Pizza {on the House}: Breaking Bad’s Perfect Mistake

“Caballo sin Nombre,” which directly translates to “A Horse With No Name,” was episode two of the third season of Breaking Bad, which aired on March 28th, 2010. This particular episode is most iconically known for the scene where Walter White, in a fit of rage, throws a pizza onto the roof of his house.

An inside look into the episode reveals that Bryan Cranston’s pizza toss was a complete mistake, one that would take over the internet in the form of early memes, slow-motion clips, and GIFs.

The bizarre incident won the hearts of Americans from coast to coast in only a few seconds of screen time. Here’s why it is so beloved:

1. Pizza

Need I say more? People love pizza. Hot and fresh from the oven. Cold leftover pizza. Pizza you dropped on the ground for just a second. Pizza on a roof.

Such a beloved and iconic meal for two, or three, or more, (or one, in secret) is the obvious choice for instant gratification. Hell, Walter had bought it for his wife that same day to try to please her after they’d been arguing. It might’ve worked for me. Who doesn’t love pizza?

2. Rage Throws

At some point, we’ve all been there. Cancel culture will try to tell you that if you’ve ever thrown your phone on your bed after an angry call, then you are violent, potentially abusive, and a horrible person.

Nah, you’re just human, and while our ancestors would throw their own feces in a fit… throwing your keys, throwing a pillow, or a remote at a dysfunctional television is just a shameful part of life.

In this scene, the pizza exiting the box and landing on the roof was an unexpected glitch. The rage throw added realistic charm to Walter’s situation while the outcome—a pizza on the roof—was pure whimsy.

3. The Way it Landed

I’ve never been a math person, or a roofer, but one thing that I do know is that the odds of that pizza landing so perfectly onto that roof, face up, intact, and still looking delicious as ever, has got to be a one and a million chance.

Bryan Cranston’s post-toss acting is duly noted as well, for he remained in character the whole time and sort of walked it off until the camera panned away from him.

So, show creator Vince Gilligan decided to keep it in the cut, and we are forever grateful for it.

So if your wife ever leaves you, and you try to reconcile the relationship by bringing her pizza, and she denies your advance so you throw it in fury… please tell me that you got it on camera. You will be a sensation, and I will write about you a decade later.