Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad is an American television series created and produced by . The show aired on from January 20, 2008, to September 29, 2013. It was set and filmed in , and tells the story of (), an underemployed and depressed high school chemistry teacher who is struggling with midlife crisis and a recent diagnosis of stage-three . White and his former student () turn to crime by producing and selling to secure his family's financial future before he dies, while navigating the dangers of the criminal underworld. The title is a Southern colloquialism meaning to turn to a life of crime. into .

Among the show's co-stars are and as Walter's wife and son , and and as Skyler's sister and her husband , a agent. Others include as the sleazy lawyer , as private investigator and , and as drug kingpin . The final season introduces as the criminally ambitious , and as , a business executive secretly managing Walter's global meth sales for her company.

Breaking Bad is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time. just before the fourth season premiere. By the time that the aired, it was among the most-watched cable shows on American television. The show received , including 16 , eight , two , two , two , and four . Cranston won the four times, while Aaron Paul won the three times; Anna Gunn won the twice. In 2013, Breaking Bad entered the as the most critically acclaimed show of all time.[10]

debuted on February 8, 2015, on AMC starring Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks as a prequel series. The sequel film was released on and in theaters on October 11, 2019, starring Aaron Paul.[11]

Set in , between 2008 and 2010,, a meek high school science teacher who transforms into a ruthless player in the local drug trade, driven by a desire to provide for his family after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Initially making only small batches of meth with his former student in a , Walter and Jesse eventually expand to make larger batches of a special blue meth that is incredibly pure and creates high demand. Walter takes on the name "" to mask his identity. Because of his drug-related activities, Walt eventually finds himself at odds with his family, the (DEA) through his brother-in-law , the local gangs, the Mexican drug cartels and their regional distributors, putting his life at risk.

Conception[]

Breaking Bad was created by , who spent several years writing the series . Gilligan wanted to create a series in which the became the . "Television is historically good at keeping its characters in a self-imposed stasis so that shows can go on for years or even decades," he said. "When I realized this, the logical next step was to think, how can I do a show in which the fundamental drive is toward change?" into .

The show title is a colloquialism meaning, among other things, "raising hell", and was chosen by Gilligan to describe Walter's transformation. entertainment editor Lily Rothman, the term has a broader meaning and is an old phrase which "connotes more violence than 'raising hell' does ... [T]he words possess a wide variety of nuances: to 'break bad' can mean to 'go wild', to 'defy authority', and break the law, to be verbally 'combative, belligerent, or threatening' or, followed by the preposition 'on', 'to dominate or humiliate'."[19]

The concept emerged as Gilligan talked with his fellow X-Files writer regarding their current unemployment and joked that the solution was for them to put a " and [drive] around the country cooking meth and making money".[20]

After writing the concept for the show and pilot, Gilligan pitched it to , who became very interested in supporting it. Sony arranged for meetings with the various cable networks. passed on this, as they had already started broadcasting , a show with similarities to the premise of Breaking Bad. Other networks like and also passed on the idea, but eventually took interest and began initial discussions on producing the pilot., a female-centric crime-based drama series, and with three existing male-centric shows already on the network, FX passed up Breaking Bad for Dirt.[21]

One of Gilligan's agents spoke to Jeremy Elice, the director of original programming for who was looking for more original shows to add alongside their upcoming . Elice was intrigued, and soon a meeting was set up between Gilligan, Elice, and two programming executives. Gilligan was not optimistic about this meeting, fearing they would just put him off, but instead all three showed great interest, and the meeting ended up establishing how AMC would acquire the rights from FX and set the pilot into production. It took about a year following this meeting before Sony had set up the rights with AMC and production could start.[21]

Development history[]

The network ordered nine episodes for the first season (including the pilot), but the limited the production to seven episodes, as well as delayed the start of production for the second season. This death was eliminated with the limited episode count, which Gilligan found to be a net positive given the strength of acting that both Paul and Norris brought to these roles through the seasons. Gould stated that the writer's strike "saved the show", as if they had produced the two additional episodes in the first season, they would have gone down a different creative path that he believes would have led to the show's cancellation by its third season.[24]

The initial versions of the script were set in , but at the suggestion of Sony, was chosen for the production's location due to the favorable financial conditions offered by the state of . Once Gilligan recognized that this would mean "we'd always have to be avoiding the " in shots directed toward the east, the story setting was changed to the actual production location. It was shot primarily on , employed as needed for additional angles, and .

Around 2010, AMC had expressed to Sony Pictures Television and Gilligan that they felt that the third season would be the last for Breaking Bad. Sony started to shop the show around, having gained quick interest from the FX network for two more seasons, upon which AMC changed its mind and allowed the show to continue. was starting to aggressively shop for content to add to its service, and arranged a deal with Sony for Breaking Bad to be available after the airing of the fourth season. However, knowing that AMC had placed Breaking Bad on a potential cancellation route, Sony pushed to have the show added to the service in time for the fourth season. Because of this, Breaking Bad's viewership grew greatly as viewers binged the series on Netflix, helping to assure that a fifth season could be made. The fifth-season premiere had more than double the viewership compared to the fourth season premiere, attributed to the Netflix availability.

As the series progressed, Gilligan and the writing staff of Breaking Bad made Walter increasingly unsympathetic. Cranston said by the , "I think Walt's figured out it's better to be a pursuer than the pursued. He's well on his way to badass."[16]

In July 2011, Vince Gilligan indicated that he intended to conclude Breaking Bad at the end of its fifth season. and , the production company of the series. AMC proposed a shortened fifth season (six to eight episodes, instead of 13) to cut costs, but the producers declined. Sony then approached other cable networks about possibly picking up the show if a deal could not be made.

Before the series finale, Gilligan said that it was difficult to write for Walter White because the character was so dark and morally questionable: "I'm going to miss the show when it's over, but on some level, it'll be a relief to not have Walt in my head anymore." Ultimately, Gilligan chose to end Breaking Bad with Walter's death, occurring in-story two years after he had been first been diagnosed with cancer and given two years to live. Gilligan said by the end of the series, "it feels as if we should adhere to our promise that we explicitly made to our audience" from the first episode.[36]

Casting[]

"You're going to see that underlying humanity, even when he's making the most devious, terrible decisions, and you need someone who has that humanity – deep down, bedrock humanity – so you say, watching this show, 'All right, I'll go for this ride. I don't like what he's doing, but I understand, and I'll go with it for as far as it goes.' If you don't have a guy who gives you that, despite the greatest acting chops in the world, the show is not going to succeed."

—, about [37]

Breaking Bad creator cast Bryan Cranston for the role of Walter White based on having worked with him in the "" episode of the science fiction television series , on which Gilligan worked as a writer. Cranston played an anti-Semite with a terminal illness who took series co-protagonist () hostage. Gilligan said the character had to be simultaneously loathsome and sympathetic, and that "Bryan alone was the only actor who could do that, who could pull off that trick. And it is a trick. I have no idea how he does it." AMC officials, who were initially reluctant with the casting choice, having known Cranston only as the over-the-top character on the comedy series , approached actors and about the role.

Cranston contributed significantly to the formation and development of the Walter White persona. When Gilligan left much of Walter's past unexplained during the development of the series, the actor wrote his own for the character. Cranston repeatedly identified elements in certain scripts where he disagreed with how the character was handled,

's casting was also initially questioned by production, as Paul looked too old and too much like a "pretty boy" to be associated with meth cooking. However, Gilligan reconsidered Paul's skills after seeing his audition and recalling he had also had guest starred on The X-Files episode "". in a botched drug deal as a plot device to plague Walter White with guilt. However, Gilligan said by the second episode of the season, he was so impressed with Paul's performance that "it became pretty clear early on that would be a huge, colossal mistake, to kill off Jesse". had shown his ability to be a law enforcement official in The X-Files episode "", and was brought on to be Hank Schrader, Walter's brother-in-law and DEA agent.[43]

Scientific accuracy[]

, a professor of at the , checked scripts and provided dialogue. She also drew and wrote which were used as props. According to creator Vince Gilligan,

Dr. Donna Nelson from the University of Oklahoma approached us several seasons back and said, "I really like this show, and if you ever need help with the chemistry, I'd love to lend a hand." She's been a wonderful advisor. We get help wherever we need it, whether it's chemistry, , or . We try to get everything correct. There's no full-time [advisor] on set, but we run certain scenes by these experts first.[44]

"Because Walter White was talking to his students, I was able to dumb down certain moments of description and dialogue in the early episodes which held me until we had some help from some honest-to-God chemists," says Gilligan. According to Gilligan, Nelson "vets our scripts to make sure our chemistry dialogue is accurate and up to date. We also have a chemist with the based out of Dallas who has just been hugely helpful to us."

Several episodes of featured attempts to validate or disprove scenes from Breaking Bad, often with Gilligan guest-starring in the episode to participate. In 2013, two scenes from the first season of Breaking Bad were put under scrutiny in a . Despite several modifications to what was seen in the show, both the scenes depicted in the show were shown to be physically impossible. to fully dissolve metal, flesh, or ceramic as shown in the episode "", and that while it was possible to throw against the floor to cause an explosion, as in the episode "", Walter would have needed a much larger quantity of the compound and thrown at a much faster speed, and likely would have killed all in the room. A later Mythbusters episode, "Blow It Out of the Water", tested the possibility of mounting an automated machine gun in a car as in the series finale "", and found it plausible. proved that it was impossible for an electromagnet to draw metallic objects from across a room as in the episode "".[51]

Jason Wallach of magazine commended the accuracy of the cooking methods presented in the series. In early episodes, a once common clandestine route, the Nagai / method, is depicted, which uses as a to d-(+)-methamphetamine., Walt chooses to use a different synthetic route based on the difficulty of acquiring enough pseudoephedrine to produce on the larger scale required. The new method Walt chooses is a reaction, relying on phenyl-2-propanone and . On the show, the phenyl-2-propanone (otherwise known as or P2P) is produced from and using a and (ThO2) as a , as mentioned in episodes "A No Rough-Stuff-Type Deal" and "Más". P2P and methylamine form an intermediate; of this P2P-methylamine imine intermediate is performed using , as shown in several episodes including "Hazard Pay".[53]

One of the important plot points in the series is that the crystal meth Walter "cooks" has very long crystals, is very pure, and (despite its purity) has a strong cyan blue color. Truly ultra-pure crystal meth would tend to be clear or white.[54]

In their article "Die Chemie bei Breaking Bad" on Chemie in unserer Zeit (translated into English on ChemistryViews as "The Chemistry of Breaking Bad"), Tunga Salthammer and Falk Harnish discuss the plausibility of the chemistry portrayed in certain scenes. According to the two, chemistry is clearly depicted as a manufacturing science without much explanation of analytical methods being provided. On the other hand, serious scientific subjects are mixed into the dialogue in order to show a world where chemistry plays a key role.[54]

Technical aspects[]

was the cinematographer of Breaking Bad beginning with the second season and he received critical acclaim for his work throughout the series. Critics appreciated the bold visual style adopted by the TV series. Although series creator Vince Gilligan and Slovis wanted to shoot Breaking Bad in , Sony and AMC did not grant them permission. Gilligan cited 's Westerns as a reference for how he wanted the series to look. nominations for and .[56]

Breaking Bad was shot on because of the robustness of the equipment and to keep a focus on shooting scenes economically. Also it allows a later digital transfer to .

Kelley Dixon was one of the editors of Breaking Bad and edited many of the series' "meth montages". For the montages, she would use techniques such as and alternating the speed of the film, either faster or slower. nominations for and won the award in 2013.[56]

Main characters[]

• as  – a who, shortly after his 50th birthday, is diagnosed with Stage III and turns to making to secure his family's finances. As his shady business progresses, Walter gains a notorious reputation under the name of "Heisenberg". Cranston stated that, though he enjoyed doing comedy, he decided he

  ... should really focus on doing something else. But I think any good drama worth its weight always has a sprinkling of comedy in it, because you can ease the tension to an audience when it's necessary, and then build it back up again. Walt White has no clue he's occasionally funny, but as an actor, I recognize when there are comedic moments and opportunities.[59]



• as  – Walter's wife who was pregnant with their second child before his diagnosis and who becomes increasingly suspicious of her husband after he begins behaving in unfamiliar ways. Gunn sees Skyler as "grounded, tough, smart and driven". Gunn sees Skyler's stalled writing career as her biggest dream, saying, "I think she really deep down yearns to be an artist and to be creative and productive."[60]


• as  – Walter's cooking partner and former student. Paul sees Jesse as a funny kid. "He's just this lost soul – I don't think he's a bad kid, he just got mixed in the wrong crowd." Paul elaborated on the character's background, saying, "He doesn't come from an abusive, alcoholic background. But maybe he just didn't relate to his father, maybe his father was too strict and too proper for Jesse." Paul compared the character's relationship with Walt to .[61]


• as  – Marie's husband, Walter and Skyler's brother-in-law and a agent. At the beginning of the series, Hank was intended to be the "comic relief". Norris, who has played several policemen before in film and television, stated:

  Having played so many cops, I've talked with a lot of technical advisers, so I've been able to pick up a lot. Coincidentally, one of my best friends growing up is a cop in Chicago, and one of my other best friends out in LA is a sheriff. So I get to see all the components of that culture.[62]



• as  – Skyler's sister and Hank's wife. Brandt described Marie as "an unpleasant bitch", but also stated there was more to her than that. "I think we're seeing more of it now that she would be there for her family. But it's all about her."[63]


• as  – Walter and Skyler's son, who has . He begins lashing out after Walter's cancer announcement. Like Walter Jr., Mitte has cerebral palsy, although his is a milder form.


• as (recurring season 2, main cast season 3–5) – a crooked lawyer who represents Walt and Jesse. Odenkirk drew inspiration for Goodman from film producer .

  I thought about Robert Evans because I've listened to on CD. He's constantly switching up his cadence and his delivery. He emphasizes interesting words. He has loads of attitude in almost every line that he says. So when I rehearse the scenes alone I do my impersonation of Robert Evans to find those moments and turns. Then I go out and I do Saul.[66]



• as (recurring season 2, main cast season 3–4) – a Chilean high-level drug distributor who has a cover as an owner of the chain Los Pollos Hermanos. Esposito stated that for the third season, he incorporated his training in his performance.

  Gus is the coolest cucumber that ever walked the Earth. I think about way back in . He was like dead – he was hardly breathing. I thought, how is this guy just standing in this fire and doing nothing? Gus has totally allowed me that level of flexibility and relaxation – not because he has ultimate power and he knows he can take someone's life. He's just confident.[67]



• as (guest star season 2, main cast season 3–5: part 1) – works for Gus as an all-purpose and , and also works for Saul as a private investigator. The character of Mike has been compared to 's Winston Wolf character in , which Banks says he is not trying to emulate: "I immediately tried to put it out of my mind, quite honestly. His cleaner ain't my cleaner. But throughout this world, you would suspect there had been a great many cleaners, whether government-run or individual contractors."[68]


• as (recurring season 5: part 1, main cast season 5: part 2) – a high-ranking employee of Madrigal Electromotive and a former associate of Gus Fring. She reluctantly begins supplying Walt and Jesse with and helps Walt expand his operation overseas.


• as (recurring season 5: part 1, main cast season 5: part 2) – an employee of Vamonos Pest Control who becomes an associate of Walt and Jesse.

Recurring characters[]

• as  – Hank's DEA partner and best friend who assists in tracking down and learning the identity of Heisenberg. In comical situations between him and Hank, Gomez serves as the "".


• as  – Jesse's dimwitted friend and junkie, who often serves as the series' .


• as  – A friend of Jesse and a fellow pusher.


• Rodney Rush as  – Also a friend of Jesse and a fellow pusher.


• and as  – Co-owners of Gray Matter, a company that they co-founded alongside Walter, who left the business prior to its major success. Gretchen was a former flame of Walt's and partially the reason he left.


• as  – A sociopathic Mexican drug kingpin who becomes Walt and Jesse's meth distributor.


• as  – A former high-ranking member of the Juarez Cartel who is now unable to walk or speak because of a stroke, communicating with the help of a bell. He is the uncle of Tuco, Marco, and Leonel Salamanca.


• as  – Skyler's boss and president of Beneke Fabricators who begins developing financial issues, resulting in an intervention from Skyler.


• as  – Jesse's apartment manager and girlfriend, who is a recovering addict.


• as  – Jane Margolis' father, an .


• as  – A chemist hired by Gus Fring to work alongside Walter.


• as  – Two ruthless and taciturn for the Juarez Cartel who are the cousins of Tuco Salamanca and the nephews of Hector Salamanca.


• as  – Jesse's second girlfriend, who is also a recovering addict. She has a young son named Brock.


• as  – A loyal henchman to Gus who serves as his enforcer along with Mike.


• Ray Campbell as  – Gus's enforcer along with Mike during season 4.


• as  – Saul's bodyguard who also handles problems Walter needs fixing.


• as  – Saul Goodman's receptionist.


• as  – A hired of Saul's who handles various sensitive tasks involving verbal intimidation, coercion, and misdirection.


• as  – Todd's uncle and the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood, a gang.


• as  – Jack's second-in-command.

Special guest appearances[]

• as  – A Mexican cartel member and DEA informant.


• as Getz – An Albuquerque police officer who brings Badger into police custody, prompting Walt to turn to Saul Goodman.


• as Lawson – An Albuquerque arms dealer who obtains several guns for Walt.


• as  – The leader of the Juarez Cartel who has a history with Gus.


• as Ed Galbraith – A vacuum cleaner repairman whose undercover business is a new identity specialist.


• as himself.

The complete series was released on on November 26, 2013, in a box shaped like one of the barrels used by Walt to bury his money. and a humorous alternative ending that features Cranston and his Malcolm in the Middle co-star playing their characters Hal and , in a nod to the final scene from .

Season 1 (2008)[]

The first season was originally intended to be nine episodes, but due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike only seven episodes were filmed.[23] It ran from January 20 to March 9, 2008.

Walter, diagnosed with inoperable , conspires with Jesse to cook ("meth") as a way to pay for his treatment and provide financial security for his family. Jesse secures a to cook in, while Walter devises a production route using unregulated chemicals, creating a highly pure product tinted blue. After a run-in with the Mexican drug cartel, Walter adopts the name "Heisenberg", with his "blue sky" meth his signature product. Hank and the DEA become aware of this new figure in the drug trade and begin their investigation.

Season 2 (2009)[]

Jesse's dealers become unsafe, and Walter hires Saul to connect them to Gus as a buyer for their latest batch. Jesse dates Jane, and she relapses on heroin; Jesse becomes unreliable. Walter refuses to pay him his half of the sale to Gus, but Jane blackmails Walter. Walter returns to Jesse to apologize, but allows an unconscious Jane to choke on her own vomit. With Jesse in rehab, Walter seems content until he witnesses a midair collision of two planes, a result of Jane's father, an air-traffic controller, becoming distraught over her death while on the job.

Season 3 (2010)[]

On April 2, 2009, AMC announced that Breaking Bad was renewed for a third, 13-episode season.

Gus offers Walter a job cooking meth at a hidden lab. Walter demands Jesse be his assistant rather than Gus' choice of Gale. Skyler learns of Walter's meth cooking and demands a divorce. Hank's investigation leads him to Jesse, but finds no evidence and assaults Jesse, forcing him into a short leave. Hank is forewarned about an attack from two assassins, and kills them though he becomes paralyzed. Jesse's behavior becomes erratic, and Gus replaces him with Gale. Walter fears Gus will kill him and Jesse once Gale learns enough, and instructs Jesse to kill Gale.

Season 4 (2011)[]

On June 14, 2010, AMC announced Breaking Bad was renewed for a fourth, 13-episode season. the season premiered on July 17, 2011, and concluded on October 9, 2011. but these did not come to fruition.[79]

Gus tightens security at the lab after Gale's death. Gus and Mike work to drive a wedge between Walter and Jesse, seeking to coerce Jesse to be their solitary cook while at the same time eliminating the Mexican cartel. Skyler accepts Walter's meth cooking, and works with Saul to launder his earnings. Hank, while recovering, tracks Gale's death to Gus and the drug trade. Gus releases Walter and plans to kill Hank. Walter tricks Jesse into turning against Gus, and convinces Hector to detonate a pipe bomb in the same room as Gus, killing them both.

Season 5 (2012–13)[]

On August 14, 2011, AMC announced that Breaking Bad was renewed for a fifth and final season consisting of 16 episodes. In August 2013, AMC released a trailer promoting the premiere of final season with Bryan Cranston reading the poem "" by , over timelapse shots of Breaking Bad locations.[81]

Walt, Jesse, and Mike start a new meth business. When Todd kills a child witness during their theft of methylamine, Jesse and Mike sell their share to Declan. Walt produces meth for Declan, and Lydia starts distribution in Europe, which is so successful Walt makes US$80 million, which he buries on the . Hank attempts to prove Walt is Heisenberg. Walt kills Mike and hires Jack's gang to kill Mike's associates and Jesse. The gang turns on Walt, kills Hank, captures Jesse, and takes most of Walt's money. Walt uses the remainder to escape to New Hampshire.

Walt intends to surrender, but changes course after Elliott and Gretchen minimize his involvement in starting Gray Matter. He leaves his money in a trust Elliott and Gretchen will administer for his children. He confesses to Skyler that he dealt drugs because he liked it. At Jack's compound, Walt kills Jack and the rest of his gang with a remote controlled machine gun and frees the imprisoned Jesse, who kills Todd. Wounded, he asks Jesse to kill him, but Jesse refuses and departs. Walt reminisces in Jack's meth lab and eventually dies.

Moral consequences[]

In an interview with , creator said the larger lesson of the series is that "actions have consequences".[35] He elaborated on the show's philosophy:

If religion is a reaction of man, and nothing more, it seems to me that it represents a human desire for wrongdoers to be punished. I hate the idea of living in Saudi Arabia for the last 25 years of his life. That galls me to no end. I feel some sort of need for Biblical atonement, or justice, or something. I like to believe there is some comeuppance, that kicks in at some point, even if it takes years or decades to happen. My girlfriend says this great thing that's become my philosophy as well. 'I want to believe there's a heaven. But I can't not believe there's a hell.'

In a piece comparing the show to , and , said that Breaking Bad is "built on the uncomfortable premise that there's an irrefutable difference between what's right and what's wrong, and it's the only one where the characters have real control over how they choose to live". Klosterman added that the central question of Breaking Bad is: "What makes a man 'bad' – his actions, his motives, or his conscious decision to be a bad person?" Klosterman concluded that, in the world of Breaking Bad, "goodness and badness are simply complicated choices, no different than anything else".[13]

of The New York Times, in a response to Klosterman's piece, compared Breaking Bad and The Sopranos, stating that both series are "" that are "both interested in ". Douthat went on to say that and "represent mirror-image takes on the problem of evil, damnation, and free will". Walter is a man who "deliberately abandons the light for the darkness" while Tony is "someone born and raised in darkness" who turns down "opportunity after opportunity to claw his way upward to the light".[82]

Devotion to family[]

The show explores most of the main characters' connections to their families in great detail. Walt justifies his decision to cook crystal meth and become a criminal because of his desire to provide for his family. he tries to exit the business because it has driven Skyler to leave him. Gus convinces him to stay, telling him it is a man's job to provide for his family, even if he is unloved., however, Walt finally admits to Skyler that the main motivation for his endeavors in the meth business was his own interest, in spite of secretly securing the $9.72 million he had managed to salvage for her and the children. Jesse's loneliness in the early seasons of the show can be partly explained by his parents' decision to kick him out of their home due to his drug-related activities. This parental disconnect brings him closer to Jane, whose father berates her for her drug use. When Walt crosses paths with Jane's father, Walt refers to Jesse as his nephew and laments the fact that he cannot get through to him. Jane's father responds by telling him to keep trying, saying, "Family. You can't give up on them, ever. What else is there?"[85] Jane's subsequent death, which Walt purposefully did not prevent, is a major factor in her father causing the airliner crash at the end of the second season.

Even the show's more hardened characters maintain ties to family. In the , Tuco Salamanca spends time caring for his physically disabled uncle, Hector. When Tuco is killed by Hank, his cousins vow revenge. Their actions are further explained in a flashback, where Hector explains to the brothers that "La familia es todo" ("Family is everything"). Gustavo Fring's franchise Los Pollos Hermanos translates to "The Chicken Brothers". This refers to the fact that the company was co-founded by Gus and a man named Max, with whom he shared a close personal connection. When Max is killed by Hector Salamanca, Gus vows to destroy the Salamanca family., it is explained that Mike Ehrmantraut's intentions for being in this business were to provide for his granddaughter's future, and by his final episode he is conflicted when having to leave her in a park by herself once he has been warned that the police are onto him. During the second part of the fifth season, white supremacist Jack Welker says "don't skimp on family", and he lets Walt live after capturing him in the desert because of love for his nephew Todd Alquist, who has great respect for Walt. repeatedly demands that if Mike insists on killing her, that he leave her in her apartment so her daughter can find her, fearful she will think Lydia abandoned her. Much like Walt and Mike, Lydia seems to engage in the meth business in order to provide for her daughter, with actress Laura Fraser stating in an interview that Lydia's daughter is important to how "Lydia justified what she did to herself".[86]

Pink teddy bear[]

A within the is the image of a damaged teddy bear and its missing eye. The teddy bear first appears at the end of the "Fallacies" for Jesse's band "TwaüghtHammër", which was released as a in February 2009 leading to the second season. down over "., in which the color red is used to distinguish a little girl in a coat.

In the , Walt finds the teddy bear's missing eye in the pool skimmer. Television critic Myles McNutt has called it "a symbol of the damage [Walter] feels responsible for", commented that "the pink teddy bear continues to accuse".'s face in the fourth-season finale.[97]

The teddy bear prop was auctioned off, among other memorabilia, on September 29, 2013, the air date of .

Walt Whitman[]

Walter White's name is reminiscent of the poet . gives Walt a copy of Whitman's . In the episode "", Hank finds the initials W.W. written in Boetticher's notes, and jokes with Walt that they are his initials, although Walt indicates that they must refer to Whitman.

In the episode "", Walt finds the copy of Leaves of Grass as he is packing up his bedroom, briefly smiles and leaves it out to read. This occurs at an especially high point in his life, where he feels that things are coming together and he is succeeding in all his ventures. A poem in the book, "Song of Myself", is based on many of these same feelings, furthering the connection between Walt's life and Whitman's poetry.", is titled after poem 271 of Leaves of Grass.[103] In the episode, Hank finds Leaves of Grass in Walt's bathroom and opens it to the cover page, where he reads the hand-written inscription: "To my other favorite W.W. It's an honour working with you. Fondly G.B." Upon reading this, Hank becomes visibly shocked, realizing the truth about Walter for the first time, which provides the opening premise for the second half of the final season.

Critical reception[]

Breaking Bad received widespread critical acclaim and has been praised by many critics as one of the greatest television shows of all time. website , the first season scored 73 out of 100, the second 84 out of 100, the third 89 out of 100, the fourth 96 out of 100, and the fifth 99 out of 100. The listed Breaking Bad as one of the top ten television series of 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. ranked it as the ninth greatest TV series of all time. on American television, with audience numbers doubling from the to the . survey of 2,800 actors, producers, directors, and other industry people named Breaking Bad as their #2 favorite show. ranked it third on its list of 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[122]

For the first season, the series saw a generally positive reception. critic Linda Stasi praised the series, particularly the acting of Cranston and Paul, stating "Cranston and Paul are so good, it's astounding. I'd say the two have created great chemistry, but I'm ashamed to say such a cheap thing." also praised Cranston and Paul, exclaiming "There is humor in the show, mostly in Walt's efforts to impose scholarly logic on the business and on his idiot apprentice, a role Paul plays very well. But even their scenes lean toward the suspenseful, as the duo learns that killing someone, even in self-defense, is ugly, messy work."[124]

The second season saw critical acclaim. critic stated "Bad is a superlatively fresh metaphor for a middle-age crisis: It took cancer and lawbreaking to jolt Walt out of his suburban stupor, to experience life again—to take chances, risk danger, do things he didn't think himself capable of doing. None of this would work, of course, without Emmy winner Cranston's ferocious, funny selflessness as an actor. For all its bleakness and darkness, there's a glowing exhilaration about this series: It's a feel-good show about feeling really bad."'s Tim Goodman claimed "The first three episodes of Season 2 that AMC sent out continue that level of achievement with no evident missteps. In fact, it looks as if Gilligan's bold vision for Breaking Bad, now duly rewarded against all odds, has invigorated everyone involved in the project. You can sense its maturity and rising ambition in each episode." lauded the series, comparing it to the likes of and .[127]

The third season also saw critical acclaim. proclaimed, "It's a drama that has chosen the slow burn over the flashy explosion, and it's all the hotter for that choice." stated Breaking Bad was still TV's best series and it stayed true to itself. After the finale aired, said that season three was "one of television's finest dramatic accomplishments. And what makes it so exciting – what makes the recognition of the current golden age so pressing – is that the season has not been, as [another reviewer] put it in another context, 'television good.' The heart-in-the-throat quality of this season comes as much from the writers' exhilarating disregard for television conventions as from the events portrayed."[131]

Season four won near-universal critical acclaim. referred to the show as a "taut exercise in withheld disaster" and declared the show "riveting". labeled the series "smart and thought provoking that elevates the artistic achievements of the medium". Time listed Walter White's "I am the one who knocks" line as one of the best television lines of 2011. The A.V. Club's review of the finale summed it up as a "fantastically fitting end for a season that ran in slow motion, starting and continuing with so many crises begging for resolution week after week. Now the decks are cleared, but that doesn't mean anybody is home free. Nothing's ever easy on Breaking Bad." The reviewer continued to exalt the season, and proclaimed, "What a season of television – truly something none of us could ever have expected, or claimed we deserved."[137]

Both halves of the fifth season received overwhelming critical acclaim. Following the end of the series, critic Nick Harley summarized his commendation of the show: "Expertly written, virtuosic with its direction, and flawlessly performed, Breaking Bad is everything you could want in a drama. Critics will spend the next decade dissecting and arguing about what made it great, but the reasons are endless and already well documented.", author of the novels, particularly the episode ""; Martin commented that "Walter White is a bigger monster than anyone in ." stated, "This final batch of Breaking Bad is one of the best run of episodes TV has ever offered," and praised "" in particular, referring to it as "maybe the best episode of TV [he's] ever seen". called it "the best show currently on television, and perhaps even the best ever". wrote a letter of praise to Bryan Cranston, telling him that his "performance as Walter White was the best acting I have seen – ever". He lauded the rest of the cast and crew as well. The letter first appeared on 's (who portrayed DEA Agent ) page, and in spite of it being taken down, the letter soon went . named Breaking Bad the highest-rated TV series of all time, citing its season 5 score of 99 out of 100.

Viewership[]

Breaking Bad premiered on the same night as both the in the , an intentional decision by AMC hoping to capture the adult male viewership immediately following the planned end of the NFC game. However, with subsequent seasons, viewership increased, avoiding the usual trend of downward viewership that most serialized shows had., boosting interest in the show. The second half of the final season saw record viewership, with the series finale reaching over 10.3 million viewers.[146]

Awards and nominations[ The cast and crew of Breaking Bad at the 68th Annual

The series received numerous awards and nominations, including 16 and 58 nominations, including winning for in 2013 and 2014., one in 2008

For his portrayal of Walter White, Bryan Cranston won the four times, in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2014. in 2009 and the in 2008, 2009, and 2010, as well as the and the in 2012.

Aaron Paul won the in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Paul also won the in 2010 and 2012. Anna Gunn won the in 2013 and 2014. For his work on season four, won the .

In 2010 and 2012, Breaking Bad won the , as well as the in 2013. In 2009 and 2010, the series won the , along with the in 2010, 2011, and 2012. The series won the in both 2012 and 2013.. Overall, the show has won 110 industry awards and been nominated for 262.

Writers reunion[]

"There was a hive mind with these wonderful writers, where I don't remember who said what, and it doesn't even matter whose idea was whose. But I remember one afternoon, somebody said — and I was kind of into it for a while — "Wouldn't it be really ironic if Walt is the only one to survive this?" Because it does seem so obvious that Walt should expire at the end of the final episode — but maybe he's the only one left alive. Maybe he still does have a death sentence, but we go out on him alive, and maybe his whole family's been wiped out. That would have been really f—ing dark."

—, on an [168]

held a Q&A with most of the original writing staff to reflect on the show's run, the final season, the writing process and alternative endings. Along with creator Vince Gilligan, fellow writers and producers , , , , and joined to discuss memories from the show's humble beginnings, character transformations that concluded in the final season as well as surprising developments along the way. For instance, the character of was originally supposed to die halfway through season one in a tragic drug deal gone horribly wrong. The reasoning behind this decision was that Jesse served his purpose "in a meat-and-potatoes, logistical sense. The character would give Walt his entrée into the business" before meeting his demise. However, this was eventually done away with as the story progressed beyond Gilligan's early scripts.[168]

The writers also opened up on their collaborative process and how their form of evolved with the show. According to writer George Mastras,

"Screen time was precious, and infusing every moment with the emotion [was the point], not just forming the pieces of the puzzle to tell the story, which is hard enough. If you're going to take five seconds of screen time, you'd better damn well be sure that there's an emotion there. It may be very, very subtle, but trust the audiences to pick up on that, because audiences do."[168]

The development of certain characters posed challenges. became unsympathetic to most viewers in earlier seasons as she was often presented as an obstacle to Walt's ultimate agenda. The writers struggled to change the dynamic and realized that "the only way people were going to like Skyler was if she started going along with what Walt was doing." It was a tricky shift to alter on screen because they didn't want to betray her character so they justified the change by using her past job as a to segue into her helping Walt his cash under the guise of a car wash. Breaking the individual episodes was another form of problem solving for the writers. They stressed the importance of not letting the "master plan" stop them from staying true to the world they created. There came a point where tracking the characters on a moment-by-moment basis proved to be more useful rather than general direction of the story. Peter Gould said they would always start with the last thought in a character's head. "Where's Jesse's head at? That was always the prelude to the breakthrough moment, because when you said that, it's usually because we had gotten attached to some big plan or some big set-piece that we thought had to be there, but the characters didn't want to do what we wanted them to do."[168]

Rian Johnson's experience on the show[]

Director worked on three episodes ("", "" and "") and in an interview with shared his memories from behind the camera. He shed some light on the process including the fact that he sat through "tone meetings" with Vince Gilligan. The two of them talked about every dramatic beat in a script, the distinct visual look of the show and how the tonal shift of each scene had to feel natural while serving the main storyline of the particular episode. Johnson also revealed that he learned so much about working with actors because of his directing of and , describing the experience as a "free masterclass."[169]