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"The faster they undergo change, the more violent the explosion."
That's Walter White, a.k.a. Mr. White, talking. He's lecturing a semi-bored-looking room full of students in his day job as a high school chemistry teacher. Explaining some sort of chemical reaction. But he may as well be writing his own autobiography.
In the past five seasons of Breaking Bad, audiences have witnessed the extreme evolution of the character of Walter White from doting husband and father to ruthless drug kingpin. His transformation has not been a slow or subtle one; in the pilot episode alone we see glimpses of the man who will become known as Heisenberg, the steely-eyed, fedora-wearing emperor of the New Mexico meth trade.
And when it comes down to Walter versus the world, he'll stop at nothing to win. Witness The Evolution of Walter White, in GIFs.
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Meet Walter White.
He's just your average Albuquerque resident: he's a husband, a father, and a chemistry teacher at the local high school.
He also works at car wash on the side.
But we're pretty sure he's lost that gig forever. Especially after he insults his boss' out-of-control facial hair.
But Walter's got bigger problems.
He just found out that he has inoperable lung cancer. The best case scenario, with chemo, is that he's got a couple of more years left on this planet.
It's time to make some changes.
Walter has a family to provide for. There's Skyler and Walt Jr., his wife and son, and he's got a daughter on the way. But how can a science whiz make a boatload of cash—and quickly?
Walter's brother-in-law, Hank, gives him an idea.
Well, not intentionally. But Hank is a DEA agent. And while he's talking business about the kind of money drug dealers in the area make, a light goes off in Walter's head.
So Walter goes on a DEA ride-along.
Just to get a close-up look at what a meth-making lab really looks like. In the midst of the bust, Walt sees a familiar face.
His name is Jesse Pinkman.
And he's a criminal, yo. He's also a former student of Walt's, and not a very good one at that. He's young, brash, and completely obnoxious. But Walt also realizes that he's his ticket into the drug-making business.
So Walter and Jesse decide to pair up.
They buy themselves a well-worn RV and set up shop out in the desert, where they won't be disturbed. Walter works his magic and creates some of the purest meth on the market.
But all is not smooth sailing.
Particularly when they hook up with a couple of higher-level drug thugs named Emilio and Krazy 8, who underestimate the lengths Walter will go to keep control of his meth. In the span of just a couple of days, Walter goes from high school teacher to double murderer.
Witness the birth of Heisenberg.
It's the name and alter ego that Walter has assumed for himself, and he's not playing around. Walter plays the role to perfection when he closes his first business deal, making meth for new kingpin-in-town, Tuco.
But Tuco has a tendency to kill his associates.
So it's not really surprising when he kidnaps Walter and Jesse and holds them hostage in the desert, where he takes care of his ailing uncle, Hector "Tio" Salamanca.
Knowing that Tuco has no plans of letting them out of here alive, Walt and Jesse concoct a plan to poison Tuco. And while Tio cannot speak, he can ring a bell to communicate to his nephew that his life is in danger. Unfortunately for Tuco, Walter's got family, too. Including Hank, who has taken time off from the DEA to look for his missing brother-in-law.
His investigation takes a bit of a detour and just so happens to bring Hank to Tuco—and just in time, too. Hank kills Tuco before Walt has to do it (though no one ever even knows that Walt was there).
There's a new distributor in town.
And his name is Heisenberg. At least that's what Hank and the DEA think. With Tuco conveniently out of the picture, Walt and Jesse take over the area's distribution chain. Though Jesse's not the toughest enforcer in terms of collections, a mishap with an ATM machine gets everyone thinking that these two are total badasses. Their actions follow suit.
When one of Walt and Jesse's dealers gets pinched, it's time to call in the big legal guns.
Enter Saul Goodman, favorite lawyer of Albuquerque's underbelly, who comes up with a plan for getting Badger off without him ever having to rat out Walt or Jesse. Walt realizes that Saul could be a useful ally to them (which is fortunate, as it means he also becomes a regular character).
Oh, and about that whole cancer thing?
The expensive treatments that got Walter into the drug business seem to be helping. But for someone who's getting better, he sure seems miserable. And intent on ruining every good thing that comes his way. When Skyler throws a party to celebrate the good news, Walter instead gets drunk and into an argument with Hank.
Walt realizes it's time to go back to real life.
With his health returning, Walt knows it's time to hang up the drug paraphernalia and resume the life he had before all of this: wife, kids, steady-but-not-well-paying job. Maybe this is why he's so cranky?
Saul Goodman introduces him to local chicken franchise owner/meth distributor Gus Fring, who agrees to purchase what remains of Walt and Jesse's product. At the same time he is scheduled to deliver the drugs, Skyler goes into labor. Walter has a choice to make: business or family. He chooses the former.
It should be a happy final payday for both of them.
But Jesse and his girlfriend, Jane, are both addicts. And Walter doesn't want to give Jesse his share of their earnings until he can prove that he's sober.
Walter pays a visit to Jesse, intending to get him some help, only to find him and Jane unconscious. As Jane chokes on her own vomit, Walter just watches. Doing nothing to help.
Walter's double-life is catching up with him.
Under the power of anesthesia, Walter mentions something to Skyler about his multiple cell phones. When she confronts him about what's going on, he admits everything (well, mostly everything). Tired of his lies, she takes the kids to give Walter time to pack up his things and move out. But he's not about to go down without a fight. And even takes his anger out on one really, really big pizza.
Walter claims he wants out, but when Gus builds him a super-lab he cannot resist.
After some unexpected growing pains, Walt and Jesse are back in business, cooking up several hundred pounds of meth each week in their new state-of-the-art digs. What they don't quite yet realize is that being under the employ of Gus also keeps them under his protection. And his thumb.
Jesse wants revenge when his friend is killed by a couple of dealers.
Dealers who are selling the meth that Walt and Jesse are cooking and using kids to sell it. So Jesse concocts a plan to kill them then tries to get Walter to go along with it. Already struggling with the choices he's made and who he has become, Walter refuses. But when he realizes that Jesse is going ahead with the plan anyway, he arrives just in time. If "just in time" means in enough time to run the dealers over with his car then shoot them in the head.
Gus Fring isn't happy.
He wants Walter to give up Jesse's whereabouts, but Walter claims not to know. When Gus brings in a new cook, Gale, to replace Jesse, Walter knows that the only way to get Jesse back into the operation to kill Gale. He insists that Jesse "handle it."
Now Gus Fring really isn't happy.
Gus shows Walter and Jesse exactly who they're fucking with when he slits the throat of his trusty assistant, just because he can. Heisenberg has met his match.
As Walt devises a plan to murder Gus, Gus takes all sorts of measures to keep his eye on his meth-makers—including installing a camera system in the lab.
Don't mess with the danger.
Walter's ego is getting the best of him. When Hank tells him about the death of Gale and his belief that Gale was Heisenberg, Walter dismisses it, suggesting that Gale was possibly copying Heisenberg's work.
Skyler knows this is not a smart move and when she confronts him about it, he tells her exactly who he is: He is the danger. He is the one who knocks.
But maybe Walt's not as indispensable as he thinks.
Particularly after Gus flies Jesse down to Mexico and learns that he can replicate Walt's recipe with almost 100% accuracy...sorta rendering Walt obsolete. Which means it's Gus vs. Walter. And only one can survive.
So Walt decides to grab his loot and leave town, but discovers that Skyler has given away the bulk of it. Ha ha ha.
Walter has still got science on his side.
Which is exactly what allows him to concoct a particularly gruesome ending for the respected businessman. In a nursing home, no less.
But the fallout from the destruction of Gus Fring's empire is far-reaching.
It goes all the way to Germany, the home base of Madrigal, the parent company of Fring's Los Pollos Hermanos fast food chain. And it doesn't take long for Hank and the rest of the DEA to come sniffing around Gus' right-hand enforcer—and Walt's new partner—Mike Ehrmantraut.
With yet another distributor six feet under, it's time to find a new cover.
And Walt has the answer: pest control. Working under the guise of pest control workers, they'll not only have the time and privacy to cook in any and all tented houses, but can carry in their equipment without arising suspicion.
Now Skyler has really had enough.
She has sent the kids to live with Marie and Hank as she fears for their safety. And in one very awkward dinner with Walt and Jesse, reveals details of her affair with her former boss, Ted Beneke (the guy she gave all that money to).
After dinner, Walt tells Jesse that he's not ready to get out of the drug business as it's the only thing he has left.
Walt's livelihood is threatened once again when one of Mike's guys decides to flip.
It's up to Walt to save the day. He needs the name of all of Mike's "employees," who have been confidential up 'til now. Even if it means he needs to shoot Mike (with Mike's own gun) to get them.
It's not until he has mortally wounded the man that Walt realizes he could have gotten that same list of names from Lydia, a Madrigal executive. He does just that, then promptly sets about having each one of them killed.
All is right in Walt's world.
He's heading up his own business and not answering to anyone. His wife and kids are back and living happily under one roof. The White family is back together again, including family game nights and dinners with Hank and Marie. Life is good... right?
Not really. In the last episode to air before the hiatus, Mike discovers that Walt is Heisenberg. Now tune in Sunday at 9 to find out how this grim story will end.