Praised as possibly the greatest TV series ever created, Breaking Bad is filled with memorable characters. Its central protagonist (who, by the end of the series, is essentially the antagonist) is one of the most complex and intricately drawn creations in TV history. Vince Gilligan famously set out to turn Mr. Chips into Scarface, and across five critically acclaimed seasons of television, he managed just that.
But creating great characters doesn’t stop at coming up with an individual personality; a lot of characterization is in the relationships that characters develop with the other characters around them. So, here are the 10 best duos in Breaking Bad.
10 Walter White & Gale Boetticher
Under Gus Fring’s management, Walter White parted ways with his old partner Jesse Pinkman and instead started working with Gale Boetticher. Whereas Jesse didn’t understand the science or share any interests with Walt, Gale knows all the science and connects with Walt over topics like poetry.
Gale’s life comes to a sudden and shocking end when Jesse goes over to his apartment to shoot him in the face, making him yet another unfortunate casualty of Walt’s career as a meth baron.
9 Skyler White & Marie Schrader
At the beginning of Breaking Bad, Skyler White and Marie Schrader have a great relationship. They’re sisters, and they have a sisterly dynamic. However, by the end of the series, they’re on much less friendly terms. One is married to a DEA agent who’s under constant threat from a new drug kingpin, while the other is married to the drug kingpin himself, acting as his accomplice.
When all the secrets inevitably come flooding out, Skyler and Marie’s relationship is permanently damaged. Anna Gunn and Betsy Brandt developed real chemistry in the roles of conflicting sisters.
8 Saul Goodman & Francesca Liddy
As we’ve seen from Better Call Saul, Francesca Liddy was working for Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler in a fancy office long before she was working for Saul Goodman in a strip mall. As shown by her ability to put up with the occasional threat from a gangster, Francesca is one of the most fiercely loyal receptionists in history.
By the end of Breaking Bad, Saul had Francesca frantically shredding documents as the Walter White empire came crumbling down and Saul was incriminated in almost every aspect of it.
7 Walter White & Hank Schrader
Perhaps the most interesting dynamic in Breaking Bad was shared by Walt and Hank. Hank was a DEA agent, determined to catch the elusive drug lord that had dominated the narcotics market of Albuquerque, while Walt, his unsuspecting milquetoast brother-in-law, was that drug lord the whole time.
When it all bubbles to the surface in the second half of season 5, the family falls apart. But there’s still a mutual respect. Walt begs for Hank’s life when Uncle Jack is threatening him in the desert, and in his final moments, Hank tells Walt that he’s “the smartest guy I ever met.”
6 The Cousins
The real names of the characters commonly referred to as “the Cousins” are Leonel and Marco Salamanca. They’re two of the deadliest characters on television, and the fact that they’ll calmly sit at the foot of a bed and wait for their target to get out of the shower is truly chilling.
Whenever the Cousins show up in an episode of Breaking Bad – or an episode of Better Call Saul, for that matter – fans promptly shuffle to the edge of their seats, ominously awaiting the action.
5 Huell Babineaux & Patrick Kuby
Huell Babineaux and Patrick Kuby did odd jobs for Saul Goodman throughout Breaking Bad’s five-season run. Huell was Saul’s bodyguard, while Kuby was a con man he hired to pull various deceitful tricks. Together, they made for one of the show’s most lovable pairings.
As fellow standup comics, Lavell Crawford and Bill Burr shared a palpable on-screen bond that made their relationship as friends feel believable. Their finely tuned comic instincts also meant that they had well-timed banter throughout the series.
4 Hank Schrader & Steven Gomez
As their recent appearances in the latest season of Better Call Saul have reaffirmed, DEA agents Hank Schrader and Steven Gomez have a fun “buddy cop” dynamic. If there was a police procedural spin-off focusing on Hank and Gomey’s investigations into the Albuquerque drug trade, it would be awesome.
The two have a hilarious back-and-forth, bickering about everything from expiration dates to Jennifer Lopez, and when it’s time to spring into action, they’ve got the goods.
3 Badger & Skinny Pete
Badger and Skinny Pete were Jesse’s less proactive, more drug-addled friends. They could often be found smoking pot, eating junk food, and arguing about video games. Matt Jones and Charles Baker shared brilliant on-screen chemistry, both with each other and with Aaron Paul.
In their recent reappearance in El Camino, Badger and Skinny Pete were integral in getting Jesse out of Albuquerque and into more promising pastures in Alaska.
2 Saul Goodman & Mike Ehrmantraut
Jimmy McGill has a huge roster of associates, and throughout Better Call Saul, we’ve seen how he met most of them. His most interesting working relationship in the guise of “criminal” lawyer Saul Goodman is still the one with Mike Ehrmantraut.
We were first introduced to Mike as Saul’s crime scene cleaner, akin to Harvey Keitel’s “the Wolf” character from Pulp Fiction. But as the series went on, it became clear that Mike was Saul’s most trusted confidant.
1 Walter White & Jesse Pinkman
Walt and Jesse aren’t just the best duo in Breaking Bad; they might be the best duo in the history of television. They’re polar opposites: Walt is a guy who doesn’t belong in the criminal underworld and ends up fitting right in, while Jesse is a guy who should’ve never gotten involved in a life of crime and was forced into one by circumstance.
Throughout their meth-cooking career, Walt and Jesse developed an endearing father-son bond, but it ultimately became tragic, as Walt’s selfish decisions continually destroyed parts of Jesse’s life until he was a grieving meth slave. The final moment between the two in “Felina” is heartbreaking.
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