MANic Monday

MANic Monday is my excuse to post the guys in movies, TV, books, and *ahem* video games I think YOU need to know about. Also, it's a way for me to get these people out of my head. If you have anyone you want to feature, tweet me, Facebook me, or email me!

Taking a break from the A's for a special request from Jan at This Week's Hobby.

We both have a love for AMC's Breaking Bad (if you're not watching it, it's seriously the best-written show on TV [suck it, Mad Men], or at least one of them). If you're unfamiliar with the story, here's a brief synopsis:

Breaking Bad follows protagonist Walter White, a chemistry teacher who's been diagnosed with stage 3 cancer and given 2 years to live. To ensure his family's financial security, he decides to use his chemistry knowledge to manufacture and sell meth. Yeah. Meth. And to assist in the selling/distribution process, he gets former student and small-time drug dealer Jesse Pinkman.

"What good is being an outlaw when you have responsibilities?"

There's a lot to like about Jesse. Regardless of his shadier activities, deep down, he's a good guy. In a different world, Jesse would be the super-popular, handsome, sweet guy everyone wants to hang with. But Jesse covers that guy over with street-wise thug attitude and ill-fitting clothes. If you've seen him on HBO's Big Love, take that character, and make him the EXACT opposite, and you have Jesse.

Jesse becomes Walt's right hand man in the drug trade. He learns to cook alongside Walt and manages the dealing. Some of the best scenes and dialogue in the show comes from Jesse's interactions with his henchmen, Badger and Skinny Pete, who are total idiots. Jesse can be stern. Jesse can be ruthless. He has a HORRIBLE relationship with his parents. They basically see him as a worthless loser, and Jesse tries often to live up to the expectations his parents DID have of him before they thought him worthless.

But Jesse has some swoon-worthy moments as well. His romance with Jane, his artistic next door neighbor, uncovers a side of Jesse we haven't gotten to see. Yes, he's a meth addict, but he's also gentle, sensitive, and tender. Meeting her gives him an opportunity to imagine what his life really CAN be, essentially, the life his parents want him to have. They talk about moving to New Zealand where she can paint the local castles and he can be "a bush pilot."

Through his love and loss, Jesse becomes hardened. He has multiple low points, but he becomes the one the audience cheers for, even though he's not the show's main character.

"I accept who I am. I'm the bad guy."

The thing about Jesse, and actor Aaron Paul's portrayal of him, is that he has a way of breaking your heart that you just don't expect.