Did you Notice the Stephen King Book in 'Breaking Bad'? It was Shown Twice — and it Predicted Walt and Gale's Grim Fate
The collection was first seen by viewers a few moments before the terrible tragedy.
If you're one of those who, like us, re-watches Breaking Bad over and over, you may have finally noticed one detail in Gale Boetticher's apartment. In the last episode of season three and the first of season four, a collection of short stories by Stephen King, The Ultimates, sits neatly on a shelf. Just for a second. But those who are paying attention know that Vince Gilligan doesn't just have stuff like that.
It's not just the fact that it's there — oh, King, that's cool — but the story that gave the collection its name. In The Ultimates, King writes about a guy who seems to have the perfect job: stability, money, peace and quiet... until it turns out that it's all part of a very dark game, and the hero himself is not a player in it, but a weapon. He serves evil without even realizing it.
So, do you recognize Walt and Gale? Both are chemists. Both are geniuses. Both are seemingly “not bad”, they just got into a chain where they are needed as a tool. And their work is just a fairy tale: a cool lab, a high salary, a flexible schedule. Only this fairy tale was written by Gustavo Fring, and its ending, as we know, is not at all magical.
The title Everything’s Eventual — “everything is ultimate” or “sooner or later everything happens” — works on the level of a grim prophecy. Walt, who started out as a school teacher, and Gale, who dreamed of a coffee shop and poetry — both crossed the line at some point. And then — everything is already ultimate. And inevitable.
A small book on the shelf. And an entire fate — in one title.
