Breaking Bad is an American neo-Western crime drama television series created by Vince Gilligan for AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an overqualified high school chemistry teacher who, after being diagnosed with stage-three lung cancer, begins producing and selling methamphetamine with former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) to secure his family's financial future. The series also stars Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Giancarlo Esposito, Bob Odenkirk, and Jonathan Banks.
Breaking Bad premiered on AMC on January 20, 2008, and concluded on September 29, 2013, after five seasons and 62 episodes. Its first season received generally positive reviews, while later seasons, especially the fifth and final season, received widespread critical acclaim for the performances, writing, direction, cinematography, and character development. The series had modest viewership during its first three seasons, before viewership increased after it became available on Netflix prior to the fourth season. Viewership rose further during the second half of the final season in 2013, and the series finale became one of the most watched cable television episodes of its era.
Since its conclusion, Breaking Bad has been widely regarded by critics as one of the greatest television series of all time. It received numerous accolades, including 16 Primetime Emmy Awards, 2 Golden Globe Awards, 2 Peabody Awards, and a British Academy Television Award. Cranston won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times, Paul won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series three times, and Gunn won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series twice. The series has continued to appear in retrospective rankings of the best television programs.
The series gave rise to the larger Breaking Bad franchise. Better Call Saul, a spin-off series centered on Odenkirk's character Saul Goodman, debuted on AMC on February 8, 2015, and concluded on August 15, 2022. El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, a sequel film starring Paul, was released on Netflix and in selected theaters on October 11, 2019.
Premise Breaking Bad follows Walter White, a financially struggling high school chemistry teacher and part-time car wash employee from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who enters the local methamphetamine trade after being diagnosed with stage-three lung cancer. Seeking to secure his family's financial future, Walter begins producing methamphetamine with his former student Jesse Pinkman in a rolling meth lab. Their operation gradually expands as they produce a highly pure form of blue methamphetamine that becomes widely sought after. Walter adopts the alias "Heisenberg" to conceal his identity. His involvement in the drug trade brings him into conflict with his family, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) through his brother-in-law Hank Schrader, local gangs, regional distributors, and Mexican drug cartels, placing him and his family at risk. The events of the series take place between 2008 and 2010.
Cast and characters
Main characters
Bryan Cranston as Walter White, a high-school chemistry teacher who, shortly after his 50th birthday, is diagnosed with stage III lung cancer and begins producing methamphetamine to secure his family's finances. As his drug operation expands, Walter gains a notorious reputation under the alias "Heisenberg". Cranston said he was interested in moving from comedy toward drama, while recognizing that dramatic roles could still include moments of comedy. Anna Gunn as Skyler White, Walter's wife, who is pregnant with their second child before his diagnosis and becomes increasingly suspicious of his behavior. Gunn described Skyler as "grounded, tough, smart and driven", and said the character's stalled writing career reflected her desire to be creative and productive. Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, Walter's former student and partner in the methamphetamine trade. Paul described Jesse as a lost young man rather than a bad person, and compared Jesse and Walter's relationship to The Odd Couple. Dean Norris as Hank Schrader, Walter and Skyler's brother-in-law and a DEA agent investigating the local methamphetamine trade. At the beginning of the series, Hank was intended to serve as comic relief. Betsy Brandt as Marie Schrader, Skyler's sister and Hank's wife, who is characterized by her loyalty to her family and her recurring kleptomania. Brandt said that although Marie could be unpleasant, the character had greater depth through her concern for her family. RJ Mitte as Walter White Jr., Walter and Skyler's son, who has cerebral palsy. Mitte also has cerebral palsy, although a milder form, and said he adjusted his speech and movement to portray the character. Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo "Gus" Fring (seasons 3–4; guest season 2), a drug distributor who publicly owns the fast-food chain Los Pollos Hermanos. Esposito said he incorporated his yoga training into his performance to give Gus a controlled and composed physical presence. Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman (seasons 3–5; recurring season 2), a criminal lawyer who represents Walter and Jesse. Odenkirk drew inspiration for Saul Goodman's vocal delivery from film producer Robert Evans. Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut (seasons 3–5; guest season 2), a fixer, private investigator, and hitman who works for Gus and Saul. Banks said he avoided closely modeling Mike on Harvey Keitel's Winston Wolfe character from Pulp Fiction, despite comparisons between the two cleaner roles. Laura Fraser as Lydia Rodarte-Quayle (season 5), a Madrigal Electromotive executive and former associate of Gus Fring who supplies Walter and Jesse with methylamine and helps Walter expand his operation overseas. Jesse Plemons as Todd Alquist (season 5), a Vamonos Pest Control employee who becomes an associate of Walter and Jesse.
Recurring characters Steven Michael Quezada as Steven "Gomey" Gómez (seasons 1–5), Hank's DEA partner and best friend. Matt Jones as Brandon "Badger" Mayhew (seasons 1–5), one of Jesse's friends and associates. Charles Baker as Skinny Pete (seasons 1–5), one of Jesse's friends and associates. Rodney Rush as Christian "Combo" Ortega (seasons 1–3), one of Jesse's friends and associates. Jessica Hecht and Adam Godley as Gretchen and Elliott Schwartz (seasons 1, 2 and 5), co-owners of Gray Matter Technologies, a company co-founded by Walter before the events of the series. Raymond Cruz as Tuco Salamanca (seasons 1–2), a volatile drug distributor who becomes involved with Walter and Jesse. Mark Margolis as Héctor Salamanca (seasons 2–4), a former high-ranking member of the Juárez Cartel and the uncle of Tuco, Marco, and Leonel Salamanca. Christopher Cousins as Ted Beneke (seasons 2–5), Skyler's boss and the president of Beneke Fabricators. Krysten Ritter as Jane Margolis (seasons 2–3), Jesse's apartment manager and girlfriend. David Costabile as Gale Boetticher (seasons 3–4), a chemist hired by Gus Fring to work with Walter. Daniel Moncada and Luis Moncada as Leonel and Marco Salamanca (season 3), twin cartel enforcers and nephews of Hector Salamanca. Javier Grajeda as Juan Bolsa (seasons 3–4), a high-ranking member of the Juárez Cartel and mediator between the Salamancas and Gus Fring. Emily Rios as Andrea Cantillo (seasons 3–5), Jesse's girlfriend and the mother of Brock Cantillo. Lavell Crawford as Huell Babineaux (seasons 4–5), Saul Goodman's bodyguard. Bill Burr as Patrick Kuby (seasons 4–5), one of Saul Goodman's hired associates. Michael Bowen as Jack Welker (season 5), Todd's uncle and the leader of a white supremacist gang.
Production Conception Breaking Bad was created by Vince Gilligan, who had spent several years writing the Fox series The X-Files. Gilligan wanted to create a series in which the protagonist became the antagonist. "Television is historically good at keeping its characters in a self-imposed stasis so that shows can go on for years or even decades", he said. "When I realized this, the logical next step was to think, how can I do a show in which the fundamental drive is toward change?" He added that his goal with Walter White was to turn him from Mr. Chips into Scarface. Gilligan believed the concept of showing the full drastic transformation of a character across the run of a television show was a risky concept and would be difficult to pitch without other powerful factors to support it, such as strong cinematography and acting.
The show's title is a Southern colloquialism meaning, among other things, "raising hell", and was chosen by Gilligan to describe Walter's transformation. According to Time entertainment editor Lily Rothman, the term has a broader meaning and is an old phrase which "connotes more violence than 'raising hell' does ... [T]he words possess a wide variety of nuances: to 'break bad' can mean to 'go wild', to 'defy authority', and break the law, to be verbally 'combative, belligerent, or threatening' or, followed by the preposition 'on', 'to dominate or humiliate'."
The concept emerged as Gilligan talked with his fellow X-Files writer Thomas Schnauz regarding their current unemployment and joked that the solution was for them to put a "meth lab in the back of an RV and [drive] around the country cooking meth and making money".
After writing the concept for the show and pilot, Gilligan pitched it to Sony Pictures Television, who became very interested in supporting it. Sony arranged for meetings with the various cable networks. Showtime passed on this, as they had already started broadcasting Weeds, a show with similarities to the premise of Breaking Bad. While his producers convinced him that the show was different enough to still be successful, Gilligan later stated that he would not have gone forward with the idea had he known about Weeds earlier. Other networks like HBO and TNT also passed on the idea, but eventually FX took interest and began initial discussions on producing the pilot. At the same time, FX had also started development of Dirt, a female-centric crime-based drama series, and with three existing male-centric shows already on the network, FX passed up Breaking Bad for Dirt.
One of Gilligan's agents spoke to Jeremy Elice, the director of original programming for AMC who was looking for more original shows to add alongside their upcoming Mad Men. Elice was intrigued, and soon a meeting was set up between Gilligan, Elice, and two programming executives. Gilligan was not optimistic about this meeting, fearing they would just put him off, but instead all three showed great interest, and the meeting ended up establishing how AMC would acquire the rights from FX and set the pilot into production. It took about a year following this meeting before Sony had set up the rights with AMC and production could start.
Development history
The network ordered nine episodes for the first season (including the pilot), but the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike limited the production to seven episodes, as well as delayed the start of production for the second season. Within the original nine-episode arc, Gilligan had planned to kill off Jesse or Hank, as a "ballsy" moment to end the season on. This death was eliminated with the limited episode count, which Gilligan found to be a net positive given the strength of acting that both Paul and Norris brought to these roles through the seasons. The strike also helped to slow down production long enough for Gilligan and his writing team to readjust the pacing of the show, which in the original arc had been moving too quickly. Gould stated that the writer's strike "saved the show", as had they produced the two additional episodes in the first season, they would have gone down a different creative path that he believes would have led to the show's cancellation by its third season.