Despite a protagonist named Walter White (Bryan Cranston), “Breaking Bad” operated in shades of gray. Plenty of morally dubious characters populated the show’s run. A character could be capable of great compassion and then do something despicable in the next scene. Therefore, it shouldn’t be surprising to see numerous online debates emerge from fans about which “Breaking Bad” character is truly the worst.
Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but from several Reddit threads, there’s a case to be made that Todd Alquist (Jesse Plemons) is beyond redemption. Redditor u/cringerica kicked things off by writing, “I started hating him when he killed that poor kid, but it’s when he killed Andrea that I confirmed my hate. Just because Jesse wanted to escape doesn’t justify this murder at all.” Todd killing a child is definitely horrendous. Walter poisoned a child, symbolizing his descent into villainy, but he at least pursued a method that didn’t result in death.
Many fans find something truly unsettling about Todd, like u/spititout__, “Todd is disconnected from his emotions. He’s ignorant & indifferent to the things he does.” This can be seen in several disturbing details about Todd, like his obsession with Lydia (Laura Fraser). Other characters may have murdered others, but at least those deaths appeared to affect them in some manner. Todd was cold and remorseless the whole way through.
Todd from Breaking Bad was tough to pin down, which may make him even scarier
With so many deaths and lives destroyed, a case could be made for any number of “Breaking Bad” characters to hold the title of “worst.” But the key phrase here is “beyond redemption.” Some characters may have done terrible things, but if given the right circumstances, they could theoretically redeem themselves in the eyes of fans and society. But Todd may be too far gone for some, as Redditor u/Lost_Inside_The_Fog stated, “Dude killed a kid and never showed remorse for anything. He made Walt look tolerable by comparison.” In a separate comment, the same Redditor mentions how Walt was terrible, but there’s something particularly heinous about the character, “Todd was robotic, cold, and soulless. Juxtaposed against his ability to seem ‘caring’ and ‘innocent’ is what makes me hate him more than Walt.”
Walter also did terrible things, but there could usually be some reasoning behind them, no matter how twisted it might have been. And he at least cared for his family somewhat. Todd’s ubiquitous nature wasn’t lost on actor Jesse Plemons, as he described Todd in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “He’s a person who the more you look into, the more confusing he becomes. Obviously, he’s stunted and missing some critical piece that allows him to understand the weight of his actions. He does show empathy at times, but then at other times if it’s justified in his mind for whatever reason it’s really plain.”
“Breaking Bad” boasts numerous psychopathic and sociopathic characters. Many of them could have a claim to being the worst, but there’s no denying something intrinsically unsettling about Todd.
