Breaking Bad ended honorably last September after five seasons. But after swiping five trophies at this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards on Aug 26, AMC’s hit drama series has again been put in the spotlight.
去年九月，《绝命毒师》成功播完五季后华丽收尾。今年8月26日的艾美奖上，这部美国有线电台的热播剧横扫五项大奖，再次备受瞩目。
I’m one of many people who have been turned on to Breaking Bad following its huge success. It seems impossible not to notice when something is given the title “one of the greatest American TV dramas of all time”.
和许多人一样，我也被它的成功点燃热情。毕竟，谁又能对“美国有史以来最伟大的电视剧之一”熟视无睹呢？

So, this reaction leads me to believe that Breaking Bad must have something that these other great dramas don’t. After binge watching it over the past week (I’m still catching up on its fourth season), I’ve made a list of where the series’ appeal might come from.
因此，我坚信它一定有与众不同之处。上周狂补数季后，还在看第四季的我将它的魅力总结如下：
Darkness rising
黑暗崛起
Breaking Bad tells the story of Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with cancer. To make sure his family is well taken care of after he’s gone, White begins making crystal meth, an illegal drug.
《绝命毒师》讲述了身患癌症的高中化学老师沃尔特•怀特（又名：老白）的故事。为了让家人在自己离世后也能衣食无忧，老白踏上了制造冰毒的不归路。
It sounds like a ridiculous idea with no good value, but as the show goes on, we watch the main character slowly change from the protagonist to the antagonist. The drug business turns the timid, sympathetic chemistry teacher into an evil, greedy, self-centered and violent man.
虽然剧情听起来荒诞可笑，但随着剧情的发展，老白慢慢从正面人物转为反派。毒品生意让这位昔日胆小、富有同情心的化学老师，变成了邪恶、贪婪、自私且暴力的另一个人。
However, because of the viewers’ attachment to White from the start, it’s easier to sympathize with him. The relatability of White has made him an iconic character, which is what most separates Breaking Bad from other great dramas such as Mad Men and The Wire.
但是，由于观众最初对老白的同情，很容易产生恻隐之心。这也使他成为该剧的核心人物，这也是该剧与《广告狂人》、《火线》等优质美剧最大的不同。
Top-tier acting
演技精湛
Bryan Cranston plays White with extraordinary subtlety. He transforms from the blunt and awkward husband to the ruthless drug dealer as easily as changing a shirt. Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman shows the hidden depth of the character, while delicately interpreting his love-hate relationship with White.
老白的扮演者布莱恩•科兰斯顿演技十分精湛，从迟钝笨拙的丈夫到残忍无情的毒贩，巨大的转变对科兰斯顿而言仿佛换件衬衫一样简单。杰西•平克曼（又名：小粉）的扮演者亚伦•保尔也将角色演绎得淋漓尽致，细微地诠释出他对老白的爱恨交加。
The two meth-cooking lead characters are well-supported by a strong cast of secondary characters. White’s wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) and his brother-in-law Hank (Dean Norris), all have plenty of depth and complexity on their own.
此外，剧中的次要角色也很给力：饰演老白妻子斯卡丽的安娜•冈和老白连襟汉克的饰演者迪恩•诺里斯，都表现出了角色的深度与复杂性。
Colorful camerawork
高超的摄影技巧
Breaking Bad places much emphasis on visuals and color. There are no wasted frames in the show — almost every scene balances its mood and tension on its use of color. In US pop culture writer Alyssa Rosenberg’s words, the show “has raised the bar for cinematography on television: the way it uses light and color makes me look at everything else differently”.
《绝命毒师》十分重视视觉效果和色彩运用，每个镜头都不可或缺，几乎每个场景的色彩运用都与剧中的情绪和紧张的剧情配合得当。美国流行文化作家阿丽萨•罗森博格评价道：“《绝命毒师》成为电视摄影技术的新标杆，剧中灯光和色彩的运用改变了我对其他事物（剧）的看法”。
Chemistry class
化学课堂
Not many shows can be both popular and informative. But in Breaking Bad, besides the meth-cooking, science is used for all sorts of fun things, for example, building homemade batteries or creating poison out of beans. The small science lessons have made fans realize that chemistry has never been so fun.
很多剧都难以兼顾流行与科普，但《绝命毒师》做到了。除了制造冰毒，科学知识还被用到了各种各样的趣事中，比如：造个家用电池，从豆子中提取毒素等。这堂小科学课让粉丝们认识到，化学其实并非那么枯燥乏味。
Visionary writing
创意剧本
The show possesses a unique vision, which we have the writers to thank for. And meanwhile, the writers manage to take a long story-arc and not let it get away from them. This makes Breaking Bad one of the few TV series that improved creatively from start to finish. Shows like Lost or Desperate Housewives that started out strong were ultimately left bereft of ideas.
《绝命毒师》独特的愿景要归功于它的编剧们。与此同时，编剧成功地勾勒出整个故事的脉络，并保持故事不偏离主线。《绝命毒师》从头到尾都在不断创新，而《迷失》和《绝望主妇》等剧虽然开头不错，但到最后却没了新意。