Steven Ortiz
I Watched the Breaking Bad Universe
Finally seeing what all the praise was about
May 1st, 2026
I'd heard about Breaking Bad for years and put off watching it for just as long. I finally gave it a shot in 2026 and was hooked by the first episode. The first season is great, though the cancer hanging over Walt casts this oppressively sad shadow over everything - even in its best moments.
The moral decline of Walt is a fascinating roller coaster. You see how characters push each other in different directions, and watching the same events that empower Walt slowly break Jesse is one of the most compelling threads in the whole show. A recurring theme is how looks can be deceiving - some of the worst people in the series carry a gentle public persona, while some of the genuinely kindest characters present as shady or threatening. The show also has a real knack for show don't tell: long scenes where you're just watching what characters do, piecing together what they think or feel without a word of explanation. That's one of Vince Gilligan's signatures and it works just as well here as anywhere else.
Walt backed into a corner is always entertaining - he leverages his particular strengths in ways that are surprising and sometimes a bit overdone, but never boring. It actually reminded me of a great GTA story in that way. The show balances dark humor and genuine weight better than I expected, and the tone was noticeably darker than the meme culture around it had led me to believe. The casting leans heavily on unfamiliar faces and regular-looking people, which adds a lot to the realism, as does the relatively unflashy production - at least in the earlier seasons.
On the negatives: there are some cartoonish moments that pulled me out. The smoke bomb with Tuco, and especially Gus's death - that was practically a Looney Tunes segment. Funny in isolation, but tonally jarring in an otherwise grounded show. Marie's kleptomania and Ted's IRS storyline felt unnecessary, and the way Ted's arc ends felt forced. The Skyler and Walt bickering got repetitive after a while too. Each season also follows a similar rhythm - strong opening, slower middle, strong finale - with Season 5 being the exception, which is strong all the way through.
The ending is masterful. An ending can make or break everything that came before it, and this one delivers. I'd recommend Breaking Bad to most people, with the caveat that it's not an easy watch - it's a dark and often depressing portrait of one man's ego and obsession destroying himself and everyone around him.
El Camino is probably the weakest entry in the universe, which is a shame because Jesse was my favorite character in Breaking Bad - one of the most tragic arcs in the final season. The cinematography is a noticeable step up from the show, especially the earlier seasons which looked and felt comparatively low budget. The acting is still great. But the story wasn't very satisfying and ultimately felt unnecessary.
There's one scene that stood out as genuinely bizarre and immersion-breaking - the western duel in the warehouse. And the absence of Andrea, even in flashback, felt like a strange omission given how significant she was to Jesse's story. The most interesting element of the film was getting more time with Jesse Plemons' character. He's excellent at playing cold, detached sociopaths - a little socially awkward, completely unreadable. "Meth Damon" is a fitting nickname.
I wouldn't really recommend El Camino unless you're specifically looking for a more definitive ending to Jesse's story. In some ways the mystery left by Breaking Bad was more compelling than what the movie offers.
Better Call Saul could probably have been one or two seasons shorter, but don't let that put you off - it's a genuinely great show. The emotional backstories are rich, it expands on Breaking Bad without leaning on it too heavily, and the world feels very real as a result. The same strengths that made Breaking Bad so compelling are all present here - the show-don't-tell approach, the meticulous attention to detail, the terrifically written and acted characters with clear and satisfying arcs, sometimes tragic and sometimes devastating. The casting is just as strong, and the final season is the most ambitious in terms of production - a noticeable step up from what came before.
Going in knowing only Breaking Bad, I expected something closer to Mike's story. Instead the show opens slowly, with Jimmy's arc taking center stage - a drama about a struggling lawyer with loose morals, a life that feels very far removed from Albuquerque's criminal underworld. It takes some patience. But Mike's story runs alongside it, and that thread felt more immediately in line with what I expected from a Breaking Bad prequel. You really get a sense of the painstaking groundwork he and his associates laid, only for Walt to come along and torch it. Gus and Mike are the real stars, and watching their world take shape is consistently fascinating.
The early seasons have a more episodic, loosely connected feel compared to Breaking Bad's clear and escalating overarching plot. There are threads that you know will eventually converge - it's just a question of how and when. By the back half of the series it all starts to click, and the show fully grows into its identity as a prequel in the best possible way. The ending mostly delivers too. The sequel material that bookends each season (in black-and-white) is brief enough that it's easy to forget about until it returns, but the final season leans into it meaningfully.
I'd give Better Call Saul a mild recommendation. It's not as dark or depressing as Breaking Bad, which makes it an easier watch in some ways, and it's distinct enough to stand fully on its own while still feeling connected to the larger universe. If you have the patience for a slower burn, it might be worth it.