Bryan Cranston must like playing controversial characters since to be fair, Your Honor already looks like something that resembles Breaking Bad from a more upscale vantage point and without the drug. When a judge’s kid runs over the son of a notorious crime boss and then leaves the scene of the accident it’s bound to come back at them in a big way, but of course, the judge tells the son that he has to own up to it and take his licks, right? Wrong. If you thought this was going to be a story about personal responsibility and taking the blame for something that’s been done then you haven’t been paying attention to pretty much anything for a while since already it would appear that Cranston’s character won’t just wade into the deep end of trouble, he’ll be diving in headfirst as he tries to cover up any involvement on his son’s part and will get another person, and several more people involved in this mess before it’s all over and done with. Already the drama has been built up to an incredible level since the idea of doing anything against those that practice organized crime is a big no-no since if even half of the stories from the past are correct, these people tend to know how to get back at a person without incurring the full wrath of the law, and they don’t forgive and forget until the person that wronged them is six feet under and on their way to being little more than a memory.
One thing Cranston is good at though is playing a character that appears to have a moral backbone but might crumble the moment something comes along that he can’t handle within the confines of the law. He’s played friendly and very likable characters in the past and he’s played some of the most despicable characters as well. But in Your Honor, it would appear that he’s going to be playing the part of a man that’s both scared for his son and well aware of what those that are looking for his kid can and will do if they find him. But enlisting someone else’s aid in this kind of endeavor and risking their lives is something that might be seen as irresponsible as well as reprehensible since it involves taking another person in his confidence and asking them to put themselves in harm’s way for a cause that isn’t their own. One very interesting thing about Cranston though is that he’s one of the many actors that can set a viewer firmly against his character or can have a person rooting for him in some way no matter how bad he appears to be. Covering up for your son after a hit and run is pretty bad, but knowing what will happen to your son if he admits to hitting the person when that person’s father is a notorious crime leader, well, there aren’t a lot of people that would feel safe relying on the law to handle things, since those that live and operate outside the law tend to take things into their own hands far too often and don’t tend to stop until they’ve found the kind of justice that suits them.
How long this series can last is unknown since on the star power of Cranston alone it’s been seen that a series can last for a while, though in Breaking Bad he did have a lot of support, though it’s easy to wonder what might have happened had he been matched with a bunch of actors that were just making their way up. But in Breaking Bad one can at least admit that he was starting from the ground up when it came to being a meth cook, while in Your Honor it looks as though his character has been a judge for a good while, meaning that it’s more likely to be the deconstruction of a character and their authority rather than the buildup of something. That could be pretty interesting really since it took Walter White a while to become Heisenberg, whereas it might be a quick descent for a judge to become a criminal but a long journey to get his life back and make sure that he was in the clear. However it happens, Cranston is the kind of guy that can help tell a story in a manner that makes it convincing and entertaining all at the same time, so Your Honor already looks like something that will be worth watching. On that note though, it sounds fair to say that his character is going to experience a serious decline throughout the series, especially with a crime boss looking for the person that murdered his son. Such stories rarely have a simple or happy ending.
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