The whole comparison isn't just because he was been convicted of dealing . She was a stenographer at the NAACP who had previously sung in a production of Deep River in Philadelphia. Seeing they need a new distributor to sell the large quantity of product they have remaining, Saul arranges a meeting at a local restaurant with a mysterious meth kingpin. We get to see the dark consequences of breaking bad play out alongside the emotional torment involved in breaking good. Walt has Mike clear any connection Jesse has to Jane's death, and convinces Jesse to enter rehab. Cranston played an antisemite with a terminal illness who took Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) hostage. Breaking Bad features an intriguing plot right from the start: A high school chemistry teacher finds out he has terminal cancer, and, to secure his family's finances, resorts to cooking meth. I'm just going to be naming the ones that were unplanned and/or unnecessary. Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC. Whenever a drug dealer was eliminated before, another one stepped into their place. A bigger tragedy to (literally) strike the White residence takes place when two airplanes collide in mid-air, hitting the entire neighborhood with debris and causing a lot of casualties. Walt becomes less sympathetic throughout the show, as series creator Vince Gilligan wanted him to turn from "Mr. Chips into Scarface". [57] However, series creator Vince Gilligan debunked this theory, explaining that Walt could not possibly have known several things that happened, like Jesse being held in captivity by Jack's gang instead of being murdered by them, or that Todd had begun taking meetings with Lydia regarding the meth trade. If for any reason he did survive the gunshot to the gut, he probably wouldn't have lived very long due to his other health concerns. Greenwald states: I've been thinking a lot about Walter White, the 'shadow' on his recent CAT scan, and the black cloud that has long since overtaken his heart. He collaborated with costume designer Kathleen Detoro on a wardrobe of mostly neutral green and brown colors to make the character bland and unremarkable, and worked with makeup artist Frieda Valenzuela to create a mustache he described as "impotent" and like a "dead caterpillar". Walter apologizes to Jesse for Hanks beating while Jesse is planning to sue Hank. On his 50th birthday, during his surprise party, Walt watches a news report about Hank arresting methamphetamine dealers. Walt angers Gus by killing two of Gus' dealers in an attempt to protect Jesse, who had been planning to kill them himself for their murder of a child gang member. Left with a death sentence, Doran decided to . . Walt makes a deal with Hector to draw Gus in by setting up a meeting with the DEA. By the halfway point of the series, it is beginning to become apparent that we may not be rooting for the good guy. The remedy he chooses to combat all this is power. Walt responds that killing Gus was still the right thing to do. Cranston reprised the role of Walt in a flashback for Breaking Bad's sequel film El Camino, and again in the sixth and final season of the prequel series Better Call Saul, making him one of the few characters to appear in all three, alongside Jesse Pinkman, Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), Ed Galbraith (Robert Forster), and Austin Ramey (Todd Terry). The skit had White on a CNN broadcast where he is the front runner for Donald Trumps cabinet nominee for the Drug Enforcement Administration. When Walt delivers Mike's share of Declan's payment, Mike refuses to reveal these prisoners' identities and insults Walt, blaming him for all the problems they've encountered; Walt shoots him dead in a fit of rage. Cranston won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, three of them being consecutive. Despite the chaos that surrounds him, Walt is able to approach situations analytically and come out on top. Walter awkwardly fires Gale from the lab and gives Jesse the assistants job and tells Victor that the change is for the best. He notices on a dial that Jesse has cooked a perfect batch of his product, and smiles to himself. White became a badass billionaire and indirect serial killer; Jackson . He gives Jesse homemade ricin with which to poison Gus, but Jesse never goes through with it. Baime tells Walter White's remarkable story in "White Lies: The Double Life of Walter F. White and America's Darkest Secret." Sure, it's the biography of one man, yet it's also a . BILLINGS, Mont. He attends J. P. Wynne High School, where his father used to work as a high school chemistry teacher. The three eventually start a new meth production system with the help of a corrupt pest control company, using residents' homes to cook meth while they are fumigated, using methylamine provided by Lydia Rodarte-Quayle (Laura Fraser), a representative for the conglomerate that owned Gus's chicken franchise. Categories: Buzz Adams Morning Show, Humor, Television. In 2016, a terminally ill man was jailed for 19 years in Australia for smuggling $60 million worth of methamphetamine to provide for his family. After taking out Jack and the neo-Nazis and saving Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) one final time, Walter White (Bryan Cranston) dies in the place that made him feel alive: the meth lab. It's not inevitable. Walter White married Gladys Leah Powell in 1922. After an attempt to kill Gus with a car bomb fails, Walt discovers from Saul that Gus has been visiting Tuco's uncle Hector in his nursing home, to taunt him about the cartel's defeat and the end of the Salamanca family. It is also the first taste Walter White gets of his own addiction. This enrages Hank enough to badly beat up Jesse at his house and send him to the hospital. The real-life Montana dealer whose TV namesake died at the climax of "Breaking Bad" in September was shot by his own son in an argument over a . Walter White is the great-grandson of William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States. After Walter White met his demise in Breaking Bad 's series finale, The Albuquerque Journal decided to pay respects to one of their own with a fake obituary printed in the real . Dissatisfied with Jesse's slow pace of selling the meth, Walt pushes him to sell it in bulk to local drug lord Tuco Salamanca (Raymond Cruz), who has taken over Krazy-8's former territory. 'cause the guy just got a real-life obituary in the newspaper where the show took place. Not only does Walt set off a bomb in a nursing home he destroys any protection provided by Gus and places himself at a top position that he does not have the skills to fill. American actor RJ Mitte was just 16 years old when he was first cast as Walter White Jr. in AMC's 2008-2013 drama series "Breaking Bad." Guess what he looks like now! How he died was almost irrelevant. Gus, however, kills Victor in front of Mike, Walt, and Jesse in a gruesome show of force. The drug operations that run behind the scenes of Los Pollos Hermanos, the restaurant chain Fring owns, are a streamlined operation run by level-headed individuals. Many Breaking Bad fans knew all along that Walter White would die they just didn't know when and how. . You're going to see that underlying humanity, even when he's making the most devious, terrible decisions, and you need someone who has that humanity - deep down, bedrock humanity - so you say, watching this show, 'All right, I'll go for this ride. Walt's death is not only necessary for the happiness of all those around him but for himself as well. We tried to poison you because you are an insane, degenerate piece of filth and you deserve to die.". The closer we get to the end, the more Walt scrabbles around and lashes out like a rat when it's surrounded, the less I'm buying Vince Gilligan's whole 'Mr. Walter White. While the circumstances of Doran's case do elicit a comparison to the "Breaking Bad" character, the title of real-life Walter White may still belong to an Alabama man of the same name who was arrested in 2008 -- the same year the show premiered -- on several charges, including unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance and trafficking meth. [50], A Breaking Bad fan group placed a paid obituary for Walter White in the Albuquerque Journal on October 4, 2013. As a token of appreciation, Skyler lets him see his daughter, Holly, one last time. 16- "Smoking marijuana, eating cheetos, and masturbating do not constitute plans in my book.". As it turns out, the humble chemistry teacher once had grandiose dreams for the future. Like the master of logic that he is though, he masks this all in a thick cloud of supposed loyalty. As the premise of Breaking Bad was based on a humorous idea that he and his fellow writer from The X-Files, Thomas Schnauz had come up with of driving around in an RV making methamphetamine, Gilligan made Walter a chemistry teacher, one who, until the start of the show, would have never violated the law. Death Year: 1955 Death date: March 21, 1955 Walt is briefly mentioned in passing by Saul Goodman (now going by the alias Gene Takavic) as he attempts to explain to Jeff how crazy his life had become and how much money he could get by getting into "the game". When Gilligan left much of Walter's past unexplained during the development of the series, the actor wrote his own backstory for the character. But it is a real-life effort by its organisers to turn the show's immense popularity into a force for good, with a healthcare charity for Albuquerque's . Walt convinces him to pay off Jesse and Mike and begin distributing Walt's meth instead. [44][45] Cranston reprised his role of the character in a commercial for Esurance which aired during Super Bowl XLIX, one week before the premiere of Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul. Walter Jr. angrily rejects the gesture, however, and hangs up. Hank approaches Jesse and offers to help bring down Walt. His product is unrivaled in its quality, which gives him the ability to pull the strings from time to time. Krazy-8 forces Walt to show them how he cooked such pure meth or risk being killed. When Walter arrives in Albuquerque on his 52nd birthday he confronts Gretchen and Elliott at their home and coerces them into putting his remaining money into a trust fund for Walter Jr. Walt shows up at Jesse's house and tries to convince him to betray Gus, but Jesse refuses and tells Walt they are finished. Walt breaks into Jesse's apartment where the meth is stored and finds him passed out with his girlfriend Jane Margolis (Krysten Ritter). He realizes that any feeling of control he's had is just him thrashing around in the midst of chaos. Now out of range, he activates a remote machine gun mounted in his car that injures Jack and kills all of his men except for Todd. Victor reminds Walt that they have to meet the 200 pounds-a-week quota. In the case of a lot of criminals inBreaking Bad, you can understand the trap they have fallen into. When Brock, the son of Jesse's new girlfriend Andrea, falls desperately ill with ricin-like symptoms, Jesse attacks Walt, believing that he poisoned him. There is a . Victor arrives with Jesse and proceeds to start the cooking process himself to show Gus that Walt and Jesse are not indispensable. A paranoid Tuco evades the bust, carjacks Jesse, and kidnaps Walt. Even though Walt is smart and logical, he lacks insight into the psychological rationale behind what he is doing. Bryan Cranston, who plays White on the award-winning AMC series, is . Walt realizes that the restaurant owner, Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) was the man they were supposed to meet. [38] Cranston was also nominated in 2012 and 2013 for season four and the first half of season five, but lost out to Damian Lewis for Homeland and Jeff Daniels for The Newsroom, respectively. Walter White. Walt eventually forces Hank to remain silent by crafting a fake confessional videotape in which he states that Hank is Heisenberg. A native of Atlanta, Walter White served as chief secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1929 to 1955. The universe is random. And he drinks beer with him on the weekends. She loves to binge a new series and watch movies ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to hidden indie gems. According to lead actor Brian Cranston, Jane Margolis's death was the most tragic one to occur on Breaking Bad and still haunts him to this day. Even though he was able to walk around the compound before collapsing, Walt was losing blood. Walt also gave one last visit to Skyler (Anna Gun) and Holly before he poisoned Lydia (Laura Fraser) by swapping herStevia for ricin. Although AMC officials initially hesitated to cast Cranston due to his previous comedic role on Malcolm in the Middle, Gilligan cast him based on the actor's past performance in The X-Files episode "Drive", which Gilligan wrote. Choices that he makes begin to show that he is not the kind, helpless man we first thought he was. [32], Similarly, Scott Meslow wrote in The Atlantic that Walt's capacity for villainy was present well before the series even began, and that cancer was only the catalyst, stating that "all the elements that have since turned him into a monster were already in place. Walt then finds that he has been wounded by a ricocheted bullet. Upon his death in 1955, the New York Times . This makes for a dangerous combination. Fearing that any of this will derail Hank's career in law enforcement, Walt is forced to convince Gus to hire Jesse to replace Gale as his assistant, agreeing to share 50% of his earnings with Jesse. The episode where he and Jesse get stranded in the desert is the episode where Walter White dies and Heisenberg is born. He does not choose them. Everything that takes place from that moment is a dying Walt's fever dream as he dies. Walter White's final farewell in . WALTER WHITE: The real Walter White and Breaking Bad's Walter White [VICE/AMC] These are the words of the real-life Walter White from Bessemer, Alabama. Walter White, however, constantly has a way to get out of the predicament in which he has landed himself. While waiting to be picked up, Jesse figures out that Walt poisoned Brock. His ignorance leaves him blind to the mistakes of his past. That White was arrested on the same charge in . After a few months, Walt has earned more than $80 million from meth, and Skyler convinces him to stop. Hank decides to leave the pursuit of the RV only to find out that Marie is fine, allowing Walt and Jesse to dispose of the vehicle. It is the death of every aspect of who he is that fuels Breaking Bad's immortal ending. Walt was presumed dead, but many audience members have questioned that fact since the series ended. As he waits for them, however, he sees Gretchen and Elliott on Charlie Rose downplaying his contributions to Gray Matter and resolves to return to Albuquerque to put things right. Hank is an important aspect of the show's dynamic. is the real walter white still alive. isn Even if he survived, it's difficult to believe that Walt would have been able to escape considering the state he was in (although Walt Jr. actor R.J. Mitte certainly thinks it's possible). He learns of his inevitable demise via lung cancer and seeks out a solution to his family's financial problems. Under questioning by Walt, Gus explains that he was observing the pair, and refuses to work with them because Jesse is a drug addict. Whether they are buried in the desert or chained in a basement cooking meth for the Aryan Brotherhood, they're in dire straights. Skyler forces Walt into paying for Hank's care and creates a cover story about Walt counting cards at casinos to explain how he made his money. But I think the most horrifying part of Breaking Bad may be that Walt, at his core, didn't really transform at all. 14 Copy quote. Names, Insightful, World. [23] Walt's other family includes Skyler's sister, Marie Schrader (Betsy Brandt); her husband, Hank (Dean Norris), who is a DEA agent; and his mother, who is never seen.[24]. He is the first man to win a Critics' Choice, Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance. by Jonathan Heaps May 26, 2021. Even before he received the gunshot wound, Walt's health was already in bad shape. He doesn't only get what he deserved; he gets what he wanted. He won the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama in 2009, and was nominated in 2010, 2012 and 2013; was nominated twice for the Prism Award for Best Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline; won two Saturn Awards for Best Actor on Television in 2012 and 2013 (tying with Kevin Bacon for The Following on the latter occasion), and was nominated in 2009, 2010 and 2011; and won the Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series in 2013. Years before Breaking Bad debuted featuring a fictional . Walter leaves the meth business, and the kids return home. He didn't get rich off his work, however he walked away with about $5,000. It'd be nice to think that every decision Walt makes is to survive in an incredibly dangerous, drug-fueled world. This is made quite apparent in season one's "Gray Matter," in whichhe is confronted by his family about seeking cancer treatment. In his final moments, there are bursts of honesty and selflessness that allow those around him to finally achieve some semblance of happiness. Walter Francis White (July 1, 1893 - March 21, 1955) was an American civil rights activist who led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for a quarter of a century, 1929-1955, after joining the organization as an investigator in 1918. During the twenty-five years preceding the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v.Board of Education decision, White was one of the most prominent African American figures and spokespeople in the country. The first episode follows him as he goes about his mundane life. Walt sees Emilio's partner fleeing the scene, and realizes it is one of his former students, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). After their first cook in the RV, Jesse brings a sample of the extremely pure meth to distributor Domingo "Krazy-8" Molina (Max Arciniega) and then brings Krazy-8 and the now-released Emilio to see the cook site. Walt became a high-school chemistry teacher in Albuquerque, and barely Next:Better Call Saul Should End With Jimmy Meeting Walter White. Mary White Ovington, a NAACP board member, said " Of all the girls she would have attracted me the least, but Mr. White thinks that being excitable himself he has incurred the proper contrast." Up until this point, most of the choices he's made are to save his own life. Sounds like wishful thinking, you want more of Walt but this was his best ending, he went down with a meth lab. His cancer had returned and he wasn't receiving any professional care. Live life on your own terms.". Unpredictable and hot-headed, Tuco was a ruthless killer who spelled danger for Walt and Jesse and his death came as a relief to both of them. As the police arrive, Walt collapses to the floor and dies with a look of contentedness on his face, fulfilling his comment to Hank that he will never see the inside of a prison cell. [8] The Hollywood Reporter writer Tim Goodman praised as courageous Vince Gilligan's decision to transform Walter White into an unsympathetic character: "You don't take your main character and make him unlikable.