the end — how I wish it weren't

No, not summer.  I'm never sad to see summer end, especially knowing that autumn follows.

I make a steak dinner, fig, goat cheese and tomato salad, and sliced roasted potatoes. 

It's a special night, though one that we've been kind of dreading. Alexander and I have reached the 62nd episode of Breaking Bad, our last one. 

Many others have written about this show far more eloquently and intelligently than I can. And admittedly I am  late to the party; the series ended in September 2013. But honestly, I've never seen anything on television that comes close to being as good as this. 

The brilliant writing remarkably got stronger with each season. Alexander and I were captivated from the start. Like the famous line in Jerry Maguire, "You had me at hello." Well, Mr. White had us from scene one of the pilot, before the credits even rolled.  

The cinematography is magnificent. All the characters — even the minor ones — are beautifully drawn and multi-layered. Our allegiances shifted as we watched the characters grow and change.The moral issues they confront and how decisions are made make this show — this entire series — entirely engaging. Nothing is predicable. The characters — all spectacularly acted — evolve over five seasons. 

Each of the 62 episodes begins with a cold open of about 3 to 7 minutes. That open can pertain to things in the past, the current, or even the future, and the future of not necessarily the episode you are watching, but the future of something that will happen many episodes later. There is no waste. Everything eventually ties together. It may take several episodes, or even an entire season, but there are no loose ends.  Even the credits and titled episodes are cleverly executed.

I resisted watching this show for a long time, as I had no interest in the topic — a chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with cancer and becomes a meth cooker to leave money for his family when he dies. Yes, the show is about drugs and crime and violence and morality. But at its heart, the show is about family. And that's what makes it so compellingly watchable.

The last episode ends, and Alexander admits, "Okay, it's as good as 24. Maybe better." We  go back to watch the beginning of The Pilot, the very first episode of Season One. Just to see, one more time, how far Walter has fallen.