BREAKING BAD: PLOT SUMMARIES WIP As of 3/23/10
- Copied over all summaries.
Synopsis edit
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (March 2010) |
Season one edit
Walter White, a chemistry teacher with a pregnant wife, Skyler, and a son with cerebral palsy, is diagnosed with stage-three terminal lung cancer. Making only $43,700 and forced to work at a car wash part time, Walt gets desperate. Determined to develop a sufficient inheritance for his family before his death, Walter enters the illegal drug trade using his chemistry knowledge to cook remarkably potent methamphetamine (crystal meth) with Jesse Pinkman, a former student who has previously cooked and dealt crystal meth. Operating out of a recreational vehicle in the desert, the two defend themselves from two local drug dealers, formerly Jesse's distributors, who accuse Walter of being a DEA agent. At gunpoint, Walter bargains his and Jesse's life for the recipe to his crystal meth and poisons them with phosphine gas[1] during the production process, leaving the two dealers to suffocate in the RV, before driving away with an injured Jesse in tow.
Walter and Jesse discover that one of the dealers is still alive and decide to restrain him in Jesse's basement. After a coin flip, Jesse is tasked with disposing of the dead dealer's body, while Walter must deal with killing the other, a prospect that sickens him. Jesse dissolves the dead body in a bathtub of hydrofluoric acid, but the acid eats through the tub and the floor beneath it, dumping the remaining semi-dissolved body into the hall below. Meanwhile, Walter has begun providing food and a latrine to his prisoner, Krazy-8, whom he also confides in, giving him time in attempting to find an excuse to leave him alive. Due to his illness, Walter passes out briefly while delivering food in one such instance, breaking a plate. Awakening later, Walter picks up the broken plate and, after a "heart-to-heart" with Krazy-8, goes to retrieve the key to set him free. However, while upstairs, Walt has discovered that there is a large sharp piece of the plate missing. Realizing that Krazy-8 intends to kill him the second he sets him free, Walter decides that he has no choice but to kill the dealer. Following the disposal of the body, Walter severs ties with Jesse and the drug trade.
Meanwhile, Walter's brother-in-law Hank, who actually is a DEA agent deduces that there is a new drug producer in the region, following a trail of evidence left at Walter's cook site. It is also revealed that Walter's sister-in-law, Marie, is an occasional shoplifter. Later, Walter reveals to his family, Marie, and Hank, that he has cancer. They implore him to visit specialist doctors and undergo chemotherapy. While Walter is adamant at first to decide his own fate, to die honorably instead of suffering the indignities of chemotherapy side-effects, Walter finally agrees to treatment. To divert suspicion about his money from meth sales, he pretends to accept financial assistance from Gretchen to explain how he paid for the chemotherapy. Gretchen was his former colleague and business partner in graduate school together. They founded a company called Gray Matter, now an extremely lucrative business. Through a series of flashbacks, a present day encounter at a birthday party, and a phone conversation with his friend's wife, the viewer can surmise that Walter "lost the girl" to his business partner, and most likely walked out on the friendship, the failed relationship, and the business—leaving him to flounder as a high school chemistry teacher. Walter later decides to pay for his chemo by rebuilding his meth business with Jesse, enabling him to retain his pride. Jesse, unable to replicate Walter's recipe, accepts Walter's partnership and agrees to their clearly defined roles: Jesse as the salesman and Walter as the chemist. Jesse develops a newfound respect for Walter due to the lung cancer and understands his goals of helping his family after his death.
Dissatisfied with the insufficient profit that Jesse is bringing in solely through lowly street deals, Walter sends Jesse to negotiate with Tuco, who has taken over local drug distribution—and is also, unbeknownst to Walt, a violent psychopath. During their first meeting, Tuco refuses to pay up front for the product and savagely beats Jesse when he attempts to end the deal. With Jesse in the hospital, Walt, under the pseudonym of "Heisenberg", confronts Tuco with a demand for an up-front payment. As Tuco prepares to assault him, Walt detonates a small amount of mercury(II) fulminate, creating an explosion that blows out the top floor of the hideout and intimidates Tuco into surrendering payment with a promise for future business. Jesse recovers from his wounds and the two resume cooking meth, this time circumventing the restrictions on over-the-counter pseudoephedrine products by stealing a large drum of methylamine from a chemical warehouse and using an alternate method of synthesis. Now able to produce four times as much crystal meth as before, the two begin steady business with an increasingly psychopathic Tuco.
Season two edit
After killing one of his deputies, Tuco kidnaps Walter and Jesse, planning to take them to a superlab in Mexico after the DEA raids his operation in Albuquerque. The two manage to incapacitate Tuco and escape. Hank, in his search for the missing Walt, comes across a wounded Tuco. A shootout occurs resulting in Hank killing Tuco. Walter engineers a return home claiming to have been in a fugue state, but this excuse has numerous holes and creates an uneasy distrust in his relationship with Skyler. The DEA seizes Jesse's "drug" money, putting a strain on his partnership with Walter after he demands half of Walter's meth profit to save him from homelessness.
Jesse rents a new place and becomes romantically involved with his landlord, Jane, a recovering drug addict. With Tuco dead, Walter and Jesse decide to move their business into new territory, but more problems arise as their enterprise expands. One of their dealers, Skinny Pete, is mugged, so Jesse is forced to confront the perpetrators. One of the addicts is killed by his girlfriend, but Jesse receives the credit, earning him fear and respect and further solidifying "Heisenberg" in the area. Another dealer, Badger, is arrested by the Albuquerque police, forcing Walter to deal with Saul Goodman (played by Bob Odenkirk), a crooked lawyer who offers a solution to keep Badger from snitching while also keeping him alive. Walter and Jesse attempt to intimidate Saul, but Saul makes a deal with Walter for a cut of the meth profit in return for being Walter and Jesse's legal counsel and advisor in their drug operation, further eroding their income.
Considered a hero for killing Tuco, Hank is promoted and sent to El Paso. In private, he suffers panic attacks due to the unexpected shootout with Tuco. El Paso unsettles Hank after he witnessed the severed head of a cartel snitch attached to the back of a tortoise. An IED also killed 1 and severely injured 3 fellow DEA officers. He is immediately sent back to Albuquerque by his superiors. Gretchen, Walter's former lover and executive at Gray Matter, discovers Walter has been lying to his family about the money for his cancer treatment. She is horrified when an angry and bitter Walt blames her and her husband, Elliott, for profiting off his research, although she doesn't disclose Walter's secret for his family's sake. Skyler goes back to work for Ted Beneke, her former boss who apparently groped her at a holiday party when drunk, and caused her to quit her bookkeeper job. She increasingly relies on Ted for emotional support due to Walter's constant absence and strange behavior.
Walter believes his cancer has gotten worse after viewing the latest PET/CT scan of his lungs. With only $16,000 remaining of the meth money after the numerous setbacks, he and Jesse spend several days in the desert cooking 38 pounds of meth to sell off before Walter dies. At the doctor's office, Walter discovers his cancer has not spread and his tumor actually shrunk by 80% and what he thought was growth was actually inflammation. Walt plans to end the meth operation once the 38 pounds are sold off, but finds himself bored with the return to his mundane life, finding pleasure only when he is distracted or dealing with dangerous situations.
When one of Walter and Jesse's dealers, Combo, is killed by rival dealers, Jesse is sent spiraling into a drug addiction that also drags Jane out of her sobriety. With their remaining dealers backing out, Walter and Jesse turn to Saul for help. Saul uses his connections to introduce them to Gus, a discreet, cautious, yet successful drug distributor. Despite never having seen or met Gus, Saul is able to arrange a meeting at a local fast food restaurant. Unbeknownst to Walter, Jesse, or Saul, Gus owns and manages a number of fast food restaurants and has purposely scheduled the meeting at one of his own restaurants in order to observe Walter and Jesse. Jesse arrives for the meeting late and high on drugs and leaves the restaurant after briefly arguing with Walter. Having seen this, Gus deems them unreliable and chooses not to approach Walter, who initially assumes that Gus has stood them up. Walter eventually deduces that the owner of the restaurant was in fact the man they were to meet, and later approaches him for a second chance. Gus reluctantly offers to buy Walter's product for 1.2 million dollars and offers him only a short time frame to deliver it. Walter attempts to contact Jesse to complete the exchange, but he and Jane are incapacitated after an injection of heroin. Walter is able to revive Jesse for just long enough to get him to tell Walter where he has hidden the product. Walter is forced to carry out the trade himself just as Skyler goes into labor. He manages to complete the transaction at the cost of missing the birth of his daughter.
Walter loses trust in Jesse and promises to give him his share of the payout only if he agrees to get sober. Upon learning of the money and Jesse's relationship with Walter, Jane concocts a plan to blackmail Walter and convinces a reluctant Jesse to go along. Jane calls Walter and threatens to turn him in to the authorities if he doesn't give Jesse his share of the money. Walter reluctantly complies and the two agree to go their separate ways, but Walter feels obligated to help Jesse. Coincidentally, he meets Jane's father Donald in a local bar. Unaware of their mutual acquaintances, the two men share perspectives on the challenges of raising children, a subject Walter raises by describing his troubled "nephew". He returns to Jesse, only to discover that he and Jane have taken heroin again. While attempting to wake up Jesse, he intentionally allows Jane to asphyxiate on her own vomit.[2] Jesse believes he is responsible for Jane's death and goes into a depression. Walter attempts to help Jesse by taking him to a drug rehabilitation clinic. Meanwhile, Gus discovers that Hank is Walter's brother-in-law and that Walter has cancer.
As Walter undergoes anesthesia for his lung cancer surgery, he accidentally confirms to Skyler the existence of his secret second cell phone. This prompts her to leave him several weeks later, after she systematically investigates and uncovers his lies. Walter offers to explain everything to Skyler, but she responds that she is too afraid to know the truth. After Skyler leaves, Walter sees an explosion in the skies above his home. A grieving Donald, an air traffic controller, has directed two airplanes into each other in the sky above Albuquerque. In an image foreshadowed throughout the season, a charred pink teddy bear lands in the Whites' pool and floats there until it is collected as evidence by NTSB agents.
Season three edit
A procession of Mexican pilgrims are making their way in a strange prostrated fashion towards what turns out to be a macabre shrine. They are joined by two well dressed young Mexican men, who arrive driving an expensive Mercedes. When the two men arrive at the Shrine, they make an offerings and hang a drawing of Heisenberg on the wall. Walter is a bit despondent about the crash as the news realizes (as a background event) the air traffic controller is Jane's father. Jesse seems to be doing better in rehab. Skyler consults a lawyer in regard to divorce proceedings. The Lawyer advises her to make herself aware of all of her husband's assets. Walt Junior is upset about his parent's impending divorce, while Gus attempts to summon Walter for a meeting between himself and Walter, Walter delays.
Hank helps Walter move out of their house and questions the weight a duffel bag's weight, Walter reveals a half million is in the bag, Hank laughs it off. The two young Mexicans take clothes from a poor Mexican family and leave them the keys to their car. Skyler meets Walt in his motel room and serves him the divorce paper. She accuses him of being a drug dealer involved with Jesse, dealing marijuana, Walter reveals he cooks meth and she leaves in disgust, but not before trying to cut a deal to not speak of his involvement if he would grant her a divorce. Walt picks up Jesse from rehab, Jesse reveals he blames himself for Jane's death, Walter tries to assure him otherwise. Walter meets with Gus and is offered "3 million for 3 months of his time". He turns it down, saying he will focus on repairing his family. The two young Mexicans arrive in Texas with other illegal immigrants, concealed in the back of a truck. Upon arriving just over the border, in the US, they proceed to slaughter the other illegals and execute the Texan driver, they then set ablaze the Truck and proceed into Texas.
- ^ Kemsley, Jyllian (March 3, 2008). "Breaking Bad: novel TV show features chemist making crystal meth". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved January 17, 2010.
- ^ Inside Breaking Bad "ABQ".