7. Really? The Plane Collision Occurs Right Over Walt's House - "ABQ" (2.13)
The defining plot twist that caps Breaking Bad's second season involves a two-way plane collision that results in the tragic deaths of 167 people. The accident occurs, indirectly, when Walt allows Jesse's girlfriend, Jane, to choke and die in her sleep. Later, Jane's father, an air traffic controller, is so affected by her untimely death that he loses concentration during a shift at work and fails to do his job properly. Thus, two planes collide. It's a somewhat strange narrative event, and one that Breaking Bad fans have found themselves polarised over ever since. As a plot twist, it's one of the most bizarre things that the show has embarked upon - if only for its contrived nature, which undoubtedly allows it to qualify as something of a ham-fisted coincidence. When you think about it, isn't it insanely implausible that the plane crash that Walt causes happens to occur right above his house? So much so, in fact, that wreckage from the collision actually ends up on his property - namely that pink teddy bear that the show took so much joy in foreshadowing the twist with across the span of the series? It just doesn't add up, does it? It's a coincidence to end all coincidences, and - naturally - it breaks viewer immersion as a result.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.