As Breaking Bad's protagonist, Walter "Walt" White was portrayed as the ordinary man who was forced to adopt desperate measures by desperate times. Most fans of the AMC show adored him because of his ability to think on his feet and his being so good at his craft. The general consensus was (and still largely is) that Walt was one of the best TV characters of all time.
However, a couple of fans refused to board the "Walter White is a genius" train. Unpopular opinions about the lead character can mostly be found on Reddit. There are also those who feel Walt was indeed a genius but should have made different choices on some occasions. While their arguments are compelling, most fans won't agree.
Walt Was A Terrible Criminal
Reddit user thelure2112 claims Walt is a bad criminal. He backs up his argument by stating that Walt's stint as a drug lord was very brief compared to characters like Gus and Don Eladio. Walt got discovered, then died after only one and a half years in the game.
While it's true that Walt's run ended too quickly, the turn of events wasn't just down to him being a bad criminal. It was also because the law enforcement side that he was against was too good. Walt has a brother-in-law who happened to be a very competent DEA agent. The fact that Walt spent a lot of time with him put him at greater risk of discovery.
Walt Shouldn't Have Killed Gus Fring
A few fans feel that Walt had no business killing Gus Fring. First is DZAP194, who believes that Walt had no reason to worry because Gus was only intimidating him. He had no plan to either kill him or Hank. Batman2050 backs him up, stating that Gus knew killing a DEA agent or the brother-in-law of a DEA agent would bring much heat and that's something he wouldn't have risked.
Most of the show's fans wouldn't be okay with an alternative world where Walt never killed Gus because that would also mean one of the show's greatest death scenes wouldn't exist. Gus had proved that he was a cold-hearted killer. Walt had seen him slice Victor's throat with a box cutter hence he wasn't wrong for concluding the same would happen to him if he didn't take action first.
Walt Was Lucky To Get Skyler
According to agpc1979, the Skyler-Walt pairing was an odd one. Walt was average-looking while Skyler was very attractive, a fact that even Saul acknowledged. Walt was also much older than her. In addition to that, Skyler had more successful men like Ted courting her hence Walt should have felt very lucky to have her.
As life has proven time and time again, there is a lot more to love than money and looks. It can be argued that Skyler was lucky to get Walt too since he was a scientist with a genius-level intellect while she was a waitress when he met her. And if Skyler had more successful men courting her, so did Walt. He could have chosen to be with the very wealthy Gretchen.
Walt Stooped Low By Becoming A High School Teacher
PooveyFarmsRacer wonders why a man who contributed to a Nobel Prize-winning research and co-founded one of the biggest companies in America, couldn't do better than teach a high school. He could have even taught college.
Walt actually did have a decent job at Sandia Laboratories before he became a high school teacher. There is the possibility that he just got bored of it. And from a storyline perspective, it also made sense for Walt to be a high school teacher. If he hadn't been one, he would have never had financial problems, he would have never met Jesse hence there would be no need for him to "break bad."
Walt Was A Bad Father
Walt sacrificed a lot for his family but some believe he wasn't a good father because he hardly interacted with Holly and allowed Hank to outshine him in parenting Walter Jr. Bruno_Stroszek shares this opinion.
Walt actually had plenty of "great dad" moments. He got Walter Jr. one of the most expensive cars on the show. He also taught him how to drive and stood up for him when he got bullied. And for most of the series, Walter Jr. adored his father. He even took dad's side when Walt and Skyler separated.
Walt Should Have Let Jesse Get Killed, Then Worked With Gale
The major reason Jesse wasn't booted or killed by Gus was that Walt made it clear he won't work without him. Reddit user Horse_Taco wonders why Walt wasn't okay with letting Jesse get eliminated then work with Gale, who was a more qualified chemist.
It's true that a Walt-Gale team-up would have made for a smoother operation. However, It would also have made for a boring series. Walt was attached to Jesse too. The two had gone through a lot together and Walt wasn't the type to just cut ties without thinking much about it. It was for this reason that he also tried so hard to keep his family united.
Walt Should Have Accepted Elliot's Offer
After learning he had cancer, Walt's former Gray Matter partner Elliot offered him a job that had very good insurance benefits. Walt refused but according to Deter, this was a dumb move. By accepting Elliot's offer, Walt wouldn't have needed to cook meth.
Walt saw Elliot as an equal, not a superior, hence he'd never be okay with working for him. Even if he made good money. he'd still be disgruntled. Every day would be a reminder that he made a mistake for selling his stake in the company. Elliot also proved to be the typical mean multi-millionaire, so working for him wouldn't have been a great experience.
Things Worked Out Too Well For Walt In The End
Considering everything he had done, Reddit user slotbadger feels Walt deserved a harsher ending. Instead, he got to kill the bad guys, save Jesse, leave money for his family as planned, and not get caught.
In truth, the ending was one of the saddest things about Walter White. It might feel like he won but he definitely would have preferred a scenario where he died with his family by his side after having made millions of dollars for them. Or a scenario where he went into remission and lived happily ever after as a wealthy man. Instead, he died alone in a Neo-Nazi compound.
Walt Handled The Jane Situation Perfectly
In one of Breaking Bad's most shocking moments, Walt chose to let Jane asphyxiate on her own vomit rather than call 911. According to gameboykid11, this was the right move since Jane would have continued to influence Jesse negatively.
The user might be right but this particular decision by Walt had more negative effects than positive ones. It would be unfair to only focus on the fact that Walt eliminated the "Jane problem" and ignore the fact that his actions indirectly led to one of the worst air disasters in aviation history.
Walt Should Have Quit After His First Deal With Gus
Breaking Bad fans have different opinions on when Walt should have quit the drug game. As for user Blackidong, he should have cleaned up his Erlenmeyer flask and gone home after his first deal with Gus. He had made way more than the $737,000 he figured would be enough to cover his children's health and education expenses.
If Walt had quit right after Gus purchased his 38 pounds for $3 million, he might have just felt like a loser again. He would have lived the rest of his life wondering what could have been. He had quit Gray Matter right before it took off and he wasn't going to let himself do the same mistake again. Quitting at that point would also have robbed viewers of one of the best villains on the show too soon.