Is 'Breaking Bad' Based on a True Story?

The Big Picture

• Breaking Bad was not based on a true story but an idea from creator Vince Gilligan, who imagined Walter White during a midlife crisis.
• Similar real-life cases to Walter White have popped up post-show, like a chemistry prof caught making meth at work.
• The history of creating meth predates Breaking Bad , having roots dating back to the late 1800s during WWII.

We've all got our favorite moments from the game-changing AMC series Breaking Bad, don't we? Whether it's chemistry teacher turned crystal meth kingpin Walter White (Bryan Cranston) telling his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn), "I am the one who knocks!", or White's underachieving misfit of a student turned sidekick meth chef Jesse Pinkston (Aaron Paul) with his "Yeah! Science, B****!" We've also got our favorite supporting character from the show — maybe bigger parts, like DEA Agent and White's brother-in-law neighbor Hank (Dean Norris), or the squirrelly low-level street dealers and tweakers Skinny Pete (Charles Baker) and Badger (Matt Jones).

There were so many incredible characters that played a part in the world of the show that ran from 2008-2013, and we haven't even mentioned Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), and Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) yet. So, the natural question we had regarding the crew from Albuquerque, New Mexico is whether any of them are based on real people, or were any of the things that happened on the show real.

Breaking Bad

Vince Gilligan Must've Borrowed a True Story for 'Breaking Bad,' Right?

With the truth being stranger than fiction and all that other stuff, Breaking Bad had to be based on a true story, at the very least. Surprisingly, none of what we saw unfold over the show's six seasons is based on a true story. It all came from the brilliant imagination of show creator and executive producerVince Gilligan. In fact, Gilligan had the idea for the show going back to his days working on another seminal television show some fifteen years earlier called The X-Files. The creator shared how the idea of Walter White came about in an interview with NPR:

"I remember the exact moment in which the idea hit me. But as to where the idea came from, I'm not quite sure. I suspect it had something to do with the fact that I was — when I came up with the idea for Breaking Bad , I was about to turn 40 years old. And, perhaps, I was thinking in terms of, you know, an impending midlife crisis. And to that end, I think Walter White, at least in the early seasons of Breaking Bad , is a man who's suffering from, perhaps, the world's worst midlife crisis."

In a great 10-minute Emmy video interview, Gilligan also recounted how it was initially difficult to find a network that had the chutzpah to deal with some of the hardcore material in the years prior to the show's premiere, quoting two prospective buyers with TNT: "Oh, God! I wish we could buy this! But if we bought this we'd be fired. We can't put this on TNT. It's meth. It can't be meth." Even today, TNT seems like the absolute wrong fit for a show like Breaking Bad as they have generally kept everything right around PG-13 — but it is interesting to note that studios were not breaking Gilligan's door down with immediate offers to air the show that would become legendary.

Surely, Vince Gilligan Had to Have Been Influenced by Real Events, Right?

Whether Gilligan knows it or not, there have been several stories of chemistry teachers who have "broken bad" and gotten busted. A handful of disgruntled, underpaid teachers and professors familiar with cooking crystal meth have taken to peddling some on the side to make ends meet. For instance, Bradley Allen Rowland, a chemistry professor at Henderson State University, got busted in 2019 for doing exactly what Walter White did. The State of Arkansas decided that Rowland only needed to be sentenced to four months in jail for making meth while at work.

There's also the case of John W. Gose, a 56-year-old ex-chemistry teacher from, you guessed it, New Mexico, who got a four-year sentence for doing his best Heisenberg impersonation in 2017. But you're probably thinking (and correctly), that that is well after the show had concluded, so maybe these guys were inspired by Gilligan's creation, not the other way around. Gose was from Las Cruces (not far from Albuquerque), New Mexico, and was busted with almost $45,000 worth of crystal meth in a Styrofoam cooler during a routine traffic stop. What are the odds?

Chemists Have Been Cooking Crystal Meth for Well Over a Hundred Years

A little research into the history of the drug that was at the center of one of the greatest shows of all time reveals that Gilligan didn't suddenly come up with the idea himself. Those familiar with the science involved with creating the stimulant have been tinkering with recipes since the beginning of time. Well, not really, but the derivation of meth, crank, or speed can be traced back to 1893, when a Japanese scientist created the substance as a treatment for ailments including narcolepsy and asthma, as well as a means to lose weight quickly given that appetite is depressed. But the process wasn't streamlined until 1919 by a second Japanese scientist, and during World War II, the Allies actually gave their troops meth in order to keep them awake and ready with their weapons. It wasn't until 1970, when the use of the drug became widespread and out of control, that the United States and the FDA made it illegal.

The fact of the matter is, we didn't need to see Narcos to know that heroin and opium plants were being cultivated for drug use in South America since way before any of us were alive. Cocaine and sartorially spiffy drug lords weren't invented after the audiences were glued to their televisions watching Miami Vice in the '80s. The chemistry has been around forever and was harnessed a long time ago. Vince Gilligan may or may not have seen the idea for the show ripped from the headlines, but general knowledge and common sense dictate that he was either consciously — or maybe even subconsciously — aware that it wasn't a huge leap to go from knowing how to make the drug as a teacher to start selling it as a side gig. The kicker is finding a Jesse Pinkman to get your supply to the demand.

Without question, we are all better off for it, having watched Gilligan's version of the story. It was a star turn for Bryan Cranston, after having some success in Malcolm in the Middle. It was a springboard star-maker for the careers of other actors, like Aaron Paul, Giancarlo Esposito, Jesse Plemons, and Bob Odenkirk, and it is among the highest-quality programming we've ever had the good fortune of seeing over an unforgettable six-year run. The sad fact remains, however, that Breaking Bad is not a true story, despite the number of second-rate Walter White wannabes cooking up a meth storm all over the world.

Breaking Bad is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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