The many breakfast scenes inBreaking Badare a perfect example of the way that the show built tension and developed its character arcs.Breaking Badis often considered one of thegreatest TV shows of all timedue to its character writing, standout performances from the cast, and its attention to detail.Breaking Badshows the transformation of the mild-mannered chemistry teacher Walter White as he becomes the monstrous meth kingpin known as Heisenberg. Over thefive seasons inBreaking Bad’s timeline, Walt’s drastic personality change is best shown during one recurring moment.
Walter White’s love of tradition is established early on inBreaking Badwhen it shows him spelling out his age using bacon on his birthday. This is a clever way to illustrate time passing, and while several thingshappen in everyBreaking Badepisode, the many breakfast scenes are extremely important. They allowed viewers to check in on the White family, and this seemingly domestic moment was often used to show a darker dynamic.Breaking Badwas disturbing at times, but some of its most uncomfortable moments happened during breakfast, rather than in a drug lord’s lair.
10Pilot
Season 1, Episode 1
This is the first scene in theBreaking Badseries timeline, set three weeks before its “flash-forward” introduction. Whilemany of the best scenes inBreaking Badinvolve dramatic or violent moments, this first breakfast is excellent as it ominously introduces the White family and their circumstances. Though this moment happens before Walt’s cancer diagnosis and introduction into the world of selling drugs, it is more uncomfortable to watch than many later scenes.
In just a few words, this scene shows that the family is struggling for money and that Walt has a recurring cough.
It is Walt’s birthday, yet nobody appears to be happy about it. Walt jokes with Walter Jr., but the atmosphere is strained, with Skyler getting increasingly irritated when both her husband and son are reluctant to eat vegetarian bacon. In just a few words, this scene shows that the family is struggling for money and that Walt has a recurring cough.The scene is even tenser on a rewatch, as a returning viewer knows that Walt has cancerand Skyler repeatedly lies about food.
9The Cat’s In The Bag
Season 1, Episode 2
Many of theBreaking Badbreakfast scenes are uncomfortable due to the growing tension in the White family, but the breakfast in “The Cat’s In The Bag” is different, as the main factor is secondhand embarrassment rather than suspense.Walter White has many personalities throughoutBreaking Bad, and this breakfast scene uses his least dangerous “cringy dad” persona. When Walt tries to make Walter Jr. laugh by telling him a funny story, it leaves the viewer (and his family) embarrassed for him.
When Walt tells his son and Skyler that the girls at school are having their yearbook photographs taken by a glamor photographer, Skyler is mortified enough. However, when Walt starts to talk about “a new kind of brassiere,” which Walter Jr. identifies as a Wonderbra, the scene gets even harder to watch.Walt’s attempt to be funny on his son’s level falls flatand comes across as both awkward and inappropriate.
8Crazy Handful Of Nothin'
Season 1, Episode 6
Walter White and his alter ego, Heisenberg, may be the same person, but they have very different styles. Heisenberg debuting his shaven head and hat look was an iconic moment in theBreaking Badseries, but when Walt first showed his new (lack of) hair to his family, the scene was extremely uncomfortable to watch.Walt joins Skyler and Walter Jr. at breakfast with a newly shaved head, and Skyler reacts with horror.
One Of Breaking Bad’s Most Devastating Moments Only Happened Because Bryan Cranston’s Co-Star Broke Character
Breaking Bad is full of heartbreaking moments throughout, but one character break led to one of the most devastating scenes in the entire series.
This is one of the shorterBreaking Badbreakfast scenes, but it says a lot about the White family dynamicin just a few seconds. Walt doesn’t tell Skyler or Walter Jr. that he’s shaving his head, and when he arrives at the breakfast table, he pointedly ignores both Skyler’s distress and Walter Jr’s compliment on the new look. Skyler might be one ofBreaking Bad’s most hated supporting characters, but it is difficult not to sympathize with her shock.
7Down (Scene 1)
Season 2, Episode 4
Breaking Bad’s Walter White is much better at chemistry than he is at lying, and though he gains practice working in the meth world, he never really learns to lie convincingly. The mostoutrageous lies that Walt tells inBreaking Badare easily uncovered on further questioning, with very few people believing him once one untruth is uncovered.
The breakfast scene in Down is a perfect and awkward example of Walt beginning yet another unconvincing web of lies.
When Walt’s second cell phone is revealed, it setsBreaking Badon a different path, with Skyler finding out about the meth trade.This cell phone is the catalyst for Walt’s lies to start crashing down around him, and when he is making up an excuse for it ringing, his unconvincing ramble becomes harder to watch with every word. The scene is hard for both the viewer and Skyler, as she leaves in the middle of it.
6Down (Scene 2)
Breaking Badseason 2, episode 4 has two breakfast scenes within the first 30 minutes, with both being awkward for very different reasons. When Walt is trying and failing to make an omelet, he answers the door to his son’s friend, who accidentally reveals that Walter Jr. is now called Flynn. Walt’s clumsy attempts to interact make him look even more suspicious, while the scene provokes some secondhand embarrassment for the viewer.
Breaking Badcontains few interactions between Skyler and Walt that do not have a passive-aggressive or cagey element.The aftermath of this breakfast is no exception, and it grows more excruciating with every sentence that the two swap. Skyler is aware thatWalter Jr. is calling himself Flynn, and as she prepares to leave without telling him where she is going, the tension is brought to a head when a panicked Jesse calls the house.
5Mandala
Season 2, Episode 11
The breakfast scene in “Mandala” is one of the tensest to watch inBreaking Bad, as neither Walt, Jesse, nor the viewer know what to expect. When Walt and Jesse prepare to meet a drug kingpin who can take their business to the next level, both are clearly on edge and while Walt appears outwardly respectable, Jesse does not. Their discomfort is awkward enough, but when a friendly server arrives, it becomes even more obvious how much they stand out.
The Los Pollos Hermanos scene is one of the few breakfast scenes centered on Jesse rather than the White family.Breaking Badhas aged well, as many of the details become even better on a rewatch. That is especially true for this moment, asWalt and Jesse’s server is the notorious Gus Fring. The kingpin can be seen watching them in earlier shots, and this makes the scene harder to see, as the two have no idea what is coming.
4ABQ
Season 2, Episode 13
Many ofthe most painful scenes inBreaking Badshow Walt or Skyler trying to look happy in front of Walter Jr. while hiding extreme terror. In the breakfast scene in “ABQ”, Walt is trying to behave normally after watching Jane die horribly the night before. Dealing with Jesse’s grief and his choice to let Jane die gives Walt mixed feelings, but when Walter Jr. gives the family some great news, this turmoil becomes harder to conceal.
Breaking Bad: Everything Walt Jr. Ate For Breakfast
Walt Jr. enjoyed eating breakfast in Breaking Bad so we put together a list of everything he ate for the first meal of the day throughout the show.
Saul Goodman is using Walter Jr.’s cancer treatment donation website to launder money, but when the money starts rolling in, the family assumes that all the donations are coming from sympathetic people. As Walt stands behind his son and watches the funds growing, his complicated mix of emotions is easy to see, making this scene one of Bryan Cranston’sbest performances in this season ofBreaking Bad. Walter Jr. and Skyler’s joy is especially tough for repeat viewers to watch, as things get so much darker for the White family.
3I See You
Season 3, Episode 8
When Hank clings to life after the drug cartel attack, the episode’s hospital breakfast scene is one of the few that are not at the White family’s table. When Marie and the family eat, she fixates on the water spots on the hospital cutlery in an attempt to control something, and Walt doesn’t help. Walt begins a long ramble about himself, which comes across as clumsy, egotistical, and unhelpful, which isn’t easy to watch.
Walt is terrible at comforting people, and his story about being afraid to die in the same hospital does little to comfort Marie. While he eventually manages to explain that he feels Hank is a better man than he is, he saves the moment, but not before making the viewer extremely tense. Hank was injured as a direct result of Walt’s actions, and as he often gives himself away by talking too much,anything could have happened inBreaking Bad’s hospital breakfast scene.
2Cornered
Season 4, Episode 6
This episode has two breakfast scenes that are connected, and both are extremely uncomfortable to watch. When Skyler wakes Walt up in the morning with a hot drink,their conversation quickly escalates, resulting in the iconicBreaking Badquote, “I am the one who knocks.” The moment is not only tense, with Skyler afraid for her life, but pivotal in the series, and it makes the resulting breakfast scene with Walter Jr. excruciating for a different reason.
Walter Jr’s confusion and attempt to help his father in this scene highlights how little he deserved to suffer in the show.
Walter Jr. is one of the only truly innocentcharacters inBreaking Bad, and the scene in which he and Walt discuss Skyler leaving is especially painful. AsWalter Jr. compares Walt’s made-up gambling problem to alcohol addiction, we see Walt barely containing his anger at being compared to an addict, as he has such contempt for his customers. Walter Jr’s confusion and attempt to help his father in this scene highlights how little he deserved to suffer in the show.
1Live Free Or Die
Season 5, Episode 1
The diner scene in the episode “Live Free Or Die” shows Walt upholding his birthday breakfast tradition in a Denny’s.This time, he is alone, far from home, with a chatty waitress who does not realize the danger that she could be in. While Walt is a difficult character to sympathize with by this point, he is a shadow of the formidable man that he had become inBreaking Badseason 4, and the drastic change in his appearance and demeanor is painful to watch.
Breaking Bad’s creator Vince Gilligan regretted the season 5 openingscene, as he had not decided how the series was going to play out. Season 4 ended by showing Walt’s complete lack of humanity in poisoning Brock, and the first breakfast scene ofBreaking Badseason 5 appears to establish that Walt has nothing left to lose. When he leaves the diner and opens the trunk of his car to reveal a machine gun, nobody seems safe.
Breaking Bad
Cast
Breaking Bad, created by Vince Gilligan, follows a chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin named Walter White (Bryan Cranston) as he attempts to provide for his family following a fatal diagnosis. With nothing left to fear, White ascends to power in the world of drugs and crime, transforming the simple family man into someone known only as Heisenberg.
