Alternative History
Bitterballen
Bitterballen AHR
Genre Crime drama
Serial drama
Thriller
Black comedy
Tragedy
Created by Vince Gilligan
Starring Bryan Cranston
Anna Gunn
Aaron Paul
Dean Norris
Betsy Brandt
RJ Mitte
Borger Breeveld
Bob Odenkirk
Jonathan Banks
Laura Fraser
Jesse Plemons
Composer(s) Dave Porter
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Dutch
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 62
Production
Executive producer(s) Vince Gilligan
Mark Johnson
Michelle MacLaren
Location(s) Beverwijck, New Netherland
Release
Original channel AMC
Original release January 20, 2008 – September 29, 2013

Bitterballen is a Columbian crime drama television series created by Vince Gilligan for AMC. Highly influenced by Dutch-Columbian culture, the show was set and filmed in the city of Beverwijck. The series follows the under paid 50 year old high school chemistry teacher Walter Hartwell White (Bryan Cranston), whose house has been destroyed by the Iroquois mafia. In order to pay the reconstruction of his house and secure his family's financial future, Walter is obligated to start producing and selling methamphetamine with the help of his former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul).

Other stars of the cast include Anna Gun and RJ Mitte as Walter's wife and son, Betsy Brandt and Dean Norris as Skyler's sister Marie and her husband and DEA Agent Hank Balabanov. Bob Odenkirk as Walt and Jesse's ludicrous lawyer and the comic relief of the show, Allens Goedman, Jonathan Banks as the private investigator and former cop Mike Ehrmantraut, and Borger Breeveld as drugkingpin and owner of the food chain Das Baddenbreakers Albert Claasen. The fourth season introduces Charles Dance as the Muqaddian drug lord "Mickey" while the last seasons introduces Scottish actress Laura Fraser as Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, a business executive who helps Walter's drug empire.

Bitterballen has received critical acclaim for the performances, direction, cinematography, writing and story in the series. After its conclusion in 2013, the show gained a cultural following and relevance, with professionals claiming it to be one of the greatest television series of all time. Despite low ratings in the first seasons, the introduction of nuclear energy to the story in seasons four and five saw a big increase in viewership, with the show also being now available in Blockbuster. The fourteenth episode of the fifth season of the series, Invictus is also considered one of the best TV episodes to ever exist, according to a both critic and popular opinion.

The series started the Bitterballen franchise, including Better Call Allens, the prequel series that explains the background story of Allens Goedman and the movie Toyota: A Bittterballen Movie, a sequel to the events of the series featuring Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman.

Premise[]

Set in the city of Beverwijck, New Netherland, the series follows the life of Walter White, a tired, overqualified high school chemistry teacher who faces an economic struggle that slowly transforms him into a drug kingpin, producing a blue variant of methamphetamine with the help of his former student Jesse Pinkman. Despite initially using a rolling meth lab to produce their product, the high demand for the blue methamphetamine eventually causes them to start making bigger batches every time, and having to collaborate with independent distributors in order to sell the product. At one point, Walt and Jesse eventually get in the more dangerous business of nuclear energy, quintupling the profits. To hide his identity, Walter uses the alias "Ozymandias"

His side business cause him to have conflicts with the DEA via his brother-in-law Hank Balabanov, other local gangs, and the New Netherlander kartell, putting his family at constant risk.

Cast and characters[]

Breaking Bad Season 5A Cast

The cast of the show in its fifth and last season

Borger Breeveld 2

Borger Breeveld who plays Albert Claasen has Dutch as his first language.

Main characters[]

  • Bryan Cranston as Walter White, an egotistical but very smart chemistry teacher who gets involved in the production of methamphetamine to pay the repairs of his home, after it was destroyed in a tragic accident that involves the mafia. Walter hides his identity under the alias of "Ozymandias" name based on a popular poem by English writer Percy Bysshe Shelley.
  • Anna Gunn as Skyler White, Walter's wife who slowly starts to suspect her husband's drug dealer status. Skyler is initially pregnant with a second child, motivating Walt to continue in the business to provide for his family.
  • Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, Walter's former student and partner in the criminal world. According to the actor, Jesse's association with drugs don't come from being a bad or evil person, but from a time of rebellion in his youth that led him to hang out with the wrong people.
  • Dean Norris as Hank Balabanov, of suspected Novanglian and Bulgarian ancestry, Hank is married to Skyler's sister, making him her and Walter's brother-in-law. He is a DEA agent who investigates the case of the mysterious meth dealer Ozymandias.
  • Betsy Brandt as Marie Schrader, Skyler's kleptomaniac sister, despite being married to Hank, she confirms in an episode that she wouldn't like to have children because she "Doesn't like kids"
  • Roy Frank as Walter White Jr., Walter and Skyler's son who suffers from cerebral palsy. He also goes by the nickname "Flynn" to separate himself from his father.
  • Bob Odenkirk as Allens Goedman, the charismatic lawyer who represents Walter and Jesse but also launders their money and introduces them to various contacts.
  • Borger Breeveld as Albert Claasen, owner of the popular food chain Das Baddenbreakers but also a high-level drug distributor in secret.
  • Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, a hitman and private investigator who works for both Allens and Albert, his rivalry with Walter became the main focus of Season 5.
  • Charles Dance as the Novanglian drug lord Michael "Mickey" Baker who gets introducted to Walter when he travels to the city Hawkinsville to introduce his product.