The 10 Biggest Turning Points in Walter White's Breaking Bad Transformation (2024)

Warning: This post contains major spoilers for and violent content from all five seasons of Breaking Bad.

It’s officially been ten years since Bryan Cranston first graced our television screens as down-and-out chemistry teacher Walter White in Breaking Bad. But his metamorphosis into meth kingpin Heisenberg over five epic seasons still hasn’t left our minds.

The unforgettable AMC drama premiered on Jan. 20, 2008, introducing viewers to showrunner Vince Gilligan’s take on the American Southwest’s drug underworld. It wasn’t long before the series was one of the most popular shows on television and had earned a massive cult following to match. Fans eagerly tuned in each week to see what dark road Walt would go down next, with the show’s mind-bending twists keeping viewers constantly on their toes.

So in honor of one of the most legendary TV characters of all time, here are the 10 biggest turning points in Walter White’s Breaking Bad transformation.

1. The killing of Krazy-8

Season 1, Episode 3: “…and the Bag’s in the River”

Faced with the choice of killing Krazy-8 or risking everything by releasing him from his makeshift prison in Jesse’s basement, Walt spends the majority of Breaking Bad‘s third episode attempting to convince himself he can safely let the rival dealer go. But after realizing Krazy-8 has no intention of letting bygones be bygones, Walt violently strangles him to death with a bike lock, giving viewers an early taste of his capacity for brutality.

2. An offer refused

Season 1, Episode 5: “Gray Matter”

While attending the birthday party of his former business partner Elliott Schwartz, Walt is given an easy out for financing his lung cancer treatment: a job at Elliott’s now billion-dollar company, Gray Matter Technologies. But Walt, who we later find out sold his share in Gray Matter for just $5,000, is way too prideful to accept the offer. Even when Elliott’s wife Gretchen — who also happens to be Walt’s ex-girlfriend — calls to practically beg him to take their money, Walt refuses to give in. The episode ends with Walt showing up outside Jesse’s home to ask one simple question: “Want to cook?”

“We did what you’re never supposed to do and employed a deus ex machina in the guise of these two wealthy friends,” Gilligan said of the episode at the 2013 opening of the Museum of the Moving Image’s Breaking Bad exhibit. “They offer [Walter] everything he needs. At the end of that hour he says, ‘Thank you, no,’ and he goes back to Jesse Pinkman and says, ‘Let’s cook.’ And that was where the character truly got interesting for me. This guy’s got some serious pride issues.”

3. Jane’s death

Season 2, Episode 12: “Phoenix”

It’s inaction rather than action that defines the scene that many view as the exact moment Walter White truly broke bad. Intent on convincing Jesse to get clean, Walt shows up unannounced at his apartment only to find both him and his girlfriend Jane passed out in a heroin-fueled stupor. Walt shakes Jesse to try to wake him, inadvertenly causing Jane to roll over onto her back. It’s then that she begins to gag and choke on her own vomit. Walt rushes over to help her but hesitates and pulls back, clearly seeing an opportunity to get rid of the threat she presents.

To put it in Walt’s own words: “I watched Jane die. I was there. And I watched her die. I watched her overdose and choke to death. I could have saved her. But I didn’t.”

Doesn’t get much darker than that.

4. “No more half measures”

Season 3, Episode 12: “Half Measures”

After Mike attempts to convince Walter to do whatever’s necessary to deal with Jesse’s insistence on taking out the dealers who murdered Combo, Walt is torn between remaining loyal to his partner and staying on the good side of his new boss, Gus Fring. Of course, the growing presence of Heisenberg within him ultimately wins out. Refusing to toe Gus’s line, Walt swoops in at the last-second to rescue Jesse by gruesomely running over the rival dealers with his trusty old Pontiac Aztek. This decision, in turn, gives Walt all the leverage he needs to order Jesse to kill Gale in the season finale.

5. “I am the one who knocks”

Season 4, Episode 6: “Cornered”

In what is likely the most quoted scene of the entire series, Walt informs Skyler that while she may think he’s in danger in the wake of Gale’s murder, it’s actually him who is the danger. “A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me?” he snaps at her. “No. I am the one who knocks!”

6. Face off

Season 4, Episode 13: “Face Off”

The season four finale gave many fans all the evidence they needed that Walt had completely lost his moral compass. Willing to do anything to get rid of Gus, he entreats the wheelchair-bound Hector Salamanca into setting off a bomb in a retirement home to outsmart the Los Pollos Hermanos kingpin. Of course, that’s only after his plan to blow up Gus’s car in a hospital parking garage doesn’t pan out.

But while taking out a rival dealer who threatened to kill his entire family may not top the list of Walt’s evils, it’s the final sequence of the episode that reveals his coup de grâce. As Walt drives away from the scene of the crime, the sequence cuts to his backyard before zooming in on a potted plant labeled Lily of the Valley. It then becomes clear that Walt was the one who poisoned Brock — the young son of Jesse’s girlfriend Andrea — in an effort to turn Jesse against Gus and bring him back to his corner.

7. “Say my name”

Season 5, Episode 7: “Say My Name”

In need of a fresh meth distribution channel after Mike decides to retire, Walt uses his newfound status as the most feared drug kingpin in the Southwest to force Declan and crew to agree to his every demand. By this time, Walt doesn’t even question that his reputation as Heisenberg precedes him. And he’s right not to.

8. The prison killings

Season 5, Episode 8: “Gliding Over All”

Following Mike’s murder and the arrest of Dan Wachsberger— the lawyer tasked with paying off the families of Mike’s nine imprisoned henchmen — Walt is faced with figuring out how to ensure no one rats him out to the DEA. So what does he do? Enlists white supremacist Jack Welker to arrange for his incarcerated gang members to take out 10 men in three different prisons in the span of two minutes. Breaking Bad fans will never hear Nat King Cole’s “Pick Yourself Up” the same way again.

9. “Tread lightly”

Season 5, Episode 9: “Blood Money”

When Hank realizes the truth about Walt that has been in front of him all along, it seems like the jig may finally be up. But after all he’s been through, Walt, unsurprisingly, is unwilling to go down without a fight. Instead of giving in when Hank commands that he bring Skyler and the kids over to his house for safety, Walt sends a chilling warning to his brother-in-law.

10. The final confession

Season 5, Episode 16: “Felina”

After insisting for five full seasons that everything he did, he did for his family, Walt finally confesses that all of his actions were entirely self-motivated. Knowing he’s close to death one way or the other, he is at last able to admit that Heisenberg — rather than Walter White — is his true persona. “I did it for me,” he tells Skyler. “I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really alive.”

The 10 Biggest Turning Points in Walter White's Breaking Bad Transformation (2024)

FAQs

The 10 Biggest Turning Points in Walter White's Breaking Bad Transformation? ›

In a pivotal turning point, Walter embraces his alter ego, Heisenberg, and demonstrates his newfound ruthlessness. He shaves his head, dons a hat, and confronts a group of drug dealers, using a fulminated mercury explosive to assert his dominance.

What is the turning point of Walter White? ›

In a pivotal turning point, Walter embraces his alter ego, Heisenberg, and demonstrates his newfound ruthlessness. He shaves his head, dons a hat, and confronts a group of drug dealers, using a fulminated mercury explosive to assert his dominance.

What is Walter White's character transformation? ›

Throughout the series, Walter White's transformation into Heisenberg is marked by a gradual loss of empathy for others. Initially, he is motivated by a genuine concern for his family's well-being, but as his criminal activities intensify, he becomes desensitized to the suffering he causes.

How does Walter change in Breaking Bad? ›

He's well on his way to badass. Over the course of the series, he's evolved as a businessman, but he's turned into a sociopath in both his personal and professional lives. He's shed basic empathy and has no idea how much his colleagues and wife loathe him."

What caused Walter to change? ›

Frustrated by his dead end job, he actively seeks alternatives for change because he realizes he has to make things happen to better his family's life.

Why did Walter White turn bad? ›

He reveals to Skyler in the end that he became a criminal for himself because it made him feel alive. Walter is an extremely prideful and arrogant man. Nearly everything he does is driven by his massive ego, leading a very smart man to make very stupid decisions.

Why did Walt turn himself in? ›

Saul suggests that in his absence the feds are going to target Skyler and there will be no way for him to get any of his money. He suggests Walt turn himself in to take the heat off his family. Walt says he isn't "through" until he kills Jack and gets his money back.

How does Walter change throughout the play? ›

In the beginning, Walter is solely focused on becoming wealthy, rejecting any connection to his race because he feels like it's the reason he is poor. By the end, Walter embraces his race and the financial situation the family is in, with hopes for a more promising future.

How did Walter White become so powerful? ›

Although Walt and Jesse began as amateur, small-time meth cooks, manufacturing the drug out of an RV in the deserts of New Mexico, and being met with very limited success, Walt and Jesse soon climbed up the drug hierarchy, killing or systematically destroying anyone who impeded them. Walt's drug empire almost ...

Was Walter White going to turn himself in? ›

Long after escaping, Walt contacts the DEA in order to turn himself in, but he sees Gray Matter owners Elliot and Gretchen Schwartz being interviewed on television, which motivates him to avoid the authorities right before they arrive and manipulate the couple into funneling his money into Walt Jr.'s possession.

What was the impact of Walter White? ›

Walter White, leader of the NAACP, had been building the case for federal legislation for most of his adult life. While he did not live to see the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, his work on anti-lynching legislation helped lay the groundwork for both.

How does Walter finally become a man? ›

Walter finally becomes a man when he stands up to Mr. Lindner and refuses the money that Mr. Lindner offers the family not to move in to its dream house in a white neighborhood.

Why did Walter White change his identity? ›

Heisenberg was, at first, just a name White made up when dealing with Tuco. At the time, he was simply trying to protect his own identity. He couldn't just mention his own name, not when he was doing an illegal drug deal with a dangerous drug dealer.

How does Walter change since he lost the money? ›

Answer and Explanation: Walter changes by losing his selfish and arrogant attitude and finding pride in himself to refuse a bribe. He realizes living in the house his mother bought will help his whole family.

What mistake did Walter make? ›

Walt's biggest mistake (beyond not just taking the job Elliot offered him) was not letting Jesse get killed by the two drug dealers after they killed Tomas. If Walt had simply allowed nature to take its course, Jesse dies which removes the biggest anvil around Walt's neck. Walt then never had to get sideways with Gus.

How has Walter changed in the past week? ›

Beneatha and Ruth are busy packing when Ruth tells Beneatha how happy she is with the change in Walter. What are three examples that show Walter has changed in the past week? They go to the movies together, they holds hands, and he dances with her in the living room.

What was Walter White's downfall? ›

It was years of missed opportunities, watching former colleagues and friends surpass him professionally, socially, and financially. It was his poor business decision to buy out of a tech startup for $5,000 while his partner went on to make billions. It was the feeling of apathy he got from his wife, Skylar.

Why did Walter change his mind in the end? ›

Walter changes his mind and calls the man over to accept his buyout, but his family reminds him that they are a proud family, and his father worked too hard for him to accept this. He changes his mind, and the Younger family packs up their things and leaves for the new home.

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