Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad (2008)

41 mistakes in season 5

(26 votes)

Dead Freight - S5-E5

Plot hole: Preparing to steal methylamine from the train, Walt, Jesse and Mike measure off a predetermined distance from the railroad crossing, which happens to coincide with a handy arroyo, where they bury their tanks. Problem is that they couldn't have known that distance (calculated by knowing the position of the methylamine tanker car in the train) until Lydia told them. But she didn't call that info in until the night after they'd already buried the tanks.

Rattletrap

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: They were counting on the tankers being at the back of the train, far enough away and at a curved angle so that the conductors wouldn't see them, and the hoses they were using would have been long enough to reach the tankers on either side of the one they stole from. Their heist hinged on a lot of educated guesses and luck, especially because they would have had to abort if the tanker was at the front of the train, but being lucky doesn't make it a plot hole.

Phaneron

I'd have to respectfully disagree. When they paced off the distance to the trestle over the arroyo, they had a particular number in mind (814). It's not explained whether this number represented knowledge of how far back the tank car would be if the engine stopped at the crossing. But if it did, how could they have known that? Not even Lydia knew until much later. And why would they assume the tank car would be toward the back of the train? Lydia doesn't mention that. When she calls Walt, all she says is, "I've got it." And even if she were to tell him, at that point everything's in place for the heist to happen at the location where the tank are buried.

Rattletrap

IIRC the crew contacted an expert on hazardous materials shipping for advice on the scene. Rail guidelines require tankers containing hazardous materials are at a minimum "six-deep", that is, six cars away from the engine. Lydia probably told them in advance how long the train would be in terms of cars, so they had a rough guideline for which three or four tankers could possibly contain the methylamine. From there, it seems like their hoses were long enough to get to any of the other cars.

The 814 feet was to ensure that the spot they chose would be far enough away from the conductors so as to not be seen. And they weren't assuming the tankers would be at the back, they were just hoping they would be. As I mentioned, if the tankers were at the front, they wouldn't have been able to move forward with the mission. Lydia told them they would only have 6 hours to prepare for the heist after she told them where the tanker would be. That wouldn't have been enough time for them to get an excavator out there and dig the holes for their own tanks to transfer the methylamine into, so they had to guess the best spot to do it ahead of time and hope that's where it would end up being.

Phaneron

Gliding Over All - S5-E8

Factual error: When going over the logistics of the plan to kill the ten men in prison, Jack tells Walt that killing Osama Bin Laden was less complicated. Breaking Bad takes place over a period of two years, beginning with Walt's birthday in 2008, and ending on his birthday in 2010. Bin Laden wasn't killed until May of 2011. (00:15:23)

Phaneron

Madrigal - S5-E2

Factual error: In the opening scene for the episode, a character commits suicide by electrocuting themselves with a defibrillator. The device used was an AED (automated external defibrillator) which analyses the electrical rhythm of the heart and only delivers a shock when the heart rhythm is ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. In this case, the device would not have delivered a shock as the person did not have both ECG electrodes attached and therefore would not have detected a cardiac rhythm. The person would also have had a normal heart rhythm.

Ozymandias - S5-E14

Visible crew/equipment: Skyler pulls up in her car at the home, talking to Walter Jr. about the truck in the driveway. During this scene the camera comes down to her side of the car. Its reflection is visible in the glass of the driver's side window. (00:32:50)

manthabeat

Fifty-One - S5-E4

Factual error: The temporary paper license on the back window of Walt's new car has an expiration of 12 August 2012, the year the episode was released in our time. However, in the Breaking Bad world, it should still be 2009. (00:08:10)

Felina - S5-E16

Continuity mistake: When Walter White is with the Neo-Nazis waiting for Jesse to appear, one of the thugs throws Walter's car keys and wallet on the pool table. Their position changes between shots, sometimes being parallel to each other, other times very far apart. (00:40:15 - 00:42:10)

Sacha

Ozymandias - S5-E14

Continuity mistake: In the scene where the shootout starts in the previous episode, Walter is handcuffed in the back of the SUV and trying to get to the floorboard to avoid the gunfire, and his glasses eventually fall off. After the gunfight when he is yelling at Jack from the back of the SUV, his glasses are back on his face, which would be hard to do handcuffed.

Hazard Pay - S5-E3

Other mistake: Jesse and his girlfriend and Brock are all apparently playing the video game, but when they show the TV it's only split screen so only 2 are really playing.

Gliding Over All - S5-E8

Visible crew/equipment: Walt just ordered to kill all Mike's witnesses in prison. While it shows one of them stop in front of the locked door and get killed by the other prisoners, a cameraman is reflected in the glass door.

Rabid Dog - S5-E12

Visible crew/equipment: In the flashback scene where Jesse breaks into the Whites' house and starts pouring gasoline everywhere before Hank stops him from burning the house down, you can see the outline of a crew member exiting the right side of the dark living room at the beginning of the shot. (00:21:35)

TedW

Buried - S5-E10

Continuity mistake: When Jesse is lying on the rotating disc at the beginning of the episode, in the initial side view Jesse's head doesn't reach the centre of the disc. However, when they switch to an aerial view from the top down, he is lying on the exact centre. Presumably, Jesse's feet couldn't reach the ground to rotate the disc when he put his head on the exact centre.

To'hajiilee - S5-E13

Audio problem: After Hank and Gomez separate Jessie and Walt after he's arrested, Hank tells Gomez that "I'll call the Tribal Police on my way out, let them know we're here." During the middle of this line, the shot cuts to Walt and you can distinctly hear the sound of a microphone picking up the actor breathing on it as he recorded this line in ADR.

Quantom X

Blood Money - S5-E9

Continuity mistake: After Walt comes back to Jesse's house and returns his bags of money to him, Jesse is sitting on the couch with his hand over his mouth as he looks off to the side. After Walt says that "it's your money, you've earned it" he goes to sit down on the couch with Jesse, his hand still over his mouth as the camera pans around. When it cuts to a different angle as Walt is sitting down, suddenly Jesse's hand is down on his neck.

Quantom X

Buried - S5-E10

Continuity mistake: When we see Lydia take her blindfold off, the windscreen has a layer of dust over it just outside the wipers reach. Camera cuts to a different angle and the windscreen is spotless. (00:33:50)

Ssiscool

Buyout - S5-E6

Continuity mistake: Mike wrote 'Fuck You' horizontally on the paper but when Gomey read that, it is at an angle. (00:10:30 - 00:11:40)

Gliding Over All - S5-E8

Continuity mistake: After Pinkman opens the bags filled with money he throws his gun along the floor. When it stops it points in a 3 o'clock position. When the angle changes it points in a 1 o'clock position. (00:41:00)

Sacha

Felina - S5-E16

Continuity mistake: When Jesse has finished strangling Todd, in the shot of Jesse snapping Todd's neck, Todd has his right hand placed over his chest. When the shot cuts, Todd's right hand is at his side. (00:46:42)

Casual Person

Felina - S5-E16

Continuity mistake: When the machine gun has finished firing, Kenny's body is shown in the remote controlled armchair with his head turned to the left. When the shot cuts to an overview angle, his head is facing directly forwards. (00:45:15)

Casual Person

Cornered - S4-E6

Walter White: Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears. It ceases to exist, without me. No, you don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I AM the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No! I am the one who knocks!

More quotes from Breaking Bad

Phoenix - S2-E12

Trivia: The website Walter Jr. creates to raise money for Walter Sr. can be found at http://www.savewalterwhite.com/. The donation link used to send the viewer to a legitimate cancer charity's website, but now just goes to AMC's home page. (00:20:00)

Ssiscool

More trivia for Breaking Bad

Show generally

Question: Just how does Walt intend to explain the presence of all that meth money, even posthumously? Just how does he think his heirs will react to that, how is he going to launder it? How does he think his wife and kids will explain it? If they knowingly inherit and use such money, they could face charges of accessory after the fact. Is this ever addressed in the show?

dizzyd

Chosen answer: I'm not sure how far you are into the show but he does eventually come up with a way to launder it (wont spoil it for you but rest assured, when he gets a lawyer the show gets much better!) and in the final season he also comes up with a way to give his children his money without the cops or the DA knowing it came from him.

The_Iceman

Answer: Walt decided to buy a car wash to launder his money, which makes a profit without the dirty money. At the end he blackmailed Elliot and Gretchen in to giving his money to junior and Holly. However 90% of his $80m is stolen.

Ssiscool

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