Breaking Bad followed the journey of Walter White, the chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin. One of the biggest draws to the show was watching this mild-mannered man become a villainous force even though we were supposed to be rooting for him. As show creator Vince Gilligan simply put it, the show was about taking Mr. Chips and turning him into Scarface.
With a premise like that, you’re bound to have your main antagonist do some questionable actions throughout the series. Viewers get to watch Walt descend into evil as the show progresses. Towards the end of the show, it’s as if Walt is the villain of the story. His ego and greed put so many in harm’s way. In preparation for the upcoming El Camino film, we’re going to take a look at some of Walt’s most dastardly actions. These are the ten worst things that Walter White ever did.
Blackmailing Jesse Into Cooking With Him
While their partnership is the driving force for the show, you almost forget that their relationship started as blackmail. After Walt saw Jesse escape from the DEA, Walt immediately recognizes him as a former student.
Later that night, he goes to Jesse’s house and tells him that he wants to start cooking meth. He then proceeds to tell Jesse that if he doesn’t do it, then he will turn him in. Looking back, it’s weird to think that Jesse would stay so loyal to Walt when this is how it all began.
Getting Some Laundromat Employees Deported
As you’ll see multiple times on this list, Walt’s ego ends up risking the lives of the people around him. In this episode, Jesse left the lab with Mike, forcing Walt to clean up by himself. Walt clearly does not want all of this work to himself, so he decides to go upstairs in the laundromat and bribes three women to help him clean.
As they are cleaning, Walt sits back with his coffee and toasts it to the camera, which Gus is clearly watching. Since these employees have now been in the lab, they end up getting deported back to Honduras. The worst part is that Walt clearly knew from the start what was going to happen, but it was only meant to be a jab at Gus.
Forcing His Way Back Into Skyler’s Life
There was a time when Skyler was one of the hated characters on television. Ironic, considering she’s in a show filled with murderers and drug dealers. Fans initially resented her since she kicked Walt out from the family. In retrospect, however, you realize that Skyler was justified in her decision since Walt is clearly a sociopath capable of extreme violence.
It’s cringy to watch as he uses the people around him to manipulate Skyler into letting him back into the house. In season 5, you can clearly see that Skyler is genuinely scared of Walt. Walt is completely oblivious to this, or he chooses not to care. Either way, it’s toxic behavior for this “family man.”
Forcing Jesse To Kill Gale
In a last-ditch effort to save their own lives, Walt realizes that Gale has to die. That way, Gus has no one else to cook except Jesse and Walt. Initially, Walt was going to do the deed. Instead, Walt is brought to the laundromat to await his execution. At the last second, he’s able to let Jesse know it has to be him.
Forcing Jesse to kill Gale is horrible for a couple of reasons. For one, Gale was mostly innocent (besides the fact that he cooked meth). Secondly, shooting Gale really takes a toll on Jesse and we see this as his first step into depression and drug addiction throughout the first half of season 4.
Shooting Mike
Despite being a violent show, Breaking Bad rarely ever killed off beloved characters. Most other characters that were savagely killed off were usually villains. It wasn’t until season 5’s Say My Name episode where audiences were heartbroken to lose the fan-favorite, Michael Ehrmantraut.
The cold and calculating hitman for Gus Fring was actually very likable thanks to his moral compass. Due to this, fans were very angry at Walt for shooting Mike out of pure envy and selfishness. For many, this was when Walt became the true villain of the show.
Hiring Neo-Nazis To Kill 10 Men In Prison
The middle of season 5 saw Walt go full-on Michael Corleone. After killing Mike, Walt realized he also needed to take out Mike’s ten guys in prison who could talk to the cops. What follows is an expertly edited sequence of events where ten men are all killed in prison hits.
This violent and brutal scene is juxtaposed with the 1936 classic, “Pick Yourself Up.” As cool as a scene as this was to see visually, it’s haunting to know that Walt has truly become the drug kingpin that he’s wanted for so long. He went as far as hiring literal neo-nazis to carry out these horrific hit jobs.
Bombing A Nursing Home
While probably being the show’s most memorable moment, it’s still quite disturbing when you think about it. The whole episode, we’ve been rooting for Walt to take out his greatest nemesis, Gustavo Fring. It seemed that Gus was always two steps ahead of Walt, and, therefore, we didn’t know how Walt was going to accomplish it.
We had no idea, however, that it would involve planting a literal bomb in a nursing home. Luckily, the only people killed in the explosion were Tyrus, Gus, and Hector. That being said, we know Walt would only view an innocent death as collateral damage. He was willing to do anything to win.
Letting Jane Overdose
Many look back on this moment as the defining moment for Walt fully breaking bad. This was when fans realized that Walt is a true criminal who will kill anyone who gets in his way. Jane was someone who got in his way, as Jesse was clearly on her side.
Walt may not have intended to kill Jane at that moment, as evident by his sudden shock to see her overdosing from heroin. Still, instead of trying to save her, Walt decides to use it as an opportunity and get Jesse back on his side. It does take a toll on him emotionally, but this was just the start of horrible actions to follow.
Giving Jesse To Jack And Todd
Angry and grief-stricken over Hank’s death at the beginning of the “Ozymandias” episode (the greatest hour of television in history), Walt clearly has no more sympathy and respect for Jesse. Earlier in the season, Walt hired Jack and his gang to take out Jesse silently, but he was having his doubts and reservations about it.
After Hank is killed, Jack says he’ll try and find Jesse. Walt immediately gives away his position and then Jack and his gang take Jesse back to their base. To add insult to injury, Walt tells Jesse that he let Jane die. Walt shows absolutely no remorse in letting Jesse get taken, despite being a father figure to him.
Poisoning Brock
In season 4, Walt poisons Brock with the lily of the valley flower, which has similar symptoms to ricin. All of this is just a ploy to get Jesse on his side so he can say Gus stole his ricin to poison Brock and blame Walt.
Yes, it’s a very convoluted plan that still has some issues. Nonetheless, this show had its main protagonist poison a child and fans didn’t know how to take it. Throughout the show, Walt had been known to manipulate Jesse multiple times. This time, however, he took it one step too far.
