Random Most Plausible Fan Theories About Breaking Bad (13 items)

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  (#1) Walt Adopts Character Traits from the People He's Killed

  Walt clearly does this - yet fans speculate whether this is a sign of Walt's remorse for killing, or if the writers are drawing attention to Walt's increasing willingness to adopt more Machiavellian traits (like ruthlessness and manipulation) from those he encounters in the criminal world, symbolized by his adaptation of their more innocuous traits. Throughout the series, we see him adopt Krazy 8's crust cutting, ask for a Scotch on the rocks a la Mike, and place a hand towel underneath his knees before vomiting, exactly as Gus had done in Mexico.

  RJ Mitte of Breaking Bad says: "I guess that makes sense. The thing is that everyone develops traits from their actions. I think as his character kept growing, and became this monster."
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  (#2) Gus and Max Were More Than Platonic Business Partners

   

  When Max gets shot in the head by Hector and Gus is thrown down next to him, the look the two share as Max is dying indicates that they had a much closer relationship than just mere business partners. The way Gus looks at Max (even before his death scene), their clear esteem for each other, and Gus's absence of a wife and family has lead many fans to speculate about Gus's sexuality.

  RJ Mitte of Breaking Bad says about the fan theories, "OK then."
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  (#3) Jesse Redeems Himself, Ultimately "Breaking Good"

  Reddit user fuhqueue suggests, "A theory I have is that Jesse will end up happily married with two kids, while Walt will end up dying alone. Walt started out as a nice guy and broke bad, while Jesse started as 'a bad guy' and then gradually [became] more and more of a nice person with a heart. Meaning, at the end of the show, they will have switched places completely. And who knows, maybe Jesse will become a chemistry teacher, after everything Walt has taught him."

  RJ Mitte of Breaking Bad says: "I don't know how about this. He did leave Walt to die, but he would have been in the same position too. I think in a way he has gone off to redeem himself, but he's super messed up."
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  (#4) Gale Botetticher Was a Sex Offender

  What if the reason Gale (a chemist with an MS in organic chemistry) worked as a meth cook for a criminal organization was because his sordid history prevented him from being able to secure a position in regular society? Specifically, what if he was a registered sex offender?
  
  Botetticher's video, "Major Tom," had Thai subtitles, which implied that Gale had been to Thailand (which has a reputation for sex trading, especially sex workers who are minors) recently. We also see a flashback photo of him that looks an awful lot like a mugshot, not to mention Botetticher's oddly phrased comment to Walt: "Consenting adults want what they want. At least with me they’re getting exactly what they pay for."

  While Gale is an admitted libertarian (he has no moral qualms with cooking meth), this theory still works.
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  (#5) Ted Beneke Is Walt Jr.'s Real Father

  According to this theory, the first time we see Skyler meet with Ted (in Season 2, Episode 7), Ted asks how Walt Jr. is doing. When Skyler explains that he's growing well, Ted says: "Good genes," and then chuckles to himself. Could this "good genes" joke and the knowing chuckle afterwards go beyond Ted simply complimenting Skyler and implying that Walt Jr. also shares his genes?

  Skyler and Ted slept together in the past, so it is certainly possible that Walt Jr. is his biological son, depending on when the affair happened. Many fans have also pointed out that Walt Jr. has more of a resemblance to Ted than he does to Walt Sr.

  RJ Mitte of Breaking Bad says: "You never know! She did get around a little bit." (Listen to more above)
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  (#6) The Car Company That Walt Rents from Is from The X-Files

   

  Fans spotted this as an easter egg from Gilligan’s days as a staff writer and executive producer on The X-Files. When Walt rents a van to drive his barrels of money out to the desert to bury them, the car company he uses is the one that Mulder and Scully originally used on The X-Files.
   

  “That is correct,” Gilligan told The Hollywood Reporter. “That was an X-Files shoutout,” he explained, adding that the car company was Lariant Car Rental - it also made cameos on Veronica Mars and Supernatural.

  And that's not the only X-Files similarity from Breaking Bad: check out the entire rundown here.

   
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  (#7) The Basis of the Entire Show Was Marty Robbins's Song, "El Paso"

  According to one fan's theory, the basis of the entire show is the song "El Paso" by Marty Robbins, about a gunslinger and a girl named Felina. The series finale is even titled "Felina" and a Marty Robbins cassette tape of the song is in Walt's car, playing as he pulls away from the bar in the opening.

  The plot of the series follows the happenings of the song too closely to simply be a coincidence, with the character of Felina representing Walt's blue meth and unexpected love for his new identity.
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  (#8) "Breaking Bad" Happened in the Same Universe as "The Walking Dead"

  One fan theory proposes that Breaking Bad is a prequel to The Walking Dead, going so far as to suggest that the blue meth could be the root cause of the zombie apocalypse.

  
  A few pieces of evidence:
  1) Walt’s signature blue meth is visible in Merle’s stash bag in the second season of The Walking Dead. 
  2) Daryl tells Beth that his brother’s old dealer is “a janky little white guy” who says “I’m gonna kill you, bitch.” 
  3) Lest we forget, the iconic red Dodge Charger makes an appearance in both shows.

  RJ Mitte of Breaking Bad says: "I would love it because my character is still alive. I"d love to fight some zombies."
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  (#9) Walt Survived the Gunshot Wound and Lived to Stand Trial

  This might sound far-fetched, but consider this - Walt's bullet wound was in the abdomen and fairly small, so he wouldn't have bled out, and paramedics likely arrived on the scene rapidly. We don't even see a pool of blood surrounding him in the last shot. This well thought out fan theory that Walt lived to stand trial is explained in the above video.

  James Hamblin of The Atlantic also wrote a convincing piece called, "Walter White Is Not Dead."
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  (#10) Skyler's Smoking Is the Cause of Walt's Cancer

  Skyler might have caused Walt's cancer via secondhand smoke, setting the wheels in motion for Walt's foray into a life of crime. As Reddit user 426763 suggests: "The one thing that sets everything into motion was Walt’s cancer right? Well, what I’m theorizing goes deeper. Everything that happened in the show was caused by Skyler, or to be more specific, her smoking habit."
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  (#11) Walt Got Cancer Because Madrigal Supplied a Defective Air-Filtration System to Gray Matter

  Redditor Heisenblue proposes an interesting theory about Walt's cancer development: "Madrigal supplied Gray Matter with industrial equipment, one of them being an air filter. A defective air filter, which ultimately [led] to Walter later developing lung cancer. When Heisenberg finds out, he is going to go thermonuclear on Grey Matter/Madrigal. Literally. Because that wasn't a 52 he was designing with his bacon, it was a motherf*cking mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb."
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  (#12) Leaves of Grass Was Given to Walt by Gretchen, Not Gale

  Hank discovers Walt's copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass with a curious inscription, which Hank takes to mean that the book is from Gale Boetticher. But what if the book was actually given to Walt by his ex-girlfriend Gretchen, as this theory suggests? Gretchen’s maiden name is not mentioned, but it is possible that her initials could have been G.B., which means that Hank pieced Walt's identity together by coincidence.
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  (#13) Walt Froze to Death - "Felina" Occurred as His Dying Dream

  Walt froze to death in his car and the finale episode, "Felina," was actually a hallucination he had while dying. Emily Nussbaum (the main proponent of the theory) writes in her piece for the New Yorker, "what we were watching must be a dying fantasy on the part of Walter White, not something that was actually happening—at least not in the 'real world' of the previous seasons."

  The car scene is shot in so much darkness that it's hard to decipher exactly what happens, but it It seems like Walt broke the ignition lock when he was trying to start the car with a screwdriver. This means he would have been stuck there, because the key that he found in the visor wouldn't be able to start the car (since the ignition lock is broken), leaving him to succumb to the freezing temperatures.

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