Top 10 Dumbest Mistakes on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul
"Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" feature extremely clever characters, and yet some of them have made some pretty dumb mistakes. For this list, we’ll be looking at the biggest blunders made by characters on both Vince Gilligan shows. Our countdown includes Jimmy’s Skateboarder Scheme, Walt Leaving Gale’s Book in the Bathroom, Gus Visiting Hector, and more! Which of these mistakes should have been easily avoided? Let us know in the comments below!
#10: Acid Bath
“Breaking Bad” (2008-13)
While Jesse gets more intelligent over time, he wasn’t always the sharpest tool in the shed. One of his biggest stumbles comes on early on in the series, when he and Walt need to dispose of a body. They decide the best way to deal with it is by melting it in hydrofluoric acid. Walt specifically tells Jesse to buy a plastic bin made of polyethylene because it will be able to contain the acid. However, Jesse decides instead to melt the evidence in his upstairs bathtub. This horrible idea leads to the acid immediately eating through the ceramic. Thanks to Jesse’s hairbrained move, they’re left with a huge and disgusting mess.
#9: Jimmy’s Skateboarder Scheme
“Better Call Saul” (2015-)
Although Jimmy McGill desperately wants to represent the Kettlemans, they weren’t onboard with bringing him in. So, he devises a scheme. McGill decides to hire two skeezy skateboards, Cal and Lars, to stage a car accident with Betsy Kettleman. Unfortunately, they target the wrong car. They end up trying to extort money from the grandmother of the extremely dangerousTuco Salamanca. As punishment, they’re all taken to the desert and held at gunpoint. Cal and Lars end up having their legs broken. Meanwhile, McGills scam places him inside the world of the Salamancas. His relationship with that family would go on to cause him nightmares for years to come.
#8: Walt Sells His Share
“Breaking Bad” (2008-13)
Walt shares a lot in common with Jimmy. He is also incredibly smart, and his intelligence is also undermined by a thankless job that is beneath his skill level. Before finding work as a high school science teacher, Walt helped create Gray Matter Technologies with Elliott Schwartz. However, personal problems with Gretchen caused Walt to leave Gray Matter and sell his share of the company for $5,000. To Walt’s credit, it was hard to predict just how successful his company would become. But successful it was, and Walt lost out on hundreds of millions. It was a case of his ego getting the best of him. This bad trait returned when he turned down Gretchen and Elliott’s offer to pay for his cancer treatments.
#7: Tricking Chuck
“Better Call Saul” (2015-)
While Chuck McGill is not a great brother, he didn’t deserve to go out the way he did. He claimed to suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity, which is not a medically recognized condition. Real or not, Jimmy knows how to take advantage of his brother and his condition. The lawyer constantly tricks Chuck throughout the series. In one case, Jimmy sneaks a battery into his brother’s suit pocket. This incident is one of the steps that marks the beginning of Chuck’s personal downward spiral. Over time, his mental state begins to deteriorate. Chuck eventually suffers a mental breakdown and takes his own life in a house fire.
#6: Slaying Gale
“Breaking Bad” (2008-13)
When Walt correctly deduces that Gus plans on replacing him and Jesse with Gale, he decides to make that option impossible. Of course, this isn’t the only choice. Walt could’ve run with the money he has already accumulated. Or he could’ve followed Jesse’s suggestion and gone to the DEA, rat out Gus, and admit his transgressions in exchange for protection. But Walt is instead adamant on killing Gale. Unfortunately, things don’t go so smoothly, and it’s Jesse who has to literally and figuratively pull the trigger. This decision saved their lives in the short term. However, it puts them far deeper with a seriously ticked off Gus, leads to even more death, and causes Jesse to spiral into a deep depression.
#5: Not Quitting While He’s Ahead
“Breaking Bad” (2008-13)
If Walt wasn’t so egotistical, he really could have gotten away with everything. After getting rid of Gus, the first half of season five really emphasizes Walt’s pride and greed as he begins building his empire. Everything comes to a head in “Buyout,” and it’s here that Walt truly seals his fate. Both Mike and Jesse decide to get out of their illegal business and walk away with their illegal earnings. Although Walt gets a similar opportunity, he refuses so he can keep his empire. In order to maintain it, Walt does extreme things like fatally wounding Mike. Unfortunately for him, his life only gets worse from there. All Walt had to do to stop his ultimate loss was to stop playing the game.
#4: Involving Kim
“Better Call Saul” (2015-)
While many fans despise Chuck, there’s no denying that he makes good points. Jimmy is a danger to the people around him, and he does take a certain amount of pleasure in bringing people down to his level. Kim Wexler is the breakout star of “Better Call Saul.” Smart, confident, personable, and ambitious, she has all the makings of a very successful lawyer. But Jimmy makes a grave mistake by bringing in Kim to help with his various cons and unlocking something deep and nasty within her. Before long, she's interfering in Howard's career - an interference that leads to his unfortunate death.
#3: Leaving Gale’s Book in the Bathroom
“Breaking Bad” (2008-13)
Walt is a really clumsy criminal, considering his brother-in-law is a DEA agent. And Walt is especially clumsy around Hank. Remember that time he got drunk and threw Hank off Gale? If he just shut up and let Hank believe that Gale was Heisenberg, a lot of destruction could have been avoided. But the dumbest mistake of them all was leaving Gale’s book in his bathroom. Walt should have thrown that thing out the second that he received it, or at least kept it stashed in a secure place. But no, he places it right next to the toilet for all to read, and read it Hank does. And with that, he finally connects the dots.
#2: Visiting Hector
“Breaking Bad” (2008-13)
Ego and pride seem to be a recurring theme throughout “Breaking Bad,” and Gus certainly inhabits these traits. The kingpin’s partner was killed by Hector Salamanca prior to the events of the series. This causes Gus to become obsessed with visiting and tormenting his enemy in a nursing home. However, this behavior is his undoing. When he tries to slay Hector for allegedly working with the DEA, he has no clue it was all a ruse. Walt knew that was the only place Gus went regularly. So, when the kingpin arrives to torment Hector, they both perish in a bomb trap set up by Heisenberg. If Gus had just dealt with Hector earlier, it wouldn't have given Walt the opportunity that he so desperately needed.
#1: Trusting Walter
“Breaking Bad” (2008-13)
We definitely wouldn’t say that Jesse had a good thing going, but his life was certainly better before he reunited with Walter. Jesse made the worst mistake of his life by trusting Walter and going into business with him. Of course, this would lead to all the horrible things that would happen to him throughout the series. He loses girlfriends, kills people, nearly dies, and suffers horrible depression because of Walter. Jesse even remains loyal when Walt is at his most despicable in season 5. It’s not until he learns the truth about what Walter did to his girlfriend’s son Brock that he decides to flip and work with Hank. But by then, it’s far too late for Jesse to avoid even more suffering.
