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Vince Gilligan created Breaking Bad, which ranks among the best shows of all time and changed the face of cable television. The series ran for five seasons, winning several accolades and critical acclaim. However, Gilligan admitted that the series would’ve been much shorter had he stuck to his plan of killing off one of its two major characters in the first season itself.
Vince Gilligan created the hit series Breaking Bad (Credit: Conan | TBS).During an interview, Gilligan revealed that he contemplated killing one major character by the end of the first season primarily because he wanted to make a bold statement. However, the showrunner admitted that he quickly decided against it, and the 2007-08 WGA strike had a role to play in it. Here is what Gilligan had to say about one Breaking Bad character’s death that could’ve changed everything.
Vince Gilligan wanted to kill off one out of two major Breaking Bad characters in season 1 itself
Vince Gilligan served as the creator and showrunner of Breaking Bad, which is easily one of the best television shows ever made. The series follows the rise of a cancer-stricken chemistry teacher in the drug business. During an interview with Esquire, Gilligan discussed crafting the show’s first season.
Vince Gilligan contemplated killing off Hank Schrader in Breaking Bad season 1 (Credit: AMC).Gilligan revealed that he initially planned on killing off Jesse Pinkman earlier in the show’s run but decided against it because of Aaron Paul’s performance. As a result, when it was time to write the first season finale, Gilligan contemplated killing off Dean Norris’ Hank Schrader instead.
I figured I ought to sacrifice one of the main characters at the end of Season One, because that’s what the ballsy shows do!
Gilligan made the above statement, explaining that he wanted to make a bold move in the finale by killing off a main character and Hank was one of the prime contenders.
However, Gilligan also admitted that had he killed off Hank or any other main character at the end of season 1, it would have diluted the overall story, making the experience far less rich than the eventual outcome. As a result, it is possible that the show might not have achieved the same reverence and died a sad death.
Vince Gilligan admitted that the WGA strike saved Breaking Bad from a sad death
In the same interview, Gilligan also suggested that the 2007-08 WGA strike had a role in him changing his mind about the decision to kill off a main character. The showrunner admitted that the strike came as a blessing in disguise for him. The first season was initially expected to have nine episodes but was affected by the strike.
Vince Gilligan feels WGA strike saved Breaking Bad (Credit: Conan | TBS).Meanwhile, Gilligan was busy with the production of the first seven episodes in New Mexico while his team of writers was trying to crack the last two episodes. However, the season had to end with seven episodes, resulting in the showrunner never writing about Hank’s death.
At just about the time we would have had to shut down for lack of scripts, which in those early days might well have been a death knell for the series, the WGA went on strike, thus saving my a**, for which I will be forever grateful.
Gilligan made the above remark, implying that since the last two episodes were yet to be written, he was able to make the seventh episode work as a finale while also postponing Hank’s death.
Hank was later killed off in the show’s final season episode Ozymandias, which is considered the best hour of television Gilligan and his team created. Hence, it is easy to understand why the showrunner felt that killing off the character sooner would have diluted the overall story.
Breaking Bad is streaming on Netflix.
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