"Breaking Bad," one of the most successful shows to date, might have ended a different route if it wasn't for an unexpected twist back in 2008.
"Breaking Bad" Season 1 was supposed to end badly with a finale leaning towards the death of Hank Schrader (Dean Norris). Luckily for him, a writers' strike occured while they were still finishing production, preventing the show from killing one of its best characters yet.
"We had a nine episode order, we were two-thirds of the way through Season 1. I was so nervous; I'd never run a TV show before," "Breaking Bad" creator Vince Gilligan stated in an interview on the Kevin Pollack Chat Show.
"We were writing and shooting and editing in a vacuum, no one had seen the show yet, and I really had the feeling that I needed to throw the kitchen sink at it, that the writers and I needed to get every bit of drama."
Gilligan also said that because of the writers' strike, they had not written the last two episodes of the show; they had to end it at episode 7 instead of episode 9. "Our ninth episode that year, we were seriously leaning toward killing off Hank, Walt's brother-in-law, played by Norris, in the first season. I was ready, willing to throw the kitchen sink at it, because I was afraid we wouldn't hold people's attention," he revealed.
Being a great show, it is hard to believe that Gilligan and his team had no definite master plan for "Breaking Bad" from the beginning. It took Gilligan's abilities as an executive producer to make the show run its course smoothly.
The actors also did their parts really well making it more successful. Praises were received by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul playing Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, respectively. Both were awarded for their roles. Cinema Blend said that Hank played an important role in taking the show from entertaining to unforgettable.
Hank was murdered by the neo Nazi's in season 5 after his partner was shot. During that episode, viewers were hoping that Hank escaped the murder.
