This past December, a social derelict stole the secretive "Breaking Bad" script from Bryan Cranston's car. AMC feared that if the culprit realized what he had, he could spoil the finale's secrets. It's likely that he was searching for other valuables, such as cash or Cranston's iPad, but that thought of the script falling into the wrong hands was troubling. Luckily, AMC and Cranston can let their guards down and rest easy.
Cranston, who plays Walt, the central character in "Breaking Bad," recently told CNN at the Time 100 gala on Tuesday that the thief's possible plans to reveal the script had been thwarted.
"In this world of electronic incredible ability, [the 'Breaking Bad' production team] went into my stolen iPad, with my permission, and erased the scripts that were on it," Cranston said. "Just those two."
Although initial reports indicated that Cranston called the police to report the theft, he stated that be never even dialed 911.
"My car was broken into in an area that didn't have any cell service," Cranston said. "So I'm driving down the mountain to a gas station, and I say, 'Where's the nearest sheriff substation? And they tell me it's a little place, and I'm driving there, and I called my studio and told them what happened. And I'm going to the sheriff's station, and they're closed - that tells you how small of a place this is."
The sheriff's office provided Cranston with instructions to call 911 in case of emergency or a separate provided number during off hours. Cranston didn't deem his situation an emergency, prompting him to call the other number.
"And I'm dialing this number, and it says spell your name, tell us exactly hat happened and we'll get back to you," he said. An audio recording of Cranston's call went public earlier this year, but Cranston clarified that it was simply the message he left on the sheriff's machine.
Although the "Breaking Bad" team was able to delete two scripts from Cranston's iPad, there's still one at large.
"I did have a hard copy of one of our episodes, [and] that's still out there, so someone has it," Cranston said. "But it's not one of the last episodes that will reveal what happens at the end, so the secret is safe."
Crisis averted. It looks like we're all going to have to wait until the series finale to learn how Walt's crystal meth empire will come to an end. Sigh.