ABSTRACT

This chapter explores how we as spectators sometimes feel suspense with reference to the possibility of a character doing something morally wrong. It argues that it is a mistake to take the notion sympathetic allegiance as one's starting point in an analysis of the role played by moral evaluation in feelings of suspense. The low-level, amoral nature of empathic engagement, however, is not the whole solution to the problem of moral inversion of suspense. The chapter concentrates on Breaking Bad, as suspense is one of the main ways this series enhances a sympathetic engagement with its antihero Walter White. Although Breaking Bad is perhaps best known for and most greatly appreciated by its many fans for its highly enjoyable suspense sequences, the series does not merely consist of such material. In fact, throughout Breaking Bad, Walter and Jesse's journey into the drug making and dealing underworld of Albuquerque serves as an enjoyable contrast to Walter's home life.