The Point of “Breaking Bad” is Not Walt.
The show makes us squirm because deep inside, there’s a bit of Walter White in us all.
Critics (both professional and armchair alike) seem to delight in pointing the finger at Walter White, rolling in his amorality like melted chocolate. But to point the finger solely at Walt is to miss what I believe is the point of the whole heartbreaking, gut-wrenching series: that emotional people are just out of control and driven by ego-centric and self-centered motivations. Period.
Sure, Walt is the creator and the eye of this storm. Sure, his gradual fall into the inferno is the thread that ties the series together. But the only two people in the show deserving of our sympathy are his kids—that’s it.
Skylar may have deserved our sympathy earlier in the series…but when confronted with (some) of the reality of Walt’s life and the potential consequences, she chose survival.
Hank may have been charged with upholding the law, but his obsessive-compulsive behavior and his chest-thumping, power-hungry machismo blinded him (even after being nearly killed once!), and long ago put him on the path toward inevitable consequences.
Marie, who Skylar described as her “spoiled, kleptomaniac bitch sister who somehow always manages to be the center of attention,” remains exactly that…with an added dose of self-righteousness…and devoid of any empathy whatsoever.
And Jesse…the misunderstood kid led astray…squanders multiple opportunities to better himself, and ultimately gives in to everything bad within him—ironically believing he’s doing the right thing.
It’s pointless to analyze Walt. He’s an open book. Nothing complex there—just excessive hubris and deeply flawed rationalization fueled by considerable intelligence, and nothing left of a moral compass.
The brilliant achievement of “Breaking Bad” is to show that no adult is truly good—that everyone, in one way or another, is flawed, self-centered, often uses lame rationalization, and is capable (like Walt) of hubris and self-righteousness.
Simpletons seeking a simple, bogeyman answer to the show’s complex, foul-smelling stew of humanity will naturally gravitate toward pointing the finger at Walt…but this is as narrow-minded as many of the show’s characters.
“Breaking Bad” tramples the line between good and evil into a bloody mess, and makes us squirm watching it. Because deep inside, every one of us knows there is a bit of Walter White. It might give some a bit of comfort to wag a finger at Walt…but that doesn’t dispel the discomfort.
