Breaking Bad Q&A: Vince Gilligan

This talk conatins SPOILERS if you are not caught up with Season 5A.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center recently hosted free screenings of every currently available episode of the critically acclaimed series Breaking Bad. Along with these marathon screenings, the Film Society held panels during which the show's cast chose two favorite episodes, discussed their experience with the show, and answered audience questions.
Here, series mastermind Vince Gilligan (creator, executive producer, writer, and director), whose previous credits include The X-Files, speaks with The New Yorker's television critic Emily Nussbaum. Giligan addresses the evolution of Walter White, the Skyler backlash, and leaving questions unanswered.

[@uforje]

Breaking Bad is the kind of show you can go back and watch so you can see where all the pieces began falling into place.

[@DaniboyBR2]

This show is simply the best thing I ever watched, period, no movie/show comes close to Breaking Bad in my opinion.

[@boreragnarok4798]

Only dexter does imo

[@zedxxx9]

@DaniboyBR2 -- 9 years later and I still agree with you. Some other satisfying shows, however, have been the Fargo series, Better Call Saul, and Ozark. Quite a few others as well, but Breaking Bad still takes the cake as my all time favorite... just like Pulp Fiction will always be one of my favorite movies for being so well done and being the first of it's class.

[@DaniboyBR2]

@@zedxxx9 Ozark SUCKS, Better Call Saul was great though. Ozark is so fake, I couldn't believe a scene, one dialogue, I quit in that one with him pretending to remove his nail with the pliers and it just coming off like it was glue on, as it was, him pretending it hurt for a second, then just talking normally as if nothing happened, so fake, I might try watching Fargo again sometime, I just couldn't the first time around, I found it a bit boring, anything that came close to Breaking Bad IMO is Better Call Saul, Sopranos, True Detective (only the first season, it goes downhill from there, the two protagonists, great actors, just left the show), The Wire but it has aged quite a lot, Sopranos seems fresh still, so does BraBad.

[@IcedEarth426]

I originally did not like Skyler, but the more I thought about it, the more you can understand why she behaves the way she does. As viewers, we sometimes forget that all of the characters are not always privy to the information that the audience has. If you think about what Skyler knows and what she actually sees at any given time you can begin to sympathize with her more. Think about all of the things she puts up with: Walter's constant lying, his constant sneaking around when she has no knowledge of what it is he's actually doing and his refusal to tell her anything, having two cell phones, his obvious attempts at manipulating her and their family, Walt's shady behavior and his shady connections which have resulted in loved ones getting hurt, not to mention Walter's increasingly aggressive behavior.

[@thomassharoniard4629]

+IcedEarth426 I appreciate to read your line because my struggle to protect the Skyler's case is still on the rails we can totally understand this character and she's so trustworthy until the very end

[@vincemarquez2142]

Yes BUT, nobody likes Skylar. Every scene with her is hard to watch.

[@UkeRebuke]

@@vincemarquez2142 that's not true. Skyler and Marie have great chemistry together. The Talking Pillow scene was great. Her manipulating Bogdon into selling the car wash was brilliant. As the show progressed into the final seasons, it became more clear what Skyler and Walt saw in each other when they first fell in love. They are both very smart people. I think viewers who take the time to actually think about the realities of the show can see past their frustrations with Skyler as an obstacle to Walt's success to understand and sympathize with her actions.

[@isaiahromero9861]

Vince Marquez not true, skylar is great, yea she’s kind of a Karen but that makes her feel more realistic and believable, plus she’s one of the few good people in this show. I feel horrible for her and what Walt did to her. Great character and great actress

[@amortality999]

Personally, I hate Hank and Marie more than Skylar.

[@gustavofring409]

This man had me murdered.

[@ChrisRayGun]

His voice is like a warm blanket. I love it.

[@cryojudgement2376]

How am I the first like 7 years later? Lol love your content

[@e2theoc]

I love that the guy who created Walter White calls people 'folks' :) He seems like a lovely generous guy! And a creative genius!

[@ytubeanon]

been watching multiple Vince panels on autoplay, this one has the best questions

[@MrSean24601]

Anybody else think Vince Gilligan kind of looks like Petyr Baelish from Game of Thrones?

[@mattmun12]

***** Only the facial hair.

[@mikenieuwenhuizen617]

Sure thing!

[@wisechild4608]

l

[@marilynmanord1790]

Vince Gilligan has created a series that has outdone and exceeded anyone as a show runner. This series has made history. There’s nothing else like it. I loved Walter White and I rooted and watched this series countless times. There is definitely humor throughout this show from the beginning to the very end. Everyone plays such a critical role all the time from Walt all the way to Lucy serving him coffee at the dinner. Thank you …,.to everyone who contributed well I think it’s a once in a lifetime experience.

[@BlaccEagle]

I love intelligent and brilliant people! The way they think satisfies my thinking mind.

[@user34rL]

he's great, just exactly who you want to be making your favourite tv show

[@JimmyValmer85]

What a lovable gentleman.

[@khara16]

Anecdotally...Vince is awesome :)

[@hannahyun0]

why this woman keep cutting him off? Just because she heard the story before?? We want to hear Vince was going to tell about 'Jane'!

[@Kickex]

Yea that was rude. But to be somewhat fair, he really has been telling that story so many times before. It's just about how they planned on having Walt killing Jane directly, instead of choosing not to save her.

[@RadioSnivins]

There's a pie shop in Upper Ferntree Gully called Gilligan's Pieland. True story.

[@DarkPhantomSky]

absolutely.

[@Eliguitar1]

awesome interview.....really wonky audio (super quiet levels from the stage mics and then deafeningly loud from "Hank's" mic in the audience). great coverage tho.

[@zedxxx9]

I like Skyler! Why would anyone not like Skyler!?!?

[@JakeDaMistake]

Because she was a drag in damn near 62 straight episodes

[@zedxxx9]

@@JakeDaMistake - 10 years later and I can't even remember who Skyler is...

[@zedxxx9]

@@JakeDaMistake --- Hah... okay... this is a Breaking Bad thread. I thought Skyler was someone on a reality TV show... It's almost time for me to rewatch Breaking Bad again...

[@JakeDaMistake]

@@zedxxx9 definitely do it! I did the whole re-run in last two weeks, finishing the finale last night. It was a whirlwind. U will definitely see a lot that u missed in your second go around, I’m excited for you

[@zedxxx9]

@@JakeDaMistake -- Thanks Jake! I will do it "soon". It will actually be my third rewatching of it, so I might still wait a year or two. I did rewatch a few episodes of Better Call Saul and enjoyed them even more the second time. I still wish there had been more surprise cameos. Just to see Walter White at a gas station without any lines, or seeing Mike and his wife casually going into a grocery store or something would have added that extra bit of awesomeness to the series. But it was satisfying still. If you just watched the BB finale last night, don't forget to follow it up with the "El Camino" movie to effectively get 2 more back to back episodes of what happens to Jesse Pinkman!!

[@zedxxx9]

Come on Vince... we need a new show!! I'm sure you can outdo yourself if you put your mind to it!

[@LegoLily]

He's doing a new show with rhea seehorn as the lead actor. Not breaking bad related

[@zedxxx9]

@@LegoLily -- Thanks for the heads up!! I'm excited...

[@LegoLily]

@@zedxxx9 np

[@pipermaru2011]

I have found myself always being sympathetic to Walt. I look at him as the every man,who has been beaten down by life and suddenly had the constraints of society taken away. And at some point he's opperating in a post apocolyptic survival mode. Its a tough thing not to be tempest by the dark side when it's telling you screw them all you deserve this.

[@UkeRebuke]

I dunno... I could excuse almost everything he did on the premise of circumstance--Even Jane. I mean that was horrendous but you could at least argue that he was trying to save Jesse from the same fate.... But the poisoning of Brock was not justified at all. And his incredible greed in season 5 really rubbed me the wrong way. The scene where he, Mike and Jesse split the money from their first cook comes to mind. Killing the witnesses in prison despite being able to buy their silence for what is a relatively low percentage of his profits?? Not excusable. Those weren't just 10 criminals who died in 2 minutes, it was 10 entire families destroyed in 2 minutes.

[@tubeyoumane]

my dads mowing the lawn outside so i cant hear a damn word this guy's saying. anywho, love the show guys!

[@ismarbadzic]

Awesome. But the audio levels are way too low. :(

[@Stillillgal]

so why did they kill the cook? doset make sesns

[@hanehani]

yes i mute skyrim and just listen to this while i play

[@cybersphere]

Walter White looks a lot like Flanders too

[@smittylikesto]

he should do commercial voice overs.

[@Etcircenses]

The volume is way too low. I am on max and cant here anything.

[@heatlupilipid]

at first, I read it as HER voice is like warm water

[@nikolatesla7356]

28:21 You sir, are my kind of guy! :)

[@NBC.SATURDAY.NIGHT.LIVE.]

Breaking bad. Fuck yes. That is all.

[@ZombieLincoln666]

This video's audio is too quiet.

[@BiSk0iT01]

I didn't know Little finger created Breaking Bad.

[@flyforce16]

I love how the cast always makes fun of his voice haha.

[@smittylikesto]

breaking bad ruined tv for me. after it ends it will never be the same. hope he makes another crime show.

[@UFCpwnage]

it was either walter or the cook.

[@rushiandiggity5004]

Vince "you know" Gilligan

[@Stillillgal]

why the cartel didnt kill gus???

[@AndreyAndreyevich]

Interesting

[@asull822]

They didn't go after the cook because then there was no way that the cartel would be able to make the high purity meth if the cook was dead. Gus sent Jesse to Mexico because he needed someone to keep his own lab running.

[@Fakman87]

This interviewer is far superior to the man who interviewed Bryan Cranston.

[@RegularGuyism]

@zedxxx9 You're not alone.

[@SycrosD4]

Well, yeah, he's a genius like you.

[@luckyhenry767]

???whaa???

[@Lightfeatherwing]

The same is true for Walt though and yet im going to assume that you dont hate him.

[@Stillillgal]

no no... i meant the cook in the flashback of gus

[@flyforce16]

Your point stands equal to mine... neither of us has a shred of proof.

[@poggerwhite]

I hate Skylar but I could never even imagine anyone but Anna gunn in that role. I love her portrayal of Skyler.

[@DMatt343]

There isn't necessarily a contradiction. I'm an atheist, but I never fail to say, "bless you" when someone near me sneezes. He could have said something more benign, but he chose to say something that the most people would identify with and interpret as a friendly gesture, which is logical. You wouldn't question an agnostic's lack of belief if they exclaimed, "Oh my God!", would you?

[@LadieTori]

I am the one who knock-diddly-ocks!

[@javiazar]

I think he regrets shooting Mike.

[@ukaszpacan3071]

What an ungodly creature would press the dislike button?

[@CHINKICHOU]

When Hank and JesusChristMarie showed up lel

[@asull822]

They wanted his meth cook and if they killed Gus then there was no way they were going to be able to be shown how to make the high purity blue meth.

[@justinfossa1254]

Food & Drug Administration? Vitamin C a Drug? Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms?

[@nikolatesla7356]

21:38 I been one of those people... until Walter shot a person with NO EMOTION WHATSOEVER!!! Imagine if you were one of those people he shot!

[@BrendanOC]

27:50 that scene always confused me, never really liked it.

[@fullmatches123]

I didnt like Hank. I thought he was so full in his job,i mean he was a cop

[@youngoldbones]

Are you eight years old?

[@youngoldbones]

He claims to be agnostic yet says "God Bless everyone for listening." Hmmm.

[@UkeRebuke]

It's a phrase. You think everyone that says "Oh my God" or "God forbid" is Christian, too?

[@ernstoppable]

Vince is like Ned Flanders IRL. What a nice guy

[@futurestoryteller]

It drives me up a wall when people claim this show is "not realistic" - what the fuck are they even talking about exactly? There is not a single moment, not a scene, not a line of dialogue, not a decision made or an interaction had that I don't believe is possible. As to whether the entire story - as a whole - is likely probably not. (What with the small world connections and what have you.) It's not likely you're going to win the lottery either, but that happens to some people. You don't write stories about typical scenarios. You write about exceptions. It's why even in non fiction newspapers are far more likely to write about a crazy man who bites a dog, than they are a crazy dog that bites a man. Besides, this is still fiction right? If Breaking Bad is "probably not" realistic, as a piece of fiction, then Goodfellas might as well be considered "probably not realistic" and I got news for you, most of the shit in Goodfellas actually happened - with some stuff that wasn't even in the movie! We're talking about a show that stops for five minutes to watch Badger and Skinny Pete argue about the proper motivations for killing zombies in video games. If this was shot on shaky cam-fake documentary style like The Shield; no one would be arguing about the aesthetic realism of the show. But who cares where you put the fucking camera, or what you do with it? The camera's not supposed to exist.

[@micglou]

I've got one scene... and only one. The bit when Gus walked out of the room after the explosion, that one was a bit too much. When half your brain is blasted away you're dead instantly... yes some people when mortally wounded didn't really realize it the first seconds like people that got limbs blasted off... but what happened to Gus should've made him a rag doll instantly. Plus the fact that the bomb was under the wheelchair and he was mostly wounded above the waist was a big flaw in my eyes.

[@futurestoryteller]

micglou No, I've heard of much, much weirder. But I'm inclined to agree with you on the consistency of his injuries.

[@timy9197]

It's about time someone points that out. It annoys me how robotic peoples take on story is. It's like they need the masses to decide the reasons why they like something.

[@timy9197]

micglou Actually it is possible that people can walk temporarily without their brain before dying. There have been real situations like that. Whining over the position of his wounds is a bit nit picky. Yes it would have been interesting to see what would happen accurately like what happened when Walt ran over those gangsters but it didn't effect the plot in any way, it was just meant to be stylized violence and an intense death for an antagonist.

[@micglou]

Tim Myers No it's not possible... where do you get your information? Humans arent chickens... And 'whining'? You certainly don't win the prize for being friendly...it's what you call nitpicking, a bomb explodes at my feet, my face gets blown off but my legs are fine... bit strange isn't it?. When somebody claims that the show is 100% realistic, than such obvious details can't be over looked. Not that I mind it's not 100% realistic, just a response to someone that claims it is out of some sort of fan rage.

[@ISolomonTruth]

Because she cheated on Walt.

[@iseeicyicetea]

you're probably right, but i don't really care about her private beliefs as long as she doesn't make them the center of her interview.

[@mrmusictelevision895]

Killed the genre? Do a live action Deathnote series with a decent budget. Antiheroes still have wiggle room.

[@UkeRebuke]

This comment did not age well. Lol

[@sekiro4454]

Audio for ants

[@daricklapaglia4337]

People hate skyler because she cheated End of story

[@youngoldbones]

Agnostics and atheists are not the same thing

[@darwinsujaya2557]

Why everybody said Walter become unsympathetic? I sympathize with him until the end... His ambition and love to his family is something I can relate to myself...

[@Chimponaut]

My theory about people not liking Skylar is because at the beginning of the show we get to see her bossing Walter around & almost treating him like a child. Thereby one of the reasons why Walter is so broken down and depressed and starts down this journey is her fault.

[@Stillillgal]

first comment

[@giardia2]

She could have stood up when he walked on stage…

[@RandomCarrot2806]

I think I would be a lot more sympathetic to Skyler in later seasons if she hadn't been so self centered, entitled and patronizing at the start. The moment at the end where she calls Walt out on his insistence that he did this for his family as his primary reason feels unearned to me because she was never shown to be any different. In fact, I still truly believe that Skyler is a worse person than Walt. Only difference is that Walt had an amazing talent which finally let his demons take over.

[@UkeRebuke]

..... Almost all of her actions were motivated by the desire to keep her family safe. The only thing I would say wasn't motivated by that was her affair with Ted. But she was essentially trapped in a home and a bed with a man she despised--so I'm gonna excuse that. The IRS debacle with Ted was all her desperate attempts to keep her family safe and protect her children from her husband's secrets. What did she do that was anywhere near Walt's level of sin?

[@beeebeeeto]

Re-watching the first episodes.They made it impossible to like Skylar.She was a nagging antagonist,she represented that dull social construct that we would all love to leave behind. Did Vince Gilligan think that an audience woud like a wife who does a lousy hand job as a b-day gift while watching her auction on Ebay? Skylars little reprimand to Walt for being late to his surprise party?Her hysterical and pathetic first encounter with Jesse warning him not to sell weed to Walter.

[@youngoldbones]

Yes, of course people hate Skyler because she cheated on Walt. Why is Vince so confused as to why people would hate her when they write her character as one who uses the act of having an affair with Ted as a weapon against Walt's criminality. Clearly that is why she went ahead and did it, to hurt Walt because she was powerless to strike back at him for dealing meth.

[@ISolomonTruth]

The reason people dislike Skylar is because she cheated on Walt. Despite everything Walt did, he never was unfaithful to her.