Bryan Cranston Returns as Walter White…For a Super Bowl Commercial
‘Breaking Bad’ may be completely, definitively over, but that doesn’t mean Walter White is ready to leave popular culture alone. Oh, no. As long as Bryan Cranston is alive and as long as insurance companies are prepared to back dump trucks full of cash up this house, we’ll get to see America’s favorite meth dealer pop up every so often. So while it’s weird to se Cranston play Heisenberg one more time in an Esurance commercial, it’s not that surprising.
If you’re hoping that Cranston’s appearance will by buoyed by sharp writing and jokes worthy of the ‘Breaking Bad’ name, well, prepare to get a little disappointed. Only one joke powers the whole thing: a woman arrives at her local pharmacy, only to find Mr. White working the counter (complete with his famous yellow lab outfit). From there, it’s just a chance for Cranston to repeat some of his most famous lines in a brand new context. Yes, he even breaks out “Say my name.”
In a weird and wonderful way, it’s hilarious that a major Super Bowl commercial stars a fictional drug dealer and murderer who ruined his entire family and got a lot of innocent people killed. Not even a middling execution can ruin that.