These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
The extremely moving music as Gus walks to his death reminds you that he was once a similar guy to Walt, and he'll die failing to get his final revenge on the people who killed his "brother".
Simlarly, the sheer amount of anger and sadness in Hector's face as he looks at Gus before setting off the bomb that will kill both of them makes you almost feel sorry for him.
It's hard to decide if Walt's "cooking" is retaliation for a world that never cut him a break or a genuine desire to provide for his family. Not that they're necessarily mutually exclusive.
Skyler, good woman who's acting poorly due to her husband's action? Simple human frailty? Control freak who ran the family up until Walt's Break Bad and is now looking for any method to put him under her thumb in some form of twisted love?
Or neither. His actions make people's sympathy for him swing like a pendulum. In some instances he's actually shown to have one of the higher moral standard of anyone in the show (in regards to certain things, like kids).
The bathtub incident? Walter's fault, not Jesse's. Did it never occur to Walter to explain to Jesse why he absolutely needed to use plastic? Especially since the idea of an acid that eats through rock, glass, metal, and ceramic, but not plastic, is kind of counter-intuitive. Granted, using his own bathtub was kind of dumb, but only in that you wonder how he planned to rid of the slurry afterwards.
Badass Decay: Justified with Hank. He goes through a Humiliation Conga that ultimately leads to Break the Haughty, leaving him rather helpless and emasculated in the end. He gets better though.
Because I'm Good At It: What ultimately keeps Walt cooking, his pride and ego from realizing that he has a unique skill that has created an empire that would rival that of Steve Jobs both in its value and impact on the meth industry. He's not a failure anymore and has become "the guy who knocks."
Big Lipped Alligator Moment: Averted. The Villain Song "Negro y Azul" is not actually a BLAM. It is a music video for a narcocorrido, a Mexican drug ballads. Though it might seem strange at first, music glorifying and talking about dealers or the Cartel is part of Mexican culture, and makes perfect sense in-story.
Over "Fly". Much of the fandom seems to think that it's either the best or the worst episode of the show. It's either a brilliant character study, or a pointless filler episode.
The plane crash at the end of season 2 is either a Contrived Coincidence that's a Cliffhanger Copout after all the vague flashforwards and build up or its a great metaphor for how Walt's actions have consequences he can't imagine.
Tuco and his cousins. Also, the unnamed dealers who use an 11-year old as a dealer and hitman, before executing him in a playground.
Don't forget about Hector "Don" Salamanca, their uncle:
He tried to drown his own nephew in a nearby cooler after his twin brother "wished he were dead".
Moreover, don't forget his reasoning: to teach the twins loyalty and the necessity of violence to achieving an optimal gain for the family.
In a flashback in a more recent episode, Hector shoots Gus' friend and business partner in the head, all while forcing him to stare at his lifeless face as "it was his fault".
Don Eladio, head of the cartel and Smug Snake extraordinaire.
Gus may have finally crumbled the ample amount of cushion his magnificent bastardry granted him by telling Walt that he will murder Hank, and murder Walt's entire family if he interferes. He places special emphasis on Walt's infant daughter, after having stated before that he would not order the murder of a child.
Walt himself may have crossed the line into becoming one after poisoning Brock as part of a Kansas City Shuffle to get Jesse back on his side to take down Gus. Oddly enough, it's also something of a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
Mike is starting to show shades of this as well if his increased role and AWESOME monologue during the last two episodes of season 3 are any indication of things to come.
Jesse oddly enough fits a certain definition of this since apparently Jesse was originally supposed to die at the end of the first season but after seeing Aaron Paul's performance decided that it would be a huge mistake to kill the character off and by the middle of the second season Jesse had become just as important to the show as Walt.
Fridge Brilliance: The title of the final episode of season four, 'Face Off', suggests a direct confrontation between characters. It isn't until you've seen the episode that you realise the title means blowing Gus's face off.
Genius Bonus: Heisenberg. If you paid attention in chemistry, this would bring to mind the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
Many people agree that while it was tightly plotted, compelling and contained an incendiary performance from Bryan Cranston, Season 1 suffered from having its run truncated by the Writers' Strike. Season 2 picked up at exactly the point Season 1 left off and went on to exceed all viewer expectations, not only developing Walt and Jesse as characters, but giving ostensibly ancillary characters (from Hank, Skyler and even Tuco) an unexpected depth. Add to this the addition of Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman, and Breaking Bad became must-see television.
The pace of the show markedly picks up from the beginning of season 2, with every episode feeling like an 'end of season cliffhanger'. While season 1 was great, season 2 onwards is as addictive as, well...crystal meth.
Also a literal example, as Walt grows himself a suitably villainous goatee towards the end of the season.
Season 3 and 4 have both been improvements on the previous seasons. Lets just say that this show has grown more beards than ZZ Top.
Hell Is That Noise: I'd like to thank Breaking Bad for ruining the simple call bell. Now I can't play Pit anymore!
The owner of Los Pollos Hermanos chain of chicken restaurants, and now the biggest Meth dealer of them all. Uses his chain as a cover, never been caught, and organizes anti-drug fun runs that means he associates with DEA agents that tell him all about their work. The Cartels respect him enough that he's able to call off a hit with but a single text message to two killers seeking personal vengeance. The only reason Walt is still alive is Gus can use him.
Walt even figures out Gus is using Walt to break free of the Cartels to the point he's planning everything for his own advantages including Hank and the Cousins.
Given the schemes he comes up with in Sunset and Full Measure, Walt is approaching this fast.
Several conversations between Walt and Jesse indicate that they felt completely justified in their actions right up until Jane's death, which they consider (for different reasons) to be the worst thing they've ever done.
Saul, Tuco, and Gus each have several things that could be considered this.
If there was any even horizon left for Walt or Jesse to cross it was all but obliterated when Walt has Jesse kill Gale to ensure their survival.
Even Skyler is subject to this. Taking up smoking whilst pregnant is the first step to making her completely unsympathetic.
Jesse crosses it when he starts trying to peddle meth to his addiction support group.
While Gus Fring is the presumed Big Bad of the show, he draws the line at killing children to Walt. However, some episodes later Gus crosses it when he tells Walt that he plans to kill Hank, and will kill his family, including his infant daughter, if he tries to interfere.
Walt is the one who actually poisons a kid, though.
And also uses his completely innocent elderly neighbor to see if anyone's waiting in his house to kill him.
Gus calmly adjusting his tie with half his freaking face blown off.
Not as graphic as the rest of these, but when Gus says I will kill your infant daughter a shiver will run down your spine.
Replacement Scrappy: Gale for Jesse, briefly. Ultimately subverted in that Walt really likes Gale and probably relates to him better than Jesse but decides he has to take Jesse back to keep him under control. As such, to get rid of him, Walter treats him like this.
Marie is easily the most annoying, obnoxious character on the show. Especially since she has an annoying habit of talking and talking AND TALKING when it's long past time for her to just shut the fuck up. Being Out of Focus is just about the only thing that keeps the fanbase from bitching about her more than they do about Skyler. It's also notable that the writers have even really attempted to rescue her from the proverbial heap.
During the I.F.T. episode, Jesse repeatedly calls Jane's voice mail just so he could listen to her voice. The Tear Jerking moment happens when the voice mail is finally disconnected. The look on Jesse's face, knowing that he will never hear her voice again...*cries*
And for that matter, Jane's death.
The entirety of "ABQ" is pretty depressing. But two things in particular stand out. The first is the scene where Walt finds Jesse in the drug den and Jesse breaks down in tears over Jane's death. The second is the utterly devastated look on Donald Margolis's face when he see's his daughter's corpse.
Walt's Speech during "Fly". He admits that he should have died, and at the end, he basically says that if he had died while listening to his wife and daughter on the baby monitor, then it would have been perfect. A tear falls from his eye when he finishes.
Ted. "I just received a mysterious inheritance equivalent to the amount of back taxes I owe. What should I do with it? I know! Buy an expensive car and 'hold out for a better deal.'"
Gale. What kind of moron leaves his notes for cooking meth lying around in his apartment?
Apparently, Walt thinks of Jesse as being a Woobie. According to Bryan Cranston on Inside Episode 12, in Walt's mind if something were to happen to Jesse, it would be like stabbing a puppy with a pitch fork.
Gale, poor Gale.
Walt himself starts as this, then becomes progressively less sympathetic as the show goes on.
