Breaking Bad is widely renowned as one of the greatest television dramas of all time, yet the sudden influx of memes sourced from this series may be cause for some confusion. In this video essay, I give my take on how this series became a meme and why I think this was always inevitable.
Bryan Cranston | Hot One's Episode: • Bryan Cranston Fully C...
Walter White in Mario Kart: • Walter White in Mario ...
Walter White in Minecraft: • wakter white in minceraft
Music (All Songs Were Sourced From Artlist)
1. Down The Rabbit Hole by Jeremy Chontow
2. Waltz Sentimental by Amos Ever Hadani
3. The Beat Detector by Novembers
4. Solitude by Michael Drake
#breakingbad #memes #breakingbadmemes #videoessay #walterwhite #bryancranston #jessepinkman #aaronpaul #hankschrader #sussybaka #vincegilligan #minecraft #minecraftmemes #thewalkingdead #bladerunner2049 #gta
Thank you everyone who watched and enjoyed the video! I really appreciate all of the feedback and it’s kinda wild to see how many people ended up watching the show BECAUSE of the memes. I never expected that. 🚨 Also, for those of you who have NOT finished the show yet, there are SPOILERS in this comment section. Proceed at your own discretion 🚨 Thanks again 🙏🏻
it is a really good video though
Same here🍷🤌🏼🗿
our society is weird do you want me to time travel and fix this problem or no? you know what imma leave it cause i don’t wanna alter our lives
@@stanleybochenek1862 what?
A lot of the memes originate from the okaybuddychicanery subreddit
I like how a single moving 3D Saul Goodman got me into Breaking Bad
Now that you mention it I skipped Breaking Bad the entire time the BB memes were going on, but finally when the 3D Saul became a meme, I looked it up and got into Breaking Bad. Now I've literally just finished it
I remember last year people on twitter posting 3D saul and Kid named finger memes literally everywhere. I just took them as an off context meme, but a month ago, i decided to start watching some good show or so, and I chose BB. No surprise , I completed it in a week, and i was spoiler free as well. Now i myself meme about it
Same, watching BB and BCS because of that. And I thought that meme was the intro of BCS lmao
Yeah same. The memes almost turned me away from the show because of how much they were overdone at one point, but now it's in my top 5 series of all time
That's my story too. I saw better call Saul first and breaking bad next.
As someone who watched it AFTER the memes became popular, i gotta say that absolutely DIDN'T ruin it, its still a masterpiece and its virtually impossible to change that
Same here
Same here. It was on TV when I was in middle school, but I never watched it. As an adult, it was impossible to escape the memes, so that convinced me to watch it
same, just finished it. Imma recommend it to everyone
I will not lie that when I saw the scene with walt looking horrified and falling down to cry I laughed so much due to having seen so many memes about it that it became unserious to me. However that doesn't make the moment any less impactful to me, I still felt distraught after Hank's death.
It took me a while to take Hank’s character seriously at first because of the “sussy baka” video, but Dean Norris’s performance didn’t take too long to sell me in.
I was a senior in HS when the finale came out. I remember the Friday before it came out everybody was dressing up as breaking bad characters and wearing merchandise from the show. The best part was how we didn’t discuss it as a school, everybody just did it like we telepathically agreed to do it. This wasn’t just a show for us, this was an event and one of my favorite memories from HS
When i watched the finale back in 2013, I felt such happiness
You didn’t live in New Mexico did you??
Man same. Same age as you. I even brought some blue meth to school
Same age here as well and then my job moved me to Albuquerque the next summer. I saw Bob Odenkirk when they were filming better call Saul. It was surreal
As an aspiring writer and director, I dream of making something that even comes close to being as good as Breaking Bad, this show is seriously iconic
You can do it, I believe in you!
Don't make something as close as Breaking Bad. Make something even better than it.
@@jaydenfaulkner4955 physically impossible
@@greatarchitect breaks the second law of thermodynamics
damn, good luck man
Dont forget that Breaking Bad isn't just a straight drama. At its core it's a dark comedy, even the darkest episodes you'll be laughing a few times. That only enhances the drama though because it opens up a larger range of emotions to work from. This is something a lot of shows don't seem to understand.
dont forget that most, if not all, of them funny moments stemmed from the character behaving true and consistent to their personalities/characterization.
@@zumabbar which is extremely hard to pull off successfully especially in such a realistic drama setting. I can't think of any other show that can do it without fail while staying true to the theme of the episode and show
Succession is another show that balance’s the two masterfully
@@zumabbar how does heisenbones fit into this theory of yours? "wow jesse, you really boned this one!"? i dont think their comedic style was subtle at all to be frank
@@NorthSudan it's a callback to the pilot line when Jesse and Walt first met again to cook meth. "Wanna bone?"
Honestly these memes made me dicover breaking bad, so for people like me its done a benefit of telling a still amazing story. Edit: Figured I’d put my reply here to those confused by my wording. Being born in the early 2000s it’s not like we were able to watch it when it aired on television, as most parents wouldn’t let 6-10 year olds watch it. I think all of us knew about breaking bad, but watching it and getting interested in the show took initiative. I see a few people apparently peeved in the comments by it and it’s pretty funny how gatekeepey others can be.
Realy , the memes got me in and that is how i found Breaking Bad
same tbh
Same tvh
Same lol
Same here.
It’s honestly a testament on how good it is that younger generations are keeping it relevant in their own unique way. I remember the first time I saw something like this was the “breaking good” video where someone did voices over screenshots of Discord, and I thought that was funny and nice to see a Breaking Bad meme. Little did I know that was the beginning of an avalanche of memes lmao
BREAKING GOOD was a masterpiece.
@jixaw
JESSE WHERE'S THE COCAINER in my nose mr whiter
my friends and i said cocainer at least 5 times a day for like a month when that first came out
What do you mean the methé is up his nose?
Watching Jesse play video games and ride go-carts by himself is the saddest moments in the show.
I'm going through Breaking Bad for the first time myself. I just finished season 4, and I'll say the tension is just fine even with all the meme knowledge
i watched the series in a quick succession and the meme scenes always appeared out of nowhere so it was still unexpected
I just finished it today and was spoiled on most of it but it was still amazing
@@flipped557 same here. i finished it a few months ago but i knew VERY massive spoilers going in, yet it was still phenomenal.
I watched it for the first time last year and I gotta be honest, me and my friend did laugh really fucking hard at the Walter collapsing scene during Ozymandias lmao.
Can't wait for you to meet Mr lambert and Lalo Salamanca (in better call Saul)
In one year, the Breaking Bad universe turned from a single meme to a part of my life.
Same
Same.
Agreed. The Breaking Bad/ Better Call Saul world is popular because it tells a incredibly powerful story about many things: mainly how the 'ends' don't justify the 'means' and trying to justify our bad actions to ourselves.
Same except I actually got diagnosed with cancer 😭
@@butcherbabys Geez…
As a person watched breaking bad after the memes. The show was perfect and the drama was so intense. It was really a weird experience to saw scenes that once make me laugh in memes, now make me wanna cry and breaking my heart really bad.
Your heart was breaking.. bad.
Me and my friends quote Mike's "We had a Good thing" speech for almost every topic that comes in our conversations or any interesting event that occurs in any of our days. It's gotten to the point where I can quote the whole speech effortlessly.
My boyfriend and I will say “so here’s what gonna happen” every time we plan for something 😂
When I was watching BB for the first time recently, I kinda described it to my friends who already have as like “meme checkpoints” as a way to gauge how far I was in. But the further I got in, the less I started to care about the funny moments and the more I got wrapped up in the drama. I thought I’d laugh when I got to Ozymandias (best episode imo), but I was on the verge of tears when I actually did.
Fr, I love the memes but when the storyline encapsulates you as much as it does, they are forgotten about
It's funny how different people react to it lmao. I bursted out laughing when I got to the Ozymandias.
Walter falling over isn't as funny when you put context behind it
@@BroheemBroseph-iy9nl I just imagined it sped up and couldn't take it seriously lmao
Was watching this with my girlfriend. When we got to that part she goes, "I want to laugh.. but that's horrible!!!"
I can definitely say, when I saw Walt react to Hank's death, the memes had not effect on me. Still a striking moment. Felt the world was crumbling around me, it was great.
The memes did and I hated it
I thought Hank was going to be resurrected so I felt nothing
@@ashland6562 same, it somehow just made that scene even more dreadful to watch
In my case I was like "oh, here's the meme, moving on"
It was hard for me to watch that scene because i had already seen it as a meme, and so, the more i watched the series, the more i liked hank, and the more i was nervous to get to that episode
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul also have a terrific sense of humor about them that feel completely in line with the show. That it can be so funny without undermining the drama and character work of the show is only one of the incredible feats of writing in Breaking Bad
Everything good becomes a meme, honestly. It's become a way to show love for a series. Spongebob, GTA San Andreas, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, etc, etc. Most of what made my childhood great became memes as social medias started popping up and getting more popular, KZhead especially.
The memes don’t ruin the show they make it even more famous
The fact that even after so many memes it's still not ruined AT ALL
I literally shit myself at 8:03 cause that's literally the day I was born before realising it was a "Wii" joke. Now I know I'm a singular day older than the Wii (It's realesedate that is)
Thank you, i was so confused.
I watched the show after the memes, and I still found myself sobbing during the moments that have been memed to death, like Hank's death
I couldn’t escape the breaking bad memes that have been swarming the internet in the past year, so I finally caved and watched it and I am absolutely obsessed. It didn’t take the tension away for me, and after I told my grandfather about it, he watched it and finished both breaking bad and better call Saul within a month! We never really talked before, but now we have a much greater connection all because of the trend.
9:21 this one got me good. 💀
In the meme context, they're really funny. But in the context of watching the show, I can tell that they're extremely effective as truly dramatic moments, as someone who has watched the show pretty recently. P.S. The edit you did near the end broke me in half from laughter
ye
I literally cried of laughter at that moment
I started watching BB after the meme of walter white falls to the ground crying passed so many times in my timeline... i enjoyed seasons after seasons inticipating walter to be wearing the infamous white jacket at the dessert location only to find out it was featured on the near last episodes. It still got me in the feelings cuz i was too invested in the tension n suspense until the last second after walter falls to the ground crying did i realize, "heyyy, that's the meme!!" then proceeds to cry
As someone who hadn't seen Breaking Bad until recently but had seen thousands of memes I can say it does not undercut the show. You get so caught up in the tension of the show that a lot of the times you don't even realize a meme scene has happened.
To me I discovered Breaking Bad in early to late 2019 where I developed a leg problem that kept me from walking for three months, heard it was a good show so I watched it. Was blown away by how good it was. And I happened to notice that this show got infinitely more popular after covid hit, makes me think like me, alot of people discovered it due to being isolated.
9:36 I actually laughed out loud. I expected a meme but not this. I love this kind of random shitposts fr my favorite type of humor right after breaking bad Minecraft memes. On another note, great video! I think you hit the nail right on the head (or whatever the saying goes)
Thank you! I’m glad you got a laugh out of it and you enjoyed the video 🙌🏻
Dude, I actually laughed LOUD! my fiance came to see what's going on
You know the show is truly great when you dont even think about the memes while watching. The last couple episodes are still extremely tense, sad, and jaw dropping even with all the memes, like Walter's reaction to Hank's death.
You are completely right at 7:47 - I've watched this show four times with the latter two being after this whole meme explosion. I was completely aware of all these infamous scenes and their meme use and yet I was so drawn in by the storyline, I turned blind to the memes created by others and even myself to take any notice. Breaking Bad is just levels above.
I was expecting you to have several tens of thousands of subscribers with the quality of this video; keep up the good work man!
Thank you sir! 🙏🏻
As someone younger than Breaking Bad itself, these memes made me discover Breaking Bad and the amazing story Vince Gilligan has crafted. Also, your channel is amazing, how come you only have 190 subs?
I’m glad you found Breaking Bad because of the memes! And thank you very much! I just started making video essays so I’m hoping I’ll be able to grow the channel more with them. I appreciate your support 🙏🏻
I see youtube recommending me a lot more small channels than before. Maybe the algorithm has shifted to show unwatched or less watched videos more but it has definitly changed, which is a big plus for channels like yours!
Bro you a kid
@@waltersike yea
@@waltersike Bro you Osama Bin Laden?
The scene of Jesse in the car struggling and yelling after todd shot Andrea was one of the saddest most striking moments and probably some of the best acting I’ve ever seen and I had saw a meme of it so I realized that it was a meme at the time but still it didn’t change anything that scene was as powerful as it would have been if I had not seen the meme
Basically this is a 10 minute essay on why we were born in the right generation
Yeah right 😂 we don’t take nothing serious. WW3 is gonna pop off and twitter is full of memes
Nah.
@@Adrian.R850You're going to be thinking differently 20 years from now
Ok, but how does this affect Lebron’s legacy?
He used blue sky to jump higher
As someone who started watching at least partially due to the memes, the show was still amazing and the tension was still there. Yeah during the more meme heavy scenes I was like "Hey I know that" but it didn't really take me out of it.
The whole video felt so well put together to me. Great job!
I ended up learning about Breaking Bad and watching it because of memes, and I can safely say it doesn't ruin the tension or emotion in the scenes. I did unfortunately get some of the biggest moments of the show spoiled but it was still one hell of a ride. I teared up quite a few times throughout the show.
Ι have notice we create memes out of appreciation for something. Remember when Infinity War/End Game was on theaters? Every meme was using scenes from these movies as templates. Nowadays, when something is outstanding, like breaking bad or the Avengers Movies (not good movie-wise but made ppl go beserk over them), or they realised The Incredibles movie exists, they make memes. And I am on-board with that.
Honestly I actually knew what Breaking Bad was before it became a meme. Ever since these memes, it made me come to my first rewatch of the show (currently on Season 5).
I never watched breaking bad until like a month ago i started knowing about it thanks to meme (with no context of the scenes) i can confirm that no, the memes don't ruin the tension at all when i watch the show i forgor about the memes cause im captivated by this amazing show
5:17 fun fact, that's Bryan Cranston the same guy who plays Walter White if you didn't know.
No way
@@Finn_Is_Fine he almost didn't get the role of water white because of Playing that role (The show is Malcolm In The Middle)
I watched breaking bad for the first time last june through august and it didn’t ruin the seriousness of the show and characters It honestly improved my overall experience, my heart lit up with joy when I got to the episodes with the memes in it, but that same heart mourned as the show darkened in tone
I watched the whole thing in a week
Frankly surprised this channel doesn’t have at least 100k subs. The edition is top notch.
Just this video alone you deserve so much recognition I was thinking I was watching a well known channel and went to your channel to watch more videos and saw you only have 2k subs and in the video 9:45 it shows you only had 144 while making this video. You are going to make it far on KZhead this was an excellent video
I just finished my rewatch of the Breaking Bad universe, and no the memes absolutely make the shows better.
This is pure gold
This is some pure math!!!
It's simple Chemistry, actually
A Gold Wristwatch is in the movie “speed”
As someone who watched BB for the first time 8 years ago, and habitually would rewatch it every time I tattooed myself, the recent memes CRACK ME THE HELL UP.
0:51 - dude... Breaking Bad was saved by Netflix. People were binging it and loving the show. It was on a niche cable network with a very dark and gritty subject. It wasn't until Netflix picked up the show that it really started picking up numbers and showing AMC it was worth keeping around.
The relationship was symbiotic. Breaking bad also has a huge contribution in saving Netflix.
The memes got me to watch the show in the first place, so they do have a level of positive impact. I think the only moment that really felt like the tension was hurt by memes was the phone call in Ozymandias, when Walt ends the call with “Let that sink in”
I think the memes make me find very intense dramatic scenes in shows i’ve never watched and make them funny but also engaging to also find out the backstory to the scene. Therefore, it brings more viewers
Well researched video! Very happy that KZhead recommended it. Big up honestly!
I’m on my second watch through of this series, and I’ve got to say. After watching it being 16 yrs old, and then watching it at 24, the pure dense emotion of this series is raw and rather deep. Some of the times, I refer back to the memes after watching said scene to give me some light hearted vibes because the show can be so bleak and the emotions so intense! Great video!
the memes helped me finally convince my best friend to start watching breaking bad after years of telling them how good it was and now they’re a HUGE fan 🙏🏽
Bro I did not expect the last meme, you had me in tears laughing 😂
I love how good you explain this , mad props
Bro made a meme compilation w commentary and explanations I love it
0:33 waltuh
I actually don’t like that it became a meme, it makes an amazing heartbreaking show feel silly on rewatches. Especially parts like Hanks death and the crawspace scene, it’s hard to not hear the funny sound effects and vine booms in my head.
That’s a valid stance. I do hope that the next time I watch the series these moments don’t lose their tension. It’s tough to say though.
@@ryan-jamison I just did a complete rewatch of BB and BCS and the memes have not ruined or even dampened the shows tension. The only moment Kinda ruined is the bus scene in BCS but that was already a goofy meme scene
I disagree, tbh. Crawlspace and Ozymandias hits the same as before the memes exist. This is coming from a guy who watched Breaking Bad at least 9 times, btw!
wait hank dies 😭
@@practixal oof, sorry. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. uhh, shit, sorry man.
I love your take on this. This video/perspective opens up hunders of topics. But Nicely done
This was such a great video! Good job 👏🏻
Wenomechainsama
Tumajarbisaun
Wifenlooof
Eselifterbraun
my reptile brain can't comprehend what's going on here 😂
the memes never really bothered me, they just gave me a new way to enjoy the same scenes i've watched so many times. when i'm actually watching the show, i'm able to ignore them, but when i'm on the internet, i can enjoy them without reducing my enjoyment of the show
cool analysis Ryan! you explained a part of my mind I didn't even know existed
Your editing is incredible.
breaking bad memes are just too funny
Great video I think it’s gone beyond the fact that the cognitive dissonance between the dark scenes makes for great comedy. I think collectively as a generation who’s making the memes out of this content are drawn to and remember most the dramatic and impactful scenes. And the biggest part of humor that you touched on briefly is relatability, and we all remember those moments in the show.
I recently finished the series for the first time after seeing it be memed all over the internet and I can tell you it still hit very hard
I just binged BrBa and Saul over the winter and I can say the memes have not hurt the show. The tense moments they pull from. Are still tense because so much has built up to it that you really dont even think about the meme reference you've seen 200 times.
As someone who knew this show from memes, I can confirm it doesn't ruin the effect on the dark moments of the show
The way you analyzed the difference between the way Breaking Bad was meme'd in 2013 vs now really made me think about how, if memes can be considered art, the people alive during certain art periods might have understood and or were entertained by the art without really being able to explain it. The explaining and analyzing being left to art professors of the time or art historians. The way we look at art periods like Impressionism for example might capture what made the art period special to the people of the time but maybe those people wouldn't have been able to examine their current art in the same way...
You just made a history of memes presentation with just breaking bad, love it.
Wow this is actually a really great informative video. I got into breaking bad due to all the memes and its been great!
9:10 I’m so fucking ashamed that I laughed at this
As someone who rewatches Breaking Bad yearly, I have to say, the show's darker momments never "ruined" by the memes they're portrayed as because the writing is just that fucking good! Even in Ozymandias (at the you know what) scene, i didn't even think of the meme until after I had finished it. Though, i have to say that the Breaking Bad fandom reached JoJo levels of repetition with people always quoting/ using the same 3 scenes for every punchline.
Says the guy with a JoJo profile picture
@@LuisSierra42 many jojo fans also hating other jojo fans.
It’s really nice to see people actually start to analyzing this type of internet content, because it became like a form of art expression in modern days
I love how there are two different types of breaking bad memes: Random gibberish that make no sense And the genuinely well made jokes that make me laugh every time
As someone who watches the show at least once a year I can say that these memes are a welcome. They don’t give anything away. They still have that dark impact 10 years later.
6:47 “i don’t even blame him mans got that grind”
he's not wrong tho
That meme you shared at the end was pretty funny ( I had a belly chuckle )
Loved the background music choice.
Bro 323 subs? NO fxking way! "This Is Art, Mr Ryan", You are godamn artist!
Thank you thank you! 👏🏻
as someone who watched breaking bad AFTER all the memes, it completely ruined all the serious moments for me 😭 the scene where skyler is like “please, please just hear me out” i legit had to turn off netflix i was cracking up so hard
Very good take. Excited to see your channel blow up!
I've never seen anyone break down memes before, but this was brilliant.
I've just finished 5th season like one day before this video came out and the primary reason for me to watch the series was all the memes in the Internet. And I can definitely say that memes DO NOT ruin the drama one bit. The show is a masterpiece
Dude absolutely incredible video. Get ready for your life to change! Remember, they don't all have to be amazing. Post a great video for every three mediocre ones. Can't wait!
This has truly been one of the KZhead videos of all time. Ravo Bryan!!!
Most things become memes when they’re bad or embarrassing, but there’s sometimes the rare shining example of something becoming a meme because it’s brilliant. Breaking Bad is one of those rare amazing things.
The memes usually come from the liked shows. Also with good acting.
it was also because a lot of elements of breaking bad at service level do look like goofy memes
8:58 he would have probably made the nuke first and nuke himself
I love the memes because they are even more funnier when I know the actual story context it took it out from, made me appreciate creativity of these meme creators.
Great video, surprised at the content quality based on the channel size
Usually don't sub after 1 video. Amazing job.
Breaking bad and better call saul are my two favorite tv shows and the memes are just funny supplementary material that doesn't take away any of the shows dramatic impact
The whenimechainasama meme at the end fucking killed me. I was not expecting it at all lmao Good video too
9:22 that caught me off guard lol Awesome Video btw, luckily I wasn't really exposed to a bunch of memes before watching the first time.
I watched breaking bad after the memes, and the sad scenes were still sad, and suprises still suprising, so they are fine! (although the shellshock from Hank's death was *very* slightly diminshed from the memes of waltuh.
Video gonna blow up
The handshake meme when mentioning I should subscribe makes it seem like a solid agreement. You make vids I press button. 🤝😎
I almost bursted out laughing with the last meme you showed, i'm supposed to be asleep right now and i'm in the same room as my parents.