The Breaking Bad Monologue That Haunts Fans
Breaking Bad is a show where pretty much every episode has a moment that leaves your jaw on the floor. From a sudden, unexpected character death to seeing Walter White (Bryan Cranston) descend further into depravity, it is a show that makes you get invested in every moment. You just want to see these people make it out of this terrible situation all right, but very few of them do.
Breaking Bad knows how to twist the knife with an array of heartbreaking moments across the show's five seasons. Sometimes those moments come in the form of a drug overdose, while other times, a character depresses you with a simple monologue. Redditor u/juulfool21 recently asked other fans of the show what their favorite monologues were. They get things started by bringing up the "half-measure" monologue from Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks). However, that's far from the only gut-punch. Just think about Walt's "I choose not to do it" speech or Hank grimly saying, "Tagging trees was a lot better than chasing monsters."
As great as those moments are, there's one clear-cut monologue that wins the award for most haunting, according to the fans.
Fans think Jesse's monologue from "Problem Dog" is the most heartbreaking
Season 4 episode 7, entitled "Problem Dog," has a lot of standout moments. You may remember it best for being the episode in which Skyler (Anna Gunn) forces Walt to return the expensive car he just bought. Walt obliges by doing donuts in the parking lot and then setting the vehicle on fire. However, there's a far less explosive moment in the episode that nonetheless has just as much of an impact as Walt's increasing disregard for keeping a low-profile.
Later in the episode, Jesse goes to a support group meeting. Keep in mind, this episode takes place after Jesse was made to murder Gale (David Costabile), and he's still reeling from the act of killing a defenseless man in cold blood. He clearly wants to get something off his chest, but obviously, he can't just admit to the others that he killed a man. He changes the story and says he killed a dog, which gets some of the other members of the support group worked up. Jesse breaks down, saying, "Why not? Why not? Maybe she's right. You know, maybe I should have put it in the paper. I should've done something different. The thing is, if you just do stuff and nothing happens ... what's it all mean? What's the point? Oh, right, this whole thing is about self-acceptance."
It's a rare moment of vulnerability from Jesse, who can no longer pretend like he's okay with the direction his meth-selling venture has taken. The scene left a serious impression on fans, who took to the Reddit thread to discuss why that monologue is their favorite in the series. Some of the comments you'll find include the likes of, "My favourite monologue of all is definitely Jesse's speech in [Problem] Dog" and "[Jesse's] problem dog monologue always gives me goosebumps."
Jesse went from just some punk kid to a character with a surprising amount of depth. He had flaws and weaknesses and ultimately couldn't escape from Walter White's nefarious gravitational pull.