WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Trickster Season 1, Episode 1, now available on The CW.
After initially airing on Canada's CBC last year, Trickster is now airing on the CW. The series focuses on young Jared (Joel Oulette) as he begins to suspect his life isn't what he first assumed. He's hustling to earn cash, working numerous jobs to help his alcoholic mom Maggie and his deadbeat dad, Phil, but eerie forces are starting to mess with his sanity.
However, as much as the show prides itself as a supernatural thriller, it's also a coming-of-age drama that could make it CW's version of Breaking Bad.
The Emmy-award winning Breaking Bad is one of TV's most iconic and beloved series. The story follows cancer-ridden Walter White/Heisenberg (Bryan Cranston) and outcast Jesse (Aaron Paul), who sell meth out of desperation. The series isn't just about the rise and fall of their drug empire, but how their bonds with their rivals and even their families really push them to the edge, to the point where they even scare themselves with their actions.
Trickster has elements of Breaking Bad, as Jared is secretly cooking up MDMA and selling from a lab in the backwoods of Kitimat, British Columbia. He doesn't care for his Haisla heritage as much because he just needs money, which once more speaks to the lack of opportunity afforded to the Indigenous people of Canada.
Jared's arc is reminiscent of Jesse's struggles. After the latter tries to get clean, society locks its doors and forces him back down a path he tried so hard to escape. Meanwhile, Heisenberg needed cash ASAP to take care of his family, with both men losing themselves in the belly of the beast. Jared's story is also, obviously, reminiscent of Heisenberg's arc.
Additionally, Jared is boxing himself into a corner. He's selling out of his fast food drive-thru job, placing drugs in the takeaway bags. This is problematic because it's not hard for the competition or the cops to find him. He's not really hiding; he's just hoping he lucks out.
Jared has to vehemently push on, as he literally can't afford to stop dealing. Despite the crisis of conscience and ethical dilemmas, he will keep being the bad guy, selling to high school junkies and adding to the decay of his town. As much as Jared's mystical bloodline might make him a hero, similar to Heisenberg and Jesse, he's also very much a villain.
Based on Eden Robinson's Trickster trilogy and directed by Michelle Latimer, Trickster stars Joel Oulette as Jared, Kalani Queypo as Wade, Crystle Lightning as Maggie, Georgina Lightning as Sophia, Anna Lambe as Sarah, Nathan Alexis as Crashpad, Craig Lauzon as Phil, Gail Maurice as Georgina, Joel Thomas Hynes as Richie and Jamie Spilchuk as Mr. Good. Trickster airs Tuesdays on The CW.