The second season of the American television drama series Breaking Bad premiered on March 8, 2009, and concluded on May 31, 2009. It consisted of 13 episodes, each running approximately 47 minutes in length. AMC broadcast the second season on Sundays at 10:00 pm in the United States. The complete second season was released on Region 1 DVD and Region A Blu-ray on March 16, 2010.
Cast
Main Bryan Cranston as Walter "Walt" White, a terminally ill high-school chemistry teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Walt runs a methamphetamine business with his partner Jesse Pinkman. Anna Gunn as Skyler White, Walt's pregnant wife and a bookkeeper for Beneke Fabricators. Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, a former student of Walt's and his current business partner. Dean Norris as Hank Schrader, Walt and Skyler's brother-in-law and a DEA agent. Betsy Brandt as Marie Schrader, Skyler's sister and Hank's wife. She is a radiologic technologist. RJ Mitte as Walter White Jr., Walt and Skyler's teenage son, who has cerebral palsy.
Recurring Krysten Ritter as Jane Margolis, Jesse's neighbor, landlord, and later girlfriend who is in recovery from drug addiction. Steven Michael Quezada as Steven Gomez, Hank's partner at the DEA. Charles Baker as Skinny Pete, one of Jesse's friends who helps sell Walt and Jesse's meth. Christopher Cousins as Ted Beneke, Skyler's boss at Beneke Fabricators and later, lover. Matt L. Jones as Badger, one of Jesse's friends who helps sell Walt and Jesse's meth. Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman, a sleazy criminal lawyer who becomes involved with Walt and Jesse's business. John de Lancie as Donald Margolis, Jane's father and Jesse's landlord who also works as an air traffic controller. Tom Kiesche as Clovis, Badger's cousin and junkyard owner. Rodney Rush as Combo, one of Jesse's friends who helps sell Walt and Jesse's meth. Michael Shamus Wiles as George Merkert, the head of the Albuquerque DEA office and Hank and Steve's boss. Raymond Cruz as Tuco Salamanca, a wrathful drug kingpin and formerly the distributor of Walt and Jesse's meth. Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring, the owner of the fictional fast-food chain, Los Pollos Hermanos. He is secretly a drug kingpin associated with the Cartel and becomes the new distributor of Walt and Jesse's meth. Tess Harper as Diane Pinkman, Jesse's mother. Mark Margolis as Hector Salamanca, Tuco's uncle and a former drug kingpin. He is paraplegic and non-verbal, only communicating using a bell. Sam McMurray as Dr. Victor Bravenec, one of Walt's surgeons. Carmen Serano as Principal Carmen Molina, the principal of J.P. Wynne High School, the school that Walter Jr. attends and Walt's place of work.
Guest Jeremiah Bitsui as Victor, Gus' loyal henchman. Nigel Gibbs as APD Detective Tim Roberts, a homicide investigator for the Albuquerque Police Department and one of Hank's colleagues. Jessica Hecht as Gretchen Schwartz, Walt's old friend and former fiancee. Tina Parker as Francesca Liddy, Saul's secretary. Danny Trejo as Tortuga, a member of the Cartel who's working as an informant for the DEA. Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, a "cleaner" and one of Saul's associates who also works for Gus.
Episodes
The titles of the first, fourth, tenth, and thirteenth episodes form a sentence that reveals an event that takes place in the season finale (Seven Thirty-Seven Down Over ABQ).
Production The writers of Breaking Bad planned the storyline for the entire season in advance of filming and knew how the season would end right from the beginning. That differed from subsequent seasons, in which the writers did not have a complete plan and developed the storyline as the episodes progressed. Series creator Vince Gilligan said of season two, "That came about through many, many hours of beating our heads against the wall—very laborious work, which is probably why we haven't repeated that formula since."
Music The original score for Breaking Bad was composed by Dave Porter. The show also uses music from other recording artists with music supervision by Thomas Golubić. Selected songs from Season 2 are featured on the Breaking Bad soundtrack available through iTunes and Amazon.
Reception
Reviews The second season of Breaking Bad received critical acclaim from critics, scoring 84 out of 100 on Metacritic. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 97% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 9.1/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Breaking Bad continues to soar, thanks to its artsy style and suspenseful thrills." Entertainment Weekly critic Ken Tucker stated "Bad is a superlatively fresh metaphor for a middle-age crisis: It took cancer and lawbreaking to jolt Walt out of his suburban stupor, to experience life again—to take chances, risk danger, do things he didn't think himself capable of doing. None of this would work, of course, without Emmy winner Cranston's ferocious, funny selflessness as an actor. For all its bleakness and darkness, there's a glowing exhilaration about this series: It's a feel-good show about feeling really bad." San Francisco Chronicle's Tim Goodman claimed "The first three episodes of Season 2 that AMC sent out continue that level of achievement with no evident missteps. In fact, it looks as if Gilligan's bold vision for Breaking Bad, now duly rewarded against all odds, has invigorated everyone involved in the project. You can sense its maturity and rising ambition in each episode." Horror novelist Stephen King lauded the series, comparing it to Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet. Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger praised the season, calling it "brilliant". He lauded the sound design as well as the cinematography, enjoying the "emphasis of beautiful desert vistas and disturbing tableaux". He also compared the series to The Sopranos, more specifically on the similarity of Walter White and Tony Soprano and their respective reactions to similar situations. David Hinckley of the New York Daily News praised Cranston's performance of Walter White, calling him "one of the best played characters on television".
Awards and nominations
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