History YMMV / BreakingBad

** To those who find Jesse's [[{{Wangst}} wangsty]] attitude too insufferable, many of his scenes where he cries/whines certainly qualify.

** Granted, it's not like [[TraumaCongaLine he doesn't have good reason]], but Jesse cries ''a lot'' throughout the show. The neo-Nazis even lampshade this while watching his confession tape to Hank at the end of Season 5.

** Walter himself has gone through his own CPE. At the time of this show's conclusion, most people considered Walter to be a savvy, stone-cold badass who was able to outwit his enemies and upheave the criminal underground as he completed his ProtagonistJourneyToVillain Arc over the course of five seasons. However, this began to change as ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' began to build the backstory of Albuquerque's criminal underworld and demonstrated how much blood, sweat and tears had been shed before Heisenberg came on the scene. At that point, people began to realize just how bad Walter's negative traits were, namely how his volatile personality and short-sighted goals made him seem far more inept and unfocused than people perceived him as, not helped by how his actions [[DoomedByCanon are set to doom most the main characters of BCS in the original show]] just by being his PsychopathicManchild self. As such, while Walter isn't necessarily ''hated'' by the fandom, people are far less likely to see him as a cunning and ruthless badass now, especially when compared to other characters in the ''Breaking Bad'' universe.

** [[CommonKnowledge This completely ignores]] the fact that ''Walt didn't go into meth cooking to pay for medical bills.'' He did it (according to him) to leave more money for his family after he died. The show never said that Walt was uninsured (and indeed, as a public school teacher he would have a gold-plated plan), and even if he wasn't, Elliot point-blank offers to pay all of Walt's expenses in "Gray Matter"; rather, Walt didn't get treatment (at first) because his doctors told him that his cancer was ''inoperable'', and he didn't want to suffer through chemotherapy. When he did start his treatments, he did it because his family insisted, not because he finally had the money.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Walter White is [[HairTriggerTemper incredibly aggressive with things related to his ego]], [[LackOfEmpathy lacks empathy]], is a [[ManipulativeBastard manipulator]], a ConsummateLiar, has a bad need for recognition, a sense of entitlement, can be [[ForTheEvulz pretty pointlessly sadistic]] at times, [[{{Pride}} proud]], overly dramatic at times, and his tantrums and lash-outs have the maturity of a 15-year-old, the intensity of 3 suns and the deadliness of a lunatic. He's somewhere in the range of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_B_personality_disorders cluster B group of personality disorders according to the DSM-5]]. All of these attributes are the curve of the CharacterDevelopment. His passive personality transforms into an increasingly ruthless man who is reinforced by his success in the drug business, eventually inflating his ego. There's something definitely ''off'' with him, but it's never clarified where exactly it comes from, so everything is left to the viewer's interpretation. For what it's worth, [[WordOfGod Vince Gilligan]] has stated that Walt is a sociopath, but he throws the term out very loosely and Walt himself shows much more empathy than sociopaths usually do.
** Walter White also displays Asperger's syndrome/Autism traits, such as being very ''very'' intelligent at cooking crystal meths and forming devious plans but not having the best people skills. In his interactions with Hank he comes across as TheBore and reacts with SuppressedRage whenever Hank gets one over on him when having banter, and is otherwise quite socially awkward. Whilst Walt is a ManipulativeBastard who's fairly good at persuading people, he's otherwise downright charmless and has difficulty understanding why Jesse or Mike would think differently to him.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Socially, Todd is polite and timid, with a childlike need for approval from Walter and Uncle Jack, and a boyish crush on Lydia. He is honest and loyal in ways more innocent than honorable, and holds no negative feelings for his enemies. He is also an utterly unrepentant murderer and torturer, and willingly associates with his uncle's white power criminal ring, though it'd never implied one way or the other if he holds any of their view on race or politics. Most chillingly, he remains perfectly pleasant with Jesse throughout the latter's enslavement and torture and after the murder of Andrea, and doesn't seem to even understand why Jesse might feel otherwise.

** While the general consensus is that Walter White crosses this in the series, there are some arguments with some as to ''when'' does he breach the point of no return...
*** The first moment is Walter standing by [[spoiler: and watching Jane slowly choke to death in her sleep in "Phoenix", the first death he is connected to that is decidedly not self-defensive.]]
*** The second is in "Face-Off" when he [[spoiler:non-lethally poisons Brock, a young child, in order to manipulate Jesse over to his side and kill Gus. It's not only one of his most heinous acts, but it's the one that goes on to haunt him the most over time]].
*** The third is in "Say My Name" when he [[spoiler:kills Mike after the latter finally expresses how much of a detriment and a reckless hotshot Walt is]]. While some slippery justifications can be made for the above two[[note]]Jane was becoming a corrupting influence for Jesse and her heroin addiction would have likely killed Jesse had Walt not intervened and poisoning Brock was done at a point of extreme desperation and Walt was running out of options in dealing with Gus as well as needing to force Jesse into an alliance to save his own family[[/note]], [[spoiler:Walt killed Mike because the former couldn't handle his pride and ego getting hurt, and thus, it's the one time where Walt truly has ''no justification'' for why he murdered someone]].
*** In "Ozymandias", [[spoiler:Walter selling Jesse into slavery with the Neo-Nazis, and, just before they take him away, takes the moment to spitefully reveal that he watched Jane choke to death and intentionally did not to prevent it when he easily could have.]] Vince Gilligan considers the most truly evil thing Walt does, since it was done [[KickTheDog purely out of sadism]].

** Skyler can feel like this after learning that Walt cooks meth. She goes on and on about how much she hates Walt and how afraid of both him and the possibility the family will be killed in the night by one of his associates. Problem is, she could turn Walt in for his crimes at anytime throughout the latter three seasons, and yet she refuses. For whatever reason, be it that she wants the money to or to preserve Walt Jr. perfect image of him, Skyler refuses to actually do the one thing that will cut Walt out of her life for real. She even goes on reconcile with Walt for a time and help lander his money when it helps pay for Hank's medical care after he gets shot, contently ignoring that had she turned Walt in weeks ago, Hank would have never gotten shot in the first place. Even her devastation at [[spoiler:Hank's death]] can feel a bit hollow considering that had she [[spoiler:cooperated with Hank went he asked her to, he and Steve Gomez would still be alive]].

** Skyler can feel like this after learning that Walt cooks meth. She goes on and on about how much she hates Walt and how afraid of both him and the possibility the family will be killed in the night by one of his associates. Problem is, she could turn Walt in for his crimes at anytime throughout the latter three seasons. She even goes on reconcile with Walt for a time and help lander his money when it helps pay for Hank's medical care after he gets shot, contently ignoring that had she turned Walt in weeks ago, Hank would have never gotten shot in the first place. Even her devastation at [[spoiler:Hank's death]] can feel a bit hollow considering that had she [[spoiler:cooperated with Hank went he asked her to, he and Steve Gomez would still be alive]].

*** In "I.F.T.", Saul handles the purchase of Jesse's house with his trademark charm and sarcasm, right up until their lawyer says that his offer is a "joke", at which point his tone gets significantly angrier and he takes almost sadistic glee in not just shortchanging them for the house but rubbing the other lawyer's nose in his failure. After hearing Chuck's rant on the stand from "Chicanery", where he referred to the idea of Jimmy being a lawyer as a "sick joke", it's no wonder that such phrasing would affect him so severely. Said house Jesse buys back from his parents with Saul's help is also only a few blocks (both in canon and in real life, as the creators point out in the commentary for "Marco") away from Chuck's house, where he committed suicide.

** Gus crosses it when he [[spoiler:takes Walt out in the desert and tells him he intends to have Hank killed, and if Walt interferes, Gus will kill his wife, son, and infant daughter.]]

** Hector Salamanca crossed this years ago, killing Gus' business partner and sadistically forcing Gus to watch his dead body bleed out as Don Eladio taunted him. Don Eladio and Juan Bolsa cross it as well due to giving him the order to carry out the deed.
** Tuco crosses it when he beats one of his subordinates to death while high on methamphetamine, and goes on to ''defend'' his decision even after sobering up a few days later.
** The cousins were likely already on the other side of the line by the time they were introduced, but they secure themselves a place when they shoot up a truck full of immigrants because one of them commented on their unusual boots.

%%** Skyler at times.

** If you find out a family member is involved in crime, kick them out of your life and report them to the authorities immediately, since associating with them is only putting yourself and your loved ones in danger. Early on, Jesse’s parents kick him out of his deceased aunt’s house when they discover a meth lab he built in the basement, but because they didn’t report it to the cops, Jesse and Saul are able to blackmail them in order to buy the house back. Skyler goes along with Walt's schemes despite knowing they're wrong simply because of how much money is being made. [[spoiler: Not only does Skyler lose a family member and her reputation once shit hits the fan, she nearly gets railroaded by the feds. Junior cutting his father out of his life as soon as he finds out about his crimes, and calling the cops on Walt after he protects Skyler from him, means he’s in a much better position]]. Meanwhile, [[spoiler: Hank not going to the DEA with the reveal that Walt is Heisenberg and instead trying to take him down himself (and not calling the DEA for backup when he had conclusive evidence against him) leads to him and Gomez getting killed by the Neo-Nazis and most of the evidence he gathered against Walt’s involvement with the Neo-Nazis being destroyed]].

** Generally speaking, the exact part where it could be said the series really began to hit its stride is the last act of the second last episode of Season 1, "Crazy Handful of Nothin'", when Walt shaves his head (gaining his iconic bald look), invents his Heisenberg persona, and manages to outfox and intimidate [[ArcVillain Tuco]] with his charisma and intellect, and [[EvilFeelsGood relishes the rush of superiority he gained]], truly beginning his long ProtagonistJourneyToVillain.

** If you find out a family member is involved in crime, kick them out of your life and report them to the authorities immediately, since associating with them is only putting yourself and your loved ones in danger. Early on, Jesse’s parents kick him out of his deceased aunt’s house when they discover a meth lab he built in the basement, but because they didn’t report it to the cops, Jesse and Saul are able to blackmail them in order to buy the house back. Skyler goes along with Walt's schemes despite knowing they're wrong simply because of how much money is being made. [[spoiler: Not only does Skyler lose a family member and her reputation once shit hits the fan, she nearly gets railroaded by the feds. Junior cutting his father out of his life as soon as he find out about his crimes, and calling the cops on Walt after he protects Skyler from him, means he’s in a much better position]]. Meanwhile, [[spoiler: Hank not going to the DEA with the reveal that Walt is Heisenberg and instead trying to take him down himself (and not calling the DEA for backup when he had conclusive evidence against him) leads to him and Gomez getting killed by the Neo-Nazis and most of the evidence he gathered against Walt’s involvement with the Neo-Nazis being destroyed]].

** The TV sets in the series really date it to just after the digital change over. Not only are [=CRTs=] still common, but the flat screens are rather bulky compared to modern ones, with silvery finishes and prominent speakers. Similarly, most of the security cameras are boxy analog image dissectors, the sort meant to hook to a vcr. The unreliability of these systems is even a plot point occasionally.

** If you find out a family member is involved in crime, kick them out of your life and report them to the authorities immediately, since associating with them is only putting yourself and your loved ones in danger. Early on, Jesse’s parents kick him out of his deceased aunt’s house when they discover meth lab equipment in the basement, but because they didn’t report it to the cops, Jessie and Saul are able to blackmail them to get the house. Skyler goes along with Walt's schemes despite knowing they're wrong simply because of how much money is being made. [[spoiler: Not only does Skyler lose a family member and her reputation once shit hits the fan, she nearly gets railroaded by the feds. Junior cutting his father out of his life as soon as he find out about his crimes, and calling the cops on Walt after he protects Skyler from him, means he’s in a much better position]]. Meanwhile, [[spoiler: Hank not going to the DEA with the reveal that Walt is Heisenberg and instead trying to take him down himself leads to him and Gomez getting killed by the Neo-Nazis and most of the evidence he gathered against Walt’s involvement with the Neo-Nazis being destroyed]].

** If you find out a family member is involved in crime, kick them out of your life and report them to the authorities immediately, since associating with them is only putting yourself and your loved ones in danger. Skyler goes along with Walt's schemes despite knowing they're wrong simply because of how much money is being made. [[spoiler: Not only does Skyler lose a family member and her reputation once shit hits the fan, she nearly gets railroaded by the feds. Junior cutting his father out of his life as soon as he find out about his crimes means he is in a much better position]].

** [[spoiler:The Cartel]] for Gus.
** Inverted with Hector and Walt, neither one of which were seen as a major (direct) threat, but [[spoiler:wound up costing Gus his life.]]

* AwesomeEgo: Walt. Gus, too, although he's a slightly more restrained version than Walt.

** There are also some who feel that the finale focused too much on Walter and does not feature the other main characters enough. Jesse in particular only appears in a short role -- though in his case, it was more than made up for with the sequel film, ''Film/ElCamino''.

* TheChrisCarterEffect: Creator/VinceGilligan admitted that the third season was written from episode to episode instead of being planned out. For some fans, it's noticeable by how the plot moves at a strange pace and how some characters ended up as mere {{Red Herring}}s, but it isn't as jarring as other shows that fell under this effect, and the season still received critical acclaim. This is ironic considering Gilligan was an executive producer and writer for ''Series/TheXFiles'', [[TropeNamer The Trope Namer]]

%% Do not add any entries to Complete Monster unless it has been discussed in this page: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=6vic3f9h1cy5qivsenw8llok

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** Also, to a lesser extent (and perhaps not surprisingly) ''Series/GameOfThrones''. Before the latter's final season, both were very popular mainstream shows, highly acclaimed by both viewers and critics, and both had a solid 9.5/10 rating on Website/{{IMDb}} (also the only two shows that have over one million votes on the site at the time). So it was argued for a time which one would take the place as the "best show ever", or at least the better one out of the two. Since the last four seasons of Game of Thrones [[SeasonalRot dropped in quality]] (it now sits on [=IMDb=] with 9.2/10), especially the finale, [[VindicatedByHistory opinions have shifted to the latter]].

* GrowingTheBeard: 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 [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Hank]], Skyler and even [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas Tuco]]) an unexpected depth. [[InsufferableGenius Walter]] himself, started as a mildly complex character in the first season, but the second season began adding a massive amount of depth and layers that eventually made him one of the most complex characters ever put on television. Add to this the addition of Bob Odenkirk as [[BunnyEarsLawyer Saul Goodman]], Jonathan Banks as [[HitmanWithAHeart Mike Ehrmantraut]] and Giancarlo Esposito as [[MagnificentBastard Gustavo "Gus" Fring]]. 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 was as addictive as, well... crystal meth. From there, it never looked back, eventually ending with one of the most critically acclaimed final seasons in TV history.

** Ted Beneke. His list of crimes? Avoiding paying his taxes, fucking Skyler, ''[[AmbiguousSituation maybe]]'' blackmailing Skyler, and [[TooDumbToLive being an idiot]]. While there are Skyler fans out there, there is not a single person in the ''Breaking Bad'' fandom who even remotely likes Ted, with everyone admitting he's an idiot.

** At the climax of Season 4, [[spoiler:Gus walking out from Hector's room with half his face blown up and calmly stopping to straight his tie before collapsing on the ground]] feels downright ''cartoonish'' instead of awesome or terrifying, especially considering that the series gradually adopted a more serious, grounded tone in the later seasons.

** Skyler at times.

** Amusingly enough, Skyler seems to accuse Marie of engaging in this early on in Season 2 (see: her rant to Hank).

** Walt himself spends the entire series gradually tip-toeing over the line, but he finally leaps over it in "Face-Off" when he [[spoiler:non-lethally poisons Brock, a young child, in order to manipulate Jesse over to his side and kill Gus. It's not only one of his most heinous acts, but it's the one that goes on to haunt him the most over time]]. Another moment is Walter standing by [[spoiler: and watching Jane slowly choke to death in her sleep in "Phoenix", the first death he is connected to that is decidedly not self-defensive.]]

** If Jack didn't already cross it by [[spoiler:[[HeroKiller executing Hank and enslaving Jesse]]]], then he ''definitely'' did by [[spoiler:having Andrea murdered in front of Jesse and [[WouldHurtAChild threatening to kill Brock too]] if he stops cooking meth for Todd.]] [[His subordinates (especially [[{{Jerkass}} Kenny]]) also cross it by being the ones who [[spoiler:tortured Jesse while he was imprisoned.]]

** If Jack didn't already cross it by [[spoiler:[[HeroKiller executing Hank]]]], then he ''definitely'' did by [[spoiler:having Andrea murdered in front of Jesse and [[WouldHurtAChild threatening to kill Brock too]] if he stops cooking meth for Todd.]]
** Hector Salamanca crossed this years ago, killing Gus' business partner and sadistically forcing Gus to watch his dead body bleed out as Don Eladio taunted him.

** Some fans still considers Walter as a hero who does everything for his family even when his actions say otherwise [[spoiler:and he himself confesses in the finale that he has been making drugs because he enjoyed it and was good at it]]. Vince Gilligan himself lampshaded this, saying in a 2022 interview that the more time passes since the show's conclusion, the more he doesn't understand why Walt was ever considered a sympathetic character or why some fans don't realize that Walt brought most of his misfortune down on himself.

** [=CDs=] are still common as are hifi stack style stereos. Jesse’s is even given a lot of focus in one episode. Neither of these have vanished entirely, but these days sound systems are all about streaming music and being as invisible as possible if people with them at all. Listening to music via smart phones with wireless speakers or headphones is now the norm.

** [=CDs=] are still common as are hifi stack style stereos. Jesse’s is even given a lot of focus in one episode. Neither of these have vanished entirely, but these days sound systems are all about streaming music and being as invisible as possible if people with them at all. Listening to music via smart phones is now the norm.

** There are also some who feel that the finale focused too much on Walter and does not feature the other main characters enough. Jesse in particular only appears in a short role.

** Walt himself. While he gets plenty DracoInLeatherPants treatment it is clear that Walt didn't start out evil which many fans claim he did, people even demonize him for killing Emilio and Krazy-8 even though Emilio was trying to kill him at the time of his death and he was deeply conflicted over what to do with Krazy-8. Even as he gets more ruthless he does still care about his family and Jesse, he also felt remorse for killing Mike and becomes TheAtoner in the last episode, but many fans act like he's far worse than Don Eladio and the Salamancas with no redeeming features.

** The heroin injections in Season 2 by Jesse and Jane. Brrr...

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/BreakingBad See here]].

* MagnificentBastard: See [[MagnificentBastard/BreakingBad here]].

* MemeticMutation: [[Memes/BreakingBad Has its own page, bitch!]]

** Dale Dickey is one of the customers buying from Skinny Pete in “Breakage”. [[spoiler:Sure enough she and her partner rob him and Jesse has to go to try to get the money back in the next episode “Peekaboo”.]]
** Danny Trejo shows up in “Negro Y Azul” [[spoiler:and ends up with his severed head [[ItMakesSenseInContext on a tortoise with a bomb in it.]]]]
** Walt and Jesse are going to meet a super-mysterious drug dealer to handle their bulk amount of meth at a fast food restaurant. [[spoiler: The manager asks them if they're doing well. The manager is Creator/GiancarloEsposito, who at the time was not hugely famous, but recognizable. Sure enough, the manager - Gustavo Fring - is the dealer.]]
** DJ Qualls shows up in the opening scene of “Better Call Saul” and asks Badger if he’s selling. This is played with somewhat though in that Badger immediately assumes he’s a cop, [[spoiler:but sells to him anyway. Sure enough he arrests Badger and that leads Walter and Jesse to Saul.]]
** Larry Hankin shows up in “Sunset”. [[spoiler:His amazing knowledge of the search warrants saves both Walter and Jesse.]]