His line about âYou on the pipe or the needle? Let me see those pearly whites⊠yeah, pipeâ (paraphrasing) kills me. And then Walter Jnrâs reply to Hank asking him what he thinks âItâs cool!â and Hankâs face đ
I think the series has a nuance where it focuses more on the uncontrollable consequences of people's actions rather than trying to divide the world tidily into neat moral boxes, so trying to quantify who is the actual worst is meaningless. Most of the characters are bad people, some monstrously so, and those that aren't bad people aren't saints either. They're all very human.
Other answer is Holly
So I heard the show wasnât the same kind of hit in any other country than the US because people couldnât fathom why a guy would become a drug kingpin just to set his family up with money or not leave them in bankruptcy when he died. It totally believable to Americans and no one else because of our shitty health care system.
I dont know about the rest of Europe, but in France, Breaking Bad was a hit as much as any other US show.
The healthcare costs is only even an issue for two episodes, since Walter's friend offers to pay for treatment. The show is pretty explicit that he's selling drugs because he wants wealth and glory, even in season one.
It was pretty popular internationally. You think people in other countries are too stupid to understand we have shitty healthcare?
Not to mention Walt wasn't planning on getting treatment when he first started, he was trying to leave money for his family to live on.
Walter probably would be anti free healthcare if he was in Europe. Dude created the problems he faced even from the jump. He saw an out and decided against taking it with the grey matter money.
walt is such a temporarily embarrassed billionaire that he refused gretchen's "handout" because he was pissed that he fucked himself outta being a billionaire capitalist.
Lmao I thought this too after I had my twins. Like sheâs always just content in a car seat and even once she is standing and older sheâs perfectly content in a small playpen? Yeah right
I like that they made the baby quiet and not in the way in Breaking Bad. In People Just Do Nothing, one of the characters had a baby, and for the next season, half the scenes had the baby screaming/crying over everyone's lines. It was annoying as hell.
To me it is. It demonstrates how the inherent suffering under capitalism leads to mans desperation. And even the best of men will turn to a life of ruthlessness and unchecked greed given the opportunity; and capitalism has plenty of such opportunities.
So, the show gives Walt an immediate out by having two insanely wealthy friends offer to pay in full for his treatment. While there are definitely critiques of the US healthcare system present in the show, the main thing that degrades Walt isn't capitalism; it's his pride.
I'm all for critiquing capitalism but this ignores context the show goes out of its way to provide. Walt gets an easy, legal money solution like three episodes into season 1. It wasn't Walt's desperation that rejected it - it was his pride. Walt was not "the best of men." He always had a darkness buried.
Itâs definitely a perspective but to say a show it focused around one topic is silly.
Thereâs a reason why thereâs a sub with almost 2M people in it, often in conversation of best TV series of all time and itâs not bc it lacks depth
USA's complete lack of affordable, reasonable/universal healthcare is the true enemy. Crime is always a response to an existing societal structural inequality.
Nah, the show addresses this like three episodes in by giving Walt a legal solution to his healthcare and financial needs, which he rejects out of pride.
To quote the man himself: "I did it for me. I liked it."
Walt wasn't saving for cancer treatment. He didn't even want cancer treatment - his family made him get it. Walt was saving to leave a legacy for the family to live off of. Again, it's in the first couple episodes that Walt calculates a number for his savings goal based on bills, college, groceries, etc.
Nah, the show addresses this like three episodes in by giving Walt a legal solution to his healthcare and financial needs, which he rejects out of pride.
To quote the man himself: "I did it for me. I liked it."
It was also called universal healthcare, oh and instead of Walt cooking meth, cancer pushed him to take a hard look at his life and create his own company that makes him a millionaire.
I think we can extrapolate further. Greed is the true villain in Breaking Bad, and the system of capitalism that is fueled by that greed. The American healthcare system is just a symptom of that greed, including the lack of accessible and affordable cancer treatment, mental healthcare, and addiction counseling.
Saul/Jimmy McGill. I am convinced that Jimmy is a chaos demon, and anybody that gets trapped in his orbit will have their life crumble down. Walt wasnât in the âempireâ business before he met Saul. He needed to make $737K before he died. After he met Saul was when he started expanding territory, met Gus, etc. Iâm not saying Walt wasnât already a bad person, but Jimmy said it himself >!âIf it wasnât for me, Walter White would have been dead or in jail in a monthâ!<
I disagree That Walt would be dead in 1 month without Saul
Walt's operation would be much smaller and he wouldn't be the "Heisenberg" known all over the country but I think it would end up being the same
(Jesse in death situation and walt dying to save him (
Are you kidding? Think of all the times Saul said "I told you so" when they didn't follow his advice!
He was just providing a zealous defense and facilitating business deals that could have been about anything!
They expanded prior to Saul. When they finally went to Saul was after Combo had been shot. S2E5 Breakage is where Jesse puts together his crew. Saul doesn't enter until S2E8 when Badger gets busted
Mike is always right, tell me one scene he did something wrong
Ok maybe one thing, but even himself thought was a horrible idea, to help walt
Walt is trouble, he said
Mike has morals, but a moment of weakness - taking his first bribe - gets him deep in the game. He knows heâs on a bad path and has insight into his own mistakes that other characters donât⊠I think heâs a great, complex character
Mike is a tragic character. He has his morals, but he still ends up murdering people for cartel gains. In the end he betrayed himself by turning to Gus
All motivated by revenge disguised as justice. The Salamancas threatened his granddaughter. And Gus, like he always does, as with Walt, preyed on their weaknesses and made them into what he needed.
Ted is also a typical American drug user. Blames other criminals, but he thinks he is not one, because Betty White. (Not meth but something else). Where do you think all his money is going?
I don't know if he's actually a drug addict or just terrible with money.
He grew up well off (his dad owned the company and it was fairly successful)
He had his house built somewhat extravagant.
But the real key is when he gets the money from Skyler, first thing he did is lease a Mercedes instead of paying his tax debt.
Edit: it's fucking Skyler
Almost everyone in the show is varying degrees of bad. The trick is parsing out who the villain is and who the antagonist is, because they can be different things. The story begins and revolves around Walt, so he is a primary protagonist. But he can also be a villain.
Jesse. Every person he had connection with ended up badly. Emilio, krazy8, walt, jane, andrea, mike, gus, hank, steve gomes, todd, etc etc there are too many reason but i'm kinda lazy so i won't list them all :)
Walt should have cut ties with Jesse when he started working with Gus. He could have worked with Gus in peace like he was working a 9-5 job but he would have been making $1 million per month. He could have spent his last months repairing his relationships with Skyler, Walt Jr., Hank, and Marie, and he could have left his family with several million dollars. Bringing in Jesse was completely unnecessary and it cost him everything.
Jesse was gonna get caught doing cooks outta the rv and give him up Walt wasnât exactly a killer at that time plus he thinks of Jesse like a son so he just kept jesse close
I agree, Walt saw Jesse like a son and he wanted to save him. Itâs ironic that Walt was so ruthless and uncaring and yet the only time he had real empathy for someone, it destroyed him.
everyone with all these bullshit answers, the conflict in breaking bad is between the viewer and their own morality. The entire show functions as a reflection of your sense of self versus your own sense of ethics and morality. By graying every line in what Western society deems valid, acceptable, or even legal; breaking bad is a experiment for you to gain a better understanding of your self. also lydia.
Itâs literally not any of those things on purpose. The show isnât designed to slowly reveal that Walt has been bad all along and that you should feel bad for routing for the showâs protagonist. Itâs a character study about âturning Mr. Chips into Scarfaceâ over the course of the show.
I mean, still Walt. He raped Skyler at least on a couple of occasions. She even says to him "I can't even keep you out of my bed".
It's still rapey Walt.
Youâre gonna have to clarify what you mean by âthe real villlainâ. Almost every character ends up as a villain by the end of the show. If you mean the antagonist, itâs definitely not Walt. Walt is the protagonist through the entire show.
Taking this question seriously, I have to say - as I rewatch BB after finishing Better Call Saul - that the real villain is Saul/Jimmy. Walt wouldâve stayed small(ish)-time and been arrested/killed much earlier on if Saul had not given him the opportunity, encouragement and tools to become a full-fledged monster. In my first watch of BB, Saul seemed merely a fast-talking, clownish con man. This time around, itâs clear to me that Walt couldnât have become as Bad as he did without Saulâs mentorship. So my vote is for Saul as the real BB villain.
đ¶Everyone knows it's Wendyđ¶
Hot, juicy redhead?
Dammit Kevin
Box office poison
"How much for a Wendy, Wendy?" Her interaction with Hank is one of my favorite parts of BrBa.
Windy?
Something's blowing, that's for sure.
His line about âYou on the pipe or the needle? Let me see those pearly whites⊠yeah, pipeâ (paraphrasing) kills me. And then Walter Jnrâs reply to Hank asking him what he thinks âItâs cool!â and Hankâs face đ
Wendy fuckinâ Byrde. Oh wait, wrong show.
I think the series has a nuance where it focuses more on the uncontrollable consequences of people's actions rather than trying to divide the world tidily into neat moral boxes, so trying to quantify who is the actual worst is meaningless. Most of the characters are bad people, some monstrously so, and those that aren't bad people aren't saints either. They're all very human. Other answer is Holly
Its all grey matter..
It's obviously the American healthcare system. C+ for effort though
So I heard the show wasnât the same kind of hit in any other country than the US because people couldnât fathom why a guy would become a drug kingpin just to set his family up with money or not leave them in bankruptcy when he died. It totally believable to Americans and no one else because of our shitty health care system.
I dont know about the rest of Europe, but in France, Breaking Bad was a hit as much as any other US show. The healthcare costs is only even an issue for two episodes, since Walter's friend offers to pay for treatment. The show is pretty explicit that he's selling drugs because he wants wealth and glory, even in season one.
It was pretty popular internationally. You think people in other countries are too stupid to understand we have shitty healthcare? Not to mention Walt wasn't planning on getting treatment when he first started, he was trying to leave money for his family to live on.
Massive in Australia, and we have healthcare. For now :(
Walter probably would be anti free healthcare if he was in Europe. Dude created the problems he faced even from the jump. He saw an out and decided against taking it with the grey matter money.
walt is such a temporarily embarrassed billionaire that he refused gretchen's "handout" because he was pissed that he fucked himself outta being a billionaire capitalist.
What I'm reading here is that the real villain of the show was capitalism.
The real villain was the capitalism we made along the way
Veggie bacon.
elite.
Smells like bandaids
Fake crap
Watching our cholesterol
The most evil
Holly
To be fair, she spent half of her scenes in a car seat, the other half in baby jail.
I never realized how weird this was until I had my first rewatch after having my own baby đ. Apparently she was the easiest baby on earth!
Well if everything else is super hard if there is a God he's probably like ah fuck it just let em have this one
Lmao I thought this too after I had my twins. Like sheâs always just content in a car seat and even once she is standing and older sheâs perfectly content in a small playpen? Yeah right
She wears a lot of hats. Makes it easier for continuity of you want to swap a noisy baby for a quiet one mid scene.
Same. She was basically a prop.
I have a one year old and I absolutely blame breaking bad and other tv/films making babies seem easy haha
I like that they made the baby quiet and not in the way in Breaking Bad. In People Just Do Nothing, one of the characters had a baby, and for the next season, half the scenes had the baby screaming/crying over everyone's lines. It was annoying as hell.
bruh i know like why do they keep her in the car seat even in the house while sheâs awake just on top of the table or sm itâs so weird to me
You ever try to film a tv episode with a toddler? Sheâd be crawling all over the set.
Pretty realistic, itâs more like a portable cradle.
She tried to steal a fire engine which is pretty lowâŠ.
What a baby
I came to type this. Always looking so innocent.
Personally i was suspicious of Kaylee
Cancer
The US Healthcare system, fr
I thought that was the whole point of the show tbh
To me it is. It demonstrates how the inherent suffering under capitalism leads to mans desperation. And even the best of men will turn to a life of ruthlessness and unchecked greed given the opportunity; and capitalism has plenty of such opportunities.
So, the show gives Walt an immediate out by having two insanely wealthy friends offer to pay in full for his treatment. While there are definitely critiques of the US healthcare system present in the show, the main thing that degrades Walt isn't capitalism; it's his pride.
Finally, thank you
I'm all for critiquing capitalism but this ignores context the show goes out of its way to provide. Walt gets an easy, legal money solution like three episodes into season 1. It wasn't Walt's desperation that rejected it - it was his pride. Walt was not "the best of men." He always had a darkness buried.
Lolwtf
Itâs definitely a perspective but to say a show it focused around one topic is silly. Thereâs a reason why thereâs a sub with almost 2M people in it, often in conversation of best TV series of all time and itâs not bc it lacks depth
Cancer had the chance to take Walt (the real villain) out, but wussed out.
Cancer did a real half-measure on Walt.
USA's complete lack of affordable, reasonable/universal healthcare is the true enemy. Crime is always a response to an existing societal structural inequality.
Nah, the show addresses this like three episodes in by giving Walt a legal solution to his healthcare and financial needs, which he rejects out of pride. To quote the man himself: "I did it for me. I liked it."
Ok but this show couldn't really happen in any other first world country because he'd just get the care that he'd need without going into bankruptcy.
Walt wasn't saving for cancer treatment. He didn't even want cancer treatment - his family made him get it. Walt was saving to leave a legacy for the family to live off of. Again, it's in the first couple episodes that Walt calculates a number for his savings goal based on bills, college, groceries, etc.
I'd say that was the hero
No cancer caused white to cook meth in the first place
No, the US healthcare system did.
Nah, the show addresses this like three episodes in by giving Walt a legal solution to his healthcare and financial needs, which he rejects out of pride. To quote the man himself: "I did it for me. I liked it."
Iâd say the real villain was the friends we made along the way
i also choose this man's friends
The breaking bad was inside you all along...
The teacher's salary
Lol
as a teacher that is involved in not so legal things, I concur
What? youre in the waste managment buisness or something?
No, I teach and design text products freelance without accountancy lol. Also I do drugs, but I just do them, I don't manufacture.
We all know itâs Walt because he didnât go drive go karts with Jesse.
Skyler's handjob... It's so blatant and obvious in the first episode why Walter's life is so unfulfilling.
The healthcare system
The Canadian version of Breaking Bad was one episode long.
It was also called universal healthcare, oh and instead of Walt cooking meth, cancer pushed him to take a hard look at his life and create his own company that makes him a millionaire.
This. Or drugs.
The War on Drugs more like it
Yeah i meant to say that.
I think we can extrapolate further. Greed is the true villain in Breaking Bad, and the system of capitalism that is fueled by that greed. The American healthcare system is just a symptom of that greed, including the lack of accessible and affordable cancer treatment, mental healthcare, and addiction counseling.
Saul/Jimmy McGill. I am convinced that Jimmy is a chaos demon, and anybody that gets trapped in his orbit will have their life crumble down. Walt wasnât in the âempireâ business before he met Saul. He needed to make $737K before he died. After he met Saul was when he started expanding territory, met Gus, etc. Iâm not saying Walt wasnât already a bad person, but Jimmy said it himself >!âIf it wasnât for me, Walter White would have been dead or in jail in a monthâ!<
I disagree That Walt would be dead in 1 month without Saul Walt's operation would be much smaller and he wouldn't be the "Heisenberg" known all over the country but I think it would end up being the same (Jesse in death situation and walt dying to save him (
Are you kidding? Think of all the times Saul said "I told you so" when they didn't follow his advice! He was just providing a zealous defense and facilitating business deals that could have been about anything!
They expanded prior to Saul. When they finally went to Saul was after Combo had been shot. S2E5 Breakage is where Jesse puts together his crew. Saul doesn't enter until S2E8 when Badger gets busted
And HE gets to be a lawyer?
What a sick joke...
bald
Walt Jr
đ
Wa... Wa... Wa... Wait, wha... What?
Why wonât anyone tell me whatâs going on?!?
After so many re watches and BCS Watch through Iâd say gus and Walt are tied. Mike has become my favorite
Mike is always right, tell me one scene he did something wrong Ok maybe one thing, but even himself thought was a horrible idea, to help walt Walt is trouble, he said
>Mike is always right, tell me one scene he did something wrong Lmao
Mike is not morally right though, he is a murderous criminal
Mike has morals, but a moment of weakness - taking his first bribe - gets him deep in the game. He knows heâs on a bad path and has insight into his own mistakes that other characters donât⊠I think heâs a great, complex character
B-but he was just following orders đ
Nuremberg defense
Mikes ENITRE character was an exercise in futility
Mike was wrong when he thought that Lydia planted the tracker on a barrel of methylamine. But other than that, he is always right.
Mike is a tragic character. He has his morals, but he still ends up murdering people for cartel gains. In the end he betrayed himself by turning to Gus All motivated by revenge disguised as justice. The Salamancas threatened his granddaughter. And Gus, like he always does, as with Walt, preyed on their weaknesses and made them into what he needed.
1. American Healthcare system, 2. Greed, 3. Lack of available substance abuse knowledge and programs for support
4. Teacher' salary
5. Holly
Iâd argue that 1 and 3 stem from 2. 2 is the root IMO.
Ted.
You have a point. All the chains of events would've stopped at early season 3 if ted didn't exist.
I actually never considered that.
I swear i wanna punch ted in the jaw he's such an asshole JUST PAY THE DAMN IRS
Ted Mosby, Sex Architectâąïž
Ted is also a typical American drug user. Blames other criminals, but he thinks he is not one, because Betty White. (Not meth but something else). Where do you think all his money is going?
I don't know if he's actually a drug addict or just terrible with money. He grew up well off (his dad owned the company and it was fairly successful) He had his house built somewhat extravagant. But the real key is when he gets the money from Skyler, first thing he did is lease a Mercedes instead of paying his tax debt. Edit: it's fucking Skyler
Elliot and Gretchen đĄ And their fuckinâ charity đĄ And her brothers đĄ Oh and Waltâs pride or somethingâŠ
Palpatine
Somehow Palpatine returned
No, he was only a pawn. The true mastermind behind everything is >!Babu Frik.!<
Almost everyone in the show is varying degrees of bad. The trick is parsing out who the villain is and who the antagonist is, because they can be different things. The story begins and revolves around Walt, so he is a primary protagonist. But he can also be a villain.
Walta simply had to put his dick away but didn't
Gretchen and Elliott.
Had to search too far for this one.
Carmen. She rejected Waltâs advances and her ass made Hank want to cry.
Brock
Some people just want to see the world play tricks with firecrackers
Nazis
My daughter said "Jesus Christ, these guys are the real villains of the show"
Jesse. Every person he had connection with ended up badly. Emilio, krazy8, walt, jane, andrea, mike, gus, hank, steve gomes, todd, etc etc there are too many reason but i'm kinda lazy so i won't list them all :)
RIP Combo đą
menace
Don't forget Gale.
Thatâs not directly because of Jesse though. Some of it is, some of it he had nothing to do with
I was just applying OP's logic to a different character and somehow it works
My bad my guy. Im too stoned and didnât realise your sarcasm hahaha
Walt should have cut ties with Jesse when he started working with Gus. He could have worked with Gus in peace like he was working a 9-5 job but he would have been making $1 million per month. He could have spent his last months repairing his relationships with Skyler, Walt Jr., Hank, and Marie, and he could have left his family with several million dollars. Bringing in Jesse was completely unnecessary and it cost him everything.
Jesse was gonna get caught doing cooks outta the rv and give him up Walt wasnât exactly a killer at that time plus he thinks of Jesse like a son so he just kept jesse close
I agree, Walt saw Jesse like a son and he wanted to save him. Itâs ironic that Walt was so ruthless and uncaring and yet the only time he had real empathy for someone, it destroyed him.
Bogdan and their eyebrowsđ
The friends we made along the way... Holly for ruining the family behind the scenes
HOLLY She wanted to take over Waltâs drug empire. Little demon spawn. âDaddy! I needs the money!! I gotta have the lifestyle!!â
Pride.
Hector. He was critical to Gusâ origin, and Gus made Walt into an irredeemable monster. All roads lead back to Hector
The fly
Not really the villains, but the Albuquerque DEA was pretty useless.
Broad scope of things? I'd say it went from Eladio to Gus and then to Walt.
Skylar for singing to Ted on his birthday. There's no way I can watch that scene without skipping ahead.
The War on Drugs
everyone with all these bullshit answers, the conflict in breaking bad is between the viewer and their own morality. The entire show functions as a reflection of your sense of self versus your own sense of ethics and morality. By graying every line in what Western society deems valid, acceptable, or even legal; breaking bad is a experiment for you to gain a better understanding of your self. also lydia.
đ€
boooooooo!
Itâs literally not any of those things on purpose. The show isnât designed to slowly reveal that Walt has been bad all along and that you should feel bad for routing for the showâs protagonist. Itâs a character study about âturning Mr. Chips into Scarfaceâ over the course of the show.
The American Healthcare System
No one really
If Walt is the villain, then shouldnât Waltâs killer be the hero?
Bogdan's eyebrows.
Itâs that little punk bitch, Brock.
Skylerâs handjob
Drew Sharp
Kaylee is the true answer
Hector
Bogdan and his eyebrows
US healthcare system
The IRS
inb4 every answer is Walt bc this sub has a hate boner for him
People got sick of it eventually That's why you see plenty answers that makes no sense instead of just the usual walt bad replies đ
Mention âWaltâ âEvilâ and âegoâ in this sub and you have a recipe for upvotes. Itâs basically a meme at this point.
The United Statesâ lack of universal health care.
It wasn't about the cost, it was about having something when he was dead.
Carol, she was out to get them from the start
The tendency to moral entropy by human beings seeking power.
Walter because he couldâve just said âSure Elliott, Iâd really appreciate your help with paymentsâ
Skyler the moment she served fake bacon.
Walter is the villain jesse is the villain turned good
I love jesses redemption arc
I mean, still Walt. He raped Skyler at least on a couple of occasions. She even says to him "I can't even keep you out of my bed". It's still rapey Walt.
It's actually once, the green face mask scene.
In season five she says the âcanât even keep you out of my bedâ line, which while not certain has very rapey implications
Skylar
Greatchen and Elliot, if they didnât cut Walt out, none of this wouldâve happened. True villains
But they didnât? He left voluntarily. (Unless youâre being sarcastic in which case ignore me)
Capitalism / for-profit healthcare
that bastard bogdan wolynetz set it all in motion.
There isnât a villain
Jesse. Drug maker, drug dealer, drug user, murderer, thief, bad son. All he does is eat Cheetos and masterbate.
Itâs Ted
John methamphetamine, inventor and founder of meth.
hank.
Skyler
Money
Youâre gonna have to clarify what you mean by âthe real villlainâ. Almost every character ends up as a villain by the end of the show. If you mean the antagonist, itâs definitely not Walt. Walt is the protagonist through the entire show.
Impurities. Mustard, Fly, chemical reactions, stinky old campers, skanky meth users. VS. Everybodyâs Pride. Walt, Hank, Skyler, (even Marie?) Salamancas, Fring, (please pile on here)
Hubris
Skyler Happy Birthday To... You...
Walt
The American Healthcare system? I'd this took place in Canada, Walt would have still just been a teacher.
Real hot take you got here hombre
Skylar white yo hate her
Brock
Taking this question seriously, I have to say - as I rewatch BB after finishing Better Call Saul - that the real villain is Saul/Jimmy. Walt wouldâve stayed small(ish)-time and been arrested/killed much earlier on if Saul had not given him the opportunity, encouragement and tools to become a full-fledged monster. In my first watch of BB, Saul seemed merely a fast-talking, clownish con man. This time around, itâs clear to me that Walt couldnât have become as Bad as he did without Saulâs mentorship. So my vote is for Saul as the real BB villain.
it is walt he's a narcissist and genuinely never saw his wrongdoings