One of the very best television series created by mankind - Breaking Bad - is drawing slowly to an inevitable, and surely (but then again, maybe not) tragic denouement.
The first half of the fifth and final season has just finished on Soho - one of the very best television channels created by mankind.
The second half premieres soon.
The television drama series created by Vince Gilligan is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling, mild-mannered secondary school chemistry teacher diagnosed with fatal lung cancer.
He turns to a life of crime, using his scientific knowledge not only to cook methamphetamine, but also to poison, murder, dispose of bodies and get himself and his pal Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) out of all sorts of deadly scrapes.
Walt's grand idea is to provide for his family after his death, but by mid-fifth season the mild family man is still alive and becoming very, very dark and murderous indeed.
The show is stunningly good - and let's be clear on this - if you don't like Breaking Bad it's time to throw up your hands and admit you have absolutely no taste at all.
The clever ploy used by the writers is to pitch Walt as a sort of chemistry genius, or super-chemist.
He not only makes the very best meth in the South, he can create small bombs out of a few simple ingredients, or gas drug dealers in his mobile meth lab.
But wait: is all this chemistry plausible?
Next Monday, as we wait with restless anticipation for the final eight episodes to deliver either pathos or bathos, our old friends at MythBusters do some experiments.
MythBusters hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, of course, use scientific methods to test the validity of rumours, myths, movie scenes and the like.
At 8.30pm on the Discovery Channel, Adam and Jamie get together with Breaking Bad's Gilligan to find out just how accurate they are.
They are joined by Aaron Paul, whose character Jesse uses the word ''bitch'' more effectively than any other American actor.
Check out Jesse Pinkman's Complete ''Bitch'' Compilation on YouTube if you don't believe me.
MythBusters' take on one of the great scenes in Breaking Bad; Walt's showdown with stunningly evil Tuco, the psychotic meth dealer.
Walt turns up with a bag of mercury fulminate, which we learn is a highly volatile chemical that explodes violently when thrown in the direction of henchmen.
But will it work when MythBusters tries to re-create the scene?
And what about Walt's tried and true acid baths to dispose of bodies?
Settle in to discover the truth about stuff you should most definitely not try at home.
- Charles Loughrey
