexico, a serious case o f meth mouth.