After over a decade of being ridiculed for never having seen Breaking Bad, I finally sat down a few weeks ago to watch what’s often been lauded as one of the greatest TV shows of all time. I had actually watched the first two seasons of Breaking Bad back in 2013, shortly before the critically acclaimed fifth and final season arrived, but I suddenly fell off my binge-watch and, over the next 12 years, never returned to it.

I know – after Breaking Bad’s incredible finale and Better Call Saul’s masterful run, I don’t have an excuse for taking so long to finish the series. Ultimately, I agree that Breaking Bad‘s five seasons amount to one of the best shows I’ve ever watched, which makes my stubbornness of never taking time to watch it earlier more frustrating. Partially, of course, because of the many harsh realities that come with first watching it in 2025 rather than its original run.

7

It Was Impossible To Not Know That Walter White Dies In The End

Though, Walt’s Fate Has Still Been Debated

Unfortunately, waiting so long to watch Breaking Bad meant that the unwritten online spoiler embargo had long expired. For a decade before I finally finished the hit AMC show, I already knew that Breaking Bad ended with Walter White’s death. Walt dying was ultimately expected, but the gravity of the moment and whether Breaking Bad would truly go down that path was already ruined for me.

That said, I managed to avoid learning exactly how Walter White died. Being able to go into the finale blind about how Walt would meet his demise still kept that suspense alive for me throughout Breaking Bad’s ending, as I had no idea it would involve him sacrificing himself to rescue Jesse. Despite knowing Walt would die, I was still satisfied by not knowing the full weight of the circumstances of his death.

Of course, the reverse is also true regarding Jesse Pinkman’s fate. Since I knew about his return in Netflix’s 2019 El Camino movie, Jesse’s survival was spoiled for me over six years ago. Much of the suspense regarding Jesse’s devastating Breaking Bad season 5 story – and especially his captivity toward the very end of the series – was undermined by knowing he would escape it all alive.

6

Several Of Breaking Bad’s Darkest Moments Have Been Diluted By Becoming Memes

Walt Screaming In The Car Doesn’t Hit The Same

Another harsh reality of watching Breaking Bad for the very first time in 2025 is that I’ve already seen some of the show’s most devastating moments countless times. However, they’ve been in the form of memes, which takes away from the emotional weight of seeing the full context of those scenes within the show.

For instance, Walter White screaming to try to stop Hank while stuck in the car in Breaking Bad’s magnum opus “Ozymandias” doesn’t have the same effect when seen hundreds of times in meme-form beforehand. When I hear Walt saying “Someone cooked here,” I’m laughing at the scene rather than feeling the dread it’s meant to inspire.

5

The Hatred For Skyler Was So Overblown That I Kept Expecting Her To Be An Actual Villain

Skyler Didn’t Deserve Such Intense Backlash

Skyler White has often been listed among the most-hated TV characters alongside despicable villains like Game of Thrones’ Joffrey Baratheon and Cersei Lannister. However, while Joffrey and Cersei’s actions make their backlash warranted, the same isn’t true for Skyler – she was just a woman whose husband upended their lives by secretly operating as a major drug kingpin.

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Feeling frustrated with Skyler early on is reasonable, given the show trains us to root for Walt despite the dangerous lies he continues to tell to his family. However, her actions never truly warranted the intense, widespread hatred she’s received since Breaking Bad season 1. Given the cultural response to Skyler, I kept expecting her to finally become a villain, and it never happened.

4

Aaron Paul Should Have Had A Much Bigger Career After Breaking Bad’s Ending

Paul’s Best Follow-Up To The Breaking Bad Franchise Was BoJack Horseman

Returning to Breaking Bad comes with the reminder that Aaron Paul gives a knock-out performance throughout the series, truly coming into his own as an actor and going toe-to-toe with Bryan Cranston by season 3. As such, it’s tough to watch the show today knowing that Paul hasn’t had many other hits since Breaking Bad’s ending.

That isn’t to say, however, that he hasn’t starred in any subsequent masterpieces. His role in Netflix’s animated BoJack Horseman, for instance, provides one of the series’ most complex, compelling characters. However, it isn’t the on-screen smash that would have been expected for Aaron Paul after Breaking Bad.

Paul’s movies in the time since Breaking Bad’s 2013 finale have largely included movies that didn’t become box office hits, such as Exodus: Gods and Kings and Eye in the Sky, or quickly left the cultural landscape after release, such as Need for Speed and Central Intelligence. When Breaking Bad ended, Paul was only 34 years old, so it’s surprising that he didn’t get roped into more franchises or thrillers with larger potential.

3

Giancarlo Esposito Is Fantastic As Gus, But It Exacerbated Him Being Typecast As A Villain

Esposito’s Biggest New Projects Often Cast Him As The Villain

Giancarlo Esposito only stars in three seasons of Breaking Bad, but he makes the most of any second that he’s on-screen. Gus Fring became one of TV’s most iconic villains of all time, and no other Breaking Bad antagonist came close. As if Esposito’s time as Gus Fring couldn’t get any better, he returned in Breaking Bad’s prequel series Better Call Saul to deliver another masterclass performance.

As incredible as Esposito is in both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, it’s difficult not to realize while watching that he’s continued to be typecast as a villain in many of his biggest subsequent roles. The Boys, The Mandalorian, Captain America: Brave New World, Abigail, Okja, and The Gentlemen are all post-Breaking Bad projects that cast Esposito as a significant villain.

However, Esposito’s talent expands far beyond playing the villain, which makes it somewhat disappointing that he’s been cast in that role for so many of his subsequent high-profile movies and TV shows. Of course, it’s understandable that a project would want to jump on the opportunity to bring a performance like that of Gus Fring to the table if Esposito is available.

2

It’s Hard To Believe That AMC Still Hasn’t Found A True Successor To The Breaking Bad Franchise

The Walking Dead Arrived During Breaking Bad’s Run

It’s harsh to look back on the legacy of Breaking Bad today and realize that AMC hasn’t been able to repeat its lightning-in-a-bottle magic. In reality, AMC’s true successor to Breaking Bad was its own prequel, with Better Call Saul also frequently being called superior to the original series. However, there hasn’t been a distinct new AMC show since with the same hold over pop culture.

While The Walking Dead franchise’s spinoffs continue to dominate AMC, that property originally arrived two years into Breaking Bad’s run. Since Breaking Bad’s 2013 ending, the biggest brand-new AMC entries have been series like Preacher, Kevin Can F*** Himself, and Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe shows, though they still don’t mirror the massive legacy of Vince Gilligan’s series.

1

I Really Wish I Had Watched Breaking Bad’s Final Season In Real Time

I Missed Out On Its Cultural Peak

The harshest reality of waiting until 2025 to watch Breaking Bad in full for the very first time is that I never got to experience the series’ cultural dominance at its peak. I didn’t entirely understand the meaning of the Breaking Bad memes that took over the internet, I wasn’t engaged with the original discourse around the finale, and I didn’t get to watch “Ozymandias” in full before seeing it in bits and pieces on the internet for years.

I only have myself to blame for waiting so long to watch Breaking Bad, but I’ll miss the passion with which fans of the show would tell me why I needed to see it as soon as possible. Thankfully, the world is still eager to break down and discuss Breaking Bad content 12 years later, so I didn’t fully miss out on the wave of interest. Now, onto Better Call Saul‘s six seasons.

Breaking Bad

10/10

Release Date

2008 – 2013-00-00

Showrunner

Vince Gilligan

Directors

Vince Gilligan, Michelle Maclaren

Writers

Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Vince Gilligan, George Mastras, Moira Walley-Beckett, Sam Catlin, Thomas Schnauz