The Evolution of Walter White From Good Guy Punchline to Powerful Door Knocking Heisenberg

The film and television analysis platform ScreenPrism, who offer excellent analysis of film and television, turned their insightful eyes towards Walter White of Breaking Bad. At the beginning of the series, Walter was a mild-mannered insignificant good guy who was the punchline of his brother-in-law‘s jokes. Yet as he exerted his perceived power, he became more fearless due to his cancer diagnosis and incredible talent at chemistry, Walter’s darker side took over more and more until he evolved into the legendary Heisenberg, the one who knocks. In the psychic battle between Walter White and Heisenberg, only one will be remembered, while the other will simply fade away.

Walt is never redeemed in our eyes just die he doesn’t repent or feel the weight of a guilty conscience …He did not make evil seem glamorous or a sexy and mysterious, so by avoiding glamour and forgiveness even in its end, Breaking Bad achieves what it set out to do show the transformation of a supremely insignificant man into a significant but truly evil one. The evil Walt became was like a terrible chemical reaction to the end it could not be stopped it just had to consume everything around it until it burned out on its own.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.