Breaking Blue: The Themes, Thesis, and Colors of Breaking Bad

Marie is wearing black. Your eyes grow big and you lean in closer to the television screen. Marie never wears black. Something’s up. Something important is about to happen. You pause the action, do an online search. “Aha!” You jab at the computer screen: “Black means violence.” Your online source lists the numerous times Hank or a bad guy wears black, always with pistols or rifles or submachine guns drawn and ready. The fan site congratulates itself for recognizing good guys wear black too, but only when something nasty is going to happen. You have goose bumps now, thrilled at the prospect of Marie Schrader wreaking havoc, pulling out a sidearm to show the bad guys who’s boss. Giddy, you jab the PLAY button on the remote. Marie walks into the building, finds the person she wants, they sit down and talk. There are no guns. No yelling. No drama. They just talk. “What?” you say, upset. “But the fan site says black means violence! Where is Marie’s gun? What’s going on here?” Mystified, confused, you stare at the screen and watch as two people have an orderly discussion. You know Breaking Bad uses color symbolism and you were hoping to extract more meaning from the scene. You were right to suspect that Marie’s black blouse and slacks were significant. They are. In fact, they're crucial to the scene. Breaking Blue will help you figure it out as no other guide can. The color symbolism of Breaking Bad is rich and endlessly fascinating. Plumbing its depths, you gain far more enjoyment from each scene. When you can read the colors, applying the full meaning to each one, characters and events come alive in ways that otherwise escape you. Excitement builds as you sense a vibrancy that puts you in the scene, bringing immediacy and relevance to every word. The central idea in Breaking Blue is that each one of us can build and apply our own templates to figure out Breaking Bad’s deeper meaning. Reading Breaking Blue is like putting on stereoscopic glasses: All of a sudden hidden meanings jump out at you, and a once exciting television show becomes a veritable roller coaster ride. This is the only book you will find that explains the hundreds of disparate elements of the show: The core colors (blue, orange, yellow, green, and of course Marie's purple), all of them tied to central themes: Corruption, innocence, randomness, meaning, self-deception, Karma, and dozens of others. No other guide makes sense of Hank's mineral collection. In fact, most commentators dismiss this critical Season Four touchstone, labeling it a dramatic misfire. Breaking Blue will show you that Hank's obsession with rocks is central to the plot, and explains the motivations of both Hank and his nemesis, Heisenberg. With Breaking Blue in hand, you will understand every nuance and amazing twist in one of the finest dramas of the 21st century. Breaking Blue contains every word of Pearson Moore’s introduction to the series, Breaking White. But that’s just the beginning. Touching on every episode in the show’s five seasons, Breaking Blue delivers groundbreaking, at times controversial analysis of every major color and theme, providing fans with ideas to ponder for months and years to come.