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One of the most interesting parts of Vince Gilligan’sBreaking Badis the character progression of Walter White. It is at the very center of the show and it acts as a slow-working poison that eventually consumes everything he touches. His character is one of the most famous examples of the good guy losing his way and turning into something horrid.
Only, one simply needs to look back from the very start to realize that a lot of Walter’s awful personality traits have existed from the very beginning. With how gradually it happens over the course of five seasons, one cannot help but wonder if Walter was planned out as a toxic character and his arc eventually soured, or if the writers had been planning his descent into evil very early into the series.
During an interview, Bryan Cranston revealed exactly this, and one must commend Gilligan’s planning.
Breaking Bad—Nature vs. Nurture
One of the most interesting perspectives to think about when looking at Walter White’s arc inBreaking Badis if he was always an awful person who was finally showing his colors or if he was a product of his circumstances. With one looks at the very first season of the series, one evidently sees that as mean as Walter can be, it would be a very big stretch to call him a horrible person.
However, this perspective changes by the time the fifth season rolls around, being so consumed by his hunger for power that he consumes himself whole, being the very reason for his demise. With this, a question arises: Was Walter always supposed to be this person, or was this where the story took the writers?
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During an interview withThe Daily Beast,Bryan Cranston was asked the same question, being asked to elaborate if Vince Gilligan always planned for Walter to turn evil by the end of the series. Interestingly enough, it would seem that Gilligan had a very long vision for the story of the series.
I knew from our first meeting that was what we were going to do.
The actor confessed that when he was starting out in the role of Walter, he already knew where his story was going to take him, with Gilligan having already planned it all out before the pilot had even begun filming.
A Test of Attention and Morality by Vince Gilligan and Walter White
Some might say thatVince Gilliganwas highly ambitious when he planned an arc like this for his character, specifically considering he was at the center of the story. However, his vision managed to pan out in the best ways possible. Since the series was mostly from Walter White’s perspective, a lot of his horrible actions were seen as justified by the viewers.
They were almost getting desensitized as the seasons went on, questioning their morality every time he did something awful, but not enough to change their opinions. However, things took a very big turn when he let Jane die in the second season.
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Bryan Cranstontalked about how Gilligan described his progression, calling it“turning Mr. Chipps into Scarface.”Mr. Chipps, or Arthur Chipping, is a character from James Hilton’s classic book, Goodbye, Mr. Chips. He is a gentle, kind-hearted, and beloved high school teacher who would not hurt a fly, much like Walter in the first season.
That was Vince’s intention. His very famous quote is “turning Mr. Chipps into Scarface.“
However, there is no denying that by the end of the series, he is more similar to Tony Montana fromScarfacethan he is to the high school teacher. While one would assume that such a dramatic change would be immediately noticeable, the gradual process makes it difficult.
That’s why I was so excited about it—because I’d never seen that. Never in television history. Have you ever seen a character devolve into a completely different person?
Cranston mentioned that he was very attracted to the idea of playing such a character. It is safe to say that audiences have never seen such a dramatic shift in a character’s moralities compared to Walter. This is specifically true when it comes to how gradually and almost unnoticeable it is until it all comes crashing down.
Breaking Badis available for streamingon Netflix.
Ananya Godboley
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2219
Ananya Godboley is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows, with over 2,000 articles published. She has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years. Currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in psychology from K.R. Mangalam University, Ananya also likes to fangirl as a full-time job. She covers news and analyses on anything from Rick and Morty to Hannibal and even Arcane. In between these lines, she also enjoys superheroes and Taylor Swift.A philosophy enthusiast, Ananya enjoys digging deeper into the media she consumes, trying to understand the root of her favorite characters' behavior.
