⭐9.5
Description: When chemistry teacher Walter White is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given only two years to live, he decides he has nothing to lose. He lives with his teenage son, who has cerebral palsy, and his wife, in New Mexico. Determined to ensure that his family will have a secure future, Walt embarks on a career of drugs and crime. He proves to be remarkably proficient in this new world as he begins manufacturing and selling methamphetamine with one of his former students. The series tracks the impacts of a fatal diagnosis on a regular, hard working man, and explores how a fatal diagnosis affects his morality and transforms him into a major player of the drug trade.
Creator: Vince Gilligan
Stars: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn
Taglines:
- In the no-holds-barred world of Walt White, the end justifies the extreme.
- Unstable. Volatile. Dangerous. And That’s Just The Chemistry.
- On March 8, All Becomes Crystal Clear.
- Change [the] Equation.
- All Hail The King
- Power Corrodes.
- You Got No Proof: Getting Away With It Since 2008 – A Dealer In Style
- Warning: Extremely Volatile
- Walter White Is a Chemist, Father, Compulsive Liar, Meth Cook, “Heisenberg”, Killer, Cancer Survivor, Meth Master Chef, Drug King Pin?
- The experiment is out of control.
- All bad things must come to an end
- Remember My Name
Trivia
- Jesse Pinkman was originally slated to be written out by the 9th episode. During the hiatus caused by the writer’s strike, creator Vince Gilligan, impressed by Aaron Paul’s portrayal of Jesse, decided to reinstate the character.
- It was Vince Gilligan’s decision to finish the show in season 5. He didn’t want to make the mistake many successful shows make by running too long until the quality decreases.
- After binge-watching the entire show in a span of two weeks, Anthony Hopkins wrote a glowing fan letter to Bryan Cranston, praising him and his fellow actors for their incredible acting, as well as lauding the rest of the crew, comparing the series to a “great Shakespearian or Greek tragedy”.
- Many fans were surprised that such a successful show had stars who weren’t very famous. Vince Gilligan said that this was by choice, and as the show went on he actually rejected big-name stars in favor of lesser-known actors.
- RJ Mitte has cerebral palsy in real life. His case is much milder than Walt Junior’s. He had to learn to walk with crutches and slow down his speech to play the part.
- Sony and AMC were initially reluctant to cast Bryan Cranston because of his previous comedic roles. They approached John Cusack and Matthew Broderick for the role of Walter White. When they both declined, Vince Gilligan was able to cast Cranston. However, the rumor of John Cusack being offered the role of Walter has been debunked by Cusack himself in a 2020 Guardian interview, when he claimed no such offer ever came through his agents, and even asked Gilligan himself who denied making a formal offer for the role.
- When characters on the show are smoking meth, they are actually smoking sugar or rock candy but do not inhale. The candy meth is produced by The Candy Lady, a local shop in Albuquerque.
- Aaron Paul says the word “bitch” 54 times throughout the series.
- Walter was originally written to be 40 years old. AMC felt that 40 was too young for Walter to have a mid-life crisis and requested his age change to 50.
- Bryan Cranston has a Breaking Bad tattoo on his ring finger.
- One of the main story elements is that Walt is a chemistry genius. Marius Stan, who plays Bogdan, has a PhD in Chemistry, and still works in the field. This show was his first foray into acting.
- As the show progressed, Vince Gilligan noticed he had to stop criticizing Walt about how evil he was becoming in front of Bryan Cranston, because he was hurting the actor’s feelings.
- The White’s address, 308 Negra Arroyo Lane, is a private residence. The residents have had to deal with fans recreating Walter’s famous pizza throw onto the roof of their house, and have conducted media interviews asking to be left alone.
- Breaking Bad (2008) was originally set in Riverside, California. It was moved to Albuquerque to take advantage of a tax rebate on production.
- In an interview, Vince Gilligan admitted that the writer’s strike that shortened season 1 ended up benefiting the show. He’d planned for Walt’s evil side to emerge in a shocking season finale. The strike led him to write the evolution much more gradually.
- When one of Tuco’s two cousins was cast, he was asked if he knew of anyone who looked similar, with a strong physique and the same intensity. He recommended his brother, who got the role immediately.
- While pitching the show to Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan told him he wanted to start off with a nerdy Mr. Chips type character and transform him into Scarface.
- Recent studies show that it is impossible to make crystal meth blue the way Walter White does.
- Gus Fring was originally supposed to appear in only three or four episodes. Giancarlo Esposito was asked to return for seven episodes in season three. Esposito refused to return unless he could appear in more episodes. He ended up appearing in 11 episodes in the third season.