'Breaking Bad' Is Back

July 17, 2011Oh, how did Walter White get into this mess? Four seasons back, he was just a meek chemistry teacher diagnosed with cancer, who wanted to provide for his family by making more money than a career in education could give him.

Who'd be better qualified to make the best crystal meth in town than a guy who knows their atomic numbers? Well things didn't go all that well. And now, as season four starts for "Breaking Bad" (AMC, today, 10 p.m.), there's still a mess to be cleaned up following the murder of a lab technician.

Elections By now Walt, played by Bryan Cranston in a career role, is roiling and seething in his risky situation. And his youthful sidekick, Jesse — another terrific performance from Aaron Paul — seems on the verge of another bender. Both have reason for worry: they are under the iron control of Albuquerque's most chilling criminal, a meth kingpin who hides his identity as a guy who runs a chain of fast-food restaurants and keeps the former teacher and student nearly imprisoned in a state-of-the-art drug factory. Giancarlo Esposito, who plays the scary Gus Fring, does more this season by saying even less.

Also this season, Walt has to figure out how to deal with his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn), who seems willing to help out in the nefarious business by laundering the money. Here is a series that has characters to spare. Skyler's sister Marie Schrader (Betsy Brandt) is being tried by the difficulty of having to care for her husband, a narcotics officer (played by the terrific Dean Norris) who is still recovering from a brutal parking lot attack last season.

Show creator Vince Gilligan has created a world where something may go wrong any minute; he keeps the tension taut as it's obvious something is going to break very soon.

A detective who likes to keep his cool, Rufus Sewell plays "Zen," drawn from the thrillers by Michael Dibdin. It's not easy being a clean cop in a dirty British system and Aurelio Zen spends half his time fighting bad bureaucracy. The first of three episodes of "Zen" tonight on "Masterpiece Mystery" (CPTV, 9 p.m.) about a killer seeking vengeance on the cops who put him away. It's done with the kind of style that makes you wish it were a regular series.