Breaking Bad: 5 Relationships Fans Loved (& 5 They Hated)

Breaking Bad brought us the delicious story of a downtrodden chemistry teacher who, after discovering he has terminal cancer, turns to making meth in an effort to provide for his family before he dies. Except the power gets to Walter White and he turns into Heisenberg, a ruthless drug kingpin who is determined to take over and eliminate any threats in his way.

Throughout the series, there were many relationships between the characters, including romantic and otherwise. Fans cheered for some, while loathing others.

Sometimes they hated the relationship so much they loved it, and some, they loved enough to hope that it never ended. Read on for five relationships from the series fans loved and five they could have done without.

Loved: Walter and Jesse

Kicking it off is the dynamic duo of Walter and Jesse, the chemistry teacher and his aimless former student. Walt brought Jesse in since he was a low-level drug dealer, and he needed Jesse to help distribute his meth. The two ended up working hand-in-hand, if reluctantly.

The dynamic was fascinating to watch, as Walt gave Jesse purpose, even if it was in the dark underbelly of the criminal world. Sure, the relationship eventually went sour, and Jesse found himself way in over his head. But it was the most compelling one to watch of the series.

Hated: Jesse and Jane

Jesse and Jane seemed to be hopelessly in love with one another, but there’s no denying that Jane, his landlord, was a bad influence on him. They eventually got to know one another and entered into a romantic relationship. As a recovering drug addict, however, Jane had clearly not quit using. And soon, the two were injecting themselves and smoking serious drugs, hanging out in their euphoric states as they spiraled downward together.

While it was really sad to watch Jane die as she choked on her own vomit — while Walt looked on and could have saved her — viewers were probably kind of happy to see her go so Jesse could get back to working with Walt.

Loved: Badger and Skinny Pete

Jesse’s friends and drug dealers, Badger and Skinny Pete deserve their own show. The two live together where they play video games, smoke weed, eat Cheetos, and rib on one another. They aren’t the smartest guys, but as they showed in El Camino, they totally looked up to Jesse and were willing to put themselves on the line for him.

They provided some comic relief to the series and were always fun to watch. They really were like an odd couple of the drug and petty theft world, who got way in over their heads when they got wrapped up with Walter and his blue meth.

Hated: Walter and Skyler

Skyler was one of the most despised characters on the series, oddly because of her objections to Walt and what he was doing, but also because of her domineering attitude. Their marriage seemed strained from the beginning, with Skyler clearly wearing the pants and Walter never really standing up for himself nor Skyler ever encouraging him to do so.

Following infidelity, fights, and Walt terrifying Skyler into working with him while she secretly, and sometimes not so secretly, just bided her time waiting for him to die, this was a relationship fans did not like at all.

Loved: Walter and Gus

What fans really loved to watch was the dynamic between these two as they worked “together” while always had their guards up, ready to pounce and take the other down at the drop of a pork pie hat.

It was a beautiful cat-and-mouse game where it was clear that only one of them could survive in the end, yet they continued to try to co-exist as peacefully as possible since they needed one another. That is, until things eventually came to a head. In the end, Walter won by killing Gus in the most epic fashion, using one of his former confidants and now long-time enemy as a human suicide bomb.

Hated: Skyler and Marie

Skyler and Marie had a typical sisterly relationship, which means it often included fighting and unwarranted advice. Marie seemed to always get into her sister’s business while Skyler found herself worrying about her younger sister and her issues with petty theft when she really should have been worrying about her own family.

Sure, Marie was always there for her sister, even taking the children in while Skyler and Walter worked out their marriage issues. But the relationship seemed more invasive than anything else. And Marie’s obsession with the color purple was just…weird. She clearly had some of her own issues to work out, but spent her time digging into her sister’s life instead.

Mike and Jesse: Loved

Mike was like a father figure and mentor to Jesse, providing advice and trying to help the young boy get out of the drug trade while he could, and make something better of his life. Mike had lost his own son and he clearly still had that fatherly instinct to want to see Jesse go on the straight and narrow.

Indeed, in the Netflix follow-up film El Camino, a flashback scene shows Mike having a talk with Jesse where he tells him he’d escape to Alaska if he could. And by the end of the movie, we see that Jesse has taken Mike’s advice and presumably done just that.

Hated: Mike and Walter

Mike was at one point a trusted confidante of Walt’s, but their relationship went south and Walter ended up executing Mike after he insulted him to his face, telling him he was responsible for everything that happened to him. While Mike worked for Walt after his previous boss, Gus Fring, was killed, and the rest of that drug empire went bust, he never really wanted to. And Mike always saw right through Walter and knew what he was and what he had become.

It was great to watch, but we just wished Mike and Walt could have gotten along better and worked together instead of despising each other so much.

Loved: Jesse and Andrea

Andrea seemed to be the best romantic partner for Jesse, giving him a noble purpose as he helped her care for her young son Brock. Also a recovering addict, Andrea knew what Jesse was going through. He helped he buy a new house, and he went ballistic when he discovered that Walter poisoned Brock, feeling as though Brock was like his own son.

The relationship was so strong that Jesse continued to show concern for Brock after all was said and done, and Andrea was killed by Todd. In the room where Jesse was held captive to cook meth for Todd and the Nazis, you can see a photo of Brock and Andrea in the corner. That’s love.

Hated: Walter and Hank

Hank always sort of acted like he was better than Walter, even before the discovery. While Walter seemed to have some compassion for his brother-in-law, he also detested him in other ways.

The relationship became more strained when Hank started to put things together, and viewers hated that Hank might eventually take Walter down, embarrassing him in the process that his own family was responsible for his downfall. Of course that couldn’t happen and Hank was killed before he was able to reveal the truth.