(CNN) -- For five turbulent years, "Breaking Bad" has charted the underworld rise and moral decline of Walter White, the mild-mannered Albuquerque chemistry teacher who evolves into a ruthless drug lord after being diagnosed with cancer.
On Sunday, August 11, after 54 increasingly dark chapters of the fearless AMC drama, we begin Walt's final ride.
It's probably about time. It's a testament to the power of "Breaking Bad" that it keeps you invested in its characters even after some of them do horrible things. But it's not easy to watch a gentle family man -- the goofy dad from "Malcolm in the Middle!" -- morph into a megalomaniacal monster. And the show can't sustain Walt's high-wire act much longer without losing all plausibility.
Among AMC's marquee shows, "Breaking Bad" has never attained the retro-chic cachet of "Mad Men" or the big ratings of "The Walking Dead." But it's won seven Emmys -- mostly acting nods for star Bryan Cranston and sidekick Aaron Paul -- and received widespread critical acclaim for its taut writing, vivid characters and inventive jolts of violence.
On Sunday, August 11, after 54 increasingly dark chapters of the fearless AMC drama, we begin Walt's final ride.
It's probably about time. It's a testament to the power of "Breaking Bad" that it keeps you invested in its characters even after some of them do horrible things. But it's not easy to watch a gentle family man -- the goofy dad from "Malcolm in the Middle!" -- morph into a megalomaniacal monster. And the show can't sustain Walt's high-wire act much longer without losing all plausibility.
Among AMC's marquee shows, "Breaking Bad" has never attained the retro-chic cachet of "Mad Men" or the big ratings of "The Walking Dead." But it's won seven Emmys -- mostly acting nods for star Bryan Cranston and sidekick Aaron Paul -- and received widespread critical acclaim for its taut writing, vivid characters and inventive jolts of violence.
