Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad follows Walter White, a financially struggling, frustrated high school chemistry teacher from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who becomes a crime lord in the local methamphetamine drug trade, driven to provide for his family financially after being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Initially making only small batches of meth with his former student Jesse Pinkman in a rolling meth lab, Walter and Jesse eventually expand to make larger batches of an extremely pure, blue meth which creates high demand. Walter takes on the name "Heisenberg" to mask his identity. Because of his new business, Walter finds himself at odds with his family, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) through his brother-in-law Hank Schrader, the local gangs and the Mexican drug cartels (including their regional distributors), putting him and his family's lives at risk. The events of the series take place between 2008 and 2010. ==Cast and characters==

Main characters , RJ Mitte (Walter White Jr.), Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman), Anna Gunn (Skyler White), Bryan Cranston (Walter White), Dean Norris (Hank Schrader), and producer Mark Johnson • Bryan Cranston as Walter White, a high-school chemistry teacher who, shortly after his 50th birthday, is diagnosed with Stage III lung cancer and turns to making meth to secure his family's finances. As his shady business progresses, Walter gains a notorious reputation under the alias of "Heisenberg". Cranston stated that, though he enjoyed doing comedy, he decided he • Anna Gunn as Skyler White, 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." • Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, 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 The Odd Couple. • Dean Norris as Hank Schrader, Walter and Skyler's brother-in-law via his marriage to Skyler's sister, Marie. Hank is a DEA agent. At the beginning of the series, this character was intended to be the "comic relief". • Betsy Brandt as Marie Schrader, Skyler's sister and Hank's kleptomaniac wife. Brandt described Marie as "an unpleasant bitch", but also stated that 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." • RJ Mitte as Walter White Jr., Walter and Skyler's son, who has cerebral palsy. He begins lashing out after Walter's cancer announcement. Mitte himself has cerebral palsy, although his is a milder form. Mitte stated that he had to regress from his therapy to portray the character, staying up late into the night to slur his speech and learning to walk on crutches so that his walking would not look fake. • Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo "Gus" Fring (seasons 3–4; guest season 2), a Chilean high-level drug distributor who has a cover as an owner of the fast-food chain Los Pollos Hermanos. Esposito stated that for the third season, he incorporated his yoga training in his performance. • Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman (seasons 3–5; recurring season 2), a crooked strip mall lawyer who represents Walt and Jesse. Odenkirk drew inspiration for Goodman from film producer Robert Evans. • Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut (seasons 3–5; guest season 2), works for Gus as an all-purpose cleaner and hitman, and also works for Saul as a private investigator. The character of Mike has been compared to Harvey Keitel's Winston Wolfe character in Pulp Fiction, 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." • Laura Fraser as Lydia Rodarte-Quayle (season 5), a high-ranking employee of Madrigal Electromotive and a former associate of Gus Fring. She reluctantly begins supplying Walt and Jesse with methylamine and helps Walt expand his operation overseas. • Jesse Plemons as Todd Alquist (season 5), an employee of Vamonos Pest Control who becomes an associate of Walt and Jesse. Recurring characters • Steven Michael Quezada as Steven "Gomey" Gomez (seasons 1–5) – 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 "straight man". • Max Arciniega as Krazy-8 Molina (season 1) – A meth distributor associated with Jesse. • Carmen Serano as Carmen Molina (seasons 1–3, minor appearance in season 5) – The principal of J.P. Wynne High School. • Matt Jones as Brandon "Badger" Mayhew (seasons 1–5) – Jesse's drug-addicted, dimwitted friend who often serves as the series's comic relief. • Charles Baker as Skinny Pete (seasons 1–5) – A loyal friend of Jesse's and a fellow pusher who worked with Jesse. • Rodney Rush as Christian "Combo" Ortega (season 2, minor appearance in seasons 1 and 3) – Also a friend of Jesse and a fellow pusher. • Jessica Hecht and Adam Godley as Gretchen and Elliott Schwartz (seasons 1, 2 and 5) – 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. • Raymond Cruz as Tuco Salamanca (seasons 1–2) – A sociopathic Mexican drug kingpin who becomes Walt and Jesse's meth distributor. • Mark Margolis as Hector Salamanca (seasons 2–4) – 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. • Christopher Cousins as Ted Beneke (seasons 2–4, minor appearance in season 5) – Skyler's boss and president of Beneke Fabricators who begins developing financial problems, resulting in an intervention from Skyler. • Michael Shamus Wiles as George Merkert (seasons 2–4, minor appearance in season 5) – The head of the Albuquerque DEA office and Hank and Steve's boss. • Krysten Ritter as Jane Margolis (season 2, minor appearance in season 3) – Jesse's apartment manager and girlfriend, who is a recovering addict. • John de Lancie as Donald Margolis (season 2, minor appearance in season 3) – Jane Margolis's father, an air traffic controller. • Jeremiah Bitsui as Victor (season 3, minor appearance in seasons 2 and 4) – A loyal henchman to Gus who serves as his enforcer along with Mike. • Tina Parker as Francesca Liddy (seasons 2–5) – Saul Goodman's receptionist. • David Costabile as Gale Boetticher (seasons 3–4) – A chemist hired by Gus Fring to work alongside Walter. • Daniel Moncada and Luis Moncada as Leonel and Marco Salamanca (season 3) – Two ruthless and taciturn hitmen for the Juarez Cartel who are the cousins of Tuco Salamanca and the nephews of Hector Salamanca. • Javier Grajeda as Juan Bolsa (season 3, minor appearance in season 4) – A high-ranking member of the Juarez Cartel who acts as the mediator between the Salamancas and Gus Fring. • Emily Rios as Andrea Cantillo (seasons 3–5) – Jesse's second girlfriend, who is also a recovering addict. She has a young son named Brock. • Ray Campbell as Tyrus Kitt (season 4) – Gus's enforcer along with Mike during season 4. • Lavell Crawford as Huell Babineaux (seasons 4–5) – Saul's bodyguard who also handles problems Walter needs fixing. • Bill Burr as Patrick Kuby (seasons 4–5) – A hired con man of Saul's who handles various sensitive tasks involving verbal intimidation, coercion, and misdirection. • Michael Bowen as Jack Welker (season 5) – Todd's uncle and the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist gang. • Kevin Rankin as Kenny (season 5) – Jack's second-in-command. Special guest appearances • Danny Trejo as Tortuga ("Negro y Azul" and "I.F.T.") – A Mexican cartel member and DEA informant. • DJ Qualls as Getz ("Better Call Saul") – An Albuquerque police officer who brings Badger into police custody, prompting Walt to turn to Saul Goodman. • Jim Beaver as Lawson ("Thirty-Eight Snub" and "Live Free or Die") – An Albuquerque arms dealer who obtains several guns for Walt. • Steven Bauer as Don Eladio Vuente ("Hermanos" and "Salud") – The leader of the Juarez Cartel who has a history with Gus. • Robert Forster as Ed Galbraith ("Granite State") – A vacuum cleaner repairman whose undercover business is a new identity specialist. • Charlie Rose as himself ("Granite State") ==Production==

Conception Breaking Bad was created by Vince Gilligan, who had spent several years writing the Fox series The X-Files. Gilligan wanted to create a series in which the protagonist became the antagonist. "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?" At the same time, FX had also started development of Dirt, 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. The initial versions of the script were set in Riverside, California, but at the suggestion of Sony, Albuquerque was chosen for the production's location due to the favorable financial conditions offered by the state of New Mexico. Once Gilligan recognized that this would mean "we'd always have to be avoiding the Sandia Mountains" in shots directed toward the east, the story setting was changed to the actual production location. 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." Casting Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan cast Bryan Cranston for the role of Walter White based on having worked with him in the "Drive" episode of the science fiction television series The X-Files, on which Gilligan worked as a writer. Cranston played an anti-Semite with a terminal illness who took series co-protagonist Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) 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." Similarly, Dean Norris had shown his ability to be a law enforcement official in The X-Files episode "F. Emasculata", and was brought on to be Hank Schrader, Walter's brother-in-law and DEA agent. Scientific accuracy Donna Nelson, a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Oklahoma, checked scripts and provided dialogue. She also drew chemical structures and wrote chemical equations which were used as props. According to creator Vince Gilligan, "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 Drug Enforcement Administration based out of Dallas who has just been hugely helpful to us." It was shown impossible to use hydrofluoric acid to fully dissolve metal, flesh, or ceramic as shown in the episode "Cat's in the Bag...", and that while it was possible to throw fulminated mercury against the floor to cause an explosion, as in the episode "Crazy Handful of Nothin', 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 "Felina", and found it plausible. An episode of MythBusters Jr. proved that it was impossible for an electromagnet to draw metallic objects from across a room as in the episode "Live Free or Die". Jason Wallach of Vice magazine commended the accuracy of the cooking methods presented in the series. In early episodes, a once-common clandestine method, the Nagai red phosphorus/iodine method, is depicted, which uses pseudoephedrine as a precursor to d-(+)-methamphetamine. By the season 1 finale, 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 reductive amination reaction, relying on phenyl-2-propanone and methylamine. On the show, the phenyl-2-propanone (otherwise known as phenylacetone or P2P) is produced from phenylacetic acid and acetic acid using a tube furnace and thorium dioxide (ThO2) as a catalyst, as mentioned in episodes "A No Rough-Stuff-Type Deal" and "Más". P2P and methylamine form an imine intermediate; reduction of this P2P-methylamine imine intermediate is performed using mercury aluminum amalgam, as shown in several episodes, including "Hazard Pay". Slovis received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Cinematography for a One Hour Series and Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series. By the end of the fifth season, episodes had cost upwards of to produce. For her work, she received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series and won the award in 2013. ==Episodes==

Season 1 (2008) Walter White is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer after passing out in a car wash. Realizing he doesn't have enough money to pay for treatment, and after going on a drug bust with his brother-in-law DEA agent, Hank, Walt resorts to cooking crystal meth. He decides to team up with his former student, Jesse. Jesse obtains an R.V. to cook in from his friend, Combo, while Walt devises a revolutionary formula using unregulated chemicals, creating a highly pure product tinted blue. Skyler does some researching and finds out about Jesse's history with drugs, and confronts him after Walt creates a fake confession that Jesse dealt him cannabis. After a run-in with the Mexican cartel, Walt adopts the pseudonym "Heisenberg" and trades his "blue sky" meth with psychotic drug lord Tuco. Hank, along with the rest of the DEA, become aware of Heisenberg's presence in the drug trade and begin investigating. Season 2 (2009) Shortly after Walt and Jesse complete their first deal with Tuco, they are kidnapped by him. After being held hostage for a day, Hank discovers their location, and shoots Tuco dead. Walt and Jesse hide from Hank and are never found. After Hank leaves, Walt and Jesse are alone. While Jesse simply returns to town without an excuse, Walt pretends to enter a fugue state. Walt's held in a hospital until doctors are assured it won't happen again. Walt finally tells his doctor he faked the fugue state, although he doesn't tell him what actually happened with Tuco, instead fabricating a story about running away to avoid family. Jesse is interrogated by Hank, but is never arrested. After a failed attempt by Walter and Jesse to start their own business, resulting in two of Jesse's friends, Badger and Combo, being arrested and murdered respectively, Walt hires corrupt lawyer Saul Goodman, who connects them to high-profile drug distributor Gus Fring and fixer Mike Ehrmantraut. Jesse is kicked out of his Aunt Ginny's house by his parents, and quickly tries to find housing. He finds an apartment, managed by Jane Margolis. Shortly after moving in, Jesse starts dating Jane. Jane introduces him to heroin after relapsing. After selling a shipment to Gus, Walt refuses to pay Jesse his half of the money suspecting he'll use it on drugs, but Jane threatens to reveal Walt's secret to the public if he does. Walt returns to Jesse to apologize but instead finds him and Jane passed out on heroin. Although he is capable of intervening and saving her life, Walter allows an unconscious Jane to choke to death on her own vomit due to an overdose. Jesse wakes up the next morning and finds Jane beside him, dead. Mike comes over to destroy any trace of their heroin use, and a traumatized Jesse enters rehab. Days after Jane's death, he witnesses a mid-air collision of two planes; a result of Jane's father, Donald Margolis, an air traffic controller, returning to work early despite still being distraught by his daughter's death. After being put under anesthetics for a cancer surgery, Walt accidentally reveals he had two cellphones. This causes Skyler to do some more research, and finally finding out about all of Walt's lies. Skyler confronts Walt and files for divorce. Season 3 (2010) After Skyler confronts him, Walt briefly retires from the drug trade. Despite retiring, Gus manages to convince him to start cooking again, with a new and larger lab. Now being kicked out of the house, Walt moves into an apartment. Skyler comes over, and Walt finally confesses to her about his affiliation with the drug business. Meanwhile, Jesse, with help from Saul, purchases his house back from his parents. Around this time, Saul hires Mike to install surveillance throughout the White Residence. Hank's investigation leads back to Jesse through the deceased Combo. He finds no evidence, but assaults Jesse in a fit of rage believing he tricked him into thinking his wife, Marie, got into a car crash. Shortly after, he is suspended from the DEA. Walt, in order to keep Jesse from pressing charges against Hank, coerces Gus into replacing Gale with Jesse as his lab assistant. Hank is attacked by Tuco's vengeful cousins and kills them, becoming paralyzed in the aftermath. Both cousins die sooner or later. Jesse meets Andrea Cantillo in rehab, and they shortly begin dating. She is the older sister of Tomás, the murderer of Combo. She also has a young child, Brock. Jesse's behavior becomes erratic, and Walt is forced to kill two of Gus's drug dealers to protect him. After an enraged Gus orders for them to be killed, Walt convinces Jesse to kill Gale so that Gus is unable to replace them. After Hank finds out about Gale's drug history, he suspects he was Heisenberg. While being mostly bed ridden, he begins investigating Gale's journals. While reading it with Walt, he finds the initials "W.W.", and jokingly says it was meant for Walt. Walt dismisses it as being a reference to author Walt Whitman, being one of Gale's favorite authors. Season 4 (2011) Originally, mini episodes of four minutes in length were to be produced before the premiere of the fourth season, but these did not come to fruition. Gus tightens security at the lab after Gale's death, while he and Mike drive a wedge between Walt and Jesse, coercing Jesse to be their solitary cook while at the same time eliminating the Mexican cartel. Skyler accepts Walt's meth cooking and conspires with Saul to launder the earnings through purchasing the car wash Walt used to work at. Hank, in recovery, tracks Gale's death to Gus and the drug trade. Walt tricks Jesse into turning against Gus, through poisoning Brock with a lily of the valley plant, along with convincing Hector Salamanca, the last living member of the cartel, to detonate a bomb while meeting with Gus in the nursing home, 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. Season five is split into two parts, each consisting of 8 episodes. After Gus's death, Walt, Jesse, and Mike start a new meth business. When their accomplice Todd kills a child witness during a methylamine theft, Jesse and Mike sell their share of the methylamine to Declan, another distributor. Walter produces meth for Declan, and Gus's former associate Lydia starts distribution in Europe, which is so successful that Walter amasses , which he buries on the Tohajiilee Indian Reservation. After Walter kills Mike during an argument, he is given names of Mike's imprisoned men from Lydia. Walt hires Todd's uncle, Jack, and his gang to kill Mike's associates; they also kill Declan. Hank discovers Walt is Heisenberg and begins gathering evidence. He turns to Jesse, who helps track Walt's money to the reservation. When Walt is arrested, Jack's gang arrives. They kill Hank, capture Jesse, and take most of Walt's money. Walt is forced to flee alone with the remaining money. After months in hiding, Walt plans to surrender but changes course after Elliott and Gretchen publicly minimize his involvement in starting Gray Matter. Walt manipulates Elliott and Gretchen to give his earnings to Walter Jr. After poisoning Lydia, Walt makes amends with Skyler over his criminality. Todd, Jack and his men are killed during a shootout orchestrated by Walt, but Walt is also shot. Jesse is freed and Walt succumbs to his wounds. ==Themes==

Morality In an interview with The New York Times, Gilligan said the larger lesson of the series is that "actions have consequences". Pride Pride/hubris is a major theme in Walter White's tragic character arc. In an interview with The Village Voice, Gilligan identified the tipping point at which Walt "breaks bad" as his prideful decision not to accept Gretchen and Elliott Schwartz's offer to pay for his chemotherapy (season 1, episode 5): The critically acclaimed episode "Ozymandias" references the Percy Bysshe Shelley' sonnet of the same name, which depicts the remnants of an ancient king's prideful legacy lying broken in the desert. The episode draws parallels to the poem, as both antiheroes are left with little to show for their empire-building efforts. Austin Gill of Xavier University stated the episode "evokes the tyrannical aspirations of invincibility and arrogance of Ozymandias himself as represented in Shelley's poem". Douglas Eric Rasmussen of the University of Saskatchewan argued that the "concept of hubris and being punished for grandiose projects that serve an individual's egotism are central aspects of each work". Hank's death marks the beginning of a shift where it becomes increasingly difficult for Walt to continue to insist that he cooks meth for the sake of his family's well-being. By the series finale, Walt finally admits to Skyler that he became Heisenberg for his own ego: "I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really — I was alive." ==Symbolism==

Colors A recurring symbol within Breaking Bad is the use of color, particularly the characters' color for wardrobe, being used to represent a character's state of mind or a relationship between characters or to foreshadow an event. In an interview with Vulture, Vince Gilligan says "Color is important on Breaking Bad; we always try to think in terms of it. We always try to think of the color that a character is dressed in, in the sense that it represents on some level their state of mind." Pink teddy bear A motif within the second season is the image of a damaged teddy bear and its missing eye. The teddy bear first appears at the end of the music video "Fallacies" for Jesse's band "TwaüghtHammër", which was released as a webisode in February 2009 leading to the second season. The teddy bear can also be spotted on the mural on Jane's bedroom wall during the final episode of the second season, further connecting the crash to Jane. It is seen in flashforwards during four episodes, the titles of which, when put together in order, form the sentence "Seven Thirty-Seven Down Over ABQ". The flashforwards are shot in black and white (a practice that is continued in Better Call Saul), with the sole exception of the pink teddy bear, which is an homage to the film ''Schindler's List'', where the color red is used to distinguish the coat of a very young girl. At the end of the season, Walt indirectly causes the midair collision of two airplanes via Jane's father, a grieving air traffic controller; the pink teddy bear is then revealed to have fallen out of one of the planes and into the Whites' backyard swimming pool. Vince Gilligan called the plane accident an attempt to visualize "all the terrible grief that Walt has wrought upon his loved ones" and "the judgment of God". In the first episode of the third season, 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", and The A.V. Club commented that "the pink teddy bear continues to accuse". Fans and critics have compared the appearance of the teddy bear's face to an image of Gus Fring's face in the fourth-season finale. The teddy bear prop was auctioned off, among other memorabilia, on September 29, 2013, the air date of the show finale. Walt Whitman The name "Walter White" is heavily reminiscent of the American poet Walt Whitman. During the series, Gale Boetticher gives Walt a copy of Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Prior to giving this gift, Boetticher recites "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer". In the episode "Bullet Points", 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 "Hazard Pay", 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, when 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. The mid-season finale of season five, "Gliding Over All", is titled after poem 271 of Leaves of Grass. 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. ==Reception and legacy==

Critical reception Breaking Bad received universal acclaim and has been praised by many critics as one of the greatest television shows of all time. The series has an overall rating of 87 of out 100 on Metacritic. The American Film Institute listed Breaking Bad as one of the top ten television series of 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. By its end, the series was among the most-watched cable shows on American television, with audience numbers doubling from the fourth season to the fifth. In 2016 and 2022, Rolling Stone ranked it third on its list of 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In September 2019, The Guardian ranked the show fifth on its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century, describing it as "[t]he show that arguably killed off the antihero drama: nothing since has been able to top the depraved descent made by Walter White (a never-better Bryan Cranston), from milquetoast chemistry teacher to meth overlord, and few have dared to try". In 2021, Empire ranked Breaking Bad at number two on their list of The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. Allen St. John of Forbes called it "The best TV show ever". In 2021, it was voted the third-best TV series of the 21st century by the BBC, as picked by 206 TV experts from around the world. In 2023, Variety ranked Breaking Bad as the fifth-greatest TV show of all time. In 2023, Breaking Bad was ranked as the best TV series in the last 25 years by critics in a poll conveyed by Rotten Tomatoes. For the first season, the series saw a generally positive reception. Robert Bianco of USA Today 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." Controversies Breaking Bad has been accused by some members of the law enforcement and legal communities of normalizing or glorifying methamphetamine creation and usage. In 2013, a local prosecutor and self-proclaimed Breaking Bad fan wrote on Time's website: A Telegraph article published in 2014 stated that a "leading academic" blamed the series for a "shocking" increase in crystal meth use. Some have speculated that the show's realistic depiction of methamphetamine use may have deterred potential users, resulting in lower rates of meth use since 2006. DEA spokesperson Barbara Carreno has dismissed this notion, instead attributing the drop in use to the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005, which resulted in pseudoephedrine being listed as a controlled substance. She was quoted saying: In 2014, American toy retailer Toys "R" Us pulled four collectable action figures from its stores after complaints from a concerned parent out of Florida, due to the inclusion of toy drug money and toy meth. Bryan Cranston took to Twitter, joking: "I'm so mad, I'm burning my Florida Mom action figure in protest." In 2022, the erection of statues of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in New Mexico drew criticism from some Republican figures. Variety reported that conservative talk radio host Eddy Aragon said: "It's not the type of recognition we want for the city of Albuquerque, or for our state. What you saw on Breaking Bad should be a documentary, honestly. I think, really, that is the reality in New Mexico. We try to say it's fictional, but that is the reality... we've joked that [Breaking Bad] should be on PBS. That is, unfortunately, the reality." Vince Gilligan said: "In all seriousness, no doubt some folks are going to say, 'Wow, just what our city needed.' And I get that. I see two of the finest actors America has ever produced. I see them, in character, as two larger-than-life tragic figures, cautionary tales." Highlighting the revenue and economic activity that the series had brought to the area, Albuquerque Democratic Mayor Tim Keller defended the erection of the statues, saying: "While the stories might be fictional... jobs are real every single day. The city is also a character... We see ourselves in so many ways, good and bad." Ratings Breaking Bad premiered on the same night as both the NFC and AFC Championships in the 2008 NFL playoffs, an intentional decision by AMC hoping to capture the adult male viewership immediately following the planned end of the NFC game. The game ran over its time slot, cutting into Breaking Bad timeslot in most of America. As a result, the pilot had only about 1.4 million viewers. Coupled with the ongoing writers strike, the first season did not draw as large of a viewership as they expected. The second half of the final season saw record viewership, with the series finale reaching over 10.3 million viewers. Awards and nominations The series received numerous awards and nominations, including 16 Primetime Emmy Awards and 58 nominations, including winning for Outstanding Drama Series in 2013 and 2014. It also won two Peabody Awards, one in 2008 and one in 2013. For his portrayal of Walter White, Bryan Cranston won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times, in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2014. Cranston also won the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama in 2009 and the Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series: Drama in 2008, 2009, and 2010, as well as the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series and the Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television in 2012. Aaron Paul won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Paul also won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television in 2010 and 2012. Anna Gunn won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2013 and 2014. For his work on season four, Giancarlo Esposito won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In 2010 and 2012, Breaking Bad won the TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama, as well as the TCA Award for Program of the Year in 2013. In 2009 and 2010, the series won the Satellite Award for Best Television Series – Drama, along with the Saturn Award for Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series in 2010, 2011, and 2012. The series won the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Dramatic Series in both 2012 and 2013. In 2013, it was named No. 13 in a list of the 101 Best-Written TV Series of All Time by the Writers Guild of America and won, for the first time, the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. Overall, the show has won 110 industry awards and has been nominated for 262. == Home media ==

Each season would be released on DVD. The complete series was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 26, 2013, in a collectable box shaped like one of the barrels used by Walt to bury his money. The set contains various features, including a two-hour documentary and a humorous alternative ending that features Cranston and his Malcolm in the Middle co-star Jane Kaczmarek playing their characters Hal and Lois, in a nod to the final scene from Newhart. ==Retrospective conversations==

Writers reunion Variety 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 Peter Gould, Thomas Schnauz, Gennifer Hutchison, Moira Walley-Beckett, Sam Catlin and George Mastras 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, Jesse's character 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. In August 2013 (while Breaking Bad was in its original run) Anna Gunn published an op-ed in The New York Times titled "I Have a Character Issue" in which she discussed her experience playing Skyler, with particular focus on the vitriol that audience members directed towards her character. She compared Skyler to similar television wives who seemed to inspire venom from audience members that their respective husbands did not, in particular Carmela Soprano from The Sopranos and Betty Draper from Mad Men. In Gunn's words, "Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad, wanted Skyler to be a woman with a backbone of steel who would stand up to whatever came her way, who wouldn't just collapse in the corner or wring her hands in despair. He and the show's writers made Skyler multilayered and, in her own way, morally compromised. But at the end of the day, she hasn't been judged by the same set of standards as Walter". In a 2018 cast reunion, Aaron Paul commented "Why did our audience not sympathize with this poor woman? I really felt for Anna, because she's just such a beautiful human inside and out, and she played Skyler in such a fierce way, and people just dragged her character the most." Vince Gilligan has defended both Skyler and Anna Gunn, saying at the same 2018 reunion "I figured Walt would be the one that'd be hard for people to sympathize with. Suddenly, lo and behold, we're hearing this animus toward Skyler White. To this day, it confounds me. Anna Gunn gave such a brilliant performance. We never tried for sympathy or lack of sympathy, we let the chips fall where they may. I would change that if I had a magic wand." Bryan Cranston has also defended Gunn and Skyler, saying "If you look at the elements that were involved in this—husband she finds out is lying, husband she finds out is doing something illegal, is doing something that puts her family in lethal danger, and she's being chastised—it's like, 'Wait a minute.' It baffled me from an objective standpoint." Rian Johnson's experience on the show Director Rian Johnson worked on three episodes ("Fly", "Fifty-One" and "Ozymandias") and, in a 2018 interview with IGN, shared his memories from behind the camera. He shed some light on the process including the fact that he sat through "tone meetings" with 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 Cranston and Paul, describing the experience as a "free masterclass". When asked about the show's lasting legacy, Johnson said: ==Franchise==

Breaking Bads success caused numerous spin-offs and a media franchise. This includes a spin-off prequel series, a Spanish-language adaptation, a sequel film, a talk show, and a video game. ==Cultural impact ==

Several attempts to create a real restaurant concept after Los Pollos Hermanos have occurred, most notably in 2019, Family Style, Inc., a chain of restaurants in California, Nevada, and Illinois, which secured rights from Sony and with Gilligan's blessing to sell chicken dinners through Uber Eats under the name and branding "Los Pollos Hermanos" in a three-year deal. Law enforcement authorities have reported occasional instances of seizing blue crystal methamphetamine in drug-related arrests and raids. The appearance of "blue meth" in real-world drug use has been attributed to Breaking Bads popularity. In late 2025, 92,000 pounds of kratom-derived substances were seized by authorities in Florida in a drug raid that was described as "Breaking Bad on steroids" by Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey. Role reprisals Beyond appearances in Better Call Saul and El Camino, Cranston reprised his role as Walter in a commercial for Esurance which aired during Super Bowl XLIX, one week before the premiere of Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul. Another ad for PopCorners, featuring Cranston, Paul, and Cruz reprising their roles and directed by Gilligan, aired for Super Bowl LVII. Tributes from Albuquerque A Breaking Bad fan group placed a paid obituary for Walter White in the Albuquerque Journal, October 4, 2013. On October 19, 2013, a mock funeral procession (including a hearse and a replica of Walter's meth lab RV) and service for the character was held at Albuquerque's Sunset Memorial Park cemetery. A headstone was placed with a photo of Cranston as Walter. While some residents were unhappy with the makeshift gravesite for closure with the show, tickets for the event raised nearly $17,000 for a local charity called Healthcare for the Homeless. Gilligan and Sony Pictures Television commissioned and donated a bronze statue of Walter and Jesse to the city of Albuquerque in July 2022, which is on display at the Albuquerque Convention Center. New Mexico Law Review In May 2015, the New Mexico Law Review published a collection of eight articles by legal scholars, each dedicated to dissecting legal issues presented by Breaking Bad. The articles discussed issues such as whether the attorney–client privilege would protect communications with Saul Goodman, and whether Walter White could have filed a lawsuit to force his way back into Gray Matter Technologies. ==References==