Mark Seymour : ` ` Breaking Bad 's '' focus on an anti - hero challenges viewers ' normal stances . He says we are torn between admiration and fear for the main character , played by Bryan Cranston . Seymour : Remember how we were pulled every which way on how to feel about the psychologically wounded Tony Soprano 's struggle to reconcile being both a dedicated family man and ruthless criminal entrepreneur in the thick of the turn-of-the-century economic boom ? Walter White is the dreaded specter of our lives , making one bad choice after another .
Mark Seymour : ` ` Breaking Bad 's '' focus on an anti - hero challenges viewers ' normal stances . He says we are torn between admiration and fear for the main character , played by Bryan Cranston . Seymour : Walter White is the dreaded specter of our lives , making one bad choice after another .