Breaking Bad was truly one of the best series ever made, but even the most diehard viewer had to admit that there were plenty of recurring tropes that happened in practically every episode. As the story of the mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin Walter White, Breaking Bad told a powerful narrative of transformation throughout five incredible seasons that often relied on recurring themes or ideas. While certain aspects of Breaking Bad could be seen as formulaic, this did not take away from the show’s fantastic acting, direction, and writing.
Certain characters in Breaking Bad seemed to be involved with the same things in almost every episode they appeared in. While characters like Walt Jr. and his tendency to always be eating breakfast, became a running joke, other aspects, such as Marie Schrader’s love of purple, hinted at deeper meaning within the series that audiences could investigate and analyze. While it’s true that some things happened in every episode of Breaking Bad, that did not take away from the show’s legacy.
It’s easy to feel sorry for Walt. Jr in Breaking Bad who, as the only son of Walter and Skyler White, spent most of the series oblivious to the secrets of his father and the shady money laundering tactics of his mother. Often, Walt. Jr was seen at the breakfast table and, across countless episodes, enjoyed veggie bacon, Raisin Bran, and orange juice, while the rest of Albuquerque became hooked on blue meth. Having been kept in the dark for so long about his family’s troubles, Walt Jr. was often left baffled by the tension seen at the breakfast table.
Walt Jr. appeared to have internalized the phrase that breakfast was the most important meal of the day and the consistency he was shown eating it led to it becoming a Breaking Bad meme. Although it’s easy to joke about Walt Jr. as a character who’s forever eating breakfast, RJ Mitte added real depth and vulnerability to his portrayal of Walt Jr. and his struggle to come to terms with his terminally ill father. Walt Jr.’s breakfast scenes in Breaking Bad always acted as a good way to check in on the White family’s deteriorating relationships with one another.
When watching Breaking Bad for the first time, it was not immediately apparent that Marie Schrader had such an intense fondness for the color purple, but once it was first noticed, it’s impossible to ignore just how much she identified with it. From accessories, and outfits, right up to the items in her home, Marie was rarely seen without something purple associated with her. While this may seem like a small detail, it actually pointed to the significance of color in Breaking Bad.
Marie was a character with one defining color in Breaking Bad, but the clothes that people wore and the shades they were depicted in always had a direct link the underlying characterization of the show’s cast. Marie’s love for purple represented royalty, nobility, power, and loyalty which was in line with her tendency to put herself on a pedestal. In contrast, Walter White often wore yellow with his color palette becoming darker as the series progressed. With yellow being the direct opposite of purple, this highlighted how far removed Marie was from Walter’s destructive meth empire.
Breaking Bad was one of the most tension-filled series ever made as week after week Walter and Jesse found themselves in yet another nail-bitingly dangerous situation that put them moments away from death. However, Breaking Bad was also a very funny show that through hilarious moments and incredibly witty dialogue would balance the suspense with comedy in practically every episode. While the story of Walter White was a tragic one, it was also filled with countless laugh-out-loud moments along the way.
The biggest contributor to the comedy of Breaking Bad, which did so much to add levity to the more harrowing aspects of the series, came through its secondary characters. While people like Saul Goodman, or Jesse’s pals Badger and Skinny Pete, were involved in criminal activities, they were also consistently funny onscreen and added to Breaking Bad’s unique sense of humor. While Breaking Bad can be seen as an intense drama, in many ways it was also a black comedy, and this blended style helped turn it into one the best TV shows ever made.
The character of Jesse Pinkman was truly a tragic one, and through all the heinous acts that he committed, always struggled with the evil choices that he made. Right from the earliest episodes of Breaking Bad, Jesse was horrified by the consequences of getting involved with Walter White, as he truly suffered over their decision to kill Krazy-8 and melt the corpse of Emilio. As Walter started to become more comfortable with his awful behavior throughout Breaking Bad, Jesse’s ethical struggles only became more pronounced.
In practically every episode of Breaking Bad, there was an occurrence that would send Jesse into an existential tailspin and often he turned to drug use to lessen the guilt that he was feeling. From killing Gale Boetticher to witnessing the murder of the young boy Drew Sharp, Jesse had many demons that haunted him throughout the series. Jesse’s struggles only became worse in later seasons with the arrival of Jack’s Nazi gang, and while he struggled to overcome his demons, audiences can hope that he carved out a better live for himself in Alaska.
The criminal lawyer Saul Goodman played a major role in the illegal behavior seen throughout Breaking Bad and Saul’s story became even more interesting in the spin-off prequel series Better Call Saul. From the point that he was introduced in the second season, Saul’s primary purpose was always to bail people out of trouble and offer his many connections and shady acquaintances to assist with any issues that came up for Walter and Jesse. A mainstay of most episodes of Breaking Bad, Walter would likely have been discovered a lot quicker if not for Saul’s help.
While there were plenty of Breaking Bad scenes that hit differently after watching Better Call Saul, even in the original show’s run it was clear that Saul was the man to come to when characters found themselves in trouble. Through alibies, money laundering, and even providing a means to gain a new identity, Saul was truly a man of all trades who went above and beyond in his duties of legal representation. While he may not have always been comfortable with the things that he did, Saul was always there to bail somebody out of trouble.
In the earliest episodes of Breaking Bad, Walter White was portrayed as an unlikely and meek man who had been dealt a bad hand in life. However, as Breaking Bad continued and Walter carved out a new identity as the drug lord Heisenberg, his egotistical nature became increasingly apparent, and in almost every episode he let it get the best of him. From refusing the help offered to him by Gretchen and Elliott to convincing Hank that Heisenberg was still out there, Walt’s tendency to give into his ego was always his downfall.
Walter was an imbittered man who held onto anger and seething resentment for decades following what he perceived as a fortune that had been stolen from him through the success of Grey Matter. This anger came from his perception that he was a genius who deserved better than he had ever received, and continuously he let this feeling take over his impulses. Walt’s massive ego led to the death of Mike, broke up his marriage, and turned his only son against him, while he gave into his ego in almost every episode, Walt never learned his lesson.
The thing that connected to the entire story of Breaking Bad was Walter White and Jesse Pinkman’s decision to start cooking crystal meth together, and all the horrible things that happened later were a consequence of this choice. The need to continue cooking meth was something that occurred in most episodes, as Walter initially sought to get enough money to leave something behind for his family, and later was forced to continue doing it for fear he would be killed otherwise. Breaking Bad was a show about cooking meth, so it’s no surprise the need to cook was a consistent theme.
There were many points throughout Breaking Bad where either Walter or Jesse tried to stop cooking and move on from their often traumatic lives of crime. Each time there would always be something that drew them back into the game, whether that be Tuco Salamanca, Gus Fring, or Uncle Jack’s gang of Nazis. With highly stylized cooking montages, Breaking Bad often showcased the chemical process of producing meth and the impressive attention to detail that made Heisenberg’s product so pure.
Throughout the series run, there were so many Breaking Bad clues where Hank Schrader should have realized that Walter was Heisenberg a lot earlier. As far back as the first season, Hank was always on Walt’s tail and often got within an inch of discovering his true identity only to be foiled at the last moment. From simple slipups, like the gas masks Walt told from his high school’s lab being traced back to him, to major incidents, such as Walt driving the pair into oncoming traffic, Hank had plenty of opportunities to learn the truth.
After watching Hank get painfully close to discovering Walter’s secret double life, it came as a satisfying relief when Hank finally put the pieces together after reading Leaves of Grass while sitting on the White family’s toilet during the fifth mid-season finale. This realization came after countless close calls and some questionable statements from Walter himself, so it only made sense that Hank got as upset as he did. The story of Hank hunting Heisenberg was one of the most important in all of Breaking Bad and was the culmination of Hank’s character arc throughout the entire show.
Walter White was always a master manipulator, but it seemed like the one person he was worst at lying to was his own wife, Skyler White. From the very first episode, Walter was dishonest toward Skyler and before long was lying about where he was, what he was doing, where he got his money, and how many cell phones he had. As Breaking Bad progressed and Walter’s need for secrecy became greater his lies too became more extreme and convoluted.
The biggest example of Walter’s habit of telling outrageous lies to his wife came in the second season episode “Bit by a Dead Bee” where Walter pretended he was in a fugue state and had no memory of the previous days. This lie was the only way Walter could get out of explaining where he had been after being abducted by Tuco Salamanca. Walt’s lies occurred in practically every episode of Breaking Bad until he finally revealed the truth to Skyler, but, even after that, the deceit never fully went away until the very last episode.