History Recap / BreakingBadS1E1Pilot

** The very first scene is of Walter White recording a video confession to his family when he thinks that he's about to be busted for cooking meth. Though seemingly innocuous on first watch, Walt's argument in his own defense--that he only had the best intentions, and wanted to provide for his family--gives valuable insight into how he rationalizes his criminal acts; [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain the series that follows]] is essentially one long dismantling of that claim, as we gradually find out that it's not nearly as true as Walt wants it to be. As several people have pointed out, [[ExactWords the specific phrasing of Walt's claim]] ("I only had you in my heart!") is particularly telling, as it can be understood both as "I only wanted to help you!" and "I don't care what happens to anyone but you!"

** Walt is told by the doctor when he gets diagnosed with cancer on his birthday, that in the best-case scenario, he has only [[Recap/BreakingBadS5E16Felina two years to live...]]

The first scene we see is several landscape shots of desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Suddenly, a pair of khakis falls from the sky and is quickly run over by a speeding RV, driven by the owner of the khakis, Walter Hartwell White. He's driving the RV in his white underpants and wearing a gas mask. A young man in the passenger seat has a gas mask as well, but appears to be unconscious. In the back, broken glass, liquids, and two more un-moving bodies are careening around. Walter's mask becomes foggy, and he drives off the road and crashes. He emerges, flinging the gas mask from him in frustration, before donning his shirt and re-entering the RV to retrieve a videocamera and a handgun. He records a tearful message saying goodbye to his family and then stands on the road pointing the pistol toward the sound of oncoming sirens. Cue title sequence!

After the credits, we flash back to three weeks earlier. Walter is exercising and staring at a plaque commemorating his contributions to Nobel Prize-winning research. At breakfast, his wife Skyler makes him a plate of eggs with veggie bacon spelling out "50". It is Walter's 50th birthday today. His son, Walter Jr., who has cerebral palsy, mocks the veggie bacon and his mother's healthy food crusade. Walter and his son then drive to JP Wynne High School, where Walt Jr. is a student and Walt Sr. is a chemistry teacher. Walter is also shown working as a car wash cashier, his second job to make ends meet. One of his students happens to spot him wiping down car tires and takes a picture. Humiliated, Walter returns home late to find a surprise birthday party for him, with many guests. His brother-in-law, Hank Schrader, a DEA agent married to Skyler's sister Marie, is holding a casual demonstration of his pistol and passes around to Walt, then takes his drink from him as the party toasts, [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments leaving Walt holding the firearm instead]]. Hank is also featured on the news busting a local meth lab. Walt is astounded at how much money the criminals have made.

Next day at the car wash, Walt suffers a coughing fit and collapses outside by the cars, and is rushed to the hospital by ambulance, against Walt's protests. After a scan, a doctor tells him he's been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Walt seems to take the news well, hides it from Skyler, but explodes at his car wash supervisor, Bogdan, and angrily quits. Sitting alone by his poolside at dawn lighting matches, he calls Hank to take him up on the offer to ride along with him for a drug bust. The DEA busts Emilio Koyama's meth lab, while Walter sits in the car and witnesses Emilio's partner, Jesse Pinkman, escaping from the house next door while a naked woman throws his clothes out of the window. Walt recognizes Jesse as a former high school student of his. Later that evening, Walt stops by Jesse's house to make him an offer: they go into business making meth together, Jesse handling the business and Walter handing the chemistry. He subsequently threatens to turn Jesse in if he doesn't agree.

** A very dark example. Walt's bungled suicide attempt at the end (he tries to shoot himself with the safety on) may draw a breath of relief from the viewer in the moment, but in retrospect it would have prevented a vast amount of death and suffering down the road.

** Walt is told by the doctor when he got cancer in his birthday, that in the best case scenario, he has only two years to live...

** When tagging along to the drug bust, Walt identifies the toxic gas that can come from a mishap in a meth lab (phosphine gas). Not only does it show his knowledge about manufacturing meth, but Walt also intentionally creates the gas in the climax to turn the tables on the drug dealers holding him at gunpoint.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Walt begins his baby steps to become a Nightmare in this episode.

-->'''Jesse:''' Some straight like you, giant stick up his ass, all a sudden at age -- what, sixty? He's just gonna [[TitleDrop break bad]]?\\

* OutOfJobIntoThePlot: Downplayed. The first thing Walt does after receiving his cancer diagnosis is to rudely quit his job at the carwash as retaliation towards his MeanBoss Bogdan ("FUCK YOU!! AND YOUR EYEBROWS!!") and go down the path of cooking meth. However he continues to teach chemistry until midway through the series.

* OutOfJobIntoThePlot: Downplayed. The first thing Walt does after receiving his cancer diagnosis is to rudely quit his job at the carwash and go down the path of cooking meth. However he continues to teach chemistry until midway through the series.

** Walter Jr. eats the first of many breakfasts.

* LectureAsExposition: In his chemistry lesson, Walt describes how energy can either be released gradually and unnoticeably or suddenly and violently. In the episode's climax, he uses mercury fulminate, the explosive he described in class to successfully threaten a violent drug lord.

* PapaWolf: Don't make fun of Walter Jr in front of his father. Just don't.

* FanDisservice: Creator/BryanCranston makes the first of many appearances in his tighty whitey briefs, and it is not pleasant...

* HumiliationConga: Walt teaches chemistry to apathetic high schoolers, works a menial job in which he is disrespected, forced to stay late on his birthday, and mocked by his students, his brother-in-law casually (and likely unintentionally) belittles him, and his wife can't even be bothered to take her eyes away from her laptop while giving him a half-hearted handjob as a "birthday present." Happy birthday, Walt.

* VomitDiscretionShot: StressVomit: or no, you still don't actually ''see'' Walt vomit.

** Jesse denies ratting Emilio out to the DEA, but can't explain how they came to target him. [[spoiler:We learn later on that Krazy-8 was a narc.]]

'''Season 1, Episode 01:'''

** Jesse denies ratting Emilio out to the DEA, but can't explain how they came to target him. [[spoiler: We learn later on that Krazy-8 was a narc.]]

->''"Is that you?"''

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: When Hank and Gomez are about to go into Jesse's meth lab, Hank calls Gomez 'Frank' while it will be later established that Gomez's first name is 'Steve'.

Next day at the car wash, Walt collapses outside by the cars, and is rushed to the hospital, where a doctor tells him he's been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Walt seems to take the news well, hides it from Skyler, but explodes at his car wash supervisor, Bogdan, and angrily quits. He then calls Hank to take him up on an offer to ride along with him for a drug bust. The DEA busts Emilio Koyama's meth lab, while Walter sits in the car and witnesses Emilio's partner, Jesse Pinkman, escaping from the house next door while a naked woman throws his clothes out of the window. Walt recognizes Jesse as a former high school student of his. Later that evening, Walt stops by Jesse's house to make him an offer: they go into business making meth together, Jesse handling the business and Walter handing the chemistry. He subsequently threatens to turn Jesse in if he doesn't agree.

* ForWantOfANail: A very dark example. Walt's bungled suicide attempt at the end (he tries to shoot himself with the safety on) may draw a breath of relief from the viewer in the moment, but in retrospect it would have prevented a vast amount of death and suffering down the road.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Hank is the one who originally offered to take Walter on a ride-along to a meth lab, claiming he should get a little excitement in his life. If he hadn't, Walter probably wouldn't have asked to go on one, he wouldn't have been reunited with Jesse, and he wouldn't have begun his long, dark road into trafficking meth.

----

* FanService: ...contrasted with the topless woman kicking Jesse out of her house. According to Creator/VinceGilligan on the DVD commentary, that scene was a very popular one for the crew to watch the filming of. Apparently the script had been passed around.

* VomitDiscretionShot: StressVomit or no, you still don't actually ''see'' Walt vomit.

Their partnership settled, Walt steals a box full of chemistry equipment from his own classroom at the high school, while Jesse purchases an RV for them to use as a lab. They drive into the desert and cook, with Walt in his underwear to keep the smell out of his clothes. Jesse declares Walter "an artist", and is clearly impressed with his technical abilities. Jesse takes a sample to his distributor Krazy-8, cousin of Emilio. Emilio unexpectedly shows up, out of jail on bail, and falsely accuses Jesse of ratting him out to the cops. The two threaten Jesse and ask where he got his sample. The three drive out to the RV where Walt is still cooking, but when Emilio recognizes Walter from the bust, the two assume he's working with the DEA and pull their guns on Jesse and Walt. Jesse tries to run away, but falls on a rock and is knocked out as Emilio and Krazy-8 threatens to kill them both. Walter, picking on Krazy-8's admiration of his meth, talks them into sparing him and Jesse if he teaches them his recipe. He begins cooking, but deliberately mixes the wrong chemicals to cause an explosive cloud of gas and runs out of the RV, holding the door shut as the two inside are poisoned. Walter suddenly notices that the desert grass has caught fire from Emilio's stray cigarette butt, and frantically puts gas masks on himself and Jesse before driving off in the poisoned RV.

After the credits, we flash back to three weeks earlier. Walter is exercising and staring at a plaque commemorating his contributions to Nobel Prize-winning research. At breakfast, his wife Skyler makes him a plate of eggs with veggie bacon spelling out "50". It is Walter's 50th birthday today. His son, Walter Jr., who has cerebral palsy, mocks the veggie bacon and his mother's healthy food crusade. Walter and his son then drive to the JP Wynne High School, where Walt Jr. is a student and Walt Sr. is a chemistry teacher. Walter is also shown working as a car wash cashier, his second job to make ends meet. One of his students happens to spot him wiping down car tires and takes a picture. Humiliated, Walter returns home late to find a surprise birthday party for him, with many guests. His brother-in-law, Hank Schrader, a DEA agent married to Skyler's sister Marie, is holding a casual demonstration of his pistol and passes around to Walt, then takes his drink from him as the party toasts, [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments leaving Walt holding the firearm instead]]. Hank is also featured on the news busting a local meth lab. Walt is astounded at how much money the criminals have made.

->''"Some straight like you, giant stick up his ass, age what - 60? He’s just gonna break bad?"''
-->-- '''Jesse Pinkman'''

* StressVomit: Walter ends up throwing up when he realizes that he’s in all likelihood killed Krazy-8 and Emilio.