Breaking Bad
Since its possible action episode , Breaking Badhas always leaned into the clichés of classical Westerns and stood as one of thegreatest neo - Western TV read ever made . From the desert landscape painting of its New Mexico setting to the shady underworld of bandits and outlaws see throughout , the report of Walter White ’s transmutation into the drug kingpin Heisenberg was pack with Western image . Whether it was through Spaghetti westerly - style Mexican standoffs or genuine train robbery , there ’s no shortage of Western scenes throughoutBreaking Bad’sfive seasons .
Breaking Badboasted some astounding performancesfrom its talented ensemble cast , as the dark presence of Walt ’s alter ego , Heisenberg , brought to mind Greco-Roman westerly antiheroes like The Man with No Name or dodgy criminal like Gus Fring , who were as intimidate as any Wild West adversary . Breaking Badmay appear like a contemporaneous law-breaking drama , but the show owes so much to the legacy of the Western musical style . When all is say and done , it must be accommodate that the infamy ofHeisenberg add up to a Wild West figure as iconic and direful as Jesse James .
10The RV Getaway
Season 1, Episode 1: “Pilot”
Breaking Badviewers were shove directly into the mystifying end from the show ’s openingas things give up off with scenic shots of the New Mexico landscape as Walt and Jesse ’s RV came run through . With a gas mask on his face and his partner passed out , it was clear that these amateur felon were in over their heads . This tight - pace introduction showcased Walter as an unintentional westerly felon who , in a state of panic , records a video message for his menage before point his triggerman and taking aim at what he believe to be oncoming constabulary cars .
At that minute , all the groundwork had been laid for a modern neo - Western classic , asBreaking Badshowcased haphazard outlaws on the political campaign in a Wild West surroundings . This AMC classical hooked viewers in with a thrilling Western - style frame-up of a man on the ravel well before they knew anything about Walt ’s meth - cooking attempt or the kinsfolk play that would occur throughout the sleep of the series . In its opening setting , develop Badis just a mysterious man quick to face off against the legal philosophy as he points his gun into the great unknown .
9Walt’s Deal With Tuco
Season 1, Episode 6: “Crazy Handful of Nothin'”
One of the most piquant things aboutBreaking Badwas its incredible cast of redoubtable foes , whose saturation rivaled even the great westerly baddie , such asNo Country for Old Men’sAnton Chigurh orThe Good , the Bad and the Ugly’sAngel Eyes . Among all the iconic bad bozo sport across the five seasons , the cartel drug monger Tuco Salamanca was perhaps the most unhinged , as his psychotic , irregular personality , constant drug use , and wild outbursts made him both wildly entertaining and thoroughly terrifying .
While Tuco seem to be the result to Walter ’s distribution problem , this programme turn tail into some trouble after Tuco beat Jesse with a bag of money and steal his meth out from under him . Rather than take this frustration lying down , Walter conjured his inner Western movie antihero to create the alter egotism of Heisenbergand saunter back into Tuco ’s office with all the cool trust of Clint Eastwood ’s The Man with No Name . While it took Walt blowing up Tuco ’s function to varnish the deal , at this moment , Walt evidence himself an outlaw as unhinged as Tuco himself .
8"Negro y Azul: The Ballad Of Heisenberg"
Season 2, Episode 7: “Negro y Azul”
Breaking Badhad some sincerely outstanding cold open throughout its run , although the one that truly established this show as part of a Western custom was “ Negro y Azul . ” This season two installment was name after the call that wasperformed by the narcocorrido band call Los Cuates de Sinaloa , in which they sang about the “ gringo boss ” Heisenberg . With this track , Breaking Badhinted at how the legend of Heisenberg was spreading far beyond Albuquerque , as this mysterious drug manufacturing business was becoming a cultural soma akin to Billy the Kid or Butch Cassidy .
Classic Westerns have long explored how the legends of the Wild West were formed , and this song highlighted the myth of Heisenberg in the same way films likeThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valanceexplored the forging of legends . Through Walter ’s alter ego , he created a myth for others to latch onto as rival meth manufacturers , the cartel , and law enforcement all essay to learn more about the tough Heisenberg . It was through the fable heard in “ Negro y Azul ” that the mild - mannered chemistry instructor Walter White became an criminal as notorious as Jesse James .
7Tortuga
The DEA agent Hank Schrader catch more than he bargained for when he was push to the Tri - State Border Interdiction Task Force in El Paso inBreaking Bad . While this indicate Hank was doing well in his career , the border area police forcefulness dismissed his packaging as a political decision , and without speak Spanish , he truly feel out of place among his raw workfellow . This all came to a brain through Hank ’s confrontation with the drug moon curser and source Tortuga , who meet a grisly final stage at the hand of the cartel .
While break out Bad has plenty of funniness , crime , and drama , several moments feel they could have total straight out of a horror .
In a punishment even more brutal than what ’s seen in the most violent Westerns ever made , Tortuga ’s severed head was see attached to a tortoise with the message “ Hola DEA ” before it detonated in an detonation that almost bolt down Agent Schrader . Whilethis intenseBreaking Badmoment felt straight out of a repugnance movie , it was also a coup d’oeil into the Wild West impulses of combine members , who were not afraid to use pitiless tactics to send a message .
6Gus Fires Walt
Season 4, Episode 11: “Crawl Space”
Many ofBreaking Bad’smost acute setting took position in the desert , which gave them a powerful esthetic that fetch to thinker iconic Western scenes , such as the Mexican standoff inThe Good , the Bad and the Ugly . This was sure enough the case for the minute thatGus Fring fired Walt as he lay ticktack and handcuffed in the New Mexico desert . With this act , Gus was beam a firm message that if he set one more foot wrong move , it would be the last thing he ever did .
The unnerving bit of unadulterated deterrence saw Gus bring out his ruthless nature as more demoralize than audiences had even imagined . When Walt push back against Gus , he tells him in no uncertain price if he continues to interfere , “ I will kill your married woman , I will kill your son , I will kill your babe girl , ” a message that solidify Fring ’s status among the most demoralise Western scoundrel of all time .
5The Train Heist
Season 5, Episode 5: “Dead Freight”
WhileBreaking Bad’sWestern influences were often subtle consequence that could go over viewers ' heads , it ’s hard to catch the season 5 installment “ Dead Freight ” as anything but a straight - up westerly story . This was the episode where Walt , Jesse , Mike , and Todd endeavored to slip 1,000 gallons of methylamine from a power train pass through New Mexico , a plot point that has far more in vernacular with Western film likeThe Great Train RobberyandButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kidthan anything come across in comparable offense drama , such asThe Sopranos .
“ Dead Freight ” was whereBreaking Badrevealed itself to be a unfeigned neo - Western serial asHeisenberg and his crowd draw off the big train robbery in historywithout anyone even acknowledge it had happened . Through its meticulously planned heist , thrilling build - up , and marrow - cannonball along conclusion , this carefully plot plan deserves to fend alongside the greatest train robberies ever seen in the westerly genre .
4“Say My Name”
Season 5, Episode 7: “Say My Name"
Vast and devoid desert landscape have been the setting for infinite Western - expressive style showdown , as the eerie entailment is that when thing give up off and artillery set out blazing , nobody will be around to alert the authorities . This tradition continued in the “ Say my name ” scene inBreaking BadwhenWalter meets with Declan and his crew to negotiate a dealthat would take into account him to keep cooking and reap the benefit of his stolen methylamine .
With Walter portray himself as a kind of fear gunslinger archetype , he played into his report as Heisenberg to pressure Declan to utter the name of his secret alter ego before confidently asserting , “ You ’re goddamn proper . ” The path that Walter utilize his ill fame acted as a classical Western vocation card , where Wild West felon like Billy the Kid discern that just their name carries great weight . At this moment , Walter moult every ounce of his once meek persona and embraced the myth of Heisenberg fully .
3Hank’s Last Stand
Season 5, Episode 14: “Ozymandias”
Two westerly - inspired threads ran throughBreaking Bad’snarrative ; the first involved Walter White ’s transformation into a notorious outlaw , while the other list into Hank Schrader ’s status as a type of sheriff trying to bring a cunning brigand to jurist . The climax of Hank ’s spark as a Western zep came in the all - time heavy episode “ Ozymandias,”when he at last put handcuffs on Heisenberg . This consequence of heroism come to a swift end with the comer of Jack Welker ’s gang of Nazi criminal , and Hank found himself in the midst of a Graeco-Roman Western confrontation .
While Hank was outnumber by a bunch of ruthless criminals , he never lost sight of the courageousness that made him such a powerful force throughoutBreaking Bad , and he refused to accede even as Jack support a gun to his head . It was these luck that led to the brutal execution of Hank Schrader , and Jack and his work party looted Walt ’s earnings , deal Jesse as a captive , and left Walt to fend for himself . Hank ’s dying added to the long list of Westerns where the bad bozo bring home the bacon , and the sheriff pay the ultimate price .
2Walt Returns to Albuquerque
Season 5, Episode 16: “Felina”
While the final episode ofBreaking Badsaw Walter White going on the run and be as a fugitive in the snow-clad mountains of New Hampshire , it was in the finis that he return to Albuquerque to wrap up loose ends in one of the greatest TV conclusions of all meter . In rail line with authoritative westerly figure of a lone criminal twine back into town for one last job , Heisenberg reemerged in New Mexico as a want man with a auto torpedo in his tree trunk , determined to go out on his own term .
As a gaunt , unshaven , and almost ghostwriter - alike front , Walt seamlessly blended into the shadows before make his farewell with Skyler and sealing a mess with Gretchen and Elliott . These final actsplayed into westerly clichés of a gunslinger settle older scoresbefore facing off against his last foe in a pernicious affaire d’honneur . With nothing leave to lose , Walt in truth embodied a classic westerly antihero with these last routine .
1The Final Shootout
The climax ofBreaking Badtruly felt like something straight out of an Old West standoffas Walt rolls into Jack Welker ’s chemical compound under the guise of making a deal . With a remote - control automobile artillery in the torso of his car , Walt cautiously calculates the position of the car as he diagram to set it off in a suicide mission that would pass over out the ring for commodity . As a modern equivalent to the classic Western sleeve gunslinger , Walt used the element of surprisal to give Jack ’s gang an ending reminiscent of the crashing westerly massacres of all time .
While Walt ’s unpitying program see to it these men killed in cold blood , there were still elements of an felon ’s code as he shoot Jack midsentence to avenge Hank before putting his living in the work force of his former pardner Jesse . As a wounded Walt contend through a meth lab , he takes time to honor his infamous legacy and dies not quite a hero but still on his own terms . This uncompromising last deed visualize the felon Heisenberg breathe his last just before police arrive and positionedBreaking Badalongside the greatest westerly tarradiddle of modern times .
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