Walter White: Hero or Villain?

The finale of Breaking Bad is upon us, and as excitement and anticipation swells around our feet with bewilderment of what a masked Bryan Cranston will do next, now is as good a time as any to wonder how the series became so popular, and almost iconic in modern pop culture.

At first, Breaking Bad seems like a concept that could easily fly over our collective heads. A cancer-riddled chemistry teacher who has to find alternative ways to make money? If it were set in the UK, the problem would have been solved with the NHS and we wouldn’t have been treated to the wonderful adventures of Walter White, but without Vince Gilligan’s Pilot episode, that demanded and deserved all the attention it got, few would care about the show that is shrouded in Emmy glory.

Photo courtesy of Flickr

As Cranston said in his 2008 Emmy speech, in thanking AMC and Sony for the giving the opportunity to put the ‘remarkable, challenging, wonderful, odd mix’ on air to the world, people clearly knew that such a concept was indeed a risk. And my opinion on why this risk has paid off would be the re-appearance of the anti-hero onto television screens, something which we haven’t seen in a long time.

What makes Cranston’s character an anti-hero rather than an outright villain? Well, Walter White is far too human and all too recognisable, showing the audience both sides of themselves to prevent the stark label of ’evil’ being placed upon them, hence the common comparisons between himself and Tony Soprano.  We watch his journey, or free fall from doormat Chemistry teacher to no-nonsense meth kingpin. Compare the first and latest episodes, going from a struggling, ill old guy cramming in two jobs to make ends meet for his family, something which is entirely relatable to a substantial amount of the country, and now the cold-blooded murderer, going out of his way to build a drug empire for reasons only known to himself. You can begin to understand why so many people have become immersed in this show.

Gilligan is also in the position of using the age-old trick of making us watch moral table-tennis, which gets us desperately standing up for Walt in the face of overwhelming odds, consisting of the  police, other drug lords, and even his own family who have come to hate him as we should in an ideal world. Whenever the Heisenberg character lets someone die in their sleep, orders the cold murder of a helpless nerd, or even inadvertently causes a mid-air plane crash, old relatable Walt reminds us why he ran over those two gangsters, or why he blew up an old folk’s home, to save those close to him. Vince Gilligan has the fan base often divided, in cries of, ‘He’s killed hundreds, of course he’s evil!’ and, ‘He’s doing it for his family, leave him alone!’, something which keeps the two sides glued to the Albuquerque drug business, all while raising attention for those who haven’t delved into the show, which is almost as addictive as drugs at its core.

Image courtesy of Flickr (again)

But now, it’s clear that the tables are stacked against the bald hero, with no-one to run to, and the looming idea that he has become as corrupt and twisted as the world which is chasing him down. But despite this, there are always undertones of good and redemption. Take the toxic rant he has at Skyler, filled with hate and bottled up emotion, as horrible as it is, there’s always the idea that Walt knew he was being listened to by the government, and was providing some legal cover for his wife and family. And then there is his vain attempt to send money to his family, showing that despite all he’s done, and all his family has done to him, he still wants to provide for them in any way he can.

Regardless, we all know that the former chemistry teacher could never integrate back into to normal society, especially with his past and of course, the majority of the American government chasing him. He’s not the kind of guy to quietly retreat from his past and scurry around in the shadows of his former self. It’s likely he will go down in blaze, as has been hinted at with M60 machine gun in the boot of his car, but a blaze of glory?

Walter White is the best example of how no-one is perfect, just as no character in Breaking Bad is free from guilt or their own conscience, and more importantly, how evil can creep up on you. Before you know it, you’ve killed your way through the heart of the illegal drug business and placed yourself at the head of it.

But despite all this, is the lead character of this series evil? Well, that’s the glory of a retrospective view on a TV drama such as Breaking Bad; it’s entirely up to your interpretation. With all the lies, murder and deceit in the past, it’s difficult to play Walter off as a misunderstood hero, but thankfully, it’s not impossible, and that lack of definition (at least up to now), has been the factor that has kept millions interested in the drama surrounding an aged meth-maker with a split personality.