With Breaking Bad set to close its final season, we're taking a look back at Walter White's greatest technological and scientific feats that allowed him to take Albuquerque and the drug trade by the throat—and then slowly squeeze.
From the very first episode, Walt established himself as a force of intelligence, and as each episode passed, and the risks and challenges got greater, he evolved into something unrecognizable in comparison to his former self. Here are the top tech moments in Breaking Bad, from Walter to Heisenberg, that led to the deterioration of his past, and his rise to power.
A word of warning: spoilers galore ahead.
Poison in the Pilot
Body? What Body?
A Shock to the Handcuffs
Toys to Thermite
Walter, Jesse, and a Dead Battery
The Train Escape
A Laptop Too Far
Taking Care of Three Birds With One Bomb
This Isn't Meth
The Birth of a Business
"Pilot"
Season 1, Episode 1
You know the business, and I know the chemistry.
Living life as a unappreciated school teacher was a constant reminder of a life Walter White had mistakenly left behind. Throw in cancer, a second job at a car wash, and for better or worse, his life sucked. But it didn't mean Walter didn't have a mind, and when opportunity presented itself, he took it. By teaming up with a then low-life, Jesse Pinkman, he was able to use his intelligence to completely flip the underground drug trade on its ass—and then kicked it all over town.
But Heisenberg, Blue Sky, and the money would've never existed without Walt's understanding of chemistry—creating the crystal was, sadly, his finest art.
In a flashback episode (Season 1, Episode 3, "...and the Bag's in the River"), we meet Gretchen, Walt's former flame, who is the current co-owner of Walt's old company, Gray Matter Technologies. Gretchen was Walt's assistant back then, and in the scene, she and Walt are in a classroom, breaking down the components of the human body. They discover that only 99-percent of the human body is accountable through chemicals. Walt then wonders what could make up the remaining percent. "What about the soul?" Gretchen asks.
This is one thing Walt didn't have an answer for—only time will tell if he will find out.
The second half of Breaking Bad Season 5 premieres Sunday, Aug. 11 on AMC.