Breaking Bad: Difference between revisions

* [[Break the Haughty]]: Hank and Jesse. Both go from gung-ho and cocky to grim and introspective as they're beaten down by traumatic moment after traumatic moment.

* [[Bribe Backfire]]: Walt and Jesse's first meeting with Saul.

* [[Brutal Honesty]]: For better or for worse, Walt Jr. is ''not'' the type to mince words. If he thinks Walt is being a pussy over his cancer diagnosis, he'll tell him. If he thinks Skyler's a bitch, he'll tell her.

* [[Bulletproof Vest]]: The Cousins purchase a pair from an illegal arms dealer before shooting him to see if they work. They do, and the poor schmuck ends up being one of the very lucky few to meet the Cousins and live.

** {{spoiler|Delivered by Walt to two child-murdering dealers.}}

** {{spoiler|Hank cripples one of the Cousins with it, with just one minute's warning.}}

* [[Cassandra Truth]]: In season three, when Hank helps Walt move his belongings into his van, he lifts one particularly heavy bag, wondering what was inside. Walt's reply? "Half of a million dollars". Hank thought Walt was kidding about it and laughs off his presumed optimism.

* [[Cerebus Syndrome]]: A rare case of the show starting out as a black comedy and the comedy getting blacker and blacker and slightly more sparse in favor of the drama.

** Played straight in "One Minute" where {{spoiler|The "on the house" bullet that the Cousins got from the arms dealer is used by Hank to kill one of the Cousins.}}

** Also see the season 4 premiere we get Chekhov's Box Cutter and the final shot quit possibly gives us Chekhov's Folder.

*** However, {{spoiler|we finally ''do'' meet that man in "Granite State" when Walt gets a new identity and skips town. He's a very prominent character in that episode, too!}}

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: Seemingly one-shot characters would routinely come back with more importance to the story, such as Skinny Pete and Badger.

* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: Walt training himself to fast draw his pistol in season 4 apparently becomes a waste of time when he realizes he'll never get a chance to use this ability against Gus, {{spoiler|but then he uses it to rescue Jesse at the end of the season.}}

** {{spoiler|When Walt guns his gang down and Jesse strangles his nephew to death, Jack shows no concern for them in his final moments. He's shot in the middle of bargaining with Walt for his life. With that being said, [[Downplayed Trope|he does go out with some dignity since he keeps his cool even with a gun pointed at him]].}}

* [[Disposing of a Body]]: Walter and Jesse dispose of bodies with acid, to the point that Mike decides that it's their specialty.

* [[Do Not Do This Cool Thing]]: [[Drugs Are Bad]], m'kay... but a guy in a gas mask pouring a beaker of pure [[Mad Science]] into a bubbling flask of [[Technicolor Science]] with thick white clouds of [[Deadly Gas]] pouring over the sides, all mixed into a [[Hard Work Montage]] set to funky music... that's pretty damn cool.

{{quote|"Walt, don't make me beg here. Just stick it in there!"}}

* [[Dramatic Irony]]: The show is absolutely ''filled'' with dramatic irony. It's difficult to count the number of times a major drug dealer or manufacturer has a casual, friendly chat with a DEA agent or someone they intend to kill.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: {{spoiler|With Gus dead and Madrigal being investigated due to its ties to his now-defunct superlab, Peter Schuler knows that it's only a matter of time before he's arrested and kills himself with a defibrillator.}}

* [[Dropped a Bridget On Him]]: [http://www.amctv.com/videos/breaking-bad/?bcpid=9787693001&bclid=69511873001&bctid=12064411001 Hank's prewedding jitter] Hank still doesn't seem to understand...

* [[Drowning My Sorrows]]:

** Walt does it again with Jane's father.

** Walt attempts to do this with Mike as a way of cooling off tensions between them. Mike goes along with it... and then beats him up.

* [[Dumbass Has a Point]]: When Walt and Jesse are stuck in the desert in the RV after the battery dies, Jesse starts throwing out suggestions including stripping down the vehicle to make either a robot or a dune buggy (he was a bit delirious). Believe it or not, this helps Walt strike on the solution that actually does save their lives.

* [[Dumb Blonde]]: Skyler pretends to be a ditzy, slutty secretary in order to keep Ted from getting audited by the IRS. Specifically, she acts like a complete idiot so the guy they sent will think his books were cooked by complete accident as opposed to willful malice. [[Crowning Moment of Funny|It works.]]

** Gus and Mike's henchmen Victor and Tyrus lack their bosses' many cool or likeable traits, and are cold, creepy dickheads who love belittling and antagonizing Walt and Jesse.

** While he's a white-collar criminal who never physically hurts people, Ted Beneke makes up for it by being spineless, cowardly, and moronic to ludicrous extremes. Whether it's hiding from Walt when he has an affair with Skyler, nearly destroying their lives as a consequence of being audited, or [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|being responsible for Skyler's cringeworthy "Happy Birthday" scene]], you will absolutely want to reach through the screen and ''strangle'' this idiot for making everyone's lives worse with his bullheaded stupidity.

* [[Heroic Blue Screen of Death]]:

** Jesse in the Season 4 premiere, too shaken up to even flee the crime scene.

** Walt at the end of "Crawl Space" after {{spoiler|Skyler tells him she gave the money they needed to escape Gus to Ted Beneke.}}

** Walt lets it slip that {{spoiler|he has a second cell phone}} whilst under the influence of anesthetics prior to his cancer surgery, thus beginning the unraveling of his [[Fawlty Towers Plot|web of lies]].

** Walt also lets his pride get the better of him while drunk and shoots down Hank's notion that Gale is Heisenberg.

** After taking prescription pain medication, Walt calls his son by Jesse's name.

* [[It Got Worse]]: This is pretty much the show's M.O.

* [[Jittercam]]: The show is shot mostly on handheld cameras, with the camera operators told to be as still as possible when filming, which results in minor but noticeable jitter.

* [[Justified Criminal]]: The main crux of the series, though pride is a big factor too, showing justification really only exists in Walter's mind. The show is arguably a [[Deconstruction]] of this concept.

* [[Killed Off for Real]]: Any characters that die on the show stay dead, though some return in flashbacks. As of season 5 that list includes: {{spoiler|[[Sacrificial Lamb|Krazy 8]], [[Big Damn Heroes|Tuco]], [[Death by Cameo|Tortuga]], [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|Combo]], [[Worst Aid|Jane]], [[Boom! Headshot!|The]] [[Sickbed Slaying|Cousins]], [[Kick the Dog|Gale]], [[Blofeld Ploy|Victor]], [[Anticlimax Boss|the]] [[Perfect Poison|Cartel]] [[Kill'Em All|bosses]], [[Dying Moment of Awesome|Hector]] [[Suicide Attack|Salamanca]], [[C-List Fodder|Tyrus]], [[Out-Gambitted|Gus]], [[Would Hurt a Child|Drew Sharp]], [[Retirony|Mike]], [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|Declan]], [[Last Stand|Gomez]], [[Defiant to the End|Hank]], [[I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure|Andrea]], [[Karmic Death|Todd]], [[Killed Mid-Sentence|Jack]], [[Your Days Are Numbered|Lydia]], and finally, [[The Hero Dies|Walter White]] [[Redemption Equals Death|himself.]]}} Needless to say if you take a supporting role on this show you should probably keep your resume current.

* [[Kitschy Local Commercial]]: Saul Goodman's ads. "Better Call Saul!"

** Walt makes ricin from the chemicals he's got in his lab.

** When Mike uses a plastic zip-tie to cuff him to a radiator in "Buyout", Walt tries to break a coffee pot and use the broken glass to cut himself free. Unfortunately, he knocks the pot too far way to reach. So instead, he bites open the cable and uses the ''wires'' to burn the ziptie off.

* [[Machiavelli Was Wrong]]: Subverted by Gus. He doesn't believe in using fear as a motivator as Mike suggests. {{spoiler|Season 4 on the other hand...}}

* [[Master Poisoner]]: One character proves to be truly adept at slipping poisons into people's food unaware: {{spoiler|Walter White, of course.}} He manages to slip {{spoiler|Lily of the Valley into Brock's juice box, and manages to use ''just'' enough to put him in the hospital without killing him as part of a [[Batman Gambit]] that turns Jesse against Gus.}} And in the final episode, {{spoiler|he slips ricin into Lydia's stevia so he can tie up loose ends before dying.}}

* [[Meaningful Name]]:

* [[Obstructive Vigilantism]]: Hector Salamanca goes in to testify against Jesse, but he doesn't actually tell the cops anything. [[Troll|He takes a nasty shit in the interrogation room and immediately leaves.]]

* [[Oh Crap]]:

* [[One-Dollar Retainer]]: Kidnapped by Walt and Jesse, shady lawyer Saul Goodman essentially solicits a one-dollar retainer from both of them in the second season episode "Better Call Saul", in a bid to keep them from killing him by becoming their lawyer.

* [[One-Scene Wonder]]:

* [[Poor Communication Kills]]: When Gonzo gets himself killed (funny story), the DEA raid Tuco's headquarters. Walt and Jesse incorrectly believe that Tuco is killing any witness to No Doze's murder and Tuco believed Gonzo disappeared and sold him out. As a result, Walt and Jesse make a plan to kill Tuco, Tuco kidnaps Walt and Jesse and wants them to go to Mexico with him to cook meth.

* [[Precision F-Strike]]: Occasionally used despite being blanked out for broadcast on basic cable.

** Again in Season 4. {{spoiler|"Get the fuck out of here and never come back."}}

** Also, way back in the pilot, Walt delivers one to Bogdan when he quits the car wash "Fuck you ''and'' your eyebrows!"

* [[Scenery Porn]]: Makes me want to live in New Mexico.

* [[Seamless Spontaneous Lie]]: When Skyler needs to justify the large amount of cash Walter earned from making meth, she spins a tale about Walt gambling that also explains the fallings-out they had. It's so good Walter himself begins to listen in awe.

* [[Self-Serving Memory]]:

** When Mike chews out Walt {{spoiler|shortly before his death}}, his explosive tirade where he blames Walt for {{spoiler|Gus' criminal empire going down the toilet}} isn't ''completely'' unwarranted. But it also conveniently leaves out all the heinous shit Gus did to force the issue, as well as the fact that {{spoiler|his men killing a ''kid'' was the thing that led to Jesse and Walt falling out of favor with him.}}