Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad (2008)

184 mistakes since 17 Sep '17, 00:00

(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

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)

4 Days Out - S2-E9

Visible crew/equipment: The boom mic is visible above Walter as he tries to convince Jesse he is too dehydrated to walk after they are stranded in the middle of the desert in the RV with a dead battery. (00:34:27)

Bug - S4-E9

Factual error: Walt and Jesse are fighting and Walt dislodges a copy of the videogame Rage from a cupboard. Rage was released more than 2 years after the time this episode was set. (00:44:30)

Breaking Bad mistake picture

4 Days Out - S2-E9

Visible crew/equipment: When Jesse declares he's going to start walking and sits up in the cot, Walt reaches out to him and a boom mic is visible at the top of the screen. (00:34:25)

One Minute - S3-E7

Character mistake: When Hank is asked to hand over his gun and badge, he just puts his loaded gun on the table. When, in fact, you would remove the magazine and bullet in the chamber before handing it over.

Green Light - S3-E4

Other mistake: When Gus and Mike meet up in the parking lot, Mike hands Gus a copy of Walter's medical report. When the camera pans down to show the report in Gus' hand, the patient name listed is Jack Test and not Walter White. (00:30:04)

Casual Person

Grilled - S2-E2

Continuity mistake: When at Tuco's house, Jesse is first shown emptying his pockets and then getting everything back, even going as far as showing the clean table at the first timestamp, but when he's back at his car at the second timestamp, he doesn't have his keys, supposedly left at the table. (00:32:23 - 00:43:24)

Fly - S3-E10

Character mistake: After Walt tries to slap the fly on the paper, he lifts his hand and the math is wrong. He has 2,103 + 9,745 = 11,928 and 6,012 + 7,287 = 13,301. But the actual sums are 11,848 and 13,299.

Bishop73

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.

Sunset - S3-E6

Visible crew/equipment: During the shot from the interior of the car of Hank following Jesse, a camera man in a green T-shirt can be seen crouching down on the road to the right of the screen. (00:30:40)

Breaking Bad mistake picture

Season 2 generally

Other mistake: Throughout the show, during the into credits, people's names have 1 or 2 letters replaced by green characters to symbolise elements from the periodic table. However, Michael Slovis has the 'Ch' highlighted. There is no 'Ch' on the periodic table. (00:03:20)

Ssiscool

Breaking Bad mistake picture

Cat's in the Bag... - S1-E2

Continuity mistake: When Walt realises that Krazy8 is awake in the basement, Krazy's foot is sideways showing the tread of his boot. When the camera shows Krazy from the front, his boot/foot is now flat on the floor as it should be. (00:26:40)

Ssiscool

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

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!

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Chosen answer: It is part of the ritual for la Santa Muerte. It is a sign of humility and sacrifice.

djm

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