Breaking Bad: 10 Most Shameless Things Walter White Has Ever Done
Breaking Bad showcases the downfall of Walter White, and along the way, he does some of the most shameless things ever seen on television.
Walter White is one of the most complex and intriguing characters in the history of television. He is both the protagonist and antagonist at the same time, providing viewers with reasons to both love and hate him due to the actions he takes.
While his reason to get into the business of creating meth might be from a good place, to provide for his family after he is diagnosed with cancer, ultimately, he quickly falls into a dark world and takes on his alter-ego of Heisenberg, becoming one of the most dangerous people around. Throughout that period Walter White does many despicable things, which are incredibly shameful to his character. Within this list, we will be looking at ten of Walt’s most shameful moments.
Getting His Son Drunk
One of Walter White’s most shameful moments comes during a family party when he gets his son, Walter Jr. so drunk that he ends up vomiting into the swimming pool. The moment starts out a nice fatherly moment, allowing his son to join him and his Uncle Hank in his first alcoholic drink, but it quickly unravels.
Trying to compete and prove he is a better role model than Hank, he continues topping up his son’s drink as he goes round for round with his older family members. Despite Hank trying to put a stop to it, Walt continues to push it to the point where his son can’t handle anymore and he vomits, showing he had gone way too far.
Killing Mike
This moment from Breaking Bad’s fifth season is a much more intense shameful decision than the previous, but it certainly is a shameful one. Michael Ehrmantraut is set to get away with his money to try and continue his life as everything starts to crumble around the group, but this is where Walt gets involved.
Unable to have any possible leaks or chances of getting caught himself, Walt hunts him down and ends up killing Mike. It’s a bitter moment as Mike had spent tons of time-saving Walter White from bigger issues, making this a shameful decision.
Forcing Jesse To Kill Gale
While killing Mike was a low moment of Walter White’s existence, at least he had the guts to do the job himself. The same cannot be said for the death of Gale, who is someone who simply aspires to be Walt. He gets wrapped up in the drug world, but deep down he is an incredibly innocent man.
However, as Walt’s situation with Gus intensifies, he needs Gale to be killed and he makes Jesse Pinkman do the deed. It’s a moment that destroys Jesse’s life, as he might be a bad guy, but he is certainly not a murderer. This decision haunts him throughout the rest of the show, and he never recovers from it.
Giving Jesse To Neo-Nazis
The end of Breaking Bad is an incredibly difficult time for Jesse Pinkman as he spends it being tortured by the Neo-Nazi group who force him to cook meth for them to sell. It sees him starved, beaten, and locked in a cage underground, basically living like an animal.
However, it is all Walt’s fault. While he initially demands that they kill Jesse in a quick and painless manner, this doesn’t happen and it is his own doing that Jesse ends up becoming so scarred mentally and physically.
Prison Hit
Speaking of the Neo-Nazis, they are responsible for another of Walter White’s low moments that is very shameful. Knowing he needs to do something with Mike’s guys in prison that he thinks will talk to the cops, he fully embraces his evil side and demands that they all get murdered.
The group make it happen in what is an intense sequence of scenes as 10 men are all killed in different prison hits. It cements him as a true drug kingpin that has embraced his role and will do anything to protect himself, no matter what.
Blowing Up A Nursing Home
It was clear very early on in their relationship that things between Walter White and Gustavo Fring were always going to come to a boiling point. There was only ever room for one top dog in the drug world and in the end that person proved to be Walt.
After a lot of cat and mouse between them both, it was Walt who had the upper hand, utilising Gus’ hatred for Hector to his advantage. While the death was certainly an iconic one and a stroke of genius from Walt, the fact he did it in a nursing home and put so many people in danger was a very shameful moment.
Fighting Skyler
Walt’s relationship with his wife Skyler becomes a very complex one when she learns of his dark secrets, and during one scene it all comes to a head when she reveals he is no longer welcome in the family home. Skyler strikes Walt with a knife, cutting him as a warning to step away.
However, he doesn’t take kindly to that and the pair of them begin grappling and brawling with the sharp kitchen knife at the heart of the brawl. This all ends with their son, Walt Jr. tackling him, taking him out as he stands up for his mother in what is the true end of the family as Walter has to accept his shameful behavior.
Kidnapping His Daughter
Speaking of his family, another incredibly shameful decision that Walter White makes is when he kidnaps his own daughter. It seems there is no low that Walt won’t stoop to, with this being the proof of that as he takes Holly away from Skyler and drives off.
While he clearly never has any intentions of harming her or putting his child in any form of danger, the fact he would even consider this is shameful enough, let alone the fact he actually went through with it. He only wants to be with Holly as she doesn’t hate him, but even she makes it clear she prefers Skyler by asking for her “mumma.”
Poisoning Brock
Walter White does a lot of despicable things throughout Breaking Bad, many of which are shocking to most people. However, most of the time Walt doesn’t bat an eyelid to the things he does, however when he poisons young Brock, that is a moment where even Walt himself questions his actions.
It’s one of the most shameful things he does throughout the show, stooping as low as to harm a child to get what he wants. While he uses the perfect dose to not kill him, things could easily still have gone wrong and it is a truly shocking moment and one of the worst things he does.
Watching Jane Die
Out of everything that Walter White has ever done, watching Jesse Pinkman’s girlfriend, Jane, die is the most shameless. He was responsible for many deaths throughout his life in crime, but this is one he could quite easily have put a stop too if he had wanted.
Not only would it have saved Jane’s life but it would have allowed Jesse to go on and get out of the drug world. Standing and watching Jane choke to death as she overdosed was a horrendous scene to watch and one that saw Walt truly break bad and become a real villain.
