Breaking Bad: The  Complete Fourth Season (Sony) – It is no exaggeration to call the AMC original series Breaking Bad one of the smartest, sharpest, most dramatically daring and accomplished shows on television. It earned its star, Bryan Cranston, three consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Actor on a Drama Series, and co-star Aaron Paul an Emmy for the show’s third season, arguably one of the greatest seasons of any show on TV.

The fourth season continues to map the odyssey and the brutal evolution of chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) from desperate cancer victim to superstar meth cook to ferocious player in the drug business. The third season ended with Walter turning his young partner, street dealer turned reluctant player Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), into a killer, and the fourth season charts the toll that crossing that line takes on Jesse, a spiral into self-destruction simply to keep himself from having to face himself. Meanwhile Walter engages is a deadly balance of power with New Mexico drug kingpin Gustavo “Gus” Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), a very careful manager with an unassuming manner and a sterling reputation as a citizen and local businessman.

By now his wife (Anna Gunn) has become a willing conspirator in his operation, at least when it comes to laundering his cash, and his brother-in-law (Dean Norris) is recovering from a near-fatal murder attempt by cartel killers put in motion by Walter’s actions. But it’s not just about the collateral damage of his dogged determination to make a fortune to leave for his family. Every moral line he crosses costs him a little bit more of his humanity and this season he becomes as ruthless as criminals he threatens with his superior product.

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Bad chemistry

“Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season” (Sony)

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul both won 2010 Emmy Awards (Cranston’s third for the show) for their performances as high school chemistry teacher turned master meth cook Walter White and street-level drug dealer turned business partner Jesse Pinkman in Vince Gilligan’s darkly funny and morally unsettling original cable series. This season Walter, newly separated from his wife (Anna Gunn) after she discovers his secret life, is made an offer he can’t refuse: work exclusively for the local drug kingpin (Giancarlo Esposito) or find a way to protect his family and loved ones from his displeasure.

What makes the show so good — no, what makes it so great — is that every choice comes with fallout and all the equations in the world can’t control it. When hitmen from the Mexican cartels come hunting for Walter, his brother-in-law (Dean Norris) gets caught in the crossfire. And when Walter’s own hubris puts Jesse’s life at risk, it gets harder to thread that needle. He’s working with combustible chemicals and there’s no way to avoid a reaction. The best he can do is keep it from blowing up completely. If he’s lucky. Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks co-star.

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