i like a lot of shows. i like to have conversations about a handful of those shows. and, weekly, i anticipate new episodes of some of said shows. but none of those shows have had such a drug-like effect on me—no pun intended—as amc’s award-winning breaking bad.

it’s a sickness.

i literally think about the show as if i were a character in this twisted tale of walter white, the chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-drug-king. i genuinely get wrapped up in it, finding myself nearly unable to sleep after watching an episode in anticipation of what will happen to a certain character or what piece of the plot will unfold next.

yes, it’s a sickness.

breaking bad fans have waited more than a year since the finale of season 3. here’s a quick synopsis of the stunning cliffhanger:

the final scene has walt being taken to be executed because of his involvement in the death of some of his boss’s drug dealing underlings. as walt faces imminent death, he’s forced to enact what is likely the most devious and morally bankrupt plan he’s ever been involved in. in order to save his own life (and, potentially, the life of his drug addicted/dealing partner, jesse), he’s forced to kill his meth-cooking would-be successor, gale. unable to do the deed himself, he has to call on jesse to proceed with the plan. the final moments show jesse arriving at gale’s house, shaking and in tears, pointing the gun at gale’s head. as the camera pans around to where the viewer is looking down the barrel of the gun, the screen goes black and a gunshot rings out. whoa.

rather than just read it, you can watch the video of the final few minutes.

even if you’ve never seen any of breaking bad beyond those few minutes, you can see that there are plenty of questions to answer in season 4.

along with the announcement of season 4’s arrival, amc posted a teaser trailer, primarily (if not completely) comprised of footage from season 3. in it, we’re reminded that walter’s actions have led to to a near breaking point with both his family and his drug dealer-turned-killer partner, jesse pinkman. in the beginning, the show was a quirky plot about a chemistry teacher who cooks meth, but quickly spiraled into a deeply layered moral epic about how far a man will go to provide for his family and at what point he simply becomes a power-hungry monster. it seems that season 4 will continue with that complex trajectory.

on sunday night (at 9 pm), we’ll dive into the next chapter of an amazing show. check out the teaser trailer and get ready for an intense ride.