Breaking Bad’s pilot opens with a dramatic scene: a speeding RV crashes in the desert while pursued by police. Walter White emerges wearing only underwear and a gas mask, records a message for his family, then faces the approaching sirens with a gun.
Three weeks earlier, we meet Walter White, an insomniac chemistry teacher living with his pregnant wife Skyler and their teenage son Walter Jr., who has cerebral palsy. Struggling financially, Walter works a second job at a car wash, where his boss Bogdan (Marius Stan) forces him to hand-wash cars—leading to humiliation when a disruptive student from his class photographs him while mocking him.
Shortly after his 50th birthday celebration, Walter collapses at work and receives a devastating diagnosis: stage three lung cancer. This becomes a turning point as he faces mounting medical expenses. The next day, Walter quits his car wash job after snapping at Bogdan, then accompanies his DEA agent brother-in-law Hank on a drug raid, where he recognizes one of the fleeing suspects as his former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul).
Walter tracks down Jesse that night and makes an unexpected proposal: partner to cook and sell methamphetamine, combining Walter’s chemistry expertise with Jesse’s drug trade knowledge. After coercing Jesse’s cooperation through threats, Walter begins stealing chemistry equipment from school. They purchase an RV as their mobile lab, where Walter’s precise methods produce methamphetamine of unprecedented 99.1% purity.
Jesse then took a sample of his meth to a dealer named Domingo Gallardo Molina aka Krazy-8 (Maximino Arciniega). Krazy-8 offered Walter to work for him as a meth maker. When Walter declines Krazy-8’s job offer, the situation turns hostile after Emilio recognizes him from the DEA raid. Walter seemingly offers to teach them his formula, but instead creates a poisonous gas inside the RV. In the ensuing chaos, Walter and Jesse escape in the RV—revealing this to be the mysterious opening scene, with fire trucks rather than police approaching.
The next morning, Jesse discovers both men survived. After stealing hydrofluoric acid from school, Walter encounters and captures a disoriented Krazy-8, whom they chain in Jesse’s basement. While Walter grapples with killing Krazy-8, Jesse attempts to dispose of the now-dead Emilio’s body. Complications arise when Skyler visits Jesse, threatening DEA involvement unless he stops selling marijuana to Walter. Jesse then unwisely places Emilio’s body in his upstairs bathtub with the acid, resulting in both body and tub crashing through the ceiling.
Meanwhile, Krazy-8 engages Walter in manipulation, revealing intimate knowledge of Walter’s life learned from Jesse. Walter nearly succumbs to Krazy-8’s reasonable demeanor until he discovers a missing shard from a broken plate—a concealed weapon. This revelation forces Walter’s hand. When Krazy-8 attempts to strike with the hidden shard, Walter pulls the bike lock until he suffocates. Though Emilio was his first victim via the poisonous gas, killing Krazy-8 with his own hands marks a crucial turning point in Walter’s transformation.
In the basement, Krazy-8 manipulates Walter through conversation, revealing intimate knowledge of Walter’s life gained from Jesse. After Walter collapses from his illness while bringing Krazy-8 a sandwich, their subsequent interaction nearly convinces Walter to free him. However, while disposing of a beer can upstairs, Walter notices a missing piece from a broken plate. Reconstructing it reveals Krazy-8’s deception—he had concealed a sharp shard as a weapon.
This discovery hardens Walter’s resolve. He returns to the basement feigning mercy, but when Krazy-8 attempts to strike with the hidden shard, Walter pulls the bike lock until he suffocates. Though Emilio was technically his first victim via poisonous gas, killing Krazy-8 with his own hands marks a crucial turning point in Walter’s transformation, leaving him too traumatized to work the next day.
At the desert crime scene, Hank’s DEA team discovers Krazy-8’s abandoned car containing traces of extraordinarily pure meth, raising concerns about their missing informant. Meanwhile, Jesse begins distribution efforts through his friends Combo and Skinny Pete, with Combo’s cousin expressing interest in purchasing their entire future production. When Jesse brings this opportunity to Walter, it results only in an angry dismissal.
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During a visit to his parents’ home, Jesse witnesses his younger brother Jacob being celebrated for academic success. However, the visit turns sour when marijuana is discovered and Jesse is blamed, though it actually belongs to Jacob. Rather than expose his brother, Jesse privately warns Jacob about drug use before leaving. His subsequent attempt at legitimate work—interviewing at a marketing firm—leads only to an offer as a costumed mascot, where he encounters his friend Badger (Matt Jones) working the same job.
During their conversation, Jesse tells Badger about his meth operation with Walter and explains their cessation due to Walter’s withdrawal and supply issues. When Badger offers to help gather materials, they attempt cooking in Jesse’s RV, but Jesse’s failed attempts to match Walter’s quality lead to a fight and Jesse abandoning Badger in the desert.
While Walter begins chemotherapy at a specialist clinic following a family discussion about his cancer treatment, the high costs prompt him to reconsider. He unexpectedly visits Jesse to propose resuming their partnership, only to find the lab in disarray from Jesse and Badger’s attempts.
Walter establishes new rules for a more professional operation: Jesse handles distribution while Walter manages production anonymously. During their next desert cook, Walter experiences respiratory issues from chemotherapy and, despite his earlier boundaries, asks an increasingly concerned Jesse to take over the cooking process.
At the DEA, Gomez reveals they’ve traced a gas mask from their crime scene to Walter’s high school. Meanwhile, Jesse begins distribution, but Walter expresses disappointment with his small-scale sales approach, pushing him to focus on larger quantities. Hank visits Walter’s classroom about missing lab equipment, revealing two gas masks and glass bottles are unaccounted for. After Hank leaves, Jesse calls about a potential high-level buyer - former inmate Tuco Salamanca (Raymond Cruz), which Walter encourages him to pursue.
At Tuco’s headquarters, Jesse presents their meth and claims it as his own product, requesting advance payment. Tuco responds with brutal violence, beating Jesse unconscious for attempting to operate in his territory. Walter visits Jesse in the hospital after learning of the incident from Skinny Pete (Charles Baker).
Walter, his hair falling out from chemotherapy, shaves his head and confronts Tuco alone as “Heisenberg.” When Tuco dismisses his demands for compensation, Walter detonates mercury fulminate disguised as meth, demonstrating his leverage through the explosion.
Impressed, Tuco agrees to Walter’s terms, revealing Jesse’s confiscated meth sold well in Tijuana. He orders another pound with upfront payment. Walter returns to Jesse with the money and his success story, but later receives sobering news about his condition during a doctor’s appointment with Skyler.
Walter and Jesse meet Tuco at a scrap yard to deliver their ordered meth. When Walter reveals they’re half a pound short due to production problems, Tuco agrees to half payment and accepts Walter’s proposal for a new, higher-priced deal.
Aiming to quadruple their output, they draft a shopping list of ingredients. When Jesse’s supplier can’t provide methylamine due to increased surveillance, Walter devises a warehouse theft. They execute the plan by breaching the warehouse with explosives and incapacitating a guard with laxatives, successfully stealing a drum of methylamine.
When their RV breaks down the next morning, they’re forced to set up operations in Jesse’s basement to avoid delays. The situation becomes complicated when Jesse must repeatedly chase off potential buyers during an open house showing by the real estate agency. Despite these interruptions, they manage to complete their production.
At the scrap yard delivery, their product shows a distinctive blue tint from the methylamine - later known as “Blue Sky.” Though initially skeptical, Tuco tests the blue meth and is impressed by its superior quality. However, the meeting takes a dark turn when Tuco violently beats his subordinate No-Doze (Cesar Garcia) for making unsolicited warnings about their partnership, leaving Walter and Jesse horrified.
