Music on The Wire/Breaking Bad: Desperation and Transformation

Two different series ask viewers to follow main characters taking questionable turns for righteous reasons.

Dominic West as Detective McNulty in the fifth and final season of HBO's 'The Wire' - HBO

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Drake Lelane, Jan 23, 2008

With both The Wire and Breaking Bad now airing, Sunday night television is the beacon in this strike-laden season. These two dramas are currently asking much of their audience, in the way of their characters' desperation and transformation - both breaking bad for what they believe are good reasons.

The Wire's McNutty (and now even Lester) have gone down a treacherous road of inventing a serial killer with the hope that it will push the city for more funds. It's a turn that began last week, but has a lot of folks screaming "shark jump" with the inclusion of Lester into the mix. Bunk again provides the comedic relief, but his point of view this season is quite in line with viewers: "I don't believe what I'm seeing!" Like Bunny's Hamsterdam, though, there are a lot of reasons that our beloved characters are breaking bad. Besides the economic frustrations -- no OT payouts for months now, broken down vehicles, etc. -- there's also this season's Moby Dick obsession with Marlo Stanfield, an investigation gutted by the Major Crimes Unit shutdown. When Lester staked out Marlo last week on his own time, creator David Simon was hinting that he was breaking as well, so the shock that he's down with McNutty's crazy scheme should be lessened at least a bit.

Meanwhile, Breaking Bad's main character Walt has turned to cooking crystal meth after learning he's got inoperable lung cancer. It's a bit of a stretch, but it's a quick turn after we barely get to know him, so it's easier to swallow initially than McNutty and Lester's turn. The pilot provided all sorts of turns that have potential over the season, but I'm reserving judgement until I see how things pan out. I'm not convinced as yet of some of the supporting characters -- though Bryan Cranston as Walt is mesmerizing -- and also worried at how the plot of someone dying of terminal lung cancer will be able to go on for more than its existing seven-episode season.

Musically for The Wire, this week sees a lot of fun music placement, especially with ? and the Mysterians' "96 Tears" backing McNutty on the prowl in the bar. When Chris and Snoop take down poor Butchie, Junior Wells' "Messin' with the Kid" plays. The kid in this case is Omar, and we all know you don't mess with Omar. For Breaking Bad, hearing "Tamacun" from the Dublin-based Mexican duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela was a secret thrill, along with fellow Mexicans Molotov and their insane "Apocalypshit," which perfectly captured the madness of Walt's wild ride. But the best song choice by far was the use of Mick Harvey's cover of "Out of Time Man." Originally written by Manu Chao and performed by his Mano Negra, the song is a nice commentary on Walt's limited time left: