Breaking Bad recap: the story so far

No. 01 · 2008 · Series

Breaking Bad recap

In season 1, Walter White, a 50-year-old high school chemistry teacher in Albuquerque, is diagnosed with lung cancer. To provide for his pregnant wife Skyler and teenage son Walt Jr., he teams up with Jesse Pinkman, a former student and small-time dealer, to cook methamphetamine of unusual purity, while hiding it from his brother-in-law Hank Schrader, a DEA agent. In season 2, Walt takes the name Heisenberg, his lies push Skyler away, and Jesse's girlfriend Jane dies of an overdose as Walt watches; her grieving father, an air traffic controller, causes a midair collision over the city. In season 3, Walt and Jesse cook for Gus Fring, a drug lord who runs a chicken restaurant chain, with lawyer Saul Goodman handling their money; Skyler learns the truth and helps launder it, and Hank survives an attack by cartel twins. Jesse kills Gale, Walt's lab assistant, to save Walt's life. In season 4, Gus tries to divide Walt and Jesse, and Walt poisons a child, Brock, to turn Jesse against Gus, then kills Gus with a bomb. In season 5, Walt partners with Mike Ehrmantraut and Lydia, builds an empire, kills Mike and has prison witnesses murdered. Hank finds a book with Gale's inscription in Walt's bathroom and realises Walt is Heisenberg. Hank is killed by Jack Welker's gang of neo-Nazis, who take Walt's money and enslave Jesse to cook.

How Breaking Bad ends

Walt flees to New Hampshire, then returns to Albuquerque. He arranges for his remaining money to reach his son, tells Skyler he did it all because he liked it, and poisons Lydia. At Jack's compound, he kills the gang with a remote-controlled machine gun, and Jesse strangles his captor Todd. Jesse refuses to kill Walt and drives away. Walt, hit by his own gunfire, dies in the meth lab.

No. 02 · 2015 · Series

Better Call Saul recap

In 2002, six years before Breaking Bad, Jimmy McGill is a struggling lawyer in Albuquerque and a former conman, living in the shadow of his brilliant older brother Chuck, who believes he is allergic to electricity. In season 1, Jimmy takes on elder law and uncovers a fraud by the Sandpiper retirement homes, and Mike Ehrmantraut, a former Philadelphia cop, works as a parking attendant. In season 2, Jimmy joins a big firm through his partner Kim Wexler, then quits, and tampers with Chuck's files to help Kim; Mike crosses the Salamanca cartel family. In season 3, Chuck tapes Jimmy's confession and tries to have him disbarred, Jimmy is suspended for a year, and Chuck dies in a fire he sets himself. Mike goes to work for Gus Fring. In season 4, Gus builds a superlab, and Mike kills the engineer Werner when he escapes. Jimmy returns to the law as Saul Goodman. In season 5, Saul works for the cartel lieutenant Lalo Salamanca, and Kim and Jimmy marry and turn on Howard Hamlin, Chuck's partner. In season 6, Kim and Jimmy's scheme ruins Howard, and Lalo kills him in their apartment. Gus kills Lalo, and Kim leaves Jimmy. Black and white flash-forwards show Jimmy after Breaking Bad, hiding in Omaha as Gene Takavic, a mall Cinnabon manager.

How Better Call Saul ends

As Gene, Jimmy is recognised and slips back into running scams, then is caught. He nearly negotiates a seven-and-a-half-year sentence, but in court he confesses everything, including his role in Walt's empire and his guilt over Chuck, and is sentenced to 86 years. Kim, now working in Florida, visits him in prison and they share a cigarette.

No. 03 · 2019 · Film

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie recap

Jesse Pinkman escapes Jack's compound in Todd's El Camino on the night Walt dies, wanted by the police. He hides with his friends Skinny Pete and Badger and swaps cars. Flashbacks show his captivity, when Todd forced him to help bury a woman he had murdered. Jesse searches Todd's apartment for the cash Todd hid there, but two men posing as police, Neil and Casey, the welders who built Jesse's cage, arrive for the money too, and they split it. Jesse goes to Ed Galbraith, the vacuum repairman who makes people disappear, but is short of the fee.

How El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie ends

Jesse returns to Neil's welding shop to demand more money, wins a quick-draw against him and kills him and Casey. He pays Ed, who drives him to Alaska with a new identity. In a flashback, Walt and Jesse share a meal. Jesse drives off into a snowy new life, leaving a letter for Brock.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.