The Major Events You Never Noticed Were Missing From Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad is a show that loves paying attention to the little details. The series has many intricate nuances, as when Walter White (Bryan Cranston) begins taking on various traits from his victims, or how the plane crash in the season 2 finale was foreshadowed by the previous episodes' titles. There are so many Easter eggs and hints of what's to come throughout the series that you really have to be a die-hard fan to catch all of them.

Still, there are details even the most dedicated of fans may not have picked up on. For example, throughout the series we see various celebrations. Most notably, the show begins with Walt's 50th birthday and ends just after he turns 52 with attention focused on each milestone in between. There are even family get-togethers for baby showers and run-of-the-mill picnics. But at no point in the show do we see the White family celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any other major holiday. Why?

Admit it — watching A Very Special Breaking Bad Christmas would've been pretty awesome, but it was never meant to be. While Christmas gets briefly mentioned, and at one point we see a picture of Walt in a Santa costume, we never see the White family gather around the Christmas tree. Walter would've undoubtedly been able to buy some awesome Christmas presents, but it just wasn't something ever shown to viewers. Why is that?

One possible explanation is that it would have merely slowed down the show's exceptional pace. No matter what season you look at, the show maintains a laser-tight focus on Walt and Jesse's meth empire. To take time out of the main plot line to watch Jesse shop for Halloween decorations (as hilarious as that situation may be) would have definitely slowed things down. On top of that, the show did a fairly good job of never getting sidetracked with cliché storylines. Everything in the show served a purpose, and the creators likely thought seeing everyone sit down for Thanksgiving dinner really wouldn't have moved the series forward in any significant direction. 

Avoiding the visuals of the holidays is easy enough to do when your backdrop is Albuquerque, New Mexico. It snows occasionally, but most of the time, it's hot and desert-y, allowing the setting to look pretty much the same all year long. It gives Breaking Bad an almost timeless quality, so you can rewatch the series all these years later and feel like it could take place at any given time.