‘Breaking Bad’ goes out on quite a high

Did you watch the Emmy Awards on Monday night? If not, you didn’t miss much.

The show was relatively uneventful, with the exception of a moving tribute to Robin Williams by his longtime friend Billy Crystal.

The big winners of the night were “Breaking Bad” and “Modern Family.” Drug drama “Breaking Bad” won for outstanding drama series for the second year in a row. The show’s Bryan Cranston, who starred as chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-kingpin Walter White, won for lead actor in a drama. Cranston’s co-stars Aaron Paul and Anna Gunn picked up trophies for their supporting roles.

Truth be told, I watched “Breaking Bad” for the first time a few months ago. Talk about being behind the curve — it was already off the air. I remember hearing about the show for years and thinking I had no interest in a drama about the methamphetamine drug trade.

Boy, was I wrong.

The show is really about exacting a moral price for immoral behavior. Cranston’s character has cancer and turns to cooking meth to make sure his family will be supported once he’s gone. When White has a chance to get out of the drug trade he chooses not to.

The story is about how an ordinary chemistry teacher becomes a drug lord, and more interestingly, winds up liking it. Why, you ask?

White explains, “I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really … I was alive.”

That celebration of realism may in part explain why “Breaking Bad” has become one of the most binge-watched TV shows in history.

Somehow, I found myself rooting for White, loving and hating him all at the same time. I’ll say this: White may not be a great person, but he’s an authentic person and that makes his character infectious.

I don’t typically look to wins at awards shows as validation to what shows I should check out on TV, but this year the Emmys got it right.

If you haven’t watched “Breaking Bad,” block out so time and get ready to be engrossed in a compelling drama that simply sucks you in — in a good way!