Breaking Bad aired on AMC from 2008 to 2013 with five successful seasons and 62 total episodes.
The story centers on Walter White, a down-on-his-luck chemistry teacher who is reinvigorated when he learns he can use his scientific knowledge to become a drug kingpin and provide for his family.
Viewers watch Walt go from protagonist to antagonist.
There’s an incredible cast, award-winning script, several spinoffs, multiple languages, and of course, that creative plot.
Keep reading to find out more reasons Breaking Bad is still worth watching.
Is Breaking Bad Worth watching? (10 Reasons It Is)
1. The Cast
Breaking Bad wouldn’t have been as successful as it was without its standout performers.
First, there’s Aaron Paul who plays Jesse Pinkman, Walter White’s student, accomplice, and unlikely friend.
He gives an incredibly dynamic performance as a troubled teenager who forms a partnership with White and shows him the ropes in the world of drugs.
Then there’s Anna Gunn who plays White’s wife, Skylar White.
At first the loving pregnant wife to her ailing husband, Skylar White quickly becomes a disliked character in the show as she comes to grow impatient with her husband’s illegal business ventures.
All her behavior is arguably rational, for being upset with her husband for risking their family’s welfare.
However, her delivery is so incredible that the audience learns to dislike her for this.
Hank Shrader is White’s brother-in-law, a DEA agent who is always treading the line between family and potential enemy.
Played by Dean Norris, he also manages to make audiences nervous whenever he interacts with White.
Viewers always learn to be on their toes when he’s around, for fear that he will discover who the elusive “Heisenberg” (Walter White’s drug dealer alias) really is.
Much of the comic relief comes from Saul Goodman, the attorney who seems to not fully know what he is doing much of the time.
This character is brilliantly played by Bob Odenkirk, who has mastered the art of the pathetic character.
Finally is Walter White Jr., the loveable yet annoying teenager played by RJ Mitte.
He gives an incredible experience as White’s son going through a relatable awkward phase in life.
Given the growing tensions between his parents, in addition to his father’s intense investment in narcotic chemistry, viewers easily sympathize with him.
All the characters in the story give the audience a perfect mix of catharsis and hilarity, which make the show a true masterpiece.
2. Bryan Cranston
Bryan Cranston deserves his own mention here because his performance in Breaking Bad was just that amazing.
Cranston plays the protagonist and anti-hero, Walter White, who is a high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with cancer and finds new meaning in life when he realizes he can make and sell meth at a premium.
His foray into the drug world started to make money on the side to support his family.
It quickly but subtly transformed into something much less benevolent.
A lot of the show centers on Walter White’s dangerous endeavors with Jesse Pinkman in the world of drugs.
What viewers are also watching are the lethal changes that happen to White’s character.
He becomes the ultimate anti-hero as Bryan Cranston brilliantly portrays the way seemingly innocuous goals can quickly feed into greed for money and power.
Cranston won many awards, for his legendary performance, including four Emmys (plus two extra nominations) for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, among others.
It catapulted him into the spotlight like never before.
3. The Script
Without the script, Cranston and the supporting cast never would have been able to develop the characters they portrayed.
The script is funny yet dark and traumatic, with characters who are simultaneously loathed and loved.
Then, there’s the plotline that drives the show forward.
While many series are either character-driven or plot-driven, Breaking Bad is both, which is part of what makes it so alluring.
Dull moments are hard to come by.
Then there are tons of twists and cliffhangers that are perfectly timed so as to keep the audience wanting more.
With a show this big, and an audience this vast, there was a lot of pressure on the writers to make an incredible series finale.
They managed to pull it off, and more.
The series finale was so great because it was unexpected yet still made sense.
It made the audience question their allegiance to Walter White and what it means to be a good guy versus a bad guy.
It also made viewers wonder how and when Walter changed from being well-intentioned to a fiend for money and power.
It inspired all this thinking without making any direct insinuations.
It simply posed a scene and a script that allowed the audience to form their own creative thought, still in line with what the writers were starting to portray.
The script’s artistry was simply unmatched and is one of the reasons why Breaking Bad is still worth watching, long after it ended.
4. The Creative Plot
We start with the relatable character of Walter White, a modest chemistry teacher who is struggling to make ends meet.
His teenage son has cerebral palsy, and his wife is about to give birth to their second child.
He thinks it can’t get much worse when he learns he has terminal cancer.
Walter knows that his small teaching salary probably won’t sustain his family in the long term after he’s gone.
In a last-ditch attempt to give his family a better life, Walter discovers that he can put his knowledge of chemistry to good use by creating one of the most sought-after drugs on the market, crystal methamphetamine.
He turns his RV into a meth lab and manages to make the purest meth the town has ever known.
He soon finds himself with too many customers to count and rivals knocking down his door.
The plot is creative, suspenseful, and compelling.
There are multiple elements that the audience immediately feels compelled to track: Walter’s illness, his family, both his new and old jobs, and his relationship with others and with himself.
He is a sympathetic character who just wants what is best for his family.
The plot delves into a human’s desire to provide for their loved ones, while in a moral dilemma between what is legal and what is beneficial.
The plot is compelling from all angles and received a 96% average on Rotten Tomatoes.
The audience gave it an average of 97%—a nearly unprecedented high score.
It’s hard to believe that so much can happen in the short span of five seasons, but that’s part of what made the show so great.
It is fast-paced with no time for viewers to get distracted or bored.
5. Spinoffs And films
Breaking Bad was so successful that it inspired several spinoffs and films.
Talking Bad
In 2013, eight episodes of Talking Bad were released.
This was a live talk show that featured cast members, audience members, and crew to discuss the making of each episode.
It allowed dedicated and curious viewers to get the inside scoop on one of the most successful shows ever made.
If you’re a viewer who likes to know about the making of your favorite series, Breaking Bad is a great opportunity because there are several methods of learning about the show.
Metastasis
Then there’s Metastasis, which was a Spanish-speaking version of Breaking Bad.
The show was set in Colombia and aired in 2014 with eight episodes.
Better Call Saul
Perhaps the most famous spinoff to come from the series is Better Call Saul, which revolved around attorney Saul Goodman.
Bob Odenkirk, who played Goodman, was set to only star in three episodes of the original series but became a mainstay in the show once he became a fan favorite.
He was so loved, in fact, that he got an entire spin-off series dedicated to his origins in the legal profession.
The show was a prequel that delved into the six years before Goodman became Walter White’s lawyer.
Several of the original Breaking Bad characters like Mike and Gus make appearances as well.
If you’re concerned about becoming attached to the characters, just know that you’ll be able to enjoy them again in the spinoff series.
Other Breaking Bad Offspring
So many people were curious about the Breaking Bad finale that a movie was made to answer some of the unanswered questions.
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie follows Jesse Pinkman in the time after the show’s infamous series finale, “Felina.”
The film was released on Netflix in 2019 and aired on AMC in 2020.
If games are more your thing, there’s also the Breaking Bad: Criminal Elements smartphone game.
It asks players to build a drug empire from nothing, just like Walter White.
There was also a true-crime docuseries based on the show called The Broken and the Bad which showcased true stories like those portrayed in the show.
Some of the subjects included the psychology of hitmen and the economics of massive drug operations.
If all the spinoffs aren’t proof enough that Breaking Bad was one of the best shows of all time, I don’t know what is.
If you’re looking for a show where you can become hopelessly enmeshed with all the characters and their lives, this is the one, and you don’t have to worry about the series finale being the end of the show.
There seem to be countless avenues to explore to further excavate the world of Walter White.
6. Creative Cold Opens
One of the most unique aspects of the series is the cold opens Vince Gilligan incorporated into each episode.
A cold open is a short movie that appears before the show’s theme song and main episode.
The cold opens were used as a quick way to hook viewers before the feature even began, to guarantee they didn’t change the channel during a commercial break.
It worked!
A lot of shows utilize cold opens, but Gilligan played around with the format and made it into something quite unique.
They provided insight into the Breaking Bad universe through a different character’s eyes and added texture to the multilayered context of the narrative.
The success of Gilligan’s cold opens inspired other shows to incorporate the same and to experiment with different ways of storytelling before the episode even begins.
Some of the show’s best cold opens include season 5 episode 1 when there is a flash-forward to Walter White celebrating his 52nd birthday with a full head of hair, bacon breakfast, and a new identity in New Hampshire.
Viewers become curious and hopeful about this potential great future for their favorite anti-hero, but things quickly change as we see him open his car trunk full of weapons.
Another great cold open is season 3 episode 12 when we see the meth-addicted Wendy taking what she wants from the vending machines and interacting with potential customers, all while being watched by Jesse.
Season 5 Episode 7 has its own great cold open as we watch Heisenberg, Walt’s criminal alias, try to absorb his competitor Declan’s criminal empire.
It is an obvious demonstration of how Heisenberg’s ego has expanded to exponential proportions.
As Declan and Walt are face-to-face, we see Declan finally realize that he is speaking to the infamous Heisenberg.
The Best Of The Best
The second-best ranked cold open is the series pilot as we see a seemingly average man in a button-down shirt and tighty whities.
Our perception of this normality changes when Walt holds a gun in front of him to wait for whatever is coming toward him.
What ensues is a shootout that leads to a bullet-ridden RV, dead bodies, and a mysterious, desperate camcorder voice recording.
It leaves the audience immediately wondering how all of this came to be.
Then Gilligan cuts to the Walter White origin story.
The number one ranked cold open is season 2 episode 7 when there is a music video titled “The Ballad of Heisenberg” about his ascension to the top of a drug empire.
It’s not only a catchy song, but its lyrics give us an eerie clue about what might happen next.
Gilligan changed television by experimenting with how shows hook viewers before the main feature even begins.
The cold opens became one of the most legendary parts of the show and were works of art in their own right.
7. Science
Not only is Breaking Bad great for fans of drama, but it is also great for fans of science!
Walter White is a chemistry teacher who learns that his expertise can help him beyond the classroom.
He uses his chemistry to formulate the purest form of meth the area has seen in quite some time.
He builds a meth lab in his RV, where he teaches his assistant Jesse Pinkman the formula to his secret recipe.
Science is a big part of Walt’s adventure throughout the show. Science and chemistry fans will be happy to know that there is certainly no shortage of knowledge sharing.
It is interesting to see how science informs the world of drugs and isn’t just used for pharmaceutical drugs but street drugs as well.
Some things you might learn in the show are that hydrofluoric acid can eat through ceramic tile but not polyurethane containers, poison ricin can be made from castor beans, and lily of the valley plants can be fatal.
If you want more science, you’ll have to watch.
8. Suspense
In the same way that the cold opens are so successful, Breaking Bad immediately hooks viewers in each episode with suspense.
While many shows wait until the episode’s last few minutes to draw in the suspense, Breaking Bad dribbles suspense throughout every episode.
You never know when there might be an unexpected character death.
One of the main sources of suspense in the show is the constant fear that Walt and Jesse will be caught.
Especially since Walt’s brother-in-law is in the DEA.
The show has a great pace. It doesn’t jam all of the action into one episode yet keeps viewers constantly on their toes.
Breaking Bad is so binge-worthy because the final scenes of each episode put viewers on the edge of their seats and keep them wanting more.
9. It’s Multilingual
Much of the show revolves around a Mexican drug cartel in New Mexico.
For this reason, much of the show is in Spanish.
In season four specifically, Esposito plays a famous drug dealer who often switches between English and Spanish.
That makes it a welcoming show for people who speak Spanish and/or English.
While there are subtitles for most things, some of the Spanish is left without subtitles.
This gives Spanish speakers an extra leg up in understanding what is going on in the series.
10. The Show’s Legacy
Maybe all you need to know about the show is the number of awards it has won.
Breaking Bad received 58 Primetime Emmy nominations and 16 awards.
One win was for Outstanding Drama Series in 2013 and 2014. It also won two Peabody Awards in 2008 and 2013.
Bryan Cranston won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times.
Aaron Paul, Giancarlo Esposito, and Anna Gunn also won awards.
Overall, it has won 110 industry awards and 262 nominations.
Not only has the show been so positively rated by several academies, but audiences love it even more.
Conclusion
Breaking Bad is one of the most successful series of all time, with a legacy that continues to inform new generations of shows.
From the influential cold opens, incredible writing, sympathetic acting, and compelling plot, the series changed television forever.
These ten reasons to watch Breaking Bad don’t even scratch the surface.
Just take a chance on the pilot and we know you’ll be hooked!
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