Breaking Bad Has a Hidden Code Most Fans Missed (2024)

It's not a coincidence that many Breaking Bad fans are still re-watching the show heavily to this day. The amount of details and subtleties one can discover a second or third time around continually puts things in a different light. Breaking Bad is simply a show that rewards fans when they pay it another visit, since the creators were obsessed with infusing the show with details that fans can come back to.

One thing that even some die-hard fans may have missed is the intentional use of color in Breaking Bad. Starting with Walter "White" wearing his signature white underwear as a way to show that he's just an ordinary family guy and Jesse "Pink"-man being an immature, impulsive kid caught up in a big mess, colors have played a huge role in the show's storytelling.

Vince Gilligan Reveals the Color Theory in Breaking Bad

Most of the colors worn by the characters are planned and plotted, rich with special meanings. In fact, Breaking Bad utilizes color as a code to convey underlying emotions and even foreshadow what might happen seasons later. "We would talk a lot with our costume designer about color, specifically the use of color," the show creator Vince Gilligan revealed in an interview with Vogue. "At the beginning of every series we would have a meeting in which I would discuss with the production designer and the costume designer about the specific palettes we would use for any given character throughout the course of the year." Gilligan used the pilot as an example to demonstrate how colors are used in the show. She said:

Beige is considered a safe, non-invasive color. It's associated with Walter's old way of life — non-threatening, just an average-day chemistry teacher, earning paychecks, enduring a mundane life like everyone else. The colors start to become more varied as Walter White transitions to Heisenberg, one of the most famous villains in pop culture. Viewers have noticed that Walter would wear beige every time he teaches a class. The color also seems to symbolize boredom. As a color overused in interior design and homes, beige is something boring and ordinary. It represents that instead of doing more, Walter was just settling for a traditional and predictable life. Interestingly, when Walter and Skyler attended Elliott Schwartz's (Adam Godley) birthday party, Skyler dressed in a fancy blue dress while Walter was in a suit and tie. Elliott and his wife, along with the other guests all wore beige. It seems to imply that, despite what Skyler and Walter believe, they are all just ordinary people, living a peaceful and boring life away from the criminal world.

Marie Wears a Lot of Purple

Marie, who comes off a little hard to trust with her shoplifting issues, always surrounds herself with purple. Even on the occasions when Marie doesn't have a purple shirt or sweater on, there's always purple in sight. Gilligan revealed that the consistency in her color palette was a very intentional decision, in comparison to the constant shift between red and black in White's color palette to signal his transformation to a villain. "She would always wear purple, to the extent of being quite monomaniacal about it," said the director.

Marie is an odd bird. She can be perceived as shallow, impulsive, unpleasant and potentially threatening. Marie certainly displays signs of obsessive-compulsive behavior and a level of self-deceit. She also seems to suffer from kleptomania, which drives her to steal things when becoming stressed. Her shoplifting behavior eventually leads her to see a therapist. The moody color of purple seems to represent her underlying mental struggle. The color is used in an obsessive manner by Marie; she holds onto purple tightly, like a security blanket. It seems to symbolize that her issues are deep-rooted and even though she might seem well on the outside, her mental instability will always be present.

It's important to note that purple is the combination of blue and red. Marie can be seen wearing dark blue at times. Red, being linked to Heisenberg and a sign of danger, could represent the potential threat that Marie poses. Her behavior and reaction to things is unpredictable. After learning about White's meth business, Marie took Holly without parental consent. Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) had to talk some sense to her by explaining to her that what she was doing was kidnapping. Marie also wanted Hank to inform the DEA that White was truly Heisenberg without remembering that Hank would lose his job without submitting physical evidence. On the other hand, Marie is a genuinely good spouse, who is loyal and supportive to Hank, which links to what the color blue represents in the show.

Blue is the Color of a Loyal Spouse

The wives in the show wear a lot of blue, especially Skyler before she finds out about her husband's meth business. Skyler's blue clothes are symbol of her loyalty to her husband. Though some fans might find her annoying at times, Skyler is just trying to navigate a difficult situation. She is just doing what a worried wife could do when she knows in her gut that there is something going on with her husband. Skyler confronts Jesse about selling Walter weed, which put many viewers at the edge of their seats, considering that it might lead her to figure out the truth and bring everything down fast. However, at a later time when Skyler did find out about what Walter was up to, she eventually tried to be supportive and offered her expertise to help Walter launder the money. Skyler was never a threat. Wearing the color blue represents stability and safety.

Walter Jr. also wears a lot of blue, signifying his role as a loyal family member, someone Walter could count on. Jane also wore blue. Despite her addiction problems, she genuinely loved Jesse. They had a good connection, which Jesse also fantasized about in his spin-off film El Camino. Jane was a maternal support to him, and when Jane died, her father chose to dress her in blue for the funeral. It's also important to note that the crystal meth Walter made is blue. Similar to a girlfriend or a spouse, meth is also something that brings Walter stability and emotional fulfillment — it's something that he can count on and will never betray him.

Money is Green, While Yellow Means Business

The color green first appears in the Breaking Bad pilot, when Walter wears a green apron as he drives a trailer into the desert to cook meth. At first, he is motivated by the prospect of making money and being able to leave a legacy for his family. However, as Walter becomes more and more involved with his other persona, Heisenberg, and the criminal world, his motivation becomes something else. Greed is what truly drives the underworld, and it is what green represents in the series.

Walter didn't have to kill Gustavo Fring. He could have worked with him in a civil way. However, believing that he wasn't getting the best deal, Walter took things into his own hands. Though the series showed how he was afraid for his life and believed that he had no choice but to kill Fring, the color green he wore when he went to plant the bomb in Hector's room that eventually killed Fring tells a different story. With both Fring and Hector out of the way, Heisenberg becomes the new kingpin, getting the largest piece of the cake.

Yellow, on the other hand, signifies the hidden criminal world. Like a signal that gestures to where the entrance is, Jesse wore yellow in the pilot and was seen wearing the color throughout the first season. Walter and Jesse wore their iconic yellow jumpsuits when they started cooking meth together for Fring, whose restaurant, Los Pollos Hermanos, also features a lot of yellow and red in the logo (with hints of blue, notifying that this could turn into a long-term gig).

Heisenberg adapted his signature black as the ultimate look. As opposed to white, it simply signals Walter's deterioration from an average Joe to a cold-blooded murderer and drug kingpin. Similarly, Skyler also started wearing more black as she tapped into the darker side of her character.

Breaking Bad

TV-MA

Crime

Thriller

Drama

Where to Watch

*Availability in US

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

9

10

A chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer turns to manufacturing and selling methamphetamine with a former student in order to secure his family's future.

Release Date

January 20, 2008

Cast

Bryan Cranston , Aaron Paul , Giancarlo Esposito , Anna Gunn , Dean Norris , Bob Odenkirk , Jonathan Banks , RJ Mitte

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

5

Website

https://www.sonypictures.com/tv/breakingbad

Franchise

Breaking Bad

Cinematographer

Michael Slovis, Reynaldo Villalobos, Arthur Albert, John Toll, Nelson Cragg, Marshall Adams

Creator

Vince Gilligan

Distributor

Sony Pictures Television

Filming Locations

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Main Characters

Walter White, Jesse Pinkman, Skyler White, Walter White Jr., Hank Schrader, Marie Schrader, Saul Goodman, Gus Fring, Mike Ehrmantraut

Prequel

Better Call Saul

Producer

Stewart A. Lyons, Sam Catlin, John Shiban, Peter Gould, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Melissa Bernstein, Diane Mercer, Bryan Cranston, Moira Walley-Beckett, Karen Moore, Patty Lin

Production Company

High Bridge Entertainment, Gran Via Productions, Sony Pictures Television

Sequel

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

Number of Episodes

62

Network

AMC

Streaming Service(s)

Netflix