Vince Gilligan, the creator of the masterpiece Breaking Bad, spoke to Den of Geek regarding the hard work and craftsmanship that went into crafting the story:
We get a lot of credit for this detail rich, very faithful unto itself sort of storytelling shape for the entire run of episodes. It was never because we had a master plan from the get go. It’s because we would be very careful to mine past episodes and hew to them faithfully in terms of plot details, and therefore make the whole thing feel like it was of a piece. We were looking backward not forward half the time, in other words.
Vince Gillian has had a lot of experience previous to Breaking Bad, like The X-Files, and it’s clear that he went in with a vision to craft a great story of a man’s descent into villainy. Breaking Bad is often praised for its attention to detail, and Vince Gilligan himself admits to having dropped little trinkets for fans to pick up.
Vince Gilligan Scattered Little Easter Eggs Throughout Breaking Bad
One of the best and stank-face-inducing easter eggs from the show is Walter White’s crust-cutting from sandwiches, which is reminiscent of Season 1. Walter White would cut the crust off the sides for Krazy-8, whom he would later strangle to death.
Better Call Saul introduced Saul Goodman, a lawyer you can trust, who went from being kidnapped to being Heisenberg’s personal crime associate. The trick Saul used to get them as clients echoed that of Kim Wexler in the prequel Better Call Saul. Kim would ask Saul to pay her a fee for confidentiality, which he would later do with Walter and Jesse as well.
A small financial easter egg was the famous pizza on the roof that landed perfectly. According to the characters, the reason the pizza was not cut is that the place charges less for uncut pizzas, adding to Walter’s cost-cutting attitude.
Perhaps the most famous easter egg comes in the form of the finale titled “Felina”, an anagram for “Finale” and also “Iron, Lithium, Sodium” when spelled out as “Fe Li Na”. “Felina” is the name mentioned in the song “El Paso” by Marty Robbins. The tune plays at the start of the episode and is about a man who dies because he loved someone in vain.
Throughout both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, there are mentions of a bank named Cradock Marine Bank. It’s the bank that Fox Mulder uses in The X-Files, where Vince Gilligan kicked off his TV career.
Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad Comments Prove He’s a Master at Storytelling
Vince Gillian is a master storyteller, no doubt. Breaking Bad has remained the greatest television show in history, with IMDb to back up the claim. The story of Walter White slowly turning from an anti-hero to a straight-up villain perfected The Sopranos formula in an engaging crime thriller. Here are key details of the show.
Numerous shots spoke for themselves, like the one where an episode ends with Walter’s garden having the Lily of the Valley poison. Numerous episodes were noted for being artistic, yet having enough commercial sense not to wade into inexplicable territory.
The show will remain in history books as a show that changed modern television for the better, and we hope that Vince Gilligan’s next project, Apple TV’s Pluribus, will sit next to it.
What do you think of Vince Gilligan’s storytelling? Let us know in the comments.
Breaking Bad is currently streaming on Netflix in the U.S.
