Analyzing Evil: Walter White From Breaking Bad 

i don’t understand why we are calling walter evil when it was hank who ran a meth empire and used walt to cook meth for him

The person who was most addicted to the blue meth never used it.

The first episode did everything it could to get you on Walt’s side. Then the rest of the show is a test of how far you’ll go with him.

In Season 1, Walt looks for any reason not to kill Krazy-8 even though he had literally tried to murder him. He saw Krazy-8 as an actual person with a family and friends. In season 5, Walt shoots Mike in cold blood. Simply because Mike has hurt his ego. Showing just how evil Walt has become.

One of my all time favorite scenes is when Walt calls Walt Jr. "Jesse" by accident. Really showed how often he thinks of Jesse even though he doesn't show him affection.

Imagine being in highschool, doing a chemistry class with a boring chemistry teacher. He gets fired. And months later on the news that guy that taught you chemistry is revealed to be a drug lord.

That scene where Jesse gives Walt the watch for his birthday always gets me. It shows just how much of a pure soul Jesse still is and how much he looks up to Mr White. Knowing what happens after and what the watch comes to represent in the later episodes makes this scene ultra painful to revisit

His ego passes me off so much, there's so many times he could've got out but wanting to be the big man ultimately fucks him over

I think true reason why Walt became evil is because his wife gave him veggie bacon

I like how the comments are a mix of genuine analysis of Walter White's character, and people saying "my favorite part was when Walt told Hank it's 'breaking bad time' and everyone exploded"

The ironic thing about Walter is by the end of the show, despite ending with nothing, he's arguably more famous (or infamous) and well known worldwide than Gretchen and her husband, who appear on television, not because of their own accomplishments, but because of their connection with Walter.

I think you missed the part where he tells Hank that Gale wasn’t the true mastermind. Again about his pride he doesn’t want Gale taking credit for his work

i liked when hank got mad at marie because she got him fritos instead of cheetos

Walt's "I did it for me" moment in the finale had my jaw dropped. I've never felt like I was achieving catharsis for a fictional character before.

Aaron Paul's acting was nothing short of phenomenal.

You’ve missed one thing. In the final episode when Walter meets his wife last time, he does not say her that Walter jr. is going to receive money on his birthday and it is his money, his pride should have made sure that at least Skyler knows that it is him who is giving them this 10 millions, but I think at this point, as he confessed that all of what he has done, was for himself, he actually defeated his ego and actually did a selfless act for his family. A small detail but I think an important one.

For me, the scene where I realised that Walt's standards of morality completely had changed, was his speech at his high school, when the plain was crashed. He showed us that he saw those dead people as statistics, instead of human lives.

Anna Gunn was so good at Skyler, every time I watch the show again I completely forget she’s even acting. This whole cast is outstanding. Truly a legendary show.

Mike said it best (paraphrasing here): We had a good thing, and it ran like clockwork. All you had to do was cook, known your place, and you would've been rich. But you had to ruin it, you and your ego.

I find it equal parts hilarious and extremely concerning that there are people who continue to try to find excuses to explain away Walter's evil actions. He's an evil man at his core, and his emotional manipulation and abuse of Jesse and his wife is especially despicable. He's a good character. A great character, and even sympathetic at times. But he is NOT a good person.

The moment Walt lost me was when he refused the financial support from his rich former friends: that's when I realised that the idea of him being a provider to his family was more important than his family itself.

Hearing “the larval stage of the Walter white we will come to know” keeps making me think of Walt as a fly, Flysenburg if you will

The scene where he's laying under the house looking up at his wife through the hatch, screaming and laughing is the only scene where I've had to pause a show and literally take a moment in my life. Absolutely horrifying-overload drama.

Another thing to note is that the book Walter stole from Hanks evidence that inevitably is then found by hank again, is a symbol of Walters ego. As the only reason Walter kept the book was because Gale wrote a poem about him in it. If Walter had simply been rational and burned or disposed of said book, Hank probably would not have come to the realization that Walter is Heisenberg. Walters ego truly was his downfall.

I’m so sorry but I need to point out a blatant mistake you made in this video. At 39:51 you state how Walt is utterly alone with nothing in a frozen hut - but in reality Walt had TWO copies of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.

One of my favourite quotes in breaking bad is when Hank is being held at gun point. As Walt begs for them not to shoot him, Hank states “Walt, you are the smartest man I know, yet, you can’t seem to see that he made up his mind 10 minutes ago” before being shot.

“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” Really fits this series perfectly

Self confidence is enormously important to the human psyche, the lack of this particular trait can really drive you into the depths of madness. Walter had no self confidence whatsoever until he started his nefarious journey to become a criminal. Prior to that he was constantly henpecked by his wife, herded like a damn steer by his brother and sister in law, slave driven by his boss at the car wash and looked upon by others as an underachiever as hank put it. Then when his cancer was revealed he became the epitome of a pity party. Everyone felt sorry for him and in so doing it became a constant reminder to him that he’s done nothing with his life and will leave no lasting impact on anyone or anything in the world. In contrast, the second his meth business started, 2 evil scumbags were killed by him in self defense. For the first time in his 50 years on earth he had control of his life. This gave his ego the boost of self confidence it so desperately needed, even though outwardly he appeared to suffer over these 2 killings. He got a taste of power and relished it. The rest of the story is him chasing the dragon. Everything he did after that wasn’t for his family or to save his and Jessie’s life, it was simply done to remain in control so that his self confidence could stay boosted to the heights that he had brought it to. This is when self confidence turned into hubris overweening pride. This is when Walter white became truly evil.

I know I'm evil for this but I laughed a little when you said Walter Jr wouldn't be able to follow in his father's footsteps

when Walt got his diagnosis of cancer he became the definition of "nothing is more dangerous than a man who has nothing to lose"

For some reason I laughed so much at the fact that the hello everyone was synced with Walter talking and it was just so goofy

“Did you bring a bomb into a hospital” is a line that is funny when you first hear it. But when you realize that Walt willing brought a pipe bomb into a hospital without a second thought it’s pretty scary. The only time he cared was when the magnet stuck to the door and it was hard to get the bag off

One thing I never thought much about until now: Walts overbearing pride was never affected by his son’s developmental issues. That seems like something a major narcissist would never let himself live down, but he genuinely loves Jr til the end.

That "Hello, everyone" was pretty amazingly timed lol

Also notice how Walt wears a lot of green in the posters, green being representative of greed and money. Vince is even telling the story through each characters color palette.

I found it so cool in the later seasons to be able to look back and realize how much of the bad shit that happened throughout the show was due largely to just Walt having a massive ego and not being able to not be “the guy”

In the end, Walt put his pride of being the “provider” for his family behind him. Walt Jr will receive 9 million dollars from “Gretchen and Elliot” and he will never know that his father did that for him. He finally put aside his ego. I don’t think many people talk about that part.

The writing team pulled the greatest trick by making the audience cheer on Walt and hate Skyler. The total opposite of how any right minded person should be thinking.

He went from antihero to just plain villain. Started trying to help his struggling family, ended up killed by his own ego

Just finished it. This show is a masterpiece in every way and I feel that season 5 wrapped up things perfectly. The ending was brilliant. An insane Walt dying in a meth lab, kinda poetic

8:51 I wish the series showed the reactions of those students who made fun of him. Imagine them seeing in the news that their teacher had millions in the 10-figures, and was the biggest druglord of the southwest, and murdered a lot of people. Not to mention dissolving bodies in acid and sending them to Belize.

The irony of Walt dumping Gretchen because he felt inferior to her wealthy family...had he not left her and Grey Matter, he would've been just as, if not even wealthier.

Splooge: “it’s a victimless crime!” Also spooge: *murdered a gas station cashier to steal an ATM.*

This series made me really understand the reality of the 'butterfly effect'

The whole show wasn’t the same after Hank found out about Walt. The vibe and tension completely changed.

One of the greatest villains and really characters ever written

I cannot get behind WW as an anti hero, any kind of hero. The man was brilliant at chemistry, he could have walked onto any number of better paying careers than teacher/cashier and at least made some decent money to provide for his family. He had an opportunity to rejoin Grey Matter and reconcile his friendships in his last years. But his first thought was 'bippity bop, I'm gonna mass produce a highly addictive substance that destroys the lives of countless others so my skilled accountant wife and my kids don't have to work or be on social programs or do anything normal people do". That man destroyed everything he touched after that choice. His wife and kids would have been fine. Jesse would have eventually gotten arrested, but regular prison for minor drug charges is much better than becoming a murderer, having people die because of you, constantly being at risk of being murdered, and eventually becoming a slave. His family reputation was destroyed, his family hated him, he lost his strongest supporters even getting his brother in law murdered. And he just kept going, because he liked feeling like someday he would be the kingpin when he had no idea what he was doing besides the chemistry. He burned everything around him for ego and not a single person was better off for it, that is no anti hero. Even if it was a facade, Gus Fring actually did donate some of his profits to charity and people- he did help people and people were only worse off if they tried to interfere with his business- he could much more easily claim to be the hero of his own story. Walter was just an egomaniac who made every wrong decision at every possible juncture and lied to himself and everyone around him why he was doing it. That isn't to say it isn't good writing of the complete spiral people can get into, but he is no kind of hero.

I find it fascinating how damn near every bad thing that happens in the show can be traced back to Walter. I think he for the majority of the show saw himself as a good man thrown into a world of bad people, but whenever someone died, or whenever something got objectively worse, the one thing that started it was Walter.

The sad thing is Walt’s ruination of himself, his family and so many lives could have been entirely avoided from the very beginning had he just accepted the high paying job graciously offered to him by his former compatriots in recognition of his critical contributions to their Nobel Prize research and simply because they were trying to be good friends. But Walt’s greatest flaw threw that golden opportunity away out of childish jealousy and petulance: his ego.

Something I never see mentioned is Hank's pride, which I think is most well-shown in the last season. At the end of the line, its over. Walt is out, everyone is happy, things are ok, their families are successful and have a bright future... and yet Hank cannot let Heisenburg go. He can't just leave well enough alone. Even when he has Jessie, and therefore a confession, he doesn't go through the due process. On the contrary, he convinces Gomez to run with the idea to put Jessie is direct danger just to get something incriminating out of Walt. He basically destroys both families after Walt had successfully disentangled himself from the business. Now, could Walt have gotten pulled back into it later and ruined things for himself anyhow? Sure. But I think it bears mentioning that Hank and his obsession with catching Heisenburg is ultimately what got him killed in the end. An obsession so all-encompassing, that it caused him to try to throw everyone under the bus in order to get that sweet, sweet conviction to put on his mantle.

22:13 Also note the fact that Walter indirectly caused her to choke on her own vomit, had he not arrived and tried waking Jesse up, she would've puked on Jesse instead of choking on her own vomit.

The fact that Walt's character requires such in-depth analysis and explanation is a testament to just how damn well he and this show are written.

Walter White has one of the greatest character arc in television history. Starting as a chemistry teacher until he becomes a ruthless drug lord.

Actually in the movie A Bronx Tale its was Robert De Niro who said “It don't take much strength to pull a trigger but try getting up every morning day after day and work for a living, let's see him try that, then we'll see who the real tough guy is, the working man is the tough guy.”

It would be insanely reductive to call Breaking Bad one man's Midlife Crisis gone horribly wrong, but it isn't completely inaccurate, and it's still funny to say.

Lets not forget that Jesse is still alive out there. He's the only living person that knows Walt's formula. A formula worth billions!

Bryan Cranston was asked in an interview which scene he felt Walt’s transformation was complete, and he said it was the “I am the danger” speech. That was when old Walt officially died and was replaced by a monster.

His most underrated scene is the one where he stands behind Gretchen and Eliot and delivers that Gold monologue speech about hearing footsteps behind them and then proceeds to jump scare them both, he wasn't even Heisenberg at that point he felt more like Gus calm collective silent almost like an Assassin not loud and brash like Heisenberg but a more mellowed out Melancholy version.

I feel like "increased libido" is a hell of an understatement for Walt attempting to sexually assault his wife.

Maybe the real drug empire was the crackhead friends we made along the way.

The scene that always has stood out the most, above all, is the ending to "Crawlspace" everything about that, from the music, to the horrified look on Skyler's face, to the amazing acting of Bryan Cranston... For me, it's the best TV scene ever. Spine-chilling and intense.

41:25 The best analysis of Walt's strength. He wasn't "superior" commiting murders, producing meth, outplaying people as a criminal. This. The hardworking selfless man who bites his pride to aid his loved ones, because he CARES FOR THEM. That is how I feel masculinity should be viewed. Not as narcisism and endangering people, but putting up with so much shit and dealing with it. Walt didn't think so, but he was imo more than a "man" than others were. If only he was more emotionally capable. Telling what's bothering him. •Life that feels mundane, explaining his unhappiness to Skyler •Low jobs and position in the world and regret for Gray Matter to Gretchen and Elliot •Lack of respect, when compared to Hank He may've been seen as frail, but to me he was very respected by others. If he told them how he felt, maybe he could've had more of what he wished for. And a stable life.

I just always come back to the fact that Walter Jr said his dad was his hero. Walt’s family genuinely loved him, but that just wasn’t good enough in his eyes.

The most touching part of the show was when walt said: "It's over gus, me and jesse are breaking bad. "

Walt ended up getting everything he wanted from the beginning... he went out in a blaze of glory in a shootout and not in a hospital bed from cancer and he was able to provide for his family... as a bonus, he had two new children, his baby daughter and his baby blue, he was able forgive and save his only real friend, Jessie, he was able to finally admit the truth to himself and Skyler and say goodbye and he destroyed all his enemies, real and perceived whether physically or metaphorically.

I think that's the key point of Walt's character, he has a huge amount of hubris, he thinks of himself as the underdog, so therefore, everything he does is just and right, but his ego is so inflated by his own intelligence that he can't see that wrong in anything he does, Walt's the kind of man that would say its not me that has a problem with the world, its the world that has a problem with me. Walts "I did it for me" at the end was him coming to terms with himself, understanding that his ego had raged out of control and destroyed so much.

What always got me about Walter is how things can quickly escalate after you’ve made one morally questionable decision.

breaking bad really made me question my own moral compass. I was rooting for the most sadistic characters and my most hated character was a pregnant woman dealing with family issues

You glossed over Hank's death. I feel like that moment was a huge turning point. The whole scene where he begged for his life was huge. Was that Walt or Heisenberg begging for Hank? I think that whole scene could be analyzed. I think at that point, Walt finally saw himself as the enemy and knew he needed to be put down.

Before he killed Mike, I rode with Walter because most of the actions he committed looked like he was saving his family and Jesse. When and after he killed Mike, I slowly realized this guys not just a man with cancer who’s trying to make millions to provide for his family for life, he’s really just a cruel, hellish man that refuses to get one upped by someone who he sees as below him

With too many brilliant aspects to count in this masterpiece series, I still think the most brilliant was how Jesse's nature was the one that turned out to be uncorruptible. He starts out portrayed as such a low life loser, and grows into a man with a true conscience. The transformation was thrilling to watch.

As malicious as Walt acts in the whole series, it's kind of representative of the common man's silent rage bubbling inside.

Breaking Bad is a masterpiece. The best character development, cinematography, and acting I have ever seen.

‘I am awake.’ Is an underrated haunting line from this character.

I liked the part where Walter said “It’s Walting time” and proceeded to Walt on everyone in the room

12:25 The episode where he forces Walt Jr to drink alcohol until he vomits in the pool because Walt was jealous that Jr looked up to Hank and not him was one of his more spiteful moments.

One of the things that's most tragic to me is that walt mentions in the show that he didn't remember his father very well cause he was so young when his father died and then realising that he inadvertently ended up creating the same circumstances for his daughter Holly except for the fact that she's going to have to grapple with all the stories of the horrible things he did. its like he experienced what its like having a difficult family situation and ended up passing an even worse one to his own children.

RIP to all the phones broken in this show. Breaking Burners

A scene that I really appreciate is when Walt Jr is reading that book Hank gave him in the hospital. I think that was the moment Walter knew that he wanted the world to know he was behind all this

how about Gustavo Fring for the next episode I'm sure alot of people will like it

I wish there was further exploration of how he mistreated Skyler. He was angry that as smart as he was, she could see through his bs. And he tortured her for it, repeatedly.

Your explanation is as perfect as it can get. Definitely #1 when it comes to analyzing. Much appreciated

the first episode of season 1 is actually just a way to make you as sympathetic as possible for walter, and then the rest of the show is just seeing how far you are willing to take your sympathy for him

Say His Name: "Vile Eye" "You're God damn right"

I've always thought Gus and Mike served perfect parallels to Walter's character. Gus is the man Walter wants to be, the mastermind pulling the strings, but Gus is lacking Walter's pride. On the other hand, Mike is the person Walter pretends to be to his wife and how he lies to himself about it, someone who specializes in carrying out tasks for Gus and Saul who really does do it for his family, still plays a very active role in Kaylee's life, also lacking in pride. As Mike said, they had a good thing going but Walter had to be the man, he had to let his pride get in the way, and he killed Gus only to find the structure of the entire operation come down with him, and killed Mike because he was upset at something he said. I think that was why Mike hated Walter so much, because he could see right through his lie that he did it for his family. He knew if he really did it for them he wouldn't be scheming against Gus, he was literally making millions

One characteristic of Walter White you point out - his extremely high level of intelligence and resourcefulness - made me realize another part of the puzzle: his ingenuity and imagination is totally off the charts, as he shows over and over again. It is obvious Walt has very superior intelligence. So for all Walt's genius level intellect that we see shown over and over again - how was he unable, or unwilling, to parlay that brilliant mind into a better job than high school chemistry teacher? I get he won't take a "handout" that is mere pride at work. BUT as brilliant as he was, why not take a chemist job paying 6 figures, and maybe even compete with Elliot, since he clearly has the intellect and instincts to do exactly that? Thus avoiding the complete destruction and impoverishment of his family, plus avoiding the death of his brother in law (Hank) who he purports to love?

Bro it's weird seeing people hating on Skyler and defending Walt

I met Bryan Cranston actually. He was at the court I was working at doing character study, so we got pictures after the proceedings

I think the part that made Jane's death more evil was that she knew to sleep on her stomach, and Walt accidently rolled her onto her back, causing her to begin choking.

Something I released from a DnD show I watched a while ago, is that the explanation of what a demon does when it gives power to someone is checking the system, making sure that good people do go up and horrible people go down. The example I think was "You have a bartender who was kinda a jerk, bit of a loud mouth and sucked. Give him power and he is a dictator and war criminal." For people like Walter white, it just takes a check to show who they truely are

I think letting Jane die was his turning point. The only character who went through as great a metamorphosis, at least as far sympathetic emotion from the audience, is Malcolm McDowell in a Clockwork Orange. He began as such a despicable character, but at the end you could cheer him getting back on top and getting even.

The one word I think of Walter at the beginning of the series is: Emasculated. Hank seems to be more of what Walter wants to be: more assertive, more secure, more masculine. It’s this that makes him want to go on that ride along, and everything goes from there.

Walter needed serious therapy. But honestly, that first episode had me thinking no one respected him for a long time for whatever reason. Given the circumstances I can fully sympathize and empathize how it got started.

Admirable dissection of the series. Seen the whole series 7 times and get some thing new every time around. After watching this you made me wanna see it again!

Walter White’s transformation from a mild mannered family man and teacher to hardened drug Lord, Heisenberg is portrayed brilliantly in Breaking Bad.

"It doesn't take much strength to pull the trigger, but try getting up every morning and working for a living, and see who the tough guy is then." Stellar quote!

Wish you would have touched on him absorbing character traits after killing them for instance Krazy 8 likes his crust cut off after he kills him he cuts his crust off gus puts a towel down when vomiting after poisoning the cartel then walter does the same vomiting from his chemo also with his drink he would drink it neat then after killing mike he gets drinks with ice like mike

As a kid I’d watch Malcom in the middle every night after dinner/before it was time to shower and get dressed for bed, and I had NO idea then how much I would come to love and respect Bryan Cranston. Sure he was great on Malcom in the Middle, but his performance as Walter White is amongst the greatest of all time

One thing that surprised me about this show is that in spite of all the terrible things he does, I never came to truly despise Walt.

The fact that this show can still be dissected almost a decade later really just goes to show how much of a masterpiece of storytelling it was.