Hidden ‘Breaking Bad’ Alternate Ending Revealed: The Twist That Could Have Changed TV History

Ever had one of those nights where you wake up in a cold sweat, questioning whether your entire life is just one long, twisted TV crossover? No? Well, maybe that’s just Bryan Cranston. Imagine this: the antihero mastermind of Breaking Bad—one of the most boldly acclaimed crime dramas ever—suddenly jolts awake, not as Walter White the chemistry rebel, but as Hal, the lovable doofus dad from Malcolm in the Middle. I mean, talk about multiverse problems.

This peculiar “it was all a dream” twist actually happened. Yep, back in 2013, while everyone was still reeling from Walter White’s jaw-dropping finale, the Breaking Bad crew secretly crafted an alternative ending that few devotees even know exists . It’s smart, silly, and breaks the fourth wall in a way that makes you laugh out loud and maybe question your own grip on reality. When was the last time your existential dread was this entertaining?

Curious how a meth-cooking mastermind morphs into a suburban dad having a panic attack over imaginary crimes? Or what happens when Cranston’s worlds hilariously collide on a late-night DVD bonus? Trust me—you’ll want to see how the darkest show of the 21st century gave us a final wink and a nod. LEARN MORE

Back in 2013, Breaking Bad filmed an alternative ending to their series – but many people don’t know about it.

We all know about the iconic crime drama, whether you’ve seen it or not, you have to acknowledge the multi-Emmy award winning series as one of the best of the 21st century.

Breaking Bad starred the likes of Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Anna Gunn, and of course, Bryan Cranston.

The latter played the iconic Walter White, the meth-cooking high school chemistry teacher who decides to sell the drug after being diagnosed with stage three lung cancer, to secure his family’s future.

It’s probably the role that Cranston is best known for, behind his role as Hal in the 2000s Fox comedy, Malcolm in the Middle.

And in an unexpected twist, an alternative ending for Breaking Bad was filmed that incorporated the two, merging their worlds – only on the DVD edition of course.

But how was this done?

Well basically, ‘it was all a dream’. Seriously.

It all starts with Walter White in the iconic scene in the seventh season of season five.

He asks people to ‘say my name’, before they reply with his cook name, ‘Heisenberg’ and he wakes up.

Hal wakes up from a dream in the middle of the night in a sweat and panic, next to his wife Lois (Jane Kaczmarek), explaining everything to her.

In classic Hal fashion, he can be seen freaking out and kicking his feet when mentioning his ‘dream life’, even describing Jesse Pinkman (Paul) as a ‘kid who always looked like he was wearing his older brothers clothes.’

One of the funnier parts of the scene was when he impersonated Jesse, claiming: “He would always say and use the b-word!” (because Lois doesn’t let Hal swear, of course.)

But when Hal mentioned that he ‘cooked meth’, Lois laughed at him and replied: “You? cooking anything?”

He described Hank Schrader’s character (Norris) as a DEA agent that was also his brother as someone who looked like ‘the guy from The Shield‘, who was really played by Michael Chiklis.

Hal explains the whole Breaking Bad plot to Lois in about 30 seconds (Fox)

Realising that he ‘killed people’, Hal freaked out after realising he even made bombs, but Lois assured him he ‘couldn’t kill someone’ and that he ‘thought he was Osama Bin Laden’ now he’d grown his beard.

After a failed attempt to get Lois to get freaky in the middle of the night, Hal simply says ‘good night Skylar’, before turning off the light to the Malcolm in the Middle theme music as the camera zoomed in to the iconic Walter White hat resting on a chair.

It’s definitely a more playful take on the series ending, contrasting with the otherwise dark (yet inevitable) ending which Breaking Bad fans experienced on Fox in 2013.