Breaking Bad fans were constantly coming up with theories while the show was on the air about where the story was headed, and one of the most infamous of these theories was incredibly wild but actually nearly happened. Creator and showrunner Vince Gilligan has spoken about the possibility in question and why he never went ahead with the tempting storyline.
The unused twist would’ve involved one of the leaders of the Breaking Bad cast, Bryan Cranston. The actor played Walter “Walt” White in every season of Breaking Bad as the character transitioned from a desperate protagonist into an inarguable villain. The project went on to become one of the best shows of all time, but alternate writing choices could have affected that.
Breaking Bad’s Showrunner Explained Why Walt Never Tried His Blue Meth
Bryan Cranston’s character only ever cooked the drug
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly in 2018, Vince Gilligan discussed an idea he had for Walt in Breaking Bad that never made it to the screen. The show’s creator toyed with an even more self-destructive path for Cranston’s character that would have seen him trying the meth that made him so notorious.
“The other thing we talked about was: Should Walter White ever try his own product?” says the creator. “He’s so proud of the product. What would happen if he tried it? Would he like it? Would he get hooked on it?”
– Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad creator.
Obviously, the writers opted not to include this subplot for Walt. The option was explored, but Gilligan decided that Walt’s personality meant he was highly unlikely to experiment with meth use and that including such a twist would feel forced and inauthentic. I agree with Gilligan: it would have been far too strange for Walt to use meth.
The Breaking Bad showrunner went on to say that the research he undertook when writing the show resulted in him discovering that cooks got just as addicted to the process of making the drug as they were to the substance itself. So, it stands to reason that Walt experienced something adjacent to meth addiction by cooking it instead.
Walt was also being paid a huge amount of money to put his highly specialized knowledge to use. So, making meth in his various labs probably felt like vindication after being bought out of Gray Matter for relative pennies compared to what his former partners would go on to make.
The risk of trying his product meant Walt could have lost everything he’d built, which I doubt he saw as a worthwhile trade-off. Although the context in which his talents were being celebrated was very far from ideal, cooking meth was the closest Walt had ever come to living his dream of being a successful, full-time scientist rather than a high school chemistry teacher.
There’s Another Obvious Reason Why Walt Never Did Meth In Breaking Bad
Walt with a meth habit could have resulted in a far shorter version of the story
Walt’s original intention was to make his fortune in the meth business before his cancer killed him, and he wanted to accomplish that without his family ever finding out about his illicit activities. He managed to keep his two worlds separate for an impressive amount of time, but the truth finally came out as he moved deeper into the criminal underworld.
If Walt had started to struggle with meth addiction after indulging his curiosity regarding what the drug felt like, his secret would likely have come out far sooner than it did. As well as trying to conceal several other dark truths about his life throughout Breaking Bad, he’d also be attempting to stop those close to him from discovering his drug problem.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Breaking Bad
10/10
- Release Date
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2008 – 2013-00-00
- Showrunner
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Vince Gilligan
