Breaking Bad is one of the most critically acclaimed TV shows in recent history. It’s widely considered to be one of the greatest shows of all time, and that’s not much of a surprise. Breaking Bad features award winning cinematography, meticulous attention to detail, immense character depth, breathtaking performances, and some of the best writing I’ve ever had the privilege of consuming. Ultimately though, the show’s (arguably) most notable idiosyncratic feature is its use of color. Breaking Bad tells the story of Walter White, an overqualified high-school chemistry teacher who hates his job, and quite frankly hates his life. He was the co-founder of a multi-billion dollar corporation, but sold his shares for a mere couple of thousand dollars in its beginning stages. Nobody takes him seriously; not even his own family. He’s written off as nothing more than an average guy, never able to reach his full potential.

Just for the heck of it, Walt’s brother-in-law, Hank, who works for the DEA, takes him on a ride-along to a meth drug bust. Coincidentally, one of the criminals who barely manages to escape custody is his former student Jesse Pinkman, which becomes relevant later on. Soon after, Walt is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, and feels obligated to leave money behind for his family. 

In an act of desperation, Walt recalls the amount of money acquired in the drug bust, and decides to cook crystal meth. He tracks Jesse down and threatens to turn him in if he doesn’t assist Walt in his newfound “business endeavor,” we’ll call it. 

One of the most intriguing aspect of Breaking Bad is the fact that very outfit, every scene, and almost every prop is intentional in the way that it conveys its purpose through color.

Just a quick spoiler warning: I’ll be giving examples of things that went on in the show.

Green

When a character wears green, it typically symbolizes greed, money, growth, or envy. One of the first examples of this is when Walt wore nothing but a green cooking apron and white underwear when he went cooking in the RV with Jesse in the first episode.

Another notable example was when Skyler (Walter’s wife) wore green (in the episode “Sunset”) after finding Walter’s bag of money in the closet of Holly’s bedroom (his newborn child), where he had been sleeping just before he signed the divorce papers and moved out (in “Más”).

Blue

When a character wears blue, it often represents loyalty, power, or sadness. A perfect example of this is when Jesse Pinkman wore a dark blue shirt during his interrogation about Tuco Salamanca, a drug lord. In the scene, he stayed loyal to Walter by refusing to give up any information that would incriminate Mr. White. 

Yellow

Yellow often foreshadows incidents regarding meth, caution, fear, and typically a major change. When Walter is diagnosed with cancer, he starts to dissociate and fixates on his doctor’s mustard stained jacket. Jesse was wearing a large yellow hoodie when he met with his parents at their lawyer’s office and they kicked him out of his former aunt’s house when they discovered that there was a makeshift meth lab in his basement.

Red

Red foreshadows blood, murder, aggression, violence, and criminality. Jesse wore a red jacket and hat when he disposed of a body in his bathtub using hydrochloric acid. Jesse also wore a red t-shirt and cap on his first visit to see Tuco, who beat him up severely, sending Jesse to the hospital.

Black

Finally, black represents Walter’s alter ego, “Heisenberg,” as well as death, darkness, evil, power, secrecy, and deception. Gus (a rival drug lord) typically wore a black suit when he was meeting with his associates regarding his drug empire. Most notably, Walter White wore a black jacket and pants with a gray t-shirt when he visited Tuco and tricked him by bringing explosive mercury disguised as meth.

In The End

There are countless other examples of color use in Breaking Bad, however those mentioned in this article are arguably the most notable. There’s so much to love about Breaking Bad, and its use of color undoubtedly sets it apart, if not everything else. If you’ve already watched it, I highly recommend you give it another watch with these color-codes in mind. If not, what are you waiting for! It’s a cinematographic masterpiece.

If you’d like to take a look at more examples of color in Breaking Bad, you can take a look at the Wiki or this YouTube video.

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