Breaking Bad is a television show that aired from January 20, 2009 to September 29, 2013 on AMC, created by Vince Gilligan. For the most part, I thought the show was incredible once I started watching it a few years back; it really emphasized the insane choices some people can make just for money, especially when it’s for their family.

The show is about a middle aged chemistry teacher named Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston, who’s been diagnosed with stage three lung cancer. At first, he feels that his family shouldn’t know about the cancer and tries to find a different way to pay for his  treatment and his family’s finances in the future; going into the illegal drug trade and cooking Methamphetamine, or “meth” as the drug is commonly called. White then finds a former student of his named Jesse Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul, and forces him to help him manufacture the drugs. White then comes up with the plan that while he produces the meth, Pinkman would distribute it. Both would then split the pay in half.

If you don’t mind a TV show about the crime of making drugs and the illegal drug trade (or if you’re allowed to watch it) and want to stick onto a well-produced show for a little while, then I definitely recommend watching Breaking Bad. The fact that the show is about a chemistry teacher diagnosed with cancer who chooses to make drugs seems like a very real and plausible situation to me. To look at the other side of the story and see the criminal’s reasoning behind why he’s done what he’s done gives you some sort of understanding about the stupid and insane things that are done for good intentions.

Of course, I’m not saying that all criminal activities are done for good reasons. I’m saying there are reasons for why criminal break the law, and Breaking Bad represents that awfully well.