Breaking Bad’s Walter White may be incredibly clever and determined to achieve his goals, but during the series run, Walt makes some careless mistakes. Breaking Bad ran from 2008 until 2013, with the first three seasons of the show airing on AMC before moving to Netflix, where it quickly became one of the most-watched shows on the platform (via Variety). The show also managed to win 16 Primetime Emmys in a variety of categories, further proving how popular and clever the show was.
Undeniably, the concept and writing by creator Vince Gilligan made the series an overwhelming success, but the (anti-)hero of the story, Walt (Bryan Cranston), aka Heisenberg, wasn’t always so thoughtful in his dealings. Walt was involved in highly shady and illegal dealings, with law enforcement often close behind, but there were many moments when Walt’s own actions caused more trouble than they solved. From surrounding himself with unreliable people to forgetting to hide damning evidence, Walt sometimes behaved as though he wanted to get caught.
Jesse (Aaron Paul) was initially a student of Walt’s when he was attending high school. Walt taught chemistry, and Jesse was a troubled student. As the series kicks off, Walt is given a fatal diagnosis with only two years to live. In a desperate effort to provide for his family and ensure they are looked after beyond his death, Walt chooses to take his chemistry knowledge to a less conventional place and cook high-quality crystal meth to make money quickly. Of course, Walt recruits his former student, Jesse, to successfully sell the product and ensure he has some backup.
However, considering Jesse was a high school dropout, with a drug habit and no clear indication that he could be relied upon, he was never a good choice to have as a business partner. Sure, Walt could keep him on as a dealer, and keep Jesse at arms length, but he actively involved Jesse in all of his plans and taught him how to cook with his meth recipe. Jesse frequently caused Walt stress and drama in his business, from not turning up to the initial meeting with Gus Fring, to frequently getting them in trouble.
As Walt got deeper into the world of being a criminal mastermind and drug lord, his new roles and responsibilities came with a lot of things he couldn’t easily talk to his wife about. Separating his home life from his criminal one, Walt has a hidden cell phone which he uses to communicate with contacts like Jesse and Saul. However, Skyler becomes suspicious and questions him about whether he has a second cell phone, to which he immediately denies it. Skyler appears happy with the explanation, and they go on with their lives.
Then, Walt brought the idea up again, with more excuses, and a noticeable change in tone, which only furthered Skyler’s suspicions. Walt was normally pretty good at compartmentalizing his life, but in a groggy state after having had some relaxing drugs in the hospital to help with pain, Skyler asks if Walt brought his phone, to which he replies “Which one?” While it is fair that he was not in full control, with the drugs in his system, this moment caused a significant shift in the relationship between Walt and Skyler that would never fully recover from.
Walt also possesses an element of pride. This fact is explored throughout the series in beautiful detail as Walt slowly reveals details from his past. Simultaneously, he also finds new purpose and meaning in his work creating meth. Walt had previously been bought out of a company he helped start, which went on to great success. Having then moved into a career as a high school teacher where his value and importance were significantly reduced, Walt had a chip on his shoulder.
This pride led Walt to relish his new life as the man who could make the best, and most pure meth, and begin building a new empire. However, his pride got the better of him when he successfully got his brother-in-law and DEA officer, Hank, to back off from his trail. Hank had been led to believe, through Walt’s careful plans, that Heisenberg could be dead. But just when Hank was becoming convinced that Heisenberg was gone for good, Walt hinted that he could still be out there, ruining his own efforts.
In Breaking Bad season 5, Walt feels as though all of his plans are finally coming together, and the end is in sight. As he moved some personal items in his home, he found the poetry book, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, a gift which he was given by Gale Boetticher earlier in the series. Reflecting fondly on the gift, he placed it somewhere to read. However, his brother-in-law, Hank, then comes to his home and stumbles upon the book.
While the book and author are not incriminating, inside the front cover, there is a personalized note addressed to Walt from G.B. Those are the initials for Gale Boetticher, who was a murder victim that was investigated by the police, which led the DEA to discover links to a meth lab and reveal Gus was a drug kingpin. As a result, Hank was very familiar with Gale, and when he found the book in his brother-in-law’s home, it was a major clue that further proved Walt’s secret identity as Heisenberg.
Mike was one of the rare criminals in Breaking Bad who had a strict moral code. While many other characters have loose morals and rules that they seemingly pick and choose at will, Mike had a strong sense of loyalty to those he worked with and for. Before becoming a criminal, hitman, and a fixer for people like Gus Fring, Mike had a long career in law enforcement and the Marines. As someone who served and worked hard within the confines of the system, he was well-versed in how to navigate and circumvent the law.
By Breaking Bad season 5, Walt had spiraled out of control. Despite being at the top of the food chain in the drug empire, having disposed of Gus Fring, Walt was in trouble. Mike briefly worked for Walt, but soon retired due to his lack of discipline. When Gus’ death was being investigated, and there was a list of witnesses, Walt tried to get the names from Mike, but being the moral and loyal character he is, Mike refused, only to be shot by Walt without giving any answers. Obviously, this only added to Walt’s crimes rather than helping him.
Todd was brought in to help with work being done by Walt, Jesse, and Mike. However, on his first job with the guys, Todd shot and killed a young boy to cover their tracks. The cold, callous approach towards killing an innocent child was not taken lightly by Mike or Jesse, but Walt had already gone too far into his Heisenberg persona to feel anything about the boy’s death. Instead, he viewed Todd’s actions as practical and correct. As a result, he hires Todd to continue working with him on other missions, despite how uneasy it makes Jesse feel.
While Jesse was often an issue for Walt, he had a shred of decency compared to Todd. When it came down to it, Jesse saw through Todd’s cold, calculating exterior, and knew that he was not to be trusted, but Walt did not recognize the threat he posed. When Jesse left, Walt kept working with Todd, which ultimately led to major betrayals and problems for Walt and his friends and family in the final episodes. However, Walt did appear to learn his lesson and eventually killed Todd, but not before they blew up his operation.
Walt eventually chooses to kill everyone who previously worked for Gus Fring. In order to do this, he asked his new trusted advisor, Todd, to arrange to have these people killed. Todd then approached his uncle, Jack Welker, the leader of a neo-nazi gang, to help out with getting the job done. However, the gang and Todd were unreliable and complete strangers to Walt, and they ended up killing much more than just the 10 intended witnesses. Jack also killed Hank and captured Jesse to cook meth for his gang, before plotting a way to get rid of Walt and steal his money.
Walt’s carelessness, and an overreliance on his new partner, Todd, led to incidents that directly hurt people closest to him. In his haste, he placed a great deal of misguided trust in a new partner and allowed him to go and make big decisions without proper supervision or any kind of vetting process. Had Walt stuck with the people he knew and trusted, instead of jumping ship and employing the most ruthless, cut-throat, and unreliable people he could find, Hank likely would not have died, and the money Walt earned throughout Breaking Bad would still have been all his.