WhileBreaking Badwas on the air, Walter White (Bryan Cranston) had risen as one of pop culture’s most popular antiheroes. Though very much flawed and often making cruel decisions that harm others, seemingly most fans had stood by Walter throughout all five seasons of the show. Some felt empathy for his situation, given his cancer diagnosis, and perhaps many fans felt that Walter’s personal problems made it easier to give him a pass on all of the criminal activity.
Walter’s story came to an end in 2013 with the series finale ofBreaking Bad, though he has since been seen in flashback sequences inEl CaminoandBetter Call Saul. But as each year passes since the end ofBreaking Bad, series creatorVince Gilligancan’t help but feel less fond of Walter White. Speaking about the teacher-turned-drug lord in a new interview with theNew Yorker, Gilligan says he now finds it harder to forgive all of the “destruction” Heisenberg had created when he had an easy way out at the beginning of the series.
“The further away I get from Breaking Bad, the less sympathy I have for Walter. He got thrown a lifeline early on. And, if he had been a better human being, he would’ve swallowed his pride and taken the opportunity to treat his cancer with the money his former friends offered him. He goes out on his own terms, but he leaves a trail of destruction behind him. I focus on that more than I used to.”
Gilligan goes on to add that perhaps the rose-colored glasses are just easier to take off after a certain number of years have passed.
“After a certain number of years, the spell wears off. Like, wait a minute, why was this guy so great? He was really sanctimonious, and he was really full of himself. He had an ego the size of California. And he always saw himself as a victim. He was constantly griping about how the world shortchanged him, how his brilliance was never given its due. When you take all of that into consideration, you wind up saying, ‘WhywasI rooting for this guy?'”
Related:Best Episodes of Breaking Bad, Ranked
Vince Gilligan Never Understood the Disdain for Skyler White
One character who had gotten a lot of flak had been Anna Gunn’s Skyler White. Gilligan says that he has never understood the fan disdain for Skyler, but in retrospect, he thinks that the show was “rigged” against her with the way Walter was positioned as the “hero” of the story. Even so, fans didn’t have as much of a problem with other characters who posed a much bigger threat to Walter, so it remains a “weird thing” to think about for Gilligan.
“Back when the show first aired, Skyler was roundly disliked. I think that always troubled Anna Gunn [who played Skyler]. And I can tell you it always troubled me, because Skyler, the character, did nothing to deserve that. And Anna certainly did nothing to deserve that. She played the part beautifully. I realize in hindsight that the show was rigged, in the sense that the storytelling was solely through Walt’s eyes, even in scenes he wasn’t present for. Even Gus, his archenemy, didn’t suffer the animosity Skyler received. It’s a weird thing. I’m still thinking about it all these years later.”
While Walter White had two appearances in the final season ofBetter Call Saul, the Skyler character never made an appearance, nor was she shown inEl Camino. Walter Jr. (RJ Mitte) has also not been seen since the series finale ofBreaking Bad. However, Skyler’s sister, Marie (Betsy Brandt), appeared in the series finale. There are no plans for any more shows to be made in this universe so chances are we have seen the last of the Whites.
