The Breaking Bad franchise is such a rich world that it has captured the imagination of audiences since it was first introduced. Bringing in the prequel series Better Call Saul and the sequel movie El Camino, the Albuquerque-based crime drama has proven to be an all-time classic. There are some standout figures from across these series, but this world truly comes to life thanks to the depth of the supporting cast.
Without those supporting players, Walter, Skyler, Jesse, and Saul wouldn’t have anyone to have conflicts with. For example, Ted Beneke (Christopher Cousins) is a vital part of the show and has an important role in Skyler and Walter’s relationship in Breaking Bad. Not only does Ted become a catalyst for further tension between the couple, but he also acts as a warning sign to all those who may cross Heisenberg and his family. Cousins plays his supporting role to perfection. But fans are still confused about what happened to the businessman.
This article was updated on November 12, 2024, by Arthur Goyaz: Though Christopher Cousins had a relatively small role in Breaking Bad as Ted, his character was at the center of the turmoil between Skyler and Walter. This article was updated to include more information about Cousins’ career before and after Breaking Bad.
Ted is a Vital But Sometimes Forgotten Supporting Character
One of Skyler’s Key Arcs Brought Ted Into the Show
Ted is introduced as a former employer of Breaking Bad‘s Skyler in Season 2, Episode 7, “Negro y Azul.” She begins working with him again in his family’s business, and the two have an affair. This “romance” is partially fueled by Skyler’s disgust with Walter, who becomes an increasingly detestable person in her life. Ted isn’t squeaky clean either, though, and was involved in fraudulent activity after his company got into financial trouble. Skyler gives Ted money to pay what he owes to the government, but Ted has other ideas.
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Skyler is the one who keeps Ted’s books, so she puts up Walt’s cash to pay Ted’s tax, not wanting to be associated with Ted’s crime or go through the scrutiny that could bring. But Ted uses the cash to buy a new car and attempts to reopen his business because much like Walter White, Ted finds it best to fix his problems with crime. It is elaborate subplots like this one, connected to unexpected conflicts, that cause some fans to think Breaking Bad is better than Better Call Saul. Ted is an interesting foil for Walter as a suave leader who seems to be better but turns out to be just as crooked.
Ted almost feels Walter’s wrath over his affair with Skyler. Walter confronts the entrepreneur over his relationship with Skyler but doesn’t exactly get what he wants and makes a fool of himself in the process. The affair between Ted and Skyler eventually ends on its own accord, and Ted’s role in Breaking Bad diminishes as the show goes on. However, his final fate is unexpected and links back to his debts and the money he had taken from Skyler. Nothing in Breaking Bad is ever forgotten, and, for Ted, that’s a terrible thing. Despite leaving the big picture, Ted’s cunning actions eventually catch up to him, and not even Walt would wish Ted’s fate upon him.
The Set-Up For Ted’s Fate Seems Predictable
But It Ends Up Being Totally Unexpected
In Season 4, Episode 11, “Crawl Space,” Skyler is extremely unhappy that Ted did not use the money she gave him to pay off the government as he was supposed to, so she decides to take matters into her own hands. Before Saul calls in his thugs, Skyler attempts to get Ted to use his money to pay his back taxes by telling him that the money came from her. She then asks Saul Goodman to set up a payment and to send Huell and Kuby to force Ted into paying back the IRS. They ambush him at his house and get him to sign the check. Although he pretends he does not know the money, staying slippery until the very end, the duo doesn’t fall for any of his excuses. He finally gives up and puts pen to paper, despite his desire to do the opposite.
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But Ted still plans to get away and block the check from ever being paid, allowing him to survive the ordeal and keep his money. In theory, it’s a smart plan, but it shows that Ted is corrupt to his core, just like so many others in Skyler’s life. Meanwhile, Saul had told his guys to sort Ted out. Viewers expect that Ted will make a break for it and Saul’s thugs will beat him up. However, at the very last moment, it all goes very wrong, and Ted has a little accident—and that’s not doublespeak. Just like so many other times in the rise of Heisenberg, things get very chaotic when there’s money at stake.
Ted’s Fate Is Prosaic and All the Sadder For It
A Stupid Accident Leaves Ted Motionless
In a last-ditch effort to keep his money, Ted jumps up from the couch and runs as fast as possible. He trips, falls, and smashes into an island counter. There’s a sickening crunch, and he lays still (aside from a few twitches) as oranges cascade down on his back. Viewers later discover that Ted has broken his neck and goes into a coma. Saul tells Skyler that something happened to Ted, and she assumes that he has died. When Ted wakes up, he could be a serious threat to Skyler, Saul, and perhaps even Walter White himself.
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However, Ted is so scared about what happened to him and what could happen to his family that he says that he will never reveal any of the information he has. His secrets will die with him. He will stick to the story that he had an accident, and indeed, if he opens his mouth, it may well be that he will suffer a worse fate. Breaking Bad was a hit series because of its attention to detail, but some fans might not remember why Ted’s nuanced end to his story was quite so important.
Ted’s Future Is Set in Stone
He Is Never Going to Walk
After Goodman explains what happened to Ted, Skyler visits the hospital where she finds Ted in bed, attached to all kinds of medical equipment and fighting for his life, the character doesn’t really come up again. Despite hopes that his story could continue in Breaking Bad spinoffs like Better Call Saul or El Camino, Breaking Bad is where Ted’s narrative lives and dies. Like many others in the show, Ted’s life is forever altered by the corruption he hides beneath the surface.
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The result is that he spends the rest of his life (it is assumed) fearing reprisal as he is condemned to a wheelchair, unable to move. Viewers are left to decide whether that fate is better or worse than the gruesome deaths that find so many others in Breaking Bad. Ted is last seen in Season 5, Episode 1, Live Free or Die, with doctors predicting that he will never walk again.
Breaking Bad also leaves viewers to watch the continuing ripples of devastation resulting from Walter’s initial decision to pursue crime. His moral bankruptcy and unsettled relational conflict make him the epicenter of a long list of bad decisions that impact others and draw out their corruption and their own list of bad decisions. Ted’s decision to get involved with Skyler was probably the worst decision he ever made. But then, Ted himself was never a shining example of moral virtue.
Where Else Have You Seen Ted From Breaking Bad?
The Actor Rose to Prominence in Soap Operas
Ted Beneke’s actor, Christopher Cousins, kicked off his career on TV in 1986 in the TV show Another World, a typical ’80s soap opera centered in and around the Midwestern town of Bay City. Before joining Breaking Bad‘s crime drama perspective, the actor was famously associated with the soap formula on TV. His promising performance in Another World led to a breakthrough role in One Life to Live, ABC’s iconic soap opera that ran between 1968 and 2013. Cousins joined the show in 1991 and left in 2008, where he played Cain Rogan, a charming conman.
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Cousins’ role in One Life to Live was followed by the most successful role in his career, Ted from Breaking Bad. Although Ted was left paralyzed, and never seen again, Cousins’ career has grown steadily thereafter. Apart from relatively small roles in hit TV shows like Castle, Designated Survivor, and 9-1-1, he went on to play significant characters such as Superintendent Bob Harris in Glee, Joshua Parker in The Vampire Diaries, and Gary in UnREAL. Most recently, Cousins has returned to his soap roots as Dr. Alan Laurent in The Young and the Restless, one of the longest-running soap operas ever.
Cousins is not generally among the most coveted Breaking Bad actors to talk about their characters, especially after so many Breaking Bad actors reprised their roles in Better Call Saul. Even so, he acknowledges the importance of Ted’s role in his career. Ted is perhaps the most grounded character in Cousins’ resume, as flawed and unreliable as he is. Like the best Breaking Bad characters, Ted felt like a real person with genuine motivations — regardless of how deceitful they were. In an interview for AMCtv.com in 2011, Cousins claimed that Ted is one of the loneliest characters he’s ever played; a statement that hits hard in the face of Ted’s tragic fate in Breaking Bad.
Breaking Bad
The Breaking Bad franchise consists of the television drama series Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, as well as the film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. Exploring the desperate trials of a high school chemistry teacher turned drug lord and his former student/accomplice to the criminal enterprises of lawyer Saul Goodman, the Breaking Bad universe covers a timeline spanning the 1970s (through flashback scenes) through 2010.
- Created by
- Vince Gilligan , Peter Gould
- First Film
- El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
- First Episode Air Date
- January 20, 2008
- Cast
- Bryan Cranston , Aaron Paul , Bob Odenkirk , Michael McKean , Giancarlo Esposito , Patrick Fabian , Rhea Seehorn , Jonathan Banks , Anna Gunn , Dean Norris , Betsy Brandt , RJ Mitte
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