The Self-Referential Easter Egg You Never Noticed In Breaking Bad

There are numerous reasons why fans love Breaking Bad. The performances from the cast were outstanding, and the writing was some of the best audiences had ever seen on a television show. Plot points would come up in early episodes and then pay off seasons later. The show was also filled to the brim with symbolism, such as how certain colors correlate with the state of mind a given character is in at a given moment. Viewers have also noted how Walter White (Bryan Cranston) has a subtle habit of taking on the traits of the people he kills. An incredible amount of detail went into every frame, and fans are still going back to rewatch the show to see what they missed the first time around. 

One such viewer caught a subtle Easter egg in the background of a later episode, and it's a pretty great nod to the series as a whole. It may not make a ton of sense, in the Breaking Bad universe itself, but it's fun for fans of the series to find a previously unnoticed detail that breaks the fourth wall. 

Over on Reddit, user Zeberoth started a thread recently showing off the almost completely hidden Easter egg. The moment comes in season 5 episode 12 "Rabid Dog" where Jesse (Aaron Paul) has agreed to rat out Walter to the DEA. Jesse goes to Hank's (Dean Norris) house to provide his testimony on camera for the DEA to use later. Before Jesse speaks, he stands in front of Hank's bookshelf, and there's a quick moment where the camera pans to the left, and you see a Breaking Bad DVD amongst all of the books. 

Everyone on the Reddit thread had a good sense of humor with the Easter egg. Redditor soldier4death suggested that Hank may not be such a great DEA agent by saying, "Walt literally gave him a dvd of how he was a drug lord titled Breaking Bad and Hank still couldn't figure it out." Another Redditor, TenMinutesToDowntown, had the same thought: "If Hank would have just watched the DVD, he would have known who Heisenberg was years prior." Perhaps in the Breaking Bad universe, there's a different show about a mild-mannered man who gets diagnosed with cancer and turns to selling meth, starring Matthew Broderick. 

Of course, not all of the comments had to do with the Easter egg. You really get a glimpse into someone's psyche by seeing what kind of books they keep around the house, and Redditor 20_percentcooler poked fun at a different item on the shelf: "Marie was definitely the one who bought Body Language of Horses." There certainly are a lot of horse books on the shelf, which is probably why so many people failed to notice the DVD when the episode first aired. It's hard to see such small print when a book called Horse Sense is there staring you in the face.

With so much attention to detail going into Breaking Bad, there's a chance there are other Easter eggs hidden throughout the show no one has found yet. You're just going to have to keep rewatching the series to see what else jumps out.