Breaking Bad

A high school teacher finds out he has cancer and decides to become a drug dealer.

Their first aborted drug deal leaves Walt and Jesse to dispose of a pair of corpses, while Skyler suspects that her husband is up to no good.

As Walt is hard at work helping Jesse clean up the mess that was once Emilio, Skyler's cryptic inquiries lead Marie to conclude that Walt, Jr. is smoking pot. Though Skyler insists that her questions are just research for a story she is writing, her sister doesn't believe it and asks Hank to have a talk with Walt, Jr. As the clean up proceeds, Krazy-8 tells Walt that Jesse has revealed some potentially compromising details about his life. But when Walt complains about his lack of discretion, Jesse angrily reminds him that he is responsible for seeing that Krazy-8 disappears for good. Reluctantly agreeing to scare his nephew straight, Hank takes Walt, Jr. for a firsthand view of the drug culture. While Walt, Jr.'s reaction isn't quite what Hank had been hoping for, their ride-along comes close to exposing Jesse and his meth-addict prostitute/girlfriend. Meanwhile, forced to admit that he's been living a lie, Walt puts off any further discussion with Skyler so he can deal with Krazy-8. But after Krazy-8 tries taking advantage of his compassion in order to escape, Walt has no choice but to kill him. As Walt calls in sick at school and Jesse heads home to see what ever became of their hostage, Hank's search for a missing informant guide him and his partner to evidence that could lead them to the mobile drug lab. So, as his DEA agent brother-in-law gets close to uncovering the truth about what happened to Krazy-8 and Emilio, Walt heads home to tell Skyler that he is dying of cancer.

Now that he's told Skyler his secret, and unaware that Hank's search for his missing informant, Krazy-8, is leading the DEA closer to exposing his drug dealing, Walt reveals the news about his cancer at a family barbecue. Although Skyler insists that they will get through it as a family, and Marie offers to set him up with an oncology “dream team,” Walt still refuses to borrow $5,000 for the first appointment from Hank. So, after telling Skyler that he will draw on his pension, he takes the cash from the money he and Jesse ended up with following their aborted drug deal. Meanwhile, amid the paranoia that follows his treating a pair of friends to what's left of the meth stash, Jesse seeks refuge at his parents' house. Back at home, it's clear to Jesse that he is living in the shadow of his overachieving younger brother, Jake. As Jesse he does his best to obey his parents' rules to keep from being thrown out, he's surprised when Jake says that he is actually the one that their mom and dad are always talking about. After Jesse gets a call from his friends looking to buy more meth, Walt adamantly refuses to resume their partnership, but not before he nets another $4,000 from the sale. Meanwhile, Walt's first visit to see Dr. Delcavoli makes it clear that he is facing a rocky road ahead. When their maid finds a marijuana cigarette stashed in the house, the Pinkmans immediately conclude that it belongs to Jesse. Knowing he could never convince them otherwise, Jesse packs his bags to leave. But as he is on his way out, Jake quietly thanks him for not telling their parents that the joint was really his, and then asks to get it back. Finally, after telling Skyler that he needs to give more thought to committing to an expensive series of cancer treatments, Walt vents his rage over his circumstances on an arrogant young businessman's expensive sports car.

As the frustrating search for a legitimate job lands Jesse in a new drug dealing partnership with his friend, Badger, Walt and Skyler are invited to a birthday party at the estate of his former research partners, Elliott and Gretchen Schwartz. No one feels more out of place at the lavish event than Walt, especially after he sees the trappings of wealth and fame accumulated by his old friends. He's put at ease, however, when Elliott is genuinely touched by the cheap package of ramen noodles that he gave him in honor of their many years together as struggling young chemists,. But once Elliott offers him a job, Walt immediately realizes that it is charity and that Skyler told him about his cancer. Meanwhile, as Jesse finds that Badger isn't the kind of business partner that he's grown accustomed to, when Walt, Jr. is threatened with arrest after soliciting an off-duty cop to buy beer, he turns to Hank, and not his dad, for help. With her son's predicament forcing Skyler to reveal that her husband admitted to smoking marijuana, she decides that the only way to get Walt to accept Elliott's offer to pay for his cancer treatments is by staging an intervention. Surprised to find his family waiting for him, Walt has no choice but to hear them out. While Skyler, Walt, Jr., and Hank make impassioned pleas for getting the treatments, even if it means taking the money from his school classmate, Marie surprises everyone by suggesting that they respect Walt's decision, no matter what it is. After listening to everyone, Walt announces that he doesn't want to go ahead with something that might only keep him alive for a year or two longer. As Jesse's ill-fated partnership with Badger unravels, Walt has second thoughts about his decision. But in the wake of his first chemotherapy session, he calls Gretchen and claims that he doesn't need any money to pay for it. And now that he's facing a huge medical bill, Walt arrives at Jesse's house offering to renew their business arrangement.

As the side effects and cost of his treatment quickly mounts, Walt's demand that he find a wholesaler to buy their drugs lands Jesse in trouble with a hardened ex-con.

Although he should be worried, Walt finds it erotically exciting to stay one step ahead of the police investigation that could ultimately tie him to a pair of murders. While the beating he suffered has Jesse looking to sell his house and get out of the drug trade altogether, the new deal Walt has negotiated is restarting their meth lab in order to satisfy the ruthless Tuco. But even though they come up woefully short of what was promised, Walt still convinces Tuco to underwrite the purchase of more equipment and materials for their business. Meanwhile, as she looks to Dr. Delcavoli for a ray of hope in Walt's battle with cancer, Skyler's arrest while returning an expensive baby shower gift has led her to suspect that it was stolen by her sister, Marie. To make good on the four pounds of meth he promised to deliver to Tuco every week, Walt devises a new process and sends Jesse to procure a long list of lab equipment and chemicals. To get the time away from home he needs to complete his work, Walt tells Skyler that he is going to spend a few days at a Navajo healing ceremony. However, when Jesse come up one ingredient shy of what they need to manufacture the next batch, Walt's homemade bomb helps them carry out a daring nighttime raid on a chemical plant to steal it. And when problems with their mobile lab force them to relocate their operation to Jesse's basement, they risk being discovered during a realtor's unexpected open house. As Walt and Jesse narrowly avoid having their operation exposed by a family looking at the house, Skyler confronts her sister about the theft. While Marie insists that she has no idea what she is talking about, Skyler isn't convinced. But when Walt returns home from his weekend away and Skyler makes it clear that she suspects that Marie is a shoplifter, he suggests that people will sometimes do whatever takes – even break the law – for their families. Finally, after delivering a new batch to Tuco, Walt and Jesse get the go ahead to produce as much meth as they can.