The GOAT of All Series: Breaking Bad

I am a fan of the legendary writer Humayun Ahmed. If you read at least five of his novels, you will get a common characteristic of his writing: he always tries to make you feel down at the end of the novel by an incident - the death of an important character.

When I started watching the TV series Breaking Bad for the first time, I had found Humayun’s ending in every episode; someone has to die in every episode throughout the series.

(Spoiler Ahead!)

Let’s talk about Breaking Bad in detail. Firstly, I’m giving you a name: Walter White(Heisenberg). Remember the name and imagine yourself at his place throughout the story.

Walter White(Heisenberg), image from the internet

Walter White was an overqualified high school chemistry teacher who was doing well in both his professional and personal life. With his wife Skyler White and son Walter white junior, they were expecting another baby and for this reason, they hired another apartment. Everything was going perfectly until Walter white was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. That was the turning point of his life and everything started to go reversely. He was in need of a lot of money. How can he manage this huge amount of money? His son started to collect money via a campaign but that was not sufficient for his treatment. So he turned himself into a manufacturer and seller of methamphetamine.

Walter Family, Image from the Internet

Now comes the next big question- who was his partner in this business?

It was his student Jesse Pinkman.

The relationship between Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) in Breaking Bad gives an all-new meaning to the phrase "Dynamic Duo." When Walt first recruited Jesse to help him get into the meth business in the pilot, he did so with a threat: Either Jesse cooks with Walt, or Walt turns Jesse to the police. As his former teacher, Walt had always held a position of power over Jesse, and he made it clear at the outset that it would not change even during their new arrangement, and Walt maintained his position of dominance over Jesse throughout the show.

Walter & Jesse, Image from the Internet

Walt and Jesse started to produce meth. Jesse had got some friends and they helped them(Jesse and Walt) to sell these products. It was the best meth at that time and that’s why their business was going beyond their imagination. Together they started making a lot of money.

Walter white got what he expected - he was cured almost. Now it’s time to leave the business. Isn’t it?

Well, here is the play. Walter was addicted to it, so there was no coming back for him.

Skyler figured out Walt is involved in drugs between Breaking Bad seasons 2 and 3, but the real truth came out in the season 3 premiere, "No Más." Confronting Walt after their separation, Skyler accused her husband of being a marijuana dealer, based on one of Walt's lies from season 1, where Walt pretended Jesse was his weed dealer. Walt quickly reveals how greatly Skyler has underestimated the gravity of the situation, as Walt announced he's a meth manufacturer. Skyler decided to lend her assistance, but the couple's relationship remained damaged.

Walter & Skyler, Image from the Internet

As Walter work progressed, his legend grew. The pseudonym Heisenberg he picked for himself for a one-time event slowly began taking on a life of its own. He was now known as the genius behind the nigh-mythical Blue Sky. His long-dormant pride and ego started to wake up. Now, he was cooking meth to feed his ego and defending his image. He got angry when defective Blue Sky was cooked by Jesse. His personality clash with Gus Fring caused a drug war that claims several lives.

By the time Walt won the war with Gus, he was making way more money than he needed to support his family. He became a true drug kingpin whose first priority was creating profit. He had no qualms about murdering people who get in his way. Even his surrogate son Jesse is no longer safe from him.

Walter could have exited the life of crime he found himself in several times, but a combination of greed and pride had always stopped him. It wasn't until he realized that he had far too much money than he could ever spend, that the truth dawned on him. He had been doing this for himself, and not for his family. So he decided to retire, but by then it's too late and Hank was on his trail.

Eventually, Hank managed to make the connection while dropping a log at Walt's house. Scrambling for some reading material to ease the process, Hank found a book that was gifted to Walt by Gale Boetticher and included an incriminating inscription. The DEA had already seized a book of Gale's with a similar tribute to "W.W." and spying a similar message in the same handwriting made everything click for Hank, with the long-awaited big confrontation finally happening in the next episode. Even though he couldn't prove it definitively with this vague inscription, Hank knows from this point that Walter White and Heisenberg are one and the same.

“Breaking Bad” brilliantly tracked Walt’s transformation from teacher to criminal mastermind. But it’s still a mystery why that talented chemist turned his back on fame and fortune and became a humble high school chemistry teacher.

That is one secret Walter White took to the grave.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mohammad Rabiul Hosain is a BSc engineering student of Dhaka University. Besides working in different clubs such as Bondhushava, Kanthoshilon; his favorite pastime is to watch movies and series of different genre.