5 Underrated Breaking Bad Storylines (& 5 Overrated Ones)

Breaking Bad is widely considered to be the best television show of all time, and even if you’ve never seen it, you’d probably confess that it deserves a place in the top 10 at the very least.

It’s one of those shows that we could watch time and time again and never get bored. Alas, instead of singing its praises non-stop, we thought that we’d try and balance that out with some constructive criticism for Vince Gilligan and his many fans. Being overrated or underrated is certainly subjective, but in this particular instance, we’d suspect that most people will tend to agree.

UNDERRATED – The Fly

It was an entire episode dedicated to Walter White and Jesse Pinkman attempting to kill a fly that Walt believed had contaminated the lab. That, in itself, doesn’t sound particularly thrilling, especially when you consider the fact that it was largely filmed in one place due to budget cuts.

The deeper meaning of the episode is what really gets us, though. White is both attempting to hide his own guilt and to open up to Jesse. Then again, there are different theories from fans around the world, which is always fun.

OVERRATED – The Cartel

The Cartel quite clearly had an everlasting impact on Gus, to the point where he felt the need to get his own back on them in a form of beautiful revenge that really helped to enhance his character.

However, while we enjoyed the scene in which they all get poisoned, we’ve never been big fans of the build-up. We understand that you need to set it all up, but the cartel storyline distracted from what every fan was truly invested in: and that was the ongoing chess match between Gus and Walt.

UNDERRATED – Jesse’s Depression

Jesse was quite obviously in a state of depression around halfway through Season 5, to the point where he quite clearly just wanted to disappear off into the darkness in order to start a whole new life for himself.

Alas, his depression also played a fantastic role in his decision to try and take Walt down, which allowed for that magnificent scene in which he nearly burnt the White residence to the ground.

One scene, in particular, that we liked was when he was throwing money around a local neighborhood.

OVERRATED – The Fear Of Heisenberg

We can completely understand that the legend of Heisenberg was a little bit terrifying, but for some reason, even people who knew that it was Walter White seemed to have a genuine fear for their safety whenever they were around the guy.

Yes, we can somewhat understand why, but at the same time, it doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense for Skyler, Jesse, rival gangs and even Hank to be so intimidated. He’s done some awful things along the way in this journey, but the man himself doesn’t really trike fear into us.

UNDERRATED – Escaping To New Hampshire

From being locked in the basement with Saul to arriving in New Hampshire to getting some new supplies to almost turning himself in during the penultimate episode of the series, there was a whole lot to love about Walt’s escapade to New Hampshire.

The scenery alone served as such a direct contrast to what White had been going through in New Mexico, which was always hot and usually sunny. The dynamic really worked for us, and it set the stage perfectly for the inevitable showdown that he was about to undergo.

OVERRATED – Skyler’s Turn To The Dark Side

Skyler White was perceived to be the worst character in the entire series, but we all know that just isn’t true. Then, when she eventually decided to join forces with Walt and launder loads of money, they tried to turn her into something that she wasn’t.

Skyler didn’t come across as a natural bad guy, and while she certainly had her reservations about the business dealings that Walt was making, she didn’t really make it known that she wanted things to change until halfway through Season 5, which didn’t make much sense.

UNDERRATED – Walt’s Ego Grows

From dressing a little bit smarter to his cockiness when buying the car wash to actually buying a brand new car for both himself and his son Walter Jr, there was something really fun and ditsy about his weird pursuit of greatness.

He transformed into a bit of a comedy character at times, but one that had a really serious edge. He attempted to use intimidation to get his way with Skyler, which freed him up for a series of really fun and somewhat risky scenes from the director and writers.

OVERRATED – Hank’s Recovery

Yes, we’re talking about the minerals.

We understand that it’s quickly become a meme over time and is what a lot of people laugh about when they think of Hank & Marie’s relationship, but that just isn’t really the point.

We want Breaking Bad to maintain a degree of seriousness, and that’s also why we don’t really like the running ‘breakfast’ joke with Walt Jr. In short, Hank’s recovery from his injuries wasn’t treated with the kind of care it should’ve been, and it kind of impacted how we viewed him as a character.

UNDERRATED – Mike Vs Walt

There were plenty of battles that Walter White was forced to face over the years, but one of the most underrated ones came when he went toe to toe with Mike. It seemed as if he had finally met his match in just about every category, but in the end, Walt came out on top once again.

It was this murder that really seemed to solidify Walt’s position as one of the biggest bad guys in all of television, elegantly completing his transition that had been ongoing ever since the very first episode.

OVERRATED – Walt’s Fugue State

The fugue state with Walt showing up naked in a supermarket made sense for the purposes of the story, but we aren’t going to pretend like we even remotely enjoyed it – because we didn’t.

The Tuco storyline came and went pretty quickly and with it came the fugue state. It gave us more of Walt’s horrendous ‘fake acting’, and it allowed Skyler’s doubts to creep in even further about what exactly White was thinking about.

We understand it’s a serious issue in the real world, but we just don’t feel like they were able to deal with it well enough.