This should come as great news to fans of AMC’s awesome show Breaking Bad (especially our own Shannon Hood). AMC has closed a deal to renew creator Vince Gilligan’s dark drama for a fourth season. The network made the announcement this morning via an official press release.

The deal had been reportedly in the workd for several months but had stalled due to budget considerations for the fourth season. The studio had wanted the per episode cost not to exceed $3.1 Million while the show’s producers were hoping for more like $3.3 Million per episode. Apparenly, the must have found a happy medium, or ‘Split the difference” as they say in the biz, because the show is coming back next year.

Breaking Bad has performed decently in the ratings but has achieved critical success. It has also garnered star Bryan Cranston two Emmys for his work on the show and a best series nomination last year. Knowing how this season ended, I’m very pleased the show will have a chance to continue. It deserves to be on for a long time.

Click through for the complete press release from AMC.

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Fair warning:  heavy spoilers ahead.  This weeks’ episode was a little lighter on the action, but heavy on the character development.  Front and center were Walt and Hank, who are both starting to crack mentally, in different ways and for different reasons.  I really liked jumping between the two, knowing how tightly their fates are bound together, and watching it all slowly unravel.

The episode began with Jesse fueling up his enormous RV at an isolated gas station.  When he goes in to pay, he reveals to the young female clerk that he has no money, and after copping a few lame pleas he pulls out a bag of the blue meth, trying to entice her into a trade (the gas came to $79.)  He bats his baby blues and she explains that she would, but her father owns the station and is a major hard-ass who served in Fallujah, and he checks all the books.

Did anyone else think that fact might be foreshadowing?  Why make such a point to say he served in Fallujah?  I just wonder if that is going to come back into play.  Anyway, right when she appears to be taking the bait, a law officer walks into the store.  Amazingly, Jesse stands there cool as a cucumber, and passes off the baggie right under the officer’s nose.  A ballsy move on Jesse’s part.

Walt goes to confront Ted about Skylar at the Beneke building.  Of course the receptionist tells him Ted is not available, but Walt becomes enraged when he sees Ted peeking out of his office like  a coward.  Walt (hilariously) attempts to pick up a super-heavy potted plant and tries to hoist it through Ted’s window, but it bounces right off.

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Breaking Bad is one of television’s finest offerings. The show airs on Sundays on AMC, and revolves around a high school chemistry teacher who finds out he is dying of cancer, and begins to cook some highly coveted meth to acquire some quick cash to leave his family. Of course, unseen complications keep popping up, as you can imagine.

I’ll be your guide through the twisted universe of Breaking Bad this season. These weekly recaps will be chock full ‘o spoilers, so proceed at your own risk. You definitely will want to watch the episode before reading these. Feel free to chime in with your own thoughts or insights in the comments section.

Last season the premiere had some truly astonishing visuals, namely that teddy bear slowly floating down to a watery grave in the White family pool. Remember the unidentified eyeball lolling in the waves? I didn’t think those visuals could be topped, but No Mas (literally no more) began with some surreal and haunting imagery as well.

This time, the show opens in Mexico, and an elderly man is slowly making his way across the desert by using an army crawl-belly to the ground, dragging himself with his elbows. Curiously, when he encounters other people they simply ignore him and go about their business.

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