So, bear (pun!) with me on this, but I made an offhanded comparison between the relationship between Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo as they share a quest for stealing picnic baskets illegally to the relationship between Walter White and Jesse Pinkman as they share their quest for an illegal, successful drug business. I didn't think much about it when I first said it, but then I thought more about it.
First, the distribution of power seems odd in both relationships, and nothing any rational person would put up with over a prolonged period of time. Why do Boo-Boo and Jesse have such dysfunctional loyalty to Yogi and Walter, respectively, so much? They would both be in far less trouble, and are possibly more capable of acting on their own than in the shadow of the large egos of their partners in crime.
The other similarity, I realized, is the relationship between the criminals and the law enforcement. Park Ranger Smith and Yogi have always been a little too chummy for logic. The Ranger always knows what Yogi is up to, yet the bear always seems to elude him or consequences. Slightly different, but with obvious similarities, Hank always knows what Heisenberg is up to, but the drug dealer always eludes him. In this case, the law and criminal are also chummy; of course, in this case, Hank isn't aware of this. But from time to time, don't we wonder: how can Hank not suspect, just a little, if he really chose to see what was in front of him?
So, what I'm saying here is, if Albuquerque is Jellystone, and we equate the epidosidic goal of the criminal pairs, which is to subvert the law to cover up their activity, then perhaps we are left with an acclaimed drama that is little more than a nefarious Hanna-Barbera plotline.
. . . or maybe not, but what's the fun of watching an outlandish amount of television if you can't making speculative connections to amuse yourself from time to time.
