Breaking Bad: Every Major Death Ranked

Breaking Bad is one of the shows of our times, a complex drama with rich themes of toxic masculinity, family, squandered dreams, and moral decline. Over five years it was rightly lauded for its tackling of major issues, as well as its phenomenal pacing, visual flair, and acting.

It’s also absolutely chock full of murders and death, for those who like their prestige telly with a hefty serving of ultraviolence. As a show about the violent world of drug production, Breaking Bad would be remiss were it to avoid addressing the brutality at the industry’s heart, and address it they certainly did.

Over five seasons a lot of major deaths occurred. Some of these were impactful because of the status of the character being written out of the show. In other instances, the characters dying were relatively minor, but their impact on Breaking Bad’s major players was unmistakable.

Vince Gilligan et al filled their show with deaths cool and horrific, deserved and tragic, heroic and miserable, and everything in between. In terms of their narrative, aesthetic, and production values, here’s how they stack up.

Breaking Bad is replete with grim, depressing moments across its five seasons, but few are as outright bleak as the murder of single mother and Jesse Pinkman love interest Andrea Cantillo. This is true both on a story level and a meta one - the character deserved better than this.

In-story, of course, it’s a heartbreaking moment. Though she’s not on screen a great deal, we see Andrea go through a lot, overcoming drug addiction, worrying for her son’s health (who is of course poisoned by Walter in Season Four), and attempting to rebuild her life.

Then, she’s shot in the head by Todd, used as a pawn to ensure that the captive Jesse continues to cook meth lest the Nazi enforcer returns for Andrea’s young son.

It’s a sorry ending for the character on screen and off. She never really gets the chance to exist outside of Jesse, and for a show short on compelling female characters, it’s not great that one of the least corrupt is given such a cold, swift ending.