A Catholic View of “Breaking Bad”

TV blockbusters ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul’ never had a scene involving religion, save for using God’s name in vain. A meditation in The Word Among Us for a June Sunday [2025, p. 50] asks us to see how Jesus has changed our lives. How does he make a difference in the way we live? What I am saying here is that if people who find themselves in the business portrayed in these two popular shows had Christ in their lives, they would not come to see the worst version of themselves come to fruition, but rather the best version of themselves.

My wife and I just finished viewing the two above mentioned shows now available on Netflix for the second time, without commercial interruptions. Best TV creations ever! And as far as I can see, both are racked with fuel for moral reflection. Allow me to limit my reflections to just a few considerations, since its creator, Vince Gilligan, sure knew what he was doing. His thoroughness concerning character development, script, acting standards, within all the complexities of an elaborate story line is artistic genius.  

We generally see ourselves as the good guy and never the bad guy. Catholicism requires the sacrament of confession for us to remove the plank in our eye and admit our sins. We are sinners. Our hearts deceive us, especially when conforming to morality. Case in point is when the prevailing morality maintains that aborting babies is altogether a right, a societal need, and an economic necessity. If we believe that yet proceed with abortion, it deceives and leads us into grave sin. If protagonist Walter White produces and sells methamphetamines to abide by an honorable intent in providing for his family, it is still a sin. “Oh, they’ll buy it anyway,” he says. Same goes for Saul Goodman. Oh, you’ve got to see these two shows.

Regular guys are Walter White and Saul Goodman to start out with, yet their pursuit of money is the end that justifies the means. Even good guys can turn bad. Well, Saul is more of a character, so to speak; he had more personality flaws to make his turn not so difficult. Conscience is eliminated first, then character is destroyed. Both were quite intelligent with loads of talent. Lord only knows what they could have become. Rather, their predilection toward revenge, power, and control was their downfall. The message through this TV epic is “it could happen to us. “ 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

The problem is, so does the devil have his plans. If you repented of your sins, how then did Jesus change your life? There go I but for the grace of God. 

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Baglino, Michael J. The Dr. B. Reader on the Ologies: Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology. New York: Amazon Professional Publishers, 2023.

The Word Among Us. Washington, D.C.: June 2025.