How did Walt poison Brock in Breaking Bad? Explained

Brock
Brock's poisoning in Breaking Bad (Image via AMC)

In Breaking Bad season 4, Walter poisons Brock Cantillo (Ian Posada), the six-year-old kid of Jesse Pinkman's girlfriend Andrea (Emily Rios). Walter White carries out several crimes in his pursuit of power in the series, but one of the most atrocious is the poisoning of the child, Brock, to control Jesse Pinkman using lies.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Breaking Bad. Discretion is advised.

Jesse loved Brock very much, and they would spend time together playing video games. Jesse kept sending money to Andrea after their breakup to improve their living conditions. When the two got back together in season 4, Brock had to be rushed to the hospital because of a severe illness.

Jesse believed that Walt had taken ricin and given it to Brock to even the score with him for leaving Walt and working for Gus. Walt, however, gives Jesse the impression that given Gus must have poisoned the child.


Breaking Bad: Walt's plan to get Jesse on his side using Brock

Walter White had noticed Jesse’s fondness of Brock when he approached him for help against Gus. Walter poisons the child and blames Gus for getting his partner Jesse back. He tries to use Jesse to kill Gus as revenge.

Jesse initially figures it out and charges Walt by pointing his gun at him, threatening to pull the trigger. He realizes Brock is not naturally ill but has been poisoned by the ricin.

Even though Jesse recognizes the bluff, Walter still deceives him and makes him believe Gus is behind the act. He diverts Jesse's ire, deepening the divide between the two characters. Walter poisoned Brock to increase his chances of survival.

The only way he could bring Jesse to his side was to poison Brock. Jesse had promised that Gus wouldn't kill Walt before Brock got poisoned, but that assurance wasn't strong enough to provide any defense. Getting rid of Gus and getting Jesse back was the only way Walter would survive.

Walt tricked Jesse into believing that Brock had taken the potent poison ricin. Walt, however, could assign Gus responsibility because he had previously harmed children. This logic and the knowledge that Gus desired Walter's death caused Jesse to shift his suspicion from Walter to Gus.

Jesse was correct, after all; Walt was the one who inflicted Brock's illness on Jesse to turn him against Gus. However, it was eventually determined that ricin was not the cause of the poisoning but a Lily of the Valley plant that Walt's backyard held in the season 4 finale of Breaking Bad.


How did Brock come in contact with the lily growing in Walter White’s backyard in Breaking Bad?

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Since this incident occurred off-screen, the Breaking Bad writers answered the questions for viewers' comprehension. The episodes do not explain how Brock came into contact with the poison.

The creator, Gillian, answers this during a San Diego Comic-Con appearance; he gives the fans an idea of Walt pouring the poison into Brock's juice box, which is why they called the incident Walt becoming the "Evil Juice Box Man."

Walt had put the juice box in Brock's school lunch off-camera. Ensuring that Brock had the drink. The rest of the execution involving Huell's pilfered ricin then unfolded on screen.

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Edited by Pradyot Hegde
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