Breaking Bad/YMMV: Difference between revisions
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* [[Alas, Poor Villain]]:
** {{spoiler|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".}}
**
** While a grunting, dead-eyed cretin who did Gus' bidding without so much as the slightest bit of hesitation, {{spoiler|Mike}} was still one of the show's most sympathetic villains. And yet he dies a completely pointless death, right after {{spoiler|his attempt at making sure his granddaughter was financially set for life completely imploded.}}
** {{spoiler|Walt's death in the [[Grand Finale]]. In spite of all the awful things he's done over the course of the show, there's still something profoundly sad about seeing him die alone in a meth lab, having alienated almost everyone close to him due to his pride and ego overriding his genuine love and desire to provide for his family.}}
* [[Alternate Character Interpretation]]: Possibly the purpose of the show.
** It's hard to decide if Walt's "cooking" is retaliation
** Skyler. A good woman who's acting poorly due to her husband's action? A victim of simple human frailty? A 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?
** Jesse, [[Book Dumb]] [[Anti-Villain]] or [[Villain Protagonist]] who's been using Walt?
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** Jesse's parents: Long-suffering, well-intentioned people who just came to the end of any human's thread with their screwup son? Or faux-caring, shallow people obsessed with image who arguably caused his behavior by treating him as [[The Unfavorite]]?
** Was Gale merely a fanboy of Walt's, or did his admiration [[Ambiguously Gay|go a liiiiiittle bit deeper than that?]]
*** Likewise, did Gale know that {{spoiler|Gus was planning to kill Walt when he told him that he'd be [[Deadly Euphemism|dying from cancer soon]]}}, or was he taking his boss' words at face value?
* [[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.
* [[Base Breaker]]:
** Walter would develop into one long after the show finished airing. Depending on who you ask, he's either a thoroughly unsympathetic scumbag and pure evil incarnate, or a tragic [[Anti-Hero]] pushed into the role of an [[Anti-Villain]] due to circumstances beyond his control. Similarly, arguments about whether he's a genuine [[Badass]] or a petulant, pathetic egomaniac who ''thinks'' he's badass tend to spring up when he's discussed.
** Jesse's got a strong fan following due to the [[Hidden Depths|softer side]] hidden under his veneer of a [[Book Dumb]] gangbanger, and think that in light of the horrific [[Trauma Conga Line]] that he's subjected to, he's easily the most sympathetic character in the show. However, just as many people criticize or hate him entirely for making a ''ton'' of stupid decisions to the point of being an active liability to Walt, and find him even less sympathetic than his mentor since his stupidity is often the thing that triggers the traumatic events he suffers through.
** While well-liked for being a lovable [[Noble Demon]] who takes Walt to task for his stupid and hypocritical actions, Mike has a loud hatedom due to his ''own'' penchant for stupidity and hypocrisy. To those people, his famous [[Reason You Suck Speech]] comes off as less of a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] and more of a self-righteous attempt at acting like his shit doesn't stink and feel that as petulant as it was, {{spoiler|he absolutely deserved to get shot by Walt}}.
** Thanks to their over-the-top actions and presentation as sadistic, near-unstoppable [[Terminator|Terminators]] in human skin, the Salamanca Twins have fans split on whether they're the shows coolest villains, or its lamest.
* [[Broken Base]]:
** Over [[Bottle Episode|"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 {{spoiler|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.
** While one of the show's most popular characters, fans don't quite agree on if Hank's {{spoiler|crusade against Walt}} in the final season is done out of a genuine desire to punish the man for his many crimes or if it's motivated purely by ego and spite towards him.
* [[Catharsis Factor]]:
** Tuco finally getting his just desserts in "Grilled" is ''incredibly'' satisfying after all the pain he put Walt and Jesse through. Whether it's Walt's ''vicious'' [[The Reason You Suck Speech|verbal takedown]], his screams of agony when Jesse shoots him in the gut and ''kicks'' the bullet wound, or Hank finishing him off Scarface-style, you'll be cheering as you watch this "insane, degenerate piece of filth" meet a gruesome end.
** Walt {{spoiler|tricking Mike into letting him order the murder of Gale}} isn't satisfying because of the act itself (if anything, {{spoiler|Gale's death}} is one of the show's saddest moments). Rather, it's because he makes {{spoiler|Mike}} look like a complete ''idiot'' after having to deal with his condescending, creepy attitude.
** {{spoiler|'''Jesse strangling Todd to death''' in the finale.}} {{spoiler|Jack's death}} is satisfying as well, but {{spoiler|Todd}}'s is especially so after all the shit he did to Jesse, as well as {{spoiler|his callous murder of a child and Andrea}}. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue-lVK6Y5pI Just watch this crowd's reaction and try not to cheer along with them.]
** Thanks to ''Better Call Saul'', we have a retroactive example in Mike's killing of {{spoiler|Leonel Salamanca}}. In the context of this show, it's just him taking care of loose ends for Gus. But with the prequel taken into account, {{spoiler|he's getting personal vengeance on one of the men that threatened to kill his granddaughter}}.
** Similar to the above example, {{spoiler|Gus' horrific murder of Victor}} is ''so much more satisfying'' thanks to ''Better Call Saul'' showing off how much of a sadistic asshole he is. {{spoiler|For many viewers, it's a retroactive form of [[Laser-Guided Karma]] for having the gall to ''smirk'' at Nacho's suicide.}}
* [[Complete Monster]]: Jack Welker, leader of the Aryan Brotherhood. And Walt himself may have crossed the line into becoming one towards the end of the show, committing illegal atrocities purely because it makes him feel alive. If not for his concern for his family and [[Villainous BSOD]]-inspired atonement in the finale, he'd have been 100% far gone. But as it stands, he only made it 99% of the way.
* [[Crowning Music of Awesome]]: The music that plays when {{spoiler|1=[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b6sDY7hiB4 Gus walks into the nursing home in ''Face Off''] }}. It manages to convey the emotion of that scene perfectly.
** A more light-hearted example would be [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHF0xlf-bjY "Negro y Azul"], Heisenberg's catchy and goofy [[Villain Song]] from the cold open of the episode of the same name.
* [[Dead Baby Comedy]]: Walt rationalizing that the airplane crash he inadvertently caused wasn't his fault... ''by hijacking a school assembly and making it all about himself.'' "It was really only the 50th worst crash in aviation history."
** "Tied for 50th in fact."
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** No matter how badly the scale of his crimes escalate, plenty of fans will bend over backwards to make excuses for Walt's actions. Endangering innocent people? Manipulating and gaslighting Jesse? Murder? {{spoiler|Poisoning children?!}} [[Sarcasm Mode|It's not his fault, it's everyone else's for never cutting him a break!]]
** While he's more sympathetic than Walt and has clear lines he'll never cross, Jesse's often painted as an innocent angel who can do no wrong instead of the ''deeply'' flawed and troubled criminal that he really is.
** From 2019 onward, Skyler's attracted a surprising amount of defenders who desperately try to whitewash her into being a blameless victim of Walt's cruelty. While nowhere near as outright awful as he is by the end of the show, she's far from blameless herself since she's complicit in laundering Walt's money, was willing to cover up Ted's own illegal actions, and {{spoiler|tried pressuring Walt into murdering Jesse once he finally turns against him}}. Hell, even before that she smoked while pregnant, risking the health and life of the unborn baby Holly purely out of passive-aggressive spite towards Walt.
* [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]:
** Hank and Saul. Especially Saul, he even has his own spinoff now!
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** Huell and Kuby, Saul Goodman's hired flunkies. Thanks to Lavell Crawford and Bill Burr's hilarious performances, their rare appearances are always a treat to watch.
* [[Epileptic Trees]]: For some reason this series seemed to inspire a lot of pretentious attempts to reframe it as something else. Everything from the relatively mild "Most of the last episode takes place in Walt's mind as he succumbs to his cancer" to the ludicrous "The entire series is Hank's daydream about what his boring brother-in-law might get up to in his off time". This all despite the series never really giving any indication that what you see isn't exactly what you get.
* [[Evil Is Cool]]: Mike and Gus. One is a grizzled old badass who can clear a room of hostiles out by himself, the other is a powerful drug lord running his operation right under the DEA's noses. Both are some of Walt's most dangerous ''and'' compelling foes.
* [[Fashion Victim Villain]]: Good god, just look at some of Saul's suits.
* [[Fan Nickname]]: Todd is "Meth Damon", due to the show's subject matter and, well, looking a lot like a version of Matt Damon who got kinda screwed up on meth.
* [[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
* [[Genius Bonus]]: Heisenberg. If you paid attention in chemistry, this would bring to mind the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
* [[Growing the Beard]]:
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** Also a literal example, as Walt grows himself a [[Beard of Evil|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.
* [[Harsher in Hindsight]]: Thanks to the events that take place in ''[[Better Call Saul]]'', many of this show's own events take on a whole new weight years later.
* [[Hell Is That Noise]]: I'd like to thank Breaking Bad for ruining the simple call bell. Now I can't play Pit anymore!▼
** Saul Goodman getting his law degree from the University of American Samoa (and from an online course, at that) and Skyler's incredulous reaction towards it is basically a punchline, a cute little joke showing just how shady and illegitimate of a lawyer Saul is. It turns out that he worked his ''ass'' off for that degree, and {{spoiler|Chuck, his own brother attacking his legitimacy as a lawyer by belittling it}} makes it come off as an unintentional [[Kick the Dog]] moment for her.
* [[Hilarious in Hindsight]]: "The Fly" is an unconventional episode that has people split down the middle on whether they love it or hate it. It's meant to be a cerebral, unconventional episode that sheds new light on the characters, and just so happen to be directed by Rian Johnson. This was nearly a decade before the release of ''[[The Last Jedi]]'', which was even more polarizing and hit a lot of superficially similar beats, up to being directed by the same guy!▼
** Whether it's Jesse goofing off with the lab equipment or Walt's slapstick-laden war against a stray housefly, the sillier moments that take place in Gus' underground superlab feel weird with the knowledge that {{spoiler|they're happening directly on top of the shared grave of Howard Hamlin and Lalo Salamanca}}.
** When Walt and Jesse kidnap Saul Goodman so they can press-gang him into helping them build their criminal empire, his terror over "Lalo" potentially sending them after him is hilarious. It's a lot less funny in light of Lalo's ascension from a throwaway line to a fleshed-out character that quickly establishes himself as one of the series' most ''terrifying'' villains and leaves Saul traumatized by his actions.
** While Hector's refusal to look at Gus seems to stem from their tumultuous history together and Gus' psychological torture of the man, it truly seems to be rooted in the fact that the last time Hector looked him square in the eye, {{spoiler|it set off a domino effect that led to the death of his beloved nephew Lalo, the beginning of the end of the Juarez Cartel and the Salamanca family as a whole, and him losing his last chance at removing Gus from the playing field before he could do too much damage to their operations}}.
▲* [[Hell Is That Noise]]:
▲* [[Hilarious in Hindsight]]: "The Fly" is an unconventional episode that has people split down the middle on whether they love it or hate it. It's meant to be a cerebral
* [[Holy Shit Quotient]]: All the freaking time.
* [[Jerkass Woobie]]: Both Jesse and Walt qualify. While the suffering they endure tends to be a result of their own evil actions, the trauma they suffer due to awful things happening beyond their control helps them maintain an air of sympathy. It certainly helps that when they're at their most emotionally vulnerable, they tend to show genuine remorse for the awful things they do (even if it isn't enough to turn them away from the path they're walking on).
** Hank, whose private pain is concealed by a willfully ignorant and obnoxious public personality.
* [[Magnificent Bastard]]: ''Gus.'' 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 him to break free of the Cartels to the point he's planning everything for his own advantages including Hank and the Cousins.
** Walt himself has his moments of this, namely in the latter two seasons. He fully becomes one in the series finale.
** Jesse displays some measure of this when he screws his parents over to get his aunt's house back. (How much of this was magnificent and how much of it was bastardly probably depends on what you thought of his parents' earlier actions.) Overall he gives off the impression of someone who ''could'' be a Magnificent Bastard if he cared enough to apply himself, but he tends to be a victim of his impulsive nature more often than not.
** You could make a great case for Saul Goodman as well. He's charming, sly as a fox, and has enough knowledge of the law and business matters to keep Walt's empire afloat through the worst of times.
* [[Memetic Badass]]: Once ''[[Better Call Saul]]'' reached the end of its run, [[4chan|/tv/]] users came to view Walter White as less of a man, and more of a force of karmic justice sweeping down onto ABQ and purging it of its criminal element as well as avenging the lives of its victims.
* [[Misaimed Fandom]]:
** All the supporters of Walt [[Draco in Leather Pants|who find his crimes justified, are rooting for him to come out well-off from having committed them, and think of him as a sort of cool, inspirational figure or even role model]]...''very clearly'', the entire point of the story and Walt's character went over their heads.
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** Todd guns down {{spoiler|an innocent child}} in cold blood. ''Without even hesitating''. That's your first big sign that there's something ''deeply'' wrong with this guy.
** Even ''Skyler'' is subject to this. Taking up smoking whilst pregnant is the first step to making her completely unsympathetic.
* [[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.
* [[Rescued from the Scrappy Heap]]:
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** Walt crying to his son in "Salud".
* [[Too Cool to Live]]: {{spoiler|Tortuga. A smartass DEA mole played by Danny Trejo? Awesome! A shame he only existed to show the ruthlessness of the Salamanca Twins. At least he left us with one of the most creative cartel killings in the history of television.}}
* [[Unintentionally Unsympathetic]]: This is one of the reasons why Skyler's so hated. While it's hard to find fault in her being upset with Walt for the dangerous criminal lifestyle he leads, she does everything in her power to make it hard to truly sympathize. To get back at Walt for what she assumes is him cheating on her, she endangers her baby's health by smoking while pregnant, and runs the risk of tearing the family apart by having an affair with a man she's barely even attracted to. And when she demands to be let in on his illicit activities and starts laundering his money, she loses any moral high ground she might have had and still has the audacity to shame Walt for killing someone who was perfectly willing to kill not only him, but his entire family (infant daughter included). So not only is she a major [[Hypocrite]], but she even comes off as a [[Dirty Coward]] who is too spineless to stand up to Walt in a meaningful way aside from making a half-assed attempt at {{spoiler|killing herself}} to escape from a criminal lifestyle she had willingly participated in.
* [[Wangst]]: Skyler at times. Yeah, it sucks to be married to a meth cook. {{spoiler|But when you want in on his criminal empire and get put in charge of laundering his money, you shouldn't be surprised when he ends up being forced to kill shady people in the industry who want to kill him and his loved ones.}} Marie is just as bad when it comes to needlessly whining and complaining.
* [[What an Idiot!]]:
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