10 Mistakes That Made TV Shows Better
9. Holly Goes Off-Script - Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad's third-to-last episode "Ozymandias" is generally accepted to be the series' finest hour, but one of its most emotionally wrenching moments was a pure accident and not at all in the shooting script.
Near the end of the episode, Walt (Bryan Cranston) flees his home with his young daughter Holly (Moira Bryg MacDonald) in tow.
He then changes Holly's nappy in a public toilet, after which she begins tearfully calling for her "mama" Skyler (Anna Gunn). This causes Walt to finally come to his senses, leaving Holly at a fire station with a note containing her home address.
This all feels totally organic, and yet Holly wasn't initially supposed to say anything at all. Young Moira Bryg MacDonald, who played Holly, actually saw her real-life mother standing out of frame and, being a baby, instinctively called for her.
Were she working with a lesser screen partner, the take could've been ruined, but Bryan Cranston remained in character and reacted to his young co-star with a perfectly devastated expression, and so director Rian Johnson decided to keep it in the final cut of the episode.
Considering how brilliantly this tees up Walt's decision to drop Holly at the fire station, it feels totally planned even though it wasn't. That kid sure has some acting instincts alright.