Breaking Bad

I watch TV with my wife. She's a big fan of binge watching TV shows. So, the past few weeks we caught completely up with Breaking Bad from never having seen a full episode to we'll be watching the series finale on Sunday.  My main thought is "Ehhhh, it's OK, and some of the acting is particularly good, but I still prefer Rescue Me, Boardwalk Empire, the first 3 seasons of Lost, the first 5 seasons of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, the first two seasons of both Northern Exposure and Newsradio, and season 4 of Angel". (There are more, but you get the point, right?- this is "middle of the pack" type stuff, not "Best of" ) .
So, my prediction of the finale? It's called "Felina" right? Well, fairly basic chemistry tells me that we're talking about a lithium battery (FE- Iron, LI-Lithium, NA-Sodium) so the only question is if we mean a cell phone battery or a Molten salt battery, like a rocket charge. From there, it's a no-brainer that there will be an explosive end. I don't want to spoil anything for people who haven't seen the show but want to, so I won't go into detail but I will say two things- 1. I've noticed that the people most "into" the show haven't lived in the American Southwest, nor been around the drug trade. The show relies very heavily upon that.  2. A lot of the rest of the show's impact is based upon shock- everything from the shock of people like Bryan Cranston and Bob Odenkirk playing serious characters to the shock of murder being committed by someone respectable. In both cases- relying upon the supposed exotic nature of the southwest and drugs, and relying upon shocks- I think the show would be better served by showing the sheer banality of evil. Of course, most folks will think the reverse- but that's why a show like "Rescue Me" worked so well for me- it showed the banality of heroism, and Jim Thompson books show the banality of evil in ways that are far more exciting than "Mr Chips becomes Scarface". Hell, Robin Williams can do that.
So, it's decent- and has some points going for it- but I still think it's only that. Besides which, do we really need to put Hollywood glitter on the Meth trade?