After Rewatching Breaking Bad, I Know The Exact Moment Walt's Plan Stopped Being About His Family

Walter “Walt” White (Bryan Cranston) and his last-ditch plan to care for his family are at the heart of Breaking Bad‘s story, although there is a specific scene that marks a shift in the motivations of Cranston’s character. Although he only really played one character in the award-winning show, Cranston quietly had a dual role among the Breaking Bad cast: Walt and Heisenberg. The line between Walt’s two personas becomes increasingly blurred as Breaking Bad goes on, which results in some compelling shades of gray starting to develop.

There are several key moments that define Breaking Bad, but the scene I’m referring to here probably wouldn’t make the list. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not important. It’s the story’s countless twists and turns that have allowed Breaking Bad to remain one of the best shows on Netflix after more than a decade since it ended. Walt is a very different person by the finale, and while this transformation can’t be attributed to any one moment, I’ve spotted when his goal to cook the best meth in town became about something other than his family’s financial security.

Walt Telling A Rival Cook To “Stay Out Of My Territory” Was Heisenberg Coming Back To Stay

Walt stayed in the meth game without a real reason to

In Breaking Bad season 2, episode 10, “Over,” Walt spends the majority of the installment trying to act happy about the positive news regarding his cancer. He busies himself with progressively more involved DIY tasks that can occupy his mind. Convinced his life was almost over, Walt and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) had just been cooking meth for days on end, producing a batch so large that its street value surpassed Walt’s initial target. Walt should have been satisfied with his prognosis being so positive and his criminal career almost over, but his restlessness is clear.

Rather than ignoring the man who would have once been a competitor, Walt slips into his Heisenberg persona and intimidates the stranger and his partner in the parking lot.

One of Walt’s trips to the DIY store brings him into contact with someone who is clearly trying to gather supplies to cook meth. Rather than ignoring the man who would have once been a competitor, Walt slips into his Heisenberg persona and intimidates the stranger and his partner in the parking lot, telling them to “stay out of my territory.” Walt already had all the money he wanted to leave for his family, as well as news that his cancer was in remission. He had no real reason to return to the drug game, but he couldn’t walk away.

The Breaking Bad Pilot’s Darkest Moment Has A Deeper Meaning Than I Ever Realized

Bryan Cranston’s Walter White comes very close to meeting his end in the Breaking Bad pilot, and the brief moment is loaded with hidden meaning.

Walt’s brilliant mind had long gone underutilized by the beginning of the Breaking Bad pilot, with Cranston’s character being hugely overqualified for his job as a high school chemistry teacher. Using his knowledge to be the best in the meth trade was the first time in years that Walt had felt appreciated for his highly-specialized skills, and that appreciation spoke directly to his soul. He certainly began cooking meth with his heart in the right place, but the scene in “Over” is proof that he had pretty much stopped doing it all for his family.

Walt’s Priorities Changed So Gradually In Breaking Bad That I Nearly Didn’t Notice

Heisenberg started to become Walt’s only real identity

If it hadn’t been for the scene at the end of “Over,” it would have been even trickier to realize that Walt was operating so far outside his original parameters. Until that moment, it had seemed that he wanted to hit his self-imposed target and get out of the game. To an extent, this was probably still true. However, “Over” is a solid turning point when it comes to communicating to the audience that Walt’s interest in the Meth scene had relegated his family to a secondary concern.

Walt has, or will soon have, all the money he’ll ever need in “Over”, but he has developed a craving for more than material wealth. Cranston’s character has become immensely proud of the quality of the meth he’s been cooking and the praise he’s received for it, but also treasured the power and influence he and Jesse have gained in the shadows of Albuquerque’s criminal underbelly. It’s easy to see a nervy Walt before “Over” and a more self-assured Heisenberg afterward, but the transition is beautifully slow, and Breaking Bad knows how glacially it plays this change.