From Walter White to Heisenberg: the (Anti)Hero’s Journey in the risk society

In the new millennium, the thesis of ulrich beck (2008) focused on the risk society are continuously revitalized, not only by the 9/11 attacks and its consequences but by the economic crisis that starts seven years later in the USA. An environment strongly influenced by the uncertainty, where the so-called Third Golden Age of American Television also takes place. It is just that the bottom of this research that questions the role of fiction in reproducing the sensation of fear. For such purpose, the case study is Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008-2013). A television series which is born between these two historic moments that impacts in its plot and in its sub-genres. In this way, the Qualitative content Analysis allows to analyze the influence of the risk society on the impact of the fear in this plot, specifically the anti-heroism. A research that shows that fiction is fundamental for a better understanding of the environment of uncertainty nowadays.