Breaking Bad has invaluable lessons for storytellers, regardless of whether you’re writing fiction, graphic novels, or screenplays. Let’s break down the first episode to understand what makes this masterpiece work.
1. Start with Action
It’s a great idea to start fast in the middle of the action. Breaking Bad opens with wild driving of an RV, drugged-out thugs in the back, and a protagonist wearing a chemical mask while his partner lies unconscious. This scene actually occurs about 85% through the episode chronologically but is shown first for two reasons: it creates mystery about what’s happening, and it starts with an exciting scene that buys time to set up the story.
2. Establish Your Protagonist’s Uniqueness
Early in the episode, we see Walter White teaching chemistry, and it’s immediately clear he’s not your average high school teacher. This is crucial because if he were just average, the entire show wouldn’t work. Smart protagonists (and antagonists) make interesting story twists possible—dumb characters usually make for uninteresting stories. When possible, make your character smarter than average.
3. Build Sympathy Early
One of your primary goals as a writer should be getting readers to feel sympathy for your main character. We see Walter White in a humiliating scene washing his student’s car, and we learn he’s very sick with lung cancer. Once we feel sympathy for Walter, we’re on his side and ready to go on his journey.
4. The Power of Contrast
To make the ending emotionally satisfying, you need to establish the opposite at the beginning. Breaking Bad does this by depicting Walter at his weakest: awkward with guns, wearing geeky sweaters and glasses, essentially an egghead opposite to the swaggering, masculine Hank. He’s even shown struggling with intimacy. This early weakness makes his later transformation more impactful.
5. Plant Seeds for Future Payoffs
When Hank shows off video of his drug bust, Walter asks, “How much money is that?” This brilliant foreshadowing connects to his future empire and massive cash stockpile. It also establishes character motivation—while Walter claims he wants to provide for his family, what he really wants is power, with money as its symbol.
6. Creative Dialogue Solutions
Sometimes, less is more. We don’t hear the doctor tell Walter about his lung cancer diagnosis—we just see the mouth moving and infer what was said. Instead of focusing on the obvious, Walter fixates on a tiny mustard stain, showing his inability to process the devastating news.
7. Raise the Stakes Continuously
A cancer diagnosis alone isn’t enough—the story piles on complications: mounting bills, a pregnant wife, and a son with cerebral palsy. Experienced writers know you can always make things worse to raise the stakes and increase the challenge for your character.
8. Use Lies to Create Tension
When Skyler asks Walter about his day after his diagnosis, he simply says “fine.” Lying creates tension in two ways: we anticipate the eventual exposure of the lie, and it rings psychologically true—it’s often difficult to reveal devastating news.
9. Show Character Change Through Action
Walter’s transformation begins with small rebellions: blowing up at his car wash boss, standing up to bullies threatening his son. These changes surprise those around him, particularly Skyler, showing his evolution from meek teacher to something more dangerous.
10. Include Symbolic Moments
The show pauses for a quiet moment of Walter lighting matches and throwing them into a pool—a perfect symbol of life’s fleeting nature and his shortened future. Such symbolic moments also provide a necessary break from the episode’s rapid pacing.
11. Drive the Story Through Decisions
Walter doesn’t just dream about cooking meth—he takes concrete steps: going on a ride-along with Hank, showing interest in the meth lab details. This represents his turn from mild-mannered teacher toward future drug kingpin.
12. Combine Story Elements Efficiently
The SWAT raid scene accomplishes two goals at once: showing dramatic action and introducing Jesse Pinkman. Single scenes doing multiple jobs make for efficient storytelling.
13. Balance Serious with Humor
Even in serious drama, include moments of humor. Walter standing in his underwear in the desert provides comic relief and contrasts with the heavy themes of cancer and death, giving viewers a needed breather.
14. Create Memorable Villain Introductions
When introducing the villain Crazy Eight, instead of the cliché of kicking a puppy, we see him training a dog to attack humans—a fresh take on establishing a character’s brutality.
15. Use Contrast for Impact
The episode brings Walter to both his highest point (outsmarting the drug dealers with chemistry) and his lowest (attempting suicide in the desert in his underwear). This contrast makes both moments more powerful—the highs aren’t as high if the lows aren’t sufficiently low.
16. Show the Cost
Never let your characters emerge unscathed. The episode ends with Walter puking and Jesse sporting a black eye, showing the physical toll of their actions. These visible costs make their accomplishments feel earned.
The episode concludes with Skyler’s famous line “Is that you?”—indicating not just Walter’s renewed virility but his transformation into someone his wife doesn’t recognize. This masterful pilot episode serves as a microcosm for Walter’s larger transformation throughout the series, demonstrating how to craft compelling character change within a single episode while setting up a larger narrative arc.
