8 Little Known Tics In Bryan Cranston's Performance That Made Walter White Awesome

3. The Delivery Of "Tread Lightly"

Gilligan and Cranston would often have disputes about the way a certain scene was supposed to go, lines that should or shouldn't be said and the way they should or shouldn't be spoken. One of the final head-clashes is now known as one of White's iconic speeches, the "Tread lightly" scene between him and Hank at the midpoint of season 5. Gilligan wanted this to be pure showmanship, the coming out of Heisenberg in a show of bravado, a power play to demonstrate Hank cannot do him any harm. Cranston, who directed the episode, saw things a little differently. He believed that Walter should instead simply pity Hank, given how far his character's fallen because of his brother-in-law. Instead of having it be a grandiose scene, he instead let his "eyes go dead" and had the speech feel like a plea rather than a threat.