As Breaking Bad's first year concluded, chemistry teacher Walt (two-time
Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston) and his meth-making partner, Jesse (Emmy-nominee
Aaron Paul), hooked up with drug kingpin Tuco (Raymond Cruz), and the money
started to roll in. They expected some degree of danger--but not a homicidal
maniac. When DEA agent Hank (Dean Norris) starts to close in on Tuco, he kidnaps
the duo, who eventually escape, but the experience creates a host of new
complications, leaving Jesse temporarily homeless and driving a wedge between
Walt and his pregnant wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn), and their 15-year-old son, Walt
Jr. (R. J. Mitte). In his commentary, creator Vince Gilligan explains that the
"chickens come home to roost" in season 2 as Walt's criminal activity catches up
with him. In effect, he lives out the psychological version of The Fly,
with his double life merging into one, such that he starts to become as ruthless
as Tuco. Hank, meanwhile, gets a promotion that expands his jurisdiction to El
Paso, while Skyler takes an accounting job that could cause her to "break bad"
in season 3.