Walter White's motive for 'breaking bad' was based on a fallacy, Vince Gilligan reveals
'Most viewers assume Gretchen and Elliott are the bad guys and that Walt got ripped off by them - I never actually saw it that way.'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Breaking Bad delighted in testing your allegiances to Walter White, mostly sapping them away as the seasons went by.
But if there was one thing he had our sympathies for, it was being f*cked over by Gray Matter, which precipitated his descent into Heisenberg, right?
Wrong. Though creator Vince Gilligan intended for it to be subtle/ambiguous, he was drawn into revealing why Walt really left the company this week.
This we knew to be fact: White co-founded Gray Matter Technologies with friend Elliott Schwartz. Walt ended up dating his lab assistant Gretchen, but he suddenly left her one day, selling his shares in Gray Matter to his partner for $5,000. The company went on to make billions, and Elliott and Gretchen got married.
What we inferred: That the couple somehow forced Walt out or underestimated his talents.
Gretchen actress Jessica Hecht said in 2009 however that Walt left the company because he felt inferior.
Here’s where Gilligan comes in.
“She’s correct, and that’s what I explained to her and to [Bryan Cranston] before they shot that big scene between the two of them where they were at the restaurant,” he told HuffPost.
“It ends with him being so nasty to her saying, ‘Fuck you,’ and then she leaves tearfully. In my mind, the interesting thing here - and I always kind of hate to nail it down so explicitly - but let’s put it this way, most viewers of Breaking Bad assume Gretchen and Elliott are the bad guys, and they assume that Walt got ripped off by them, got ill used by them, and I never actually saw it that way.”
“I think it was kind of situation where he didn’t realize the girl he was about to marry was so very wealthy and came from such a prominent family, and it kind of blew his mind and made him feel inferior and he overreacted. He just kind of checked out. I think there is that whole other side to the story, and it can be gleaned. This isn’t really the CliffsNotes version so much. These facts can be gleaned if you watch some of these scenes really closely enough, and you watch them without too much of an overriding bias toward Walt and against Gretchen and Elliott."
Along with making you feel even more guilty for cheering Walt on, the plot point explains and reinforces the character’s huge sense of denial.
“I think the interesting thing is not exactly what happened but the fact that Walt hasn’t let it go over all these years,” Gilligan added. “He has no perspective on himself. He gets to the point where all he can really do is try to justify everything that he’s done.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments