About

Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad is an American neo-Western crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. The show aired on AMC from January 20, 2008, to September 29, 2013, consisting of five seasons for a total of 62 episodes. It was set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and tells the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underemployed and dispirited high school chemistry teacher who is struggling with a recent diagnosis of stage-three lung cancer. White turns to a life of crime, partnering with his former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), by producing and distributing crystallized methamphetamine to secure his family's financial future before he dies, while navigating the dangers of the criminal underworld. The title is a Southern colloquialism meaning to turn to a life of crime.Gilligan characterized the series as showing Walter's transformation from a soft-spoken Mr. Chips into Scarface.

Among the show's co-stars are Anna Gunn and RJ Mitte as Walter's wife Skyler and son Walter, Jr., and Betsy Brandt and Dean Norris as Skyler's sister Marie Schrader and her husband Hank, a DEA agent. Others include Bob Odenkirk as White's and Pinkman's sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman, Jonathan Banks as private investigator and fixer Mike Ehrmantraut, and Giancarlo Esposito as drug kingpin Gus Fring. The final season introduces Jesse Plemons as the criminally ambitious Todd Alquist, and Laura Fraser as Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, a greedy business executive secretly managing Walter's global meth sales for her company.

Plot

Season 1

Walter, diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, conspires with Jesse to cook methamphetamine ("meth") as a way to pay for his treatment and provide financial security for his family. Jesse secures a recreational vehicle to cook in, while Walter devises a production route using unregulated chemicals, creating a highly pure product tinted blue. After a run-in with the Mexican drug cartel, Walter adopts the name "Heisenberg", with his "blue sky" meth his signature product. Hank and the DEA become aware of this new figure in the drug trade and begin their investigation.

Season 2

classroom Jesse's dealers become unsafe, and Walter hires a corrupt lawyer Saul to connect them to a high-profile drug dealer Gus as a buyer for their latest batch. Jesse dates his apartment manager Jane, and she relapses on heroin; Jesse becomes unreliable. Walter refuses to pay him his half of the sale to Gus, but Jane blackmails Walter. Walter returns to Jesse to apologize, but allows an unconscious Jane to choke on her own vomit. With Jesse in rehab, Walter seems content until he witnesses a midair collision of two planes, a result of Jane's father, an air-traffic controller, becoming distraught over her death while on the job.

Season 3

Gus offers Walter a job cooking meth at a hidden lab. Walter demands Jesse to be his assistant rather than Gus' choice of Gale. Skyler learns of Walter's meth cooking and demands a divorce. Hank's investigation leads him to Jesse, but he finds no evidence and assaults Jesse, forcing him into a short leave. Hank is forewarned about an attack from two assassins, and kills them but he becomes paralyzed in the aftermath. Jesse's behavior becomes erratic, and Gus replaces him with Gale. Later, Walter fears Gus will kill him and Jesse once Gale learns enough about their methods, and instructs Jesse to kill Gale.

Season 4

classroom Gus tightens security at the lab after Gale's death. Gus and Mike work to drive a wedge between Walter and Jesse, seeking to coerce Jesse to be their solitary cook by capturing Walter while at the same time eliminating the Mexican cartel. Skyler accepts Walter's meth cooking, and works with Saul to launder his earnings. Hank, while recovering, tracks Gale's death to Gus and the drug trade. Gus releases Walter and plans to kill Hank. Walter tricks Jesse into turning against Gus, and convinces Hector to detonate a pipe bomb in the same room as Gus, killing them both.

Season 5

After the death of Gus, Walter, Jesse, and Mike start a new meth business. When their accomplice Todd kills a child witness during their theft of methylamine, Jesse and Mike sell their share to Declan. Walter produces meth for Declan, and Gus' former associate Lydia starts distribution in Europe, which is so successful that Walter earns US$80 million, which he buries on the Tohajiilee Indian Reservation. Hank attempts to prove Walter is Heisenberg. Walter kills Mike when he demands his share of the money and hires Jack's gang to kill Mike's associates and Jesse. The gang turns on Walter, kills Hank, captures Jesse, and takes most of Walter's money. Walter uses the remainder to escape to New Hampshire. Walter intends to surrender, but changes course after Elliott and Gretchen minimize his involvement in starting Gray Matter. He leaves his money in a trust which Elliott and Gretchen would administer for his children. He confesses to Skyler that he dealt drugs because he liked it. At Jack's compound, Walter kills Jack and the rest of his gang with a remote controlled machine gun and frees the imprisoned Jesse, who kills Todd. Wounded in the aftermath, he asks Jesse to kill him, but Jesse refuses and departs. Walter reminisces in Jack's meth lab and eventually dies.

Awards

Breaking Bad Emmy

It was nominated for a variety of different awards, including 58 Primetime Emmy Awards (16 wins), 27 Saturn Awards (12 wins), 20 Writers Guild of America Awards (6 wins), 16 Television Critics Association Awards (4 wins), 15 Satellite Awards (8 wins), 13 Critics' Choice Television Awards(6 wins), 11 Screen Actors Guild Awards (3 wins), 7 Golden Globe Awards (2 wins), 4 Directors Guild of America Awards (2 wins), and 5 Producers Guild of America Awards (2 wins). Amongst the wins for the series are 3 Saturn Awards for Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series, 3 Satellite Awards for Best Television Series – Drama, and 2 Peabody Awards.

Several different Breaking Bad actors have received acting award nominations. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, and Anna Gunn are the only actors to win Primetime Emmy Awards, with Cranston winning three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. "Face Off" and "Ozymandias" are both the most nominated single episodes of the series, receiving nominations for seven different awards. The series premiere, "Pilot", received six nominations, winning four, including two Primetime Emmy Awards. "No Más" and "ABQ" are the tied third most nominated episodes, with four. Breaking Bad was nominated for 262 awards and won 110.