Breaking Bad is a television drama series created by Vince Gilligan. The show follows the life of Walter White, a chemistry teacher who has been recently diagnosed with stage-three lung cancer. With debt from his medical bills piling up, Walter looks for a way to secure his family's financial future after he is gone.
Walter teams up with his former student, Jesse Pinkman, and begins cooking meth to make money. The enterprise is wildly successful for Walt, making him hungry for power and much more. As Walt dives deeper into the drug world, he makes powerful enemies. The award-winning series is rife with many shocking twists that keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
10 Walt Watches Jesse's Girlfriend Die
After Jesse is kicked out by his parents, he rents an apartment next to a woman named Jane. The two quickly become an item and start using drugs together. Jesse's relationship with Jane causes trouble for him, and it interferes with his partnership with Walt.
Hoping to reconcile with Jesse, Walt visits his apartment to find him and Jane asleep. Jane starts asphyxiating on her vomit and Walt lets her die, as he knows her death will free Jesse and allow him to get him back under control. Jane's death has a profound impact on Jesse and Jane's father, causing a domino effect of events.
9 Gus Is Killed In A Murder-Suicide Bombing
One of the more shocking moments of the series is Gustav Fring's surprising death. Walt and Gus have a business arrangement, where Walt and Jesse cook for Gus, and he distributes it. The relationship becomes strained, however, and Walt decides he wants to get rid of Gus before Gus gets rid of Walt.
Gus is an intimidating and clever figure, always one step ahead of Walt. When Walt discovers he can exploit Gus's hate for Hector Salamanca, he uses Hector to kill Gus. After the bomb explodes, Gus walks out of the room seemingly unharmed. However, when the camera pans to Gus's right side, viewers see that half his face is gone.
8 Ted Has An Unfortunate Slip & Fall
Ted Beneke is Skyler's boss who ends up in hot water with the IRS for tax fraud. Wanting to help Ted out, Skyler uses Saul Goodman to launder money for Ted, hoping he'll cut a check to the IRS and clear things up.
However, Ted stupidly starts spending the money. When two of Saul's men show up to try to get Ted to write the IRS check, he tries to run, but slips and falls. The accident results in Ted suffering a severe neck injury and ending up paralyzed.
7 Walt Threatens Gretchen & Elliot With Lasers
After Elliot and Gretchen openly discredit Walt on television, he reemerges from hiding to pay the two a visit. Walt tells his former business partner that he has hired two hitmen to watch Elliot and Gretchen, to make sure they comply with his orders.
Walt wants Elliot and Gretchen to ensure his children receive what's left of his drug money, via a trust fund from their company Gray Matters Technologies. The two are understandably shaken up, but the twist comes when the two hitmen are revealed to be just Badger and Skinny Pete with laser pointers.
6 Walt Kills Mike For No Real Reason At All
Walt meets Mike through Gus. Mike is Gus's cleaner, so to speak, as he takes care of messes that might interfere with Gus's business. Mike and Walt never really get along, and it becomes more obvious after Walt kills Gus.
Mike quits working for Walt, hoping to take his money and leave it for his granddaughter. Ironically, Mike works to make money for his family, which is also the reason Walt got into the drug business. Though by this point in the series, Walt had lost sight of his reasoning and any shred of morality. He kills Mike for really no reason at all, in what amounts to one of the saddest death scenes of the series.
5 Hank & Gomez Are Disposed Of In The Desert
After realizing how truly low Walter had stooped, Jesse starts working with Hank and Gomez to bring Walter down. The deal leads them to the desert and a shootout ensues between Hank and his partner, and a gang of white supremacists hired by Walt.
Gomez is killed during the shootout, and Walter asks that Hank's life be spared. However, Hank is shot and both he and Gomez are dumped in an unmarked grave in the desert. Both DEA agents' deaths come as a shock, especially Hank's.
4 Walt Poisons Brock
In an attempt to get Jesse on board with killing Gus, Walt does the unthinkable. Proving that he has fully descended into darkness, Walt poisons Brock to manipulate Jesse.
Although Jesse initially believes that Walt poisoned Brock, Walt convinces him that Gus is the mastermind behind the whole thing. It's a sad moment for Jesse, who clearly believes Walt's story, and a shocking moment for fans when it is revealed that Walt actually did poison a child.
3 Jesse Is Punished For Trying To Escape
Jesse is taken prisoner and forced into being a meth slave for the white supremacist gang. Jesse tries to escape his captivity but is caught. He tells the white supremacists to just kill him because he doesn't want to cook meth anymore.
Instead of complying with his wishes, they take him to Andrea's house. Jesse has to watch on—unable to scream because he is gagged—as Todd kills Andrea on her front porch. The gang reminds Jesse she has a son, leaving him no choice but to submit and continue to cook for them.
2 Jesse Kills Gale On Walt's Orders
As Gus prepares for a future without Walt, he talks to Gale about his role in his meth empire. Walt devises a plan to get rid of Gale so that he will remain the sole meth cook. Originally, Walt was supposed to kill Gale, but when the plan goes south, he instructs Jesse to do it.
Although Jesse is involved with Walt, he is not as ruthless as he is. Regardless, Jesse goes to Gale's apartment and points a gun at him. It is clear that Jesse does not want to kill him, as he struggles while Gale begs for his life. The season ends with a single shot being fired, but fans learn in the next season Jesse did actually kill Gale.
1 Gus Sends A Message With A Box Cutter
After Jesse kills Gale, Victor convinces him to return to the meth lab. Mike is holding Walt hostage, and he and Jesse are left questioning their fate. Victor can serve as a cooking replacement for Gale, which would allow Gus to dispose of Jesse and Walt.
As Walt essentially begs for his life, Gus looks on coldly, not saying a word. He suddenly slits Victor's throat with a box cutter as a warning to Walt. The scene was shocking not only to viewers but to the actors involved, as they had no idea what was about to happen.