Why did it take so long for “Breaking Bad” to have its “Sopranos” moment?
The AMC series took years to become a pop-culture sensation, says Hank Stuever, because “it was set in a place no one really cares about” and because it wasn’t set New York or L.A. But Albuquerque, he says, plays a crucial role in “Breaking Bad’s” success. Stuever, who got his first journalism job in Albuquerque, explains: “Set anywhere else, I don’t think ‘Breaking Bad’ would have achieved its eerie sense of remoteness and moral unease. Walter’s story simply lives better in the greatest, beige-est stretch of the flyover. Much of what made the show work was its backdrop; for New Mexicans, it occasionally verged on the documentary genre.”
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Why did it take so long for ‘Breaking Bad’ to have its ‘Sopranos’ moment?
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