B. Lorenzo Buckinchere
Apr 27, 2025
It is the end of the month, and time for another review. Our muse for the month of April is Walter White, the tragic antihero protagonist of “Breaking Bad,” portrayed by Bryan Cranston. Spoilers are ahead, so I recommend watching the entire series before reading or watching any reviews for it.
Breaking Bad was an American television crime drama created by Vince Gilligan. It lasted for five seasons between 2008 and 2013, and featured high school chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston), who became a notorious meth dealer and went by the alias “Heisenberg,” after being diagnosed with lung cancer on his 50th birthday.
It all started one day when Walt’s brother in law, Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) went on a sting and took him along for the ride. While waiting in the car, Walt spotted one of his former students, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) as he was attempting to flee the scene of the sting. Walt confronted Pinkman and blackmailed him into helping him sell crystal meth. The deal was that Walt cooks, and Jesse sells.
In that moment, Walt broke bad, and it wasn’t long before the middle-aged, middle-classed suburban school teacher was boondocking in the deserts outside of Albuquerque, cooking methamphetamine out of an RV.
Walt would soon clash with other dealers such as Tuco Salamanca (Raymond Cruz) and Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), often involving conflicts of interest relating to deals they made. But what made Walt break bad? Was his midlife crisis caused by a surprising cancer diagnosis, or was that only the trigger for a much deeper cause?
Before the beginning of the series, Walt had one third stakes in “Gray Matter,” a tech startup that he co-founded along with Elliot (Adam Godley) and Gretchen Schwartz (Jessica Hecht). Not only was Walt one of Gray Matter’s co-founders, but he was also engaged to Gretchen at some point.
Eventually, he sold his share of Gray Matter for five thousand dollars and ghosted Elliot and Gretchen. As soon as Walt’s back was turned, Elliot married Gretchen and Gray Matter took off into a multi-billion dollar industry.
Walt felt like he was robbed of his chance in life to make it big. He felt cheated by the very people he once thought were his friends. He grew bitter and resentful towards Elliot and Gretchen, and blamed them for ruining his chance.
On his fiftieth birthday, the cancer diagnosis he received was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Something inside of him snapped when he realized that he spent his entire life being a husband, father and a schoolteacher, and had nothing to show for it. Not only that, but he was about to die, and had nothing to show for his life.
This kind of thing can torture a man’s soul, and it caused him to reflect on all of his life’s mistakes. He ultimately chose to break bad in an attempt to chase after the laughing phantom of his youth.
Initially, Walt started cooking crystal meth in order to ensure that his family would be in want for nothing after he was dead. However, the last time he saw his wife Skylar (Anna Gunn) towards the end of the series, Walt finally confessed that he wanted to build his own empire in order to compensate for selling his shares in Gray Matter. But above all else, he simply liked the thrill of the hunt.
And there you have it folks, the real reason why Walter White broke bad. This is similar to an episode of “Batman: The Animated Series,” titled, “If you are so smart, why aren’t you rich.” In this episode, Edward Nygma (John Glover) dons his riddler alter ego for the first time to exact vengeance against his boss, Daniel Mockridge (Gary Frank) for firing him and stealing his intellectual property. Another muse deserving its own review.
Why did Walt sell his Gray Matter Share?
Walt abruptly broke up with Gretchen after spending a fourth of July weekend with her wealthy family. He sold his Gray Matter share to Elliot shortly thereafter, who subsequently started dating Gretchen, and made her a business partner.
It was never really explained during the show’s run why Walt ghosted Gretchen so abruptly, but there is a very plausible fan theory out there suggesting that he felt insecure and inadequate in comparison to her wealthy family.
What might have been?
If Walt didn’t sell his share in Gray Matter, he and Gretchen would have definitely taken off in every meaningful way possible. He might have never met Skylar. But then again, he probably wouldn’t care too much about starting an affair with Skylar if he’d met her after he was already sitting on top of a billion dollar dynasty.
The problem is that he didn’t believe in what was possible. He didn’t believe in him and Gretchen as an item, he didn’t believe in the vision they shared for the future of the company, and he allowed his doubts and insecurities to get in the way of what was possible.
Personal Takeaway:
The cautionary tale of Walter White serves to remind us to believe in what might be possible, and to be wary of friends who do not share our vision. Walt could have been living the good life, but instead he ended up venturing down a very dark path that he responded to by turning to a life of crime.
Whatever you do, if you have an idea that you know could be worth millions in the long run, do not allow others to buy you out. You had best believe that they see your vision too, and they want to reap all the benefits for themselves without putting in the blood, sweat and tears that’s required to thoroughly earn it. They have no problem paying you ten thousand dollars today, just so they can legally exclude you from ten million dollars tomorrow. They are not your friends.
Also, never enter into any deals that require you to give up ownership of your intellectual properties. I recommend retaining creative control so that you can keep earning royalties for the rest of your life plus seventy years. Speaking of royalties, make sure that you copyright your intellectual property. You can do so by visiting https://www.copyright.gov.
All in all, the Elliot and Gretchen story arc in Breaking Bad was an eye opening cautionary tale. I give it a 5 out of 5 blue crystal rocks, and I’ll see you on the next one.
© Copyright 2025 The Buckinchere Publication, SP.
All rights reserved.