Exclusive: RJ Mitte thinks Breaking Bad’s Walt Jr would be the villain now

One of the biggest compliments you could pay Breaking Bad was how the show constantly kept proceedings on a knife edge, its viewers unaware of what would happen next.

Now of course, with the series done and dusted, we're left staring into the abyss of not knowing once more, still wondering as to what will become of the main characters (who didn't end up in a casket) after the final credits rolled.

Well we've some troubling news if you had high hopes for Walt Jr: the actor who played him, RJ Mitte, has revealed he believes the former breakfast cereal obsessive is now "bad", and is likely on a similar path to infamy as his drug kingpin father.

Speaking to ShortList this week to mark Channel 4's upcoming Paralympic Coverage, Mitte said that once Walt Jr’s world came crashing down in the final series, the ensuing mess would have had far darker ramifications than many fans could have imagined.

Articulate, insightful and above all fascinating, Mitte really goes into detail on the extreme influences that shape Walt Jr’s eventual fate and perhaps see him join the ‘family business’:

“When the DA come in they would have taken everything; not just the drug money – they’ll have taken everything he ever had, telling him ‘pack a bag, this is your new existence, good luck with life because we’ll be watching you for the rest of it’. You lose a lot of freedom like that. Walt Jr would have been put in a small apartment and probably fallen out of education at some point. 

“He also has Walter White's name, which is tainted. He is related to a mass murderer and that’s how he thinks the world views him. Because it will view him that way. He’ll be very sad and angry. I also think he would be bad, rebellious.

“The biggest thing for Walt Jr now is that he can no longer trust anyone, not even his mother. He’ll have learnt that she was involved with Walt’s business and that, worse than that, she lied to him – not for just a year but for a lot of his life. His parents, these two role models, were manipulating him all along. He believed them when they said it was Walt’s gambling winnings, but of course it wasn’t, so he’s in a very dark place.

“Like a vicious cycle, I think there is certainly the potential for him to be the next Walter White. His anger could manifest and surroundings could lead to him stepping into his father’s footsteps for sure. He’s still young, and didn’t like what his father had become, and he might even become like his Uncle Hank who chased the bad guys, but at the end of the day Walt Jr is his father’s son."

So there you have it. And if you’re reading this Vince Gilligan, this has pilot all over it...