Breaking Bad Antagonists (SPOILERS UP TO THE LATEST EPISODE)

[Amaror]

Now the final season (Or half season) of Breaking Bad is nearing it's end and although it isn't over yet i can't help but feel disappointed.
First of all:
Don't get me wrong.
I still think Breaking Bad is a great series. It has mostly overcome the pacing issues of the first seasons and it's one of the best series out there.
But i still am disappointed.
The new season is exciting and well made and everything, but i don't really like that they had to pull out a new antagonist.

You can just look at the antagonists of the series and see that something is wrong there.
Your first real antagonist is Tuco. A mindless brute, whose craziness the "heroes" have to overcome.
Then comes Gus. Awesome Antagonist. An intelligent Enemy. Calculating, brutal and intelligent. An worthy opponent to Heisenberg.
And now were back to the mindless brute again. Yeah, he isn't that dumb and crazy as Tuco, but after Gus i am really disappointed. I really don't think that he is a worthy rival for a series finale.
Up until the 13 episode i was also really hopefull. I hoped they would just go on like that and let Heisenberg be the main antagonist, because i really felt that that was what the series was leading up to, or should have let up to.
But no, they had to pull an even bigger asshole out of their ass to make Walter into a protagonist again. I don't get it. Just let him be the Antagonist, he was perfect for that role!

 

[Fappy]

He is still the antagonist. His own antagonist. The nazis are really just a tool for the plot, targets for Walt to direct his rage. He could have ended it all by turning himself in, but again, as the end of the last episode showed he's far too proud to lie down and die. He'll burn everything to the ground so long as it is on his terms.

 

[XMark]

Yeah, ever since he poisoned the little kid, Walt has taken over the role of primary antagonist from Gus.

 

[SuperUberBob]

Walt is the perfect antihero. Honestly, I didn't think an antihero could get any better than Tony Soprano but Breaking Bad proved me wrong.

 

[Zen Bard]

That's the whole point. Walt is the antagonist. He's not an anti-hero...he's the villain.

It's just that we're invested in him.

Vince Gilligan, the show's creator, has always said he wanted to do a show where Mr. Chips becomes Scarface. The entire series has been about the evolution of the villain.

And it stands to reason that when the competition is all gone, the only villain Walt has left to face is himself.

After all...he IS the danger.

 

[tce11]

I would say the Nazi crew make great antagonists to Walt. They're unpredictable, uncontrollable, armed to the teeth, and deceptively cunning. Those are all things that completely counteract all of Walt's strengths, like manipulating and forming complex plans. Todd has proven himself to be surprisingly capable this season, and he has a ton of fire power to back him up.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

He is still the antagonist. His own antagonist. The nazis are really just a tool for the plot, targets for Walt to direct his rage. He could have ended it all by turning himself in, but again, as the end of the last episode showed he's far too proud to lie down and die. He'll burn everything to the ground so long as it is on his terms.

This to a T.

There are no heroes, only varying degrees of villain, and Walt's the biggest one.
Anyway.
I'm not sure if the Todd Squad are antagonists so much as they're simply an obstacle, if that makes any sense. Like they're not active bad guys, they're just this thing standing between Walt and his goal.
At least that's how I think Walt sees them.

 

[wulfy42]

Walt is the bad guy pretty much.
Poor Jesse.

Tod and crew are...not even really that bad if you think about it. Do you think in a similar situation Walt would have given them a dime...or even let them live? Heck...they even gave him money AND let him live...and took care of jesse for him...and he still wants to kill them all (not just get his money back...but kill them as well).

Walt knows his family is in trouble and turning himself in could help them...but his pride and anger at his old partners overcomes that pretty freaking fast.

Tod who is kinda a psychopath...is still nicer then Walt in the way he treats jesse...in fact.....nobody has treated him worse then Walt to be honest.

The real bad guy of the whole show though is Walt's wife. Walt slowly evolved into the monster he is...but Skyler not only got on board fast, but started telling Walt to kill people etc.

In the end.....the hero of the story....pretty much the only person who actually cared about others and tried to do the right thing...is Jesse. While he has dome some questionable things, he has felt extreme guild over the really bad stuff (and was pressured into doing it) and has the most empathy of any other character in the show.

Walt started off as a selfish #$&&&&&...and devolved from there. It wasn't so much an evolution (or devolution) as it was the slow process of burning away the facade that Walt put up to fool everyone that he wasn't a monster to finally show who the true Walt really (and always was) is.

If you look back at the early decisions he made....even initially he was putting his family in danger, Jesse in danger..and didn't seem to think twice about the lives he risked going up against Tuco etc. Walt only thought about himself..and the things or people he thought was his...right from the start. Selfishness I believe is at the heart of all evil...and Walt was always evil, he just took awhile to really show it.

 

[Robot Number V]

I Walt is still the primary antagonist. The Nazis (and especially Todd) are really just extensions of Walt's own evil acts. I mean, Todd seems to figure himself a Heisenberg-in-training, looking to Walt as a damn role model. So in a sense, responsibility for everything Todd does can still be traced back to Walt. Besides, even without that element, the Walt would still be the villain on his own.

As a side note, reading comments for any Breaking Bad-related Youtube video is depressing as fuck. People were HAPPY when Hank died. These stupid fucks are still unreservedly rooting for Walt, and not in a "hate to love him" kind of way. They just legitimately think he's still the fucking hero of the show. Oh, and people who hate Skyler are not really watching the show. Unless you've only come to this conclusion in the last few weeks. She kinda went of the deep end. Figuratively, this time.

 

[Pinkamena]

To everyone else in the series, Walt is the big bad guy. He's killed tens of people, is the man behind the biggest drug network in the US, destroyed his family, and an excellent liar. The only reason we still care about him is that we've been with him for 5 seasons, and seen why he's done what he did. And every time we've been like "well yeah, that's reasonable".

What I get from this series is that nobody is inherently evil, and that morals are never set in stone. It's all relative.

 

[Subscriptism]

Walt is still the main antagonist. If you're talking about Jack, Todd and the rest of the nazis then they are tertiary at best only still around to tie up Jesse's story. I spent the entire season rooting for Hank and then anyone else who will take Walt down or out.

Walt is still the biggest **** and the series antagonist.

Walt is the perfect antihero. Honestly, I didn't think an antihero could get any better than Tony Soprano but Breaking Bad proved me wrong.

Walt isn't an anti-hero. The point of an anti-hero is that they use morally questionable means or behaves in morally questionable ways to achieve ends. Walt is an outright antagonist, the bad guy, the villain. He was an anti-hero from about season 2 or 3 up to when he poisoned the kid. Since then he has been bad to the core.

 

[The Noobasaurus Rex]

Everyone saying that Walt is the last antagonist are right. He's done irredeemable things and driven everyone in his life away from him.

The series is going to end with Jesse killing Walt, I've only ever seen the last 3 episodes of the series and It seems kinda obvious.

 

[Cerdog]

You forgot about the twins as antagonists; really it's just Gus who wasn't of that ilk, and complaining that your next enemy isn't as good as Gus is futile, because he's possibly the best TV antagonist ever.

 

[DarthSka]

I have to say that I'm really disappointed that they brought in this gang of Nazi assholes and Lydia. Gus was such a perfect villain and opposing force for Walter. Both were intelligent and calculating, but Gus was usually calm and collected. He represented order and always in control while Walt struggled to have any situation in control. Having Walt go from actually winning against him but then losing out to a bunch of low level thugs just seems like a huge step back for me. Just having the conflict between Walt and Hank would have been a better route for the final season in my opinion. These new villains just seem so uninspired.

 

[Robot Number V]

I Walt is still the primary antagonist. The Nazis (and especially Todd) are really just extensions of Walt's own evil acts. I mean, Todd seems to figure himself a Heisenberg-in-training, looking to Walt as a damn role model. So in a sense, responsibility for everything Todd does can still be traced back to Walt. Besides, even without that element, the Walt would still be the villain on his own.

As a side note, reading comments for any Breaking Bad-related Youtube video is depressing as fuck. People were HAPPY when Hank died. These stupid fucks are still unreservedly rooting for Walt, and not in a "hate to love him" kind of way. They just legitimately think he's still the fucking hero of the show. Oh, and people who hate Skyler are not really watching the show. Unless you've only come to this conclusion in the last few weeks. She kinda went of the deep end. Figuratively, this time.

I marathoned the show over the course of last week to finally see what all the fuss is about. But I do genuinely hate Skylar.

All she has done in the show is massively overreacted, completely ignored advice or just been a **** for the sake of being a ****. I genuinely think she is the worst part of this show.

No. I'm sorry, but no. Her husband is a fucking murderer and a...meth lord. She CAN'T overreact. I can only assume that "being a **** for the sake etc." refers to her fucking Ted. Yeah, she had an affair. Walt murdered people and cooked what must have been literally tons of meth. I THINK she still has the moral fucking high ground out of the two of them. Skyler is not some ***** that keeps ruining the hero's plans, she's a woman whose trapped in a relationship with a homicidal maniac, and doing her best to deal with that. Think about that: She is stuck living in a house with someone who makes her fear for her life, and the lives of her children, and we KNOW those fears aren't entirely unfounded. That is an utterly terrible situation to be in, and you say she "overreacted".

"Overreacted"...You know what a NORMAL reaction would've been? To scream, kick him out of the house, and instantly turn him into the police, and weep for several hours. That would've been a totally understandable reaction to discovering that your husband is a murdering psychopath (Which Walt absolutely is). If anything, she UNDERreacted.

Of course, in recent episodes, she took Walt's side against Hank, helped Walt make that utterly evil "confession", and even told Walt that he should murder Jesse. So NOW you can hate her, because she's done legitimately terrible things. But not in earlier seasons. In earlier seasons, she was a VICTIM.

PS: Out of curiosity, what advice that she's ignored were you referring to? The only thing I can think of is Saul and the laser tag arena, but I'm gonna go ahead and assume it's not that.

 

[Hawkeye21]

General consensus which I do not share seems to be that this series is golden diamond-encrusted masterpiece of awesomeness. I say the only thing that sets it above other shows with anti-hero protagonists (e.g. Dexter) is that we get to see character development in a very gradual, natural and broad range, from normal Everyman Walt to Walt anti-hero and finally to villain-protagonist Walt. I honestly can't remember a single other series that does that, and admittedly it was done very well.

The worst thing about this show is its fanbase. When I hear people discussing it some of them are actually still fully support Walt's actions, it's like those people have been continuously missing the point for the last five years.

By the by, interesting (for me) question: at what point in your opinion Walt crossed the line? For me it was when he let Jesse's girlfriend Jane die.

 

[wulfy42]

Walt was NEVER thinking about his family. Even at the start he had other options, but pride made him go with the whole drug setup. As seen in the most recent episode, his true motivation was his anger/pride over his former partners. They offered to pay for his cancer treatments and take care of his family (Hank also offered to take care of them), he did not need to go into the drug business to take care of them, he did it because HE wanted to be the one to provide for them...not anyone else.

He always put himself, and his needs over those of his family. Even when he first started he knew he was dealing with dangerous people (Tuco etc) and even after everything went south, and hank was almost killed, right in the first season, he kept on going....not for his family, but for himself.

Skylar isn't much better to be honest. She was in the dark for a long time so you could say.....she was blameless, but she jumped on the murder train super fast recently...and pretty much condoned what Walt was doing eventually. As far as why many people hate her...it's because she didn't put up road blocks for moralities sake (which would be a good reason) but basically just because she wanted to be in control as well....and be "equal" to Walt. Not a bad thing in and of itself, but we were not invested in Skylar like Walt....and she mainly seemed to be a pain in Walt's behind...while many people where identifying with Walt.

The over all theme of the show seems to be stubbornness as most of the main characters get into trouble and/or die etc...because of that. Walt of is stubborn throughout the whole series...wanting his money, wanting to be in charge, wanting to be the one to provide for his family etc. Hank is stubborn as well...which gets him killed in the end (Although he's right..they probably would have killed him anyway)...but even just going after Walt after he had stopped cooking.....was stubborn and ended up getting him killed in the end.

There are no good guys really in the show at this point. The only character I feel empathy/sorry for is Jesse....and even he has crossed some pretty big lines. The most "likeable" group in my opinion was the whole Gus+Mike+Jesse) group. They seemed to have each others back...and Mike/Jesse seemed to care for each other.

Everyone seems to think Gus was a villain...but really he didn't seem so bad to me until Walt pushed him to it (by killing his men). He had honor at least, and his over all "Scheme" involved getting revenge for his brothers death. He didn't condone killing kids or using them to sell drugs, but he would do what needed to get done. Walt....even in the episodes where Gus was around, seemed like much more of a villain to me. He didn't have to poison the kid...or take out Gus....he just wanted to be in control.

Then he killed Mike too...who again was done and leaving...no reason for Walt to kill mike at all...other then possibly having to worry about him in the future if he did take out the prisoners. He knew Jesse liked Mike...and basically just killed him out of anger over what mike had said and his "lack of respect" for Walt.

Walt is a psychopathic murderer who will kill anyone who doesn't give him respect, gets in his way or takes anything he thinks is his..from him. He is....and always was, a total selfish creature..who puts his own wants and desires over those of anyone else...including his wife and kids.

The show is not so much the evolution of evil within a man, but instead it shows how evil a simple man can be without anyone even knowing it until the situation arrives for it to show. Selfishness is evil and if you only consider yourself and those you "care" about as an extension of yourself....then there is not much you are not capable of.