Many sadistic characters could be touted as Breaking Bad‘s greatest villain. Gus Frings (Giancarlo Esposito) is up there for how he entrapped Jesse (Aaron Paul) and Walt (Bryan Cranston) to build a powerful meth empire. Then there’s Uncle Jack and the neo-Nazis who held Jesse captive as their chemist in the final season. However, none of these big bads touched Jesse Plemons’ Todd Alquist, the polite yet maniacal killer who was all about business. Many things made Todd a true psychopath. At first glance, he was soft-spoken, gentle and gave the impression he cared. However, underneath this gentleman surface was a true monster.
Todd’s dark side first showed when he killed an innocent kid on a bike in the Methylamine heist in Season 5’s “Dead Freight.” In addition, the way he watched over Jesse when he was chained up, making meth for Jack, proved Todd had serious issues. He kept the picture of Brock to inspire Jesse to keep working, which led to Todd actually murdering Brock’s mother, Andrea, with Jesse pinned down and in full view.
It was a masterstroke, with Todd using psychological warfare. It broke Jesse unlike anything else in Breaking Bad. While many considered Todd mad, he was just about getting the job done. El Camino: A Breaking Bad reiterated this when he had Jesse come over to help him get rid of the maid he killed. Todd had no reason to do so, considering she found his cash by accident, but he was just covering tracks in case.
Nothing fazed Todd. He was like a robot without a conscience. For instance, he casually offered to buy Jesse pizza after disposing of his maid’s dead body. The fact he rewarded Jesse with ice cream and other treats for his work showed Todd was a warped puppet master, treating Jesse like a pet. Although Jesse found a gun, he couldn’t kill Todd out of fear. It was a profound moment considering no villain had ever paralyzed Jesse mentally or physically before.
Ultimately, the unpredictable Todd did what everyone tried to do: make blue meth and become the new Heisenberg. He didn’t even need Walt. While many fans felt this was Jack’s scheme, Todd was the true mastermind. He had a solution for everything, and it was what made Lydia scared of him.
She knew, as evil as she was, she still could never be as cutthroat. Sure, Jack’s crew was a bunch of trigger-happy grunts, but Todd was the real genius working over everyone. This was why Walt liked him when they worked together months before. He saw a true soldier, not even realizing Todd was actually going to be his demented successor.
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