12 Small Details You Only Notice Rewatching Breaking Bad

11. How Visuals Represent Skyler And Walt's Breakdown

One of Breaking Bad's biggest successes was how it conveyed its story and state of the characters not simply through dialogue, but through the visual language of cinema. One of the most immediately striking examples of visual storytelling comes in relation to Walt and Skyler's breakdown, and how the relationship is conveyed through the blocking of scenes.

This really starts in Season 3 when Walt is kicked out of the house, and only spends a few dinners a week with his family. Though on the surface he and Skyler maintain the facade of a happy family, sharing meals with their children, the visuals make it clear they aren't on the same page.

A good chunk of these scenes are shot from outside, with the visual barriers of the windows isolating each character. Similar techniques utilised in cinema to show that while characters may be occupying the same space, these metaphorical barriers are still between them.

A similar trick is used in Season 4, when Walt is putting Skyler and Holly into the car before they leave for Hank's. Even though the two are only inches away from each other, the door frame keeps them separate in the shot, always showing a barrier between them that emphasises how fractured the two have become.

The devastating payoff to this motif comes in Season 5. At this point Walt has muscled his way back into his home, and in his mind the two are back together and happily married. However, while the safety of the house’s barriers might be compromised, Walt hasn’t been able to remove the barriers in their relationship. In fact, the visuals emphasise the divide even more, with Walt’s face being cut out of scenes where the two are physically together.