Breaking Bad: An Ode to Storytelling

Why this show is at least close to perfection

Skyler: “If I have to hear, one more time, that you did this for the family-“

Walter: “I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And… I was… really… I was alive.”

Fun Fact: I finished watching Breaking Bad over three years ago. While I was planning this post, scribbling down notes on what to write, I just started crying. Just like that. After more than three years, this show still triggers emotions in me, I never thought could be that strong concerning a tv show. Crazy, right? But this just proved all the points, I had already written down in my notes. So, let’s have a closer look…

Ok, so the very first thing that comes to my mind when thinking about Breaking Bad is character development. I seriously can’t think of any other show that even comes close to the incredible character development we can see here. Sure, there are other good and very good ones. But this… this is just outstanding. 

Of course there’s not only one character who develops. But to demonstrate the brilliance of character development, let me show you the most important case: Walter. He starts out as the most normal guy on earth. Chemistry teacher, loving husband and father, totally likeable but nothing special at all. There is one first hint though that he may not be totally satisfied with the life he is living. We get to know Walter’s rich friends Elliott and Gretchen Schwartz, whose success seems to be based on Walter’s research. While they made millions with his work, he is stuck with his teaching job, which doesn’t challenge his extensive knowledge enough at all. This injustice and Walter’s resulting dissatisfaction mark the starting point of his development. Then he gets diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and this is his trigger. Until then he just accepted his fate, let others smother his talents. Now he has only two choices: die and leave his family in debt or fight and finally use his “chemistry powers”, whatever the costs. When he enters the business of drug dealing/producing, he has no idea how brutal it actually is. He begins quite naive and overwhelmed. When he is supposed to get rid of a guy – Krazy 8 – who poses a threat to their activities, he can’t bring himself to do it. He keeps talking to the man and empathizes with him until he decides to let him go. Only when he notices that Krazy 8 has actually hidden a shard to attack him with, he strangles him in the heat of the moment.

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See the look on his face, while he’s doing it? Yes, certainly, there’s rage. But more, he’s shocked about himself and what he’s capable of. After his very first kill he’s devastated and keeps muttering “I’m sorry”. And this is the start of his career as “Heisenberg”, the best crystal meth producer there is in Albuquerque and soon also the most powerful character of the drug scene. Over the next few seasons he gets ever more confident, ever more ruthless and ever more brutal. Soon, taking a life isn’t a challenge for him any longer, but rather a simple means to an end. 
Walter’s motivation is his family. He truly loves his wife and kids and he does literally everything for them. This doesn’t change. However, his motivation does. Yes, he does love them all until the very end. Yet, he doesn’t become one of the most wanted criminals of his time for them. He gets to this level, because at a certain point he realises that he actually enjoys it – he does it for himself. At a certain point there’s just no turning back, no matter how dangerous his activities get for his beloved family. No matter what consequences they will have to suffer after his death. He gets literally addicted to his new role – Heisenberg is what, after all these years of oppressed talent and power, finally brings out all that he held back. And this is where we come full circle. This is where it all comes back to Gretchen and Elliott, who refused him his rightful place. This new persona, Heisenberg, needs to prove, to himself and to everybody else, that he is after all powerful. There are two very famous scenes from the show that prove his development concerning his hunger for power and control.

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Walter to Skyler: 
“Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears! It ceases to exist without me. No, you clearly don’t know who you’re talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger! A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!”

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Declan: “Who the hell are you?”

Walter: “You know. You all know exactly who I am. Say my name.”

…

Walter: “That’s right. Now say my name.”

Declan: “… You’re Heisenberg.”

Walter: “You’re goddamn right.”

So, this is all I’m gonna say about character development. If you want to read a more detailed account of Walter White’s transformation into Heisenberg, check out this article by TIME Magazine here.

Now, let’s move on to the next point and this is also a big one: Breaking Bad is so powerful because it is relatable and realistic. 
Huh? Realistic? Yes! 
For starters, there’s the way that problems and conflicts are told. Now in more “mainstream” kinda shows, problems are usually told like this: 
1. There’s a problem that seems unsurmountable. 
2. There’s a lot of fuss made about that problem.
3. There’s that one character who has this brilliant idea, that comes totally out of the blue. Like, oh right Kevin forgot he had a cousin in Oklahoma who’s actually really helpful.
4. Kevin’s cousin from Oklahoma solves it all in a matter of seconds and everything goes back to normal.
I hope you guys are ok with me totally exaggerating this as a means of demonstration. 🙂 
Ok. Now here’s how problems are usually told in Breaking Bad:
1. There’s a problem that seems unsurmountable.
2. Walter uses that big brain of his to figure something out that makes the problem seem less unsurmountable.
3. All hell breaks lose, people get killed, something goes wrong.
4. Walter’s brains saves the day, but due to the fact that something went wrong and they had to improvise a bit, they’ve already released the next problem.
See what I mean by realistic now? Great. But that’s not all. The conflicts that Walter and Jesse have to face during their “drug journey” are so close to real life that honestly, I’d consider you weird if you told me you couldn’t relate to at least like… 10 of them! (no offense 😀 ) Every character gets so much depth, so much emotion, which is always absolutely to the point. You can empathize with Walter and his struggle between being a good husband and father and at the same time being f-ing Heisenberg. You can empathize with Jesse and his f-ed up family and love life. You can empathize with Walter Jr. who distances himself from his father more and more. You can empathize with Skyler who tries to play along and cover for her husband, but who just can’t take it all in the long run. You can really empathize with almost everyone (I’d say with everyone the writers intended you to) because it is realistic and most conflicts (though not with the drug business I hope) have in some way already happened to most people. Due to that you constantly ask yourself: “Oh shit, what would I do now?”

Last but not least, let me mention that other factor of realism: Breaking Bad is ruthlessly brutal. In a high-class way. See, most other “drug shows” are packed with action and bullets are constantly sprayed over the place. Of course, Breaking Bad is not any less violent. But it features less violent scenes on the whole. It doesn’t need constant action and brutality. However, when it does work with those scenes, they hit you so hard you feel like you can’t breathe. I will give you one example, that still, after all this time, makes me cry instantly just when I think about it. 

WARNING: DO NOT READ ON IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN ALL EPISODES OF BREAKING BAD!!!

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Do I need to say more? They just shoot his girlfriend (who has a young son btw) right in front of his f-ing eyes!! And nobody, like no- bo- dy!! was prepared for this. Nobody expects them to really go ahead and do it, but then she’s already on the ground. It all happens so fast, you can’t even blink and you’re totally with Jesse here. You’re so helpless, it rips you apart. Nope. Crying again. Can’t take it. I’m out.

So, to sum this up. Breaking Bad really isn’t all about drugs and guns and violence and shootings and so on… Breaking Bad is, first and foremost, a family drama. A real tragedy, with real conflicts, real problems, real storytelling perfection. 

In this post, I only focussed on the storytelling aspects of Breaking Bad. I can recommend this article, if you want to read about other aspects besides storytelling, that make the show unique, as well.

Wow, you got to the end of the post. Congratulations! 😀 I hope you enjoyed it and I’d be happy to read about your opinions on Breaking Bad in the comments.

All photos used in this post are copyrighted by Sony Pictures Television and AMC!