History BreakingBad / TropesCToD

* CatchPhrase: Not so much a specific phrase, but Walter will regularly say something along the lines of "It had to be done" or "That's the last time we'll have to kill anyone".
** Jesse's "[[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch ...Bitch!]]" and "Yo!", with the latter bordering on a VerbalTic.
** Walt has said "Everything I've done, I've done for my family" so many times his neighbors might assume it's his ringtone. Of course, he gets constantly called on it, as the more time passes, the less people buy that excuse.

* DiedOnTheirBirthday: In "[[Recap/BreakingBadS3E3IFT IFT]]", Tortuga is [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] by Marco and Leonel Salamanca after he is distracted by an apparent birthday gift.

** After killing Gus, Walt and Jesse burn the underground meth lab to ensure nothing leading back to them remains.
** Upon learning that the DEA has Gus's computer, they use a powerful magnet to wipe the hard drive through the walls of the evidence room to eliminate anything that might lead back to them

** When Walt falls out of Gus's favour after killing Gale, Gus sets up security cameras in the superlab to keep an eye on him and Jesse. After the lab is destroyed in the Season 4 finale, the DEA confiscate Gus's laptop containing the footage from the cameras, leading to Walt, Jesse, and Mike trying to find a way to destroy the laptop before the police can see the footage implicating them.

** Walter's [[spoiler:gun]], throughout all of Season 4. It is, however, used as a prominent prop in various scenes where its presence alone has either thematic or plot-relevant resonance. However, he doesn't actually use it until the end of the final episode.

* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:Even with an injured leg and Walt's pleadings to save his life from Jack, Hank refuses to take any of his offers and gets killed by Jack.]] Though he's likely right that it was going to end the same anyway.

** A few episodes later, Walt admits the true nature of his "fugue state" to his therapist, but leaves out the meth, kidnapping, and gun battle.

*** Also in "[[Recap/BreakingBadS5E16Felina Felina]]": [[spoiler: Walter is about to be taken out back and shot by the Neo-Nazis at their hideout, which would screw his whole plan to kill them all with an M60. While they're grabbing him to take him out back, he starts screaming at Jack about Jack's promise to kill Jesse, alleging Jack partnered with Jesse instead. In doing so, Walt hits a MAJOR nerve Jack has (and Walt didn't even know about): his hatred of snitches. Jack is so incensed at even the implication he's working with a rat (Jesse), he keeps Walt alive just so he can see Jesse is their slave, not a partner. This, however, buys Walt enough time to grab his keys off the pool table and trigger the M60]].

* ChekhovsGun

** Ted's rug.

** The gun Mike [[spoiler:kept in his getaway bag in "Say My Name"]].

** Lydia's [[spoiler:Stevia obsession becomes her undoing]].

** After committing to make 4 lbs of meth for Tuco -- impossible due to the restriction on purchasing pseudoephedrine in bulk -- Walt indicates they will switch to a [=P2P=] cook, which relies on them being able to obtain methylamine as a precursor. When hiring a group of professionals to steal the precursor proves too expensive, Walt suggests they steal it themselves using homemade thermite. He then goes on to describe how a German WWII cannon -- the Gustav gun -- was able to withstand sustained bombing, but could be crippled through the same application of thermite.
** In "Felina", Walt tries and fails to hotwire a car, managing to give himself a minor shock in the process. After a brief panic when he thinks a cop is going to hassle him, he thinks to check above the sun screen, and the keys drop straight into his lap.
* DaddysGirl / ManipulativeBastard: Jane to her father in Season 2's ''Phoenix'' when he finds she and Jesse are back on drugs and goes to call the police. She uses a variety of techniques, including emotional blackmail, reminding him of the time she left and he didn't water her houseplants so they died, overreacting to 'being judged', and telling her father [[BlatantLies that she and Jesse talked about rehab every night]]. It worked.

* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Walt starts making meth trying to help his family and pay for his cancer treatment, but keeps cooking out of pure pride and greed.

** The most successful criminals on the show make a point of averting this trope, laundering their money through legitimate businesses and avoiding extravagant purchases to keep from being noticed by the law. Walt starts off this way before beginning to believe his own hype in Season 5, buying expensive cars and [[spoiler: inadvertantly leaving a clue that makes Hank realize Walt is Heisenberg]].
** Jesse tries to embrace this trope several times, buying an expensive house and running a 24/7 party in it; however he ends up alienating his friends, wasting his money because he can't possibly spend all of it, and the girls he meets are meth-heads with no real interest in him.

** "Hermanos" in Season 4 for Gus. The episode focuses more on him than any other character and gives a look into his MysteriousPast [[spoiler:and provides a lot of subtext for his relationship with the Cartel, Tio in particular]].
** "Madrigal" features a lot of Mike being a badass.

* DebateAndSwitch: Walt spends a couple of episodes trying decide if he should kill the captive Krazy 8 in cold blood, or let him go and trust that he won't retaliate. Walt has finally decided to let him go -- then realizes that Krazy 8 has acquired a makeshift weapon and intends to kill him as soon as he does.

* DescentIntoAddiction: An early story arc depicts Jesse (already a habitual user of crystal meth and weed) being introduced to heroin by his girlfriend Jane and slowly becoming addicted. After Jane overdoses, Walt sends Jesse to a rehab facility and he remains clean for most of the rest of the series.

** Walt seems to have reached one in the beginning of the episode [[spoiler:"Salud", after getting the shit beaten out of him by his surrogate son Jesse. However, his real son helps him through it.]] He promptly returns to it in [[spoiler:"Crawl Space", when he learns that Gus declared him and his family free game and all of the money they had was given to Ted Beneke by Skyler]].

** It now seems that Walt has finally gone beyond the line of despair when [[spoiler:in "Granite State", his son insults him multiple times for supposedly killing Hank and disowns him as a father, even when Walt tearfully begs him to receive the money he's giving to him through a conduit. He lets the DEA know about his location and stays a bit longer until his pride is hit by [[LenoDevice an appearance on Charlie Rose]] by Gray Matter in which they discuss his involvement in the company. He leaves immediately afterwards.]]

* DeusExMachina: Inverted. In Episode 5 it is suddenly revealed that Walt just so happens to have that one super rich friend from grad school with whom he founded a billion dollar company that Walt dropped out of before it got big. Skyler persuades this friend, Elliot, to offer him a high-paying job with excellent health insurance that could cover his medical bills and ensure that his family will be well off once he is gone. ''But'' Walt refuses. His pride and resentment can't take the humiliation to be offered "charity", so he decides it's better to cook and sell meth instead.

** Though it's obliquely foreshadowed by the first scene of the episode in which it happens, [[spoiler:the discovery that some random kid saw the methylamine heist, followed immediately by seemingly mild-mannered Todd gunning the boy down]] is a horrifying left-field turn from Walt and Jesse's perspective.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Walt starts manufacturing crystal meth without ever really considering how his family might react when they discover he is a drug kingpin and a murderer, the consequences for them should he get caught, how he could safely launder the huge sums of money he is earning without attracting suspicion, or that his DEA agent brother in-law would eventually deduce that he is the biggest meth dealer in the south west USA.

* DisappointingPromotion: A non-self variation: [[spoiler: After Jesse is forced into hiding as a result of Walt killing two of Gus's street dealers, Walt sees that his new lab assistant is Gale Boetticher. Walt knows that Gale is the only other person who has an understanding of the process behind Walt's recipe, and realizes that unless Gale is removed from the picture, he's a dead man if Gale figures it out himself, as Gus will have no reason to keep him on payroll.]]

** Don Eladio is a more straight example as the leader of a powerful drug cartel who doesn't even pretend to be something he's not. He's so sure of his position and power that it blinds him to the real motivations of some of his subordinates.

* DopeSlap: Mike gives Jesse one in "ABQ" when he refuses to say "I woke up, I found her, that's all I know", which is what he'll be saying to the people that arrive.

** "Shotgun" has Jesse riding shotgun for Mike, and being threatened with one by a stick-up guy.
** "Face-Off" has Gus' conflicts with [[spoiler:both Walt and Tio Salamanca]] come to a head, and ends with [[spoiler:half his head being blown away]].

** Walt does it again with Jane's father, who is at the bar after learning that his daughter has once again relapsed in her drug use..

--->'''Jesse:''' What is ''that''? ''Conjecture''? Are you basing that on that he's got like a normal, healthy brain or something? [...] And that way -- that way he just kept staring at us... Saying, ''You're done.'' Wh- You're ''done''? You wanna know what that means -- I will ''tell'' you what that means. That means exactly how it sounds, yo! [...] Right now Tuco's thinking 'Yeah, hey, they cook good meth, but, ''can I trust them''?' What happens, when he decides no?