Published 2012-11-01
“…This reversal is visible through multiple conflicts, tensions, and deviations that suburban characters from
TV series are confronted with today. In the image of Wisteria Lane, where the smart rows of houses, well-kept alleys, and impeccable lawns hardly dissimulate masses of betrayals and murders of all sorts, the suburb has transformed into a theater of illusions, inhabited by people with tormented destinies or perverted personalities: from the chemistry teacher forced to cook amphetamines to pay for his chemotherapy (Breaking Bad, AMC, 2008–) to the mother who sells marijuana (
Weeds, Showtime, 2005–2012), or the Hells Angels tossed back and forth between arms trafficking and family life (Sons of Anarchy, FX, 2008–), from polygamous subdivisions (Big Love, HBO, 2006–2011) to the golden prison of an abandoned housewife (Mad Men, AMC, 2007–), the peaceful and idyllic image of the suburb seems more degenerated than ever, letting show through the moral failure of a society led astray by a residential normalcy that is just as contrived as illusory.…”
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