Hank Schrader
Hank Schrader | |
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Breaking Bad character | |
First appearance |
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Last appearance |
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Created by | Vince Gilligan |
Portrayed by | Dean Norris |
In-universe information | |
Full name | Henry R. Schrader |
Nickname | Hank |
Title |
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Occupation | DEA agent |
Affiliation | Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) |
Family |
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Spouse | Albuquerque, New Mexico , United States |
Date of birth | March 1966 |
Date of death | March 19, 2010 |
Henry R. "Hank" Schrader
Character biography
Henry R. Schrader[1] is the brother-in-law of main character Walter White, and is a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Throughout the series, he leads the investigation of the methamphetamine cook "Heisenberg"—unaware that the elusive drug kingpin is his own brother-in-law. Hank is also faced with numerous threats from the rival drug cartels, which take a toll on his mental health as the series progresses; and eventually starts taking more extreme measures to find "Heisenberg" and arrest him.
Background
Hank was a special agent with the DEA, where he rose through the ranks to become the supervisor of all investigations handled by his
As a hobby, Hank
Better Call Saul
Season 5
When
Breaking Bad
Season 1
During Walt's fiftieth birthday party, Hank shows off a news report covering a
Hank generally teases Walt through this period. However, when Walt tells the family that he is suffering from inoperable
Season 2
After a drug deal goes bad, Walt and Jesse are kidnapped by the unstable
Hank is promoted and transferred to the
Meanwhile, Walt and Jesse, having lost the Salamancas for selling meth, have engaged with Jesse's friends. One,
Season 3
Hank remains committed to finding the identity of Heisenberg, but his superiors start to believe the case is unsolvable and want him to move on to other investigations. He picks up a lead on the case after Jesse uses some of the blue meth to pay for gas for the recreational vehicle he and Walt use to cook the product. Hank investigates all RVs in Albuquerque through the DMV and finds an RV without a renewed registration. Hank tracks the RV down to the mother of Jesse's deceased friend Christian "Combo" Ortega, who had been killed while selling blue meth on a rival gang's territory. As he surveils Jesse, Hank calls Walt for information on his former student, giving Walt the opportunity to get the RV to a junkyard before he can find it. Hank follows Jesse to the junkyard, where Jesse and Walt hide in the RV. Walt gives instructions to Jesse to prevent Hank from entering the RV legally and gets Saul to lure Hank away from the junkyard by phoning him with a fake claim about Marie being hospitalized. He abruptly leaves, allowing them to crush the RV in the meantime, destroying the evidence. After learning that the accident was a hoax, an infuriated Hank goes to Jesse's home and assaults him. Jesse is hospitalized and threatens to sue, while Hank is suspended from the DEA without pay.
As Hank is leaving his disciplinary meeting, he receives an anonymous call from
Season 4
Hank struggles through his recovery due to his helplessness, harshly lashing out at Marie, and tries to collect minerals to pass the time. His interest is piqued when the
Hank is curious at this comment, and reviewing the evidence again, makes a connection between Gale and Gus. Hank, only just starting to physically recover, leans on Walt to help him investigate Gus's activities, the Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant chain and its
Season 5
Part 1
The destruction of the superlab leads to evidence directly tying to Gus and the drug trade, and Hank is heralded as a hero. They secure a laptop from Gus's office and put it into police evidence. On learning of this, Walt and Jesse with help from Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) use a giant electromagnet to try to wipe the laptop, making a mess of the evidence room. The police find nothing on the laptop but from a picture frame broken in the destruction, the numbers to several accounts of Gus's that point to Mike's informants that have been helping to keep the drug trade secret. By this point, Hank's superiors have concluded that Gus was Heisenberg and tell Hank to drop the case, but Hank still believes there is more and wants to pursue the informants tied to the accounts. Walt is forced to kill Mike to get the informants' names and arrange for their murders before they can be questioned, without worrying about retaliation from Mike afterwards.
Several months pass, in which Walt has accumulated over $70 million and has left the drug trade. With no blue meth on the streets and no leads, Hank has given up his investigation and moved on. At dinner at the Whites, Hank goes to the bathroom and while there, pages through a copy of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman that Gale had given Walter. He recognizes the handwriting from Gale's notebook, and from Gale's dedication to Walt, referring to him as his "other favorite W.W.". Hank is shocked to conclude that Walt is Heisenberg.
Part 2
Hank feigns a stomach bug to leave early, taking the copy of Leaves of Grass with him and suffering another panic attack. Later, he sneaks a GPS onto Walt's car. Walt discovers the copy of the book missing and the GPS device, similar to the one used to track Gus, and confronts Hank. Hank asserts Walt is Heisenberg, but Walt neither confirms nor denies, only that his cancer has returned and by the time Hank can prove anything, he will be dead. Hank demands Walt to tell Skyler and the children to stay with him, but Walt refuses. Hank tries to talk to Skyler, but she stays silent about what she knows. Marie learns some details through Skyler, but Hank still has insufficient evidence to go forward against Walt.
Jesse is arrested and Hank tries to convince Jesse to speak out against Walt, but Jesse refuses, still angered over Hank's prior assault. Walt crafts a DVD that appears to be a self-confession from Hank that he is Heisenberg, threatening to release it if Hank does not stop trying to interfere with his family. Hank also realizes that his post-shooting physical therapy was paid for with Walt's drug money, making him an
Post Breaking Bad
During the final episodes of Better Call Saul, taking place in 2010, it is learned that Skyler used the lottery ticket that identified the location of Hank and Gomez's bodies to negotiate a deal with authorities. In the final episode, Marie accuses Saul of enabling Walter and the events that led to Hank's murder. During his trial a repentant Saul forgoes the deal and confesses the full extent of his involvement in Walt's drug empire and acknowledges the role he played in causing the deaths associated with Walt including Hank and Gomez, shocking both Marie and Gomez's widow Blanca but giving them final closure.
Casting and creation
Prior to being cast in Breaking Bad,
Development
Critics have commented on the character's development.
Gilligan says Hank was supposed to be a "hail fellow well met and a figure of worship for Walt, Jr.," but developed him when he realized how "smart, sensitive, and well educated" Norris was. Norris and Gilligan both wanted Hank to be smart and capable; "Otherwise," Norris said, "he's just a doofus and you'll dismiss him." Norris notes that Hank bullies Walt in the pilot and the first season, and makes racist jokes about his DEA partner
Sean Collins of
Frazier Moore of
Hank begins showing signs of
Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker writes of Hank's fight with Walt, the series "placed Hank, once a minor, comic character on the show, dead center in the role of hero."[9] Graeme Virtue of The Guardian writes Norris "evolved his character Hank Schrader from cocksure DEA meathead to the closest thing the show has to a moral center."[10]
Hank went through significant character development in the third season episode, "One Minute". Norris felt that Hank's self-realization in the episode was the turning point toward his becoming a better man, and set the stage for his decisions later in the series; Norris opined that "Hank wants a clean soul." Norris kept tearing up while filming a particularly dramatic speech, though the director kept telling him not to. Norris was eventually filmed from the side to obscure the fact that he was crying.[4]
In the early fourth season episodes, Hank is bedridden after being shot multiple times in the chest by Tuco Salamanca's cousins and is increasingly hostile toward Marie while she tries to take care of him. Gilligan and the writers liked the idea of Hank not acting heroically or noble in his suffering. The writers felt this arc would be most true to Hank's character.[11]
When asked about how Hank could have not known his brother-in-law was Heisenberg, Norris said that Walt was Hank's blind spot; Hank had this preconceived notion of a drug kingpin in his head and it did not coincide with his image of Walt as meek and oblivious. After Hank finally discovers that Walt is Heisenberg, Norris had to balance betrayal with rage, citing the hurt of Walt's betrayal of his trust as his most significant emotion.[4] Norris said that, in the episode "Blood Money," Hank's emotions finally take over.[12]
Norris has said that he thinks Hank's moral code is concretely defined in "One Minute," when he accepts the consequences for assaulting Jesse even though he could have gotten away with it.[13] In an interview during the first half of season 5, Norris expressed his puzzlement at viewers who "don't know who to root for", and that he sees Walt as a straightforward villain.[14]
Norris asked Gilligan to kill Hank off midway through the fifth season, as Norris had already booked a comedy pilot before he knew AMC would stretch the fifth into two years. Gilligan declined his request, as Hank's arc was integral to the series' final episodes.[3][15][16] When the spin-off Better Call Saul was first announced, Norris initially stated that he wasn't interested in appearing, saying that he felt the Breaking Bad story was complete and that a spin-off would be unnecessary.[17][18]
Peter Gould was initially hesitant to include Hank in Better Call Saul since the character had primarily been developed and written by Gilligan, who despite serving as co-executive producer had not been in the writer's room for the show since Season 3.
While conceiving the story for El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, Gilligan considered to include Hank in the story, feeling that his inclusion would have been great, but ultimately desisted from the idea due to his feelings that the film should focus only in the most important characters in Jesse Pinkman's life, which Hank wasn't.[21]
Reception
Hank's development as a character and Norris's performance have both received critical acclaim. Frank Girardot of Pasadena Star-News, an old friend of Norris', says that he watched Norris grow into the role, and praised him as "a damn good actor. Certainly the best on TV right now."[22]
Dean Norris's acting in "
Ross Douthat of The New York Times called Hank the hero of Breaking Bad and wrote that "one of the show's most impressive and important achievements has been the construction of a compelling, interesting, entertaining good person, capable of competing with Walter White, the anti-hero, for the audience's attention and interest and affection."[29]
In 2011, Norris was nominated at the
References
- ^ "Sunset". Breaking Bad. Season 3. Episode 6. April 25, 2010. AMC.
- ^ a b Gross, Terry (July 19, 2013). "Breaking Bad "Blood Money" Review "Hello, Carol."". NPR. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Huffington Post. February 4, 2013. Archivedfrom the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Vulture. New York City: New York Media. Archivedfrom the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ The Associated Press. Archivedfrom the original on April 10, 2018. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ a b Collins, Sean T. (August 13, 2013). "Q&A: 'Breaking Bad' Star Dean Norris on the Many Faces of Hank". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Murray, Noel (April 5, 2009). "'Breaking Bad' Breakage Review". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Amitin, Seth (April 6, 2009). "Breaking Bad: "Breakage" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on December 29, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Nussbaum, Emily (August 12, 2013). "Breaking Bad Season Premiere Reviewed". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on August 15, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Virtue, Graeme (August 19, 2013). "Dean Norris in Under the Dome – the triumph of the TV co-star". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (October 10, 2011). "Vince Gilligan walks us through season four of Breaking Bad (part 1 of 4)". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
- ^ Collins, Sean T. (August 15, 2013). "'Breaking Bad' Q&A: Dean Norris Treads Lightly With Hank Schrader". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 16, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Tannenbaum, Rob (September 12, 2013). "Dean Norris Explains Hank's Moral Code on 'Breaking Bad.'" Retrieved September 19, 2013.
- ^ Dean Norris on Playing Hank in "Breaking Bad." Archived January 23, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Conan. August 29, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
- ^ Eby, Margaret (August 1, 2013). "'Breaking Bad' actor Dean Norris asked for his character Hank to be killed off show". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on August 14, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Dekel, Jon (January 31, 2013). "Breaking Bad's Dean Norris to series creator: Please kill my character". National Post. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ "'Better Call Saul': Dean Norris Out for 'Breaking Bad' Prequel, Aaron Paul In?". February 28, 2014. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- ^ "'Breaking Bad's Dean Norris Doesn't Approve of 'Better Call Saul' but the Show Will Go on Without Him". October 12, 2014. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- ^ Insider Podcast
- ^ "Exclusive: Dean Norris on revisiting his 'Breaking Bad' character on 'Better Call Saul'". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- ^ Fernandez, Maria Elena (October 14, 2019). "The Breaking Bad Movie Almost Had a Very Different Ending". Vulture. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ Girardot, Frank (August 12, 2013). "'Breaking Bad's' Dean Norris shines". Pasadena Star-News. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- TIME. Archivedfrom the original on August 14, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
- ^ West, Kelly (August 11, 2013). "Breaking Bad's Blood Money: A Closer Look At Those Intense Final Moments". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on August 14, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
- ^ Berry, David (August 12, 2013). "Tread lightly: The final season premiere of Breaking Bad, 'Blood Money' recapped". National Post. Archived from the original on August 13, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
- ^ Meslow, Scott (August 11, 2013). "Breaking Bad premiere recap: 'Blood Money'". The Week. Archived from the original on August 12, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
- ^ "Breaking Bad Round Table: "Blood Money"". TV Fanatic. August 12, 2013. Archived from the original on August 15, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
- ^ "TVLine's Performer of the Week: Dean Norris". TVLine. August 16, 2013. Archived from the original on August 18, 2013. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
- ^ Douthat, Ross (September 18, 2013). "The Hero of "Breaking Bad"". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
External links
- Hank Schrader at AMC.com