The most consistent throughline across the five seasons of Breaking Bad was Walter White’s willingness to tell bald-faced lies to those closest to him. From the moment that the mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher was confronted with his impending death due to a terminal cancer diagnosis, Walter started spinning a web of lies that would entangle everyone he came in contact with and lead to unspeakable pain and devastation. While Walter’s conscience tormented him in the earliest episodes, by the final season, Walter revealed himself as a total sociopath who would consistently bend the truth to his will.
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As viewers watched Walter transform into the meth kingpin known as Heisenberg, he allowed his darkest and most deceitful impulses to come to the forefront as he lied to evade responsibility by any means necessary. While every actor gave exceptional performances in Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston’s seamless ability to depict Walter as a hopeless liar whose wife can see right through him and a cunning manipulator capable of unimaginable deception was commendable. At its core, Breaking Bad was a show about a man who cannot stop lying and the consequences of alienating every single person in his life.
10 Buying Weed From Jesse Pinkman
Breaking Bad: Season 1, Episode 2: “The Cat’s in the Bag”
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From the moment the usually mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White decided to break bad and cook crystal meth, his wife Skyler could sense something was wrong with her husband. After teaming up with his former student Jesse Pinkman, things quickly got out of hand, and they were forced to deal with the body of Jesse’s old partner Emilio and figure out what to do with Krazy-8, the meth distributor locked in a basement. With immediate action required, Jesse led Skyler to figure out the pair had a connection after she heard a message left on the White’s answering machine.
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Skyler quickly confronted Walter, and he promptly came up with one of his earliest lies and told her that Jesse “sells me pot,” and when Skyler pushes him for further information, he calmly informs his heavily pregnant wife to “please, just once, get off my a**.” While this put an end to the conversation, it didn’t stop Skyler from going to Jesse’s and telling him to stay away from her husband as Jesse frantically tried to conceal Emilio’s body. While Walt lied about buying weed, the truth was he did smoke some at Jesse’s house as he contemplated killing Krazy-8.
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9 Gretchen And Eliot Paid The Medical Bills
Breaking Bad: Season 1, Episode 5: “Gray Matter”
While Gretchen and Elliott Schwartz were only in a handful of Breaking Bad episodes, they were essential characters in understanding the warped psychology of Walter White. As the co-founder of the billion-dollar corporation Gray Matter Technologies, Walt’s history with the founders was key to understanding his prideful, egotistical, and arrogant nature, as he believed a far more fortunate life was stolen from him by the Schwartzs. However, hints throughout Breaking Bad reveal that Walt’s exit from the company was due to his insecurity, and after his cancer diagnosis, they even offered to pay for his treatment.
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This kindhearted offer led to one of Walter’s most significant lies when he told Skyler he had accepted the offer, although he was using meth money to pay for his chemotherapy. Without thought of the repercussions, Walt dragged his ex-girlfriend and a former friend into his complex web of lies, and when Skyler eventually thanked Gretchen, she told Walter to come clean with his wife, or she would have to tell her they didn’t pay for anything. When Gretchen confronted Walt, he was fuming with anger and unresolved resentment as he refused to explain how he paid his bills.
8 Walt’s Fugue State
Breaking Bad: Season 2, Episode 3: “Bit by a Dead Bee”
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After being abducted by Tuco Salamanca and narrowly escaping death in the desert, Walter White was stuck in a highly precarious situation with seemingly no way of explaining where he was to his family. Not only was Walt gone for several days, but he had vanished from their home late at night while in the middle of a conversation with his wife, Skyler. Rather than come clean about his whereabouts, Walt concocted perhaps the most absurd lie he ever told in all of Breaking Bad and truly committed to the bit as he stripped naked in a supermarket.
With no logical way to explain his absence without telling the truth, Walt instead pretended he had a fugue state and could not remember any of the previous days. By portraying himself as weak, confused, and naked, this lie was so extremely embarrassing that nobody in their right mind would think he was making it up. While this kept Skyler from demanding information, it pushed them further apart, and Walter only told his doctor there was no fugue state after he confirmed he was bound by his Hippocratic Oath to medical confidentiality.
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7 Pretending To Visit His Mother
Breaking Bad: Season 2, Episode 9: “4 Days Out”
Walter White’s childhood was only hinted at throughout Breaking Bad, although it’s clear that he’s not particularly close with his mother, as Skyler repeatedly told him to tell her about his lung cancer diagnosis. It is known that Walt’s father died of Huntington’s disease when Walter was six years old and that watching him become helpless and dependent on others informed the way he reacted to his own illness and his unwillingness to accept help from others. Although, in season two’s “4 Days Out,” it looked like audiences might learn more about Walt’s mom when he planned to visit her.
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However, this was yet another lie from Walter, as, instead of entering the airport to fly out to visit his mom, when Skyler drives away, he takes off with Jesse in the RV to cook meth. This was yet another example of Walt bringing people who were not involved in his life into crime and his gaslighting of his wife. While Skyler could easily call Walt’s mom to confirm his whereabouts, Walter was happy to put his own mother in such a compromising situation and risk totally alienating the woman who gave birth to him.
6 A Gambling Addict
Breaking Bad: Season 3, Episode 9: “Kafkaesque”
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As Walter White’s meth empire started to grow exceptionally during the third season, he needed a way to explain to the world why he had so much extra money. While Walt’s money had been previously laundered through Walt Jr.’s charitable website, Save Walter White, this was no longer feasible, and it became essential to explain to Hank and Marie that the White’s money troubles were over. Rather than come directly from Walt, Skyler showed off her inner Heisenberg as she concocted a complex lie about Walt being a gambling addict who had struck it big with a secret system.
This was a fascinating lie when it came to understanding Walter’s psychology, as, although he went along with it, the idea of him being an addict who was not in control of his actions bruised his ego. Walt liked the idea of being a genius who was clever enough to make millions, yet he resented those in his life, thinking he was not in control, although he did go to Gamblers Anonymous to keep up the charade. This lie was essential to tying Walter and Skyler together as she became an accomplice to his crimes and broke bad herself.
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5 Convincing Jesse That Gus Poisoned Brock
Breaking Bad: Season 4, Episode 12: “End Times”
By season four, it was clear that Walter White was capable of lying about anything, and there was no deception too sinister if it achieved his desired results. This was perfectly encapsulated in his plot to trick Jesse into helping him kill Gus by poisoning the six-year-old boy Brock Cantillo, the sweet kid nephew of Jesse’s love interest, Andrea. In a cold and calculated manipulation, Walt brought Huell and Saul into his evil scheme and used the poisonous Lily of the Valley to hospitalize Brock and lead Jesse to believe it was ricin.
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Walter was always several steps ahead of everyone else, and this carefully planned lie predicted every action Jesse would then enact as he first suspected Walt of being the culprit, then believed Walt’s reasoning that it was Gus trying to turn them against one another, and finally blamed himself and believed Brock somehow found his misplaced ricin cigarette. This was a grand and complex plot to bend Jesse to Walt’s will, and more so than any other action in Breaking Bad, it showcased how Walt often used Jesse as a pawn to be used how he saw fit.
4 “I Did Not Kill Mike”
Breaking Bad: Season 5, Episode 9: “Blood Money”
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Although Mike Ehrmantraut was on the verge of splitting town and getting away from all the chaos of Walter White, the unmatched ego of Heisenberg came to the forefront in “Say My Name” when Walt shot Mike in cold blood for refusing to give the names of his prison associates. While it’s hard to know for sure if this murder was premeditated, the fact that Mike met the same fate as victims like Emlio and Krazy-8 after Walt and Todd were seen preparing a barrel of body-melting hydrofluoric acid for him felt like a tragic end for this character.
By this point in the series, Walter had stopped feeling guilt for his murderous actions, although Jesse Pinkman soon figured out Walt had murdered Mike, who had become a kind of father figure for him. Rather than come clean with Jesse, Walt vehemently denied the accusation and told him in “Blood Money” that “I did not kill Mike” and “for all I know, he is alive and well.” This clear deception was a defining moment in Jesse’s realization that Walter was truly capable of killing anyone, and if he wasn’t careful, he could be next.
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3 The Fake Confession Videotape
Breaking Bad: Season 5, Episode 11: “Confessions”
The opening scene of Breaking Bad’s pilot begins with a frantic and panicked Walter White explaining his actions with a videotaped confession for his family. This moment was mirrored in season five when Walt once again taped a video confession, but this time it was filled with lies that implicated Hank Schrader in his meth operation and tried to pit him as the criminal mastermind behind it all. This cold and calculated videotape filled with lies was sent to Hank and Marie and retold the entire story of Breaking Bad as if Hank had planned it all.
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It took a long time for Hank to suspect Walter in Breaking Bad, but there were lots of hints throughout the show to tell him that Walt was Heisenberg.
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While originally stating he did everything for his family, this moment showcased Walt’s willingness to blackmail his family to squirm out of responsibility for all the pain and death he had caused. Walt recontextualized his ride-along with Hank as the first step toward being forced to cook meth and said in the video that Hank used his cancer diagnosis against him. This was one of the most shocking lies in all of Breaking Bad because, strangely, Walt’s bizarre story made sense and, without any evidence to prove it false, could have made Hank a prime suspect in the Heisenberg case.
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2 Covered In Petrol At The Gas Pump
Breaking Bad: Season 5, Episode 12: “Rabid Dog”
Everything started to fall apart in Breaking Bad after Jesse figured out that it was Walter who had poisoned Brock and, in a fit of rage, doused the White’s house with gasoline to try and burn it to the ground. However, Hank stops Jesse before this can happen, and Walter returns home to a gas-soaked living room, which he has to explain to his family without sending them into a panic.
Without time to spare, Walt covers himself and his car seat in gasoline and concocts a convoluted story about a pump malfunction at the gas station and accidentally leaving his wet clothes on the living room floor. While this kind of intricate lie worked for Walt in the early seasons, nobody was buying his story, and even Walt Jr. asked his father to “just tell the truth.” While Walt Jr. had been able to notice the telltale signs of his father’s lies, in his innocence, he imagined Walter fainted because the fumes made him pass out due to his cancer.
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1 “What I Do, I Do For My Family”
Breaking Bad: Season 5, Episode 16: “Felina”
The entire premise of Breaking Bad was that Walter White started cooking crystal meth to make money so he could provide for his family after he was gone. This feeling that he had limited time left and wanted to ensure his wife, son, and unborn daughter’s future was the driving force behind all the bloodshed, murder, and deceit that followed. This was the biggest lie that Walter told himself. The truth was that Walter took a strange sense of pride from his criminal behavior, giving him a sense of accomplishment that he had never felt anywhere else in his life.
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It was frustrating to see how Walt justified his horrid actions in the name of family, and that’s why it was so satisfying in Breaking Bad’s finale when Walter admitted to Skyler that he “did it for me.” Walt’s confession that he continued cooking meth because he “was good at it” and it made him feel “alive” was a cathartic moment of honesty from a man whose natural impulse was to lie through his teeth at every turn. While Walter could never fix the once-happy family life he had broken, he could at least honor his wife with the truth.
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51 9.1/10 Breaking Bad CrimeDramaThriller
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.
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*Availability in US Cast Bryan Cranston , Aaron Paul , Dean Norris , Betsy Brandt , Anna Gunn , RJ Mitte , Bob Odenkirk , Jonathan Banks , Giancarlo Esposito , Steven Michael Quezada , Charles Baker , Christopher Cousins , Matt Jones , Michael Shamus Wiles , Lavell Crawford , Jesse Plemons , Ray Campbell , Tina Parker , Carmen Serano , Emily Rios , Krysten Ritter , Laura Fraser , Jeremiah Bitsui , Mark Margolis , Ian Posada , David House , David Costabile , michael bowen , Kevin Rankin , Aaron Hill , Harry Groener , Patrick Sane , Daniel Moncada , Luis Moncada , Marius Stan , Bill Burr , Todd Terry , Jessica Hecht , Tait Fletcher , Rodney Rush , Kaija Roze Bales , Matt Metzler , John de Lancie , Tom Kiesche , Jere Burns , Maurice Compte , Morse Bicknell , Nigel Gibbs , Tess Harper , Raymond Cruz , Max Arciniega , Cesar Garcia , Jesus Jr. , Michael Bofshever , Julie Dretzin , Mike Seal , Christopher Dempsey , Javier Grajeda , Mike Batayeh , Chris Freihofer , Louis Ferreira , Gonzalo Menendez , Jason Douglas , Adam Godley Character(s) Walter White , Jesse Pinkman , Hank Schrader , Marie Schrader , Skyler White , Walter White Jr. , Saul Goodman , Mike Ehrmantraut , Gus Fring , Steven Gomez , Skinny Pete , Ted Beneke , Badger , ASAC George Merkert , Huell , Todd , Tyrus Kitt , Francesca , Carmen Molina , Andrea Cantillo , Jane Margolis , Lydia Rodarte-Quayle , Victor , Tío Salamanca , Brock Cantillo , Dr. Delcavoli , Gale Boetticher , Uncle Jack , Kenny , Jock , Dr. Chavez , Frankie , Leonel Salamanca , Marco Salamanca , Bogdan Wolynetz , Kuby , SAC Ramey , Gretchen Schwartz , Lester , Combo , Kaylee Ehrmantraut , Matt , Donald Margolis , Clovis , Group Leader , Gaff , Declan’s Driver , APD Detective Tim Roberts , Mrs. Pinkman , Tuco Salamanca , Krazy-8 , No-Doze , Gonzo , Mr. Pinkman , Pamela , Rival Dealer #1 , Hospital Medic , ER Doctor #1 , E.M.T , Juan Bolsa , Dennis Markowski , Dan Wachsberger , Declan , Detective Kalanchoe , Detective Munn , Elliott Schwartz Release Date January 20, 2008 Seasons 5 Network AMC Streaming Service(s) Netflix Franchise(s) Breaking Bad Writers Peter Gould , Gennifer Hutchison , Vince Gilligan , George Mastras , Moira Walley-Beckett , Sam Catlin , Thomas Schnauz Directors Vince Gilligan , michelle maclaren Showrunner Vince Gilligan Expand
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