The Rewatch: That Walt seemed like such a nice guy...

[qtpye]

I am starting this thread, because they are doing a  BB marathon during Sundays.  It is interesting to watch some of the earlier episodes now that we know what is going to happen to all the main characters.  I noticed that Skylar was always the one to make sure they behaved practically.  She insisted they buy the more modest house and seems to keep a tight reign on the finances.  Later, it is her that will control how the money is laundered in the drug trade.  This can come off as controlling and shrewish, but I really do not have a problem with in in the re watch.  I would not be surprised if Walt began to resent if and maybe even blamed her little for himself leading "a smaller life then what he deserved".  It is also interesting that at the beginning, she is an unpublished novelist.  I wonder if turning her into a book keeper/maybe accountant was a later development?  The latter seems much more in line with her practical nature, but not everyones personality fits their job.

Edited July 20, 2017 by qtpye

[Atlanta]

Totally forgot about Skylar having had been a novelist (though unpublished). She could certainly write an interesting memoir by the end of the series. LOL Do we ever find out her education background? She's obviously good with numbers. I know she was a waitress or cashier at a restaurant when they met. Maybe she was working there while earning her accounting degree?

Do you think Gretchen and Elliott kept up their agreement to eventually give that money to Walt Jr and Holly? How much was it? I can't remember. Also can't remember if Mike was able to funnel some of his $ to Kaley. I know, at least, a large chunk was seized by the feds. What will money grubbing Stacey do? Ha ha!

[Bryce Lynch]

On 7/20/2017 at 11:40 AM, qtpye said:

I am starting this thread, because they are doing a  BB marathon during Sundays.  It is interesting to watch some of the earlier episodes now that we know what is going to happen to all the main characters.  I noticed that Skylar was always the one to make sure they behaved practically.  She insisted they buy the more modest house and seems to keep a tight reign on the finances.  Later, it is her that will control how the money is laundered in the drug trade.  This can come off as controlling and shrewish, but I really do not have a problem with in in the re watch.  I would not be surprised if Walt began to resent if and maybe even blamed her little for himself leading "a smaller life then what he deserved".  It is also interesting that at the beginning, she is an unpublished novelist.  I wonder if turning her into a book keeper/maybe accountant was a later development?  The latter seems much more in line with her practical nature, but not everyones personality fits their job.

I think Sklyer's caution was good to a point, but I think her being overly cautious may have held Walt back in his chemistry career.  Regarding the money laundering, I think she was a mixed bag.  She was right that they needed a viable story, but she seemed to get too caught up in the details and brought up concerns that were not genuine.  For example she got all upset about Walt buying a $320 bottle of champagne.  "Oh, no!  There goes the STORY!"  But, they were celebrating the purchase of an $800,000 car wash.  If they could explain the $800,000 to the IRS through the phony w2-g's that Saul got from his casino buddies, why would explaining another $320 purchase be an issue?

BTW, Skyler was writing short stories, not a novel.  I know this because Marie, in her well meaning but annoying way, tried to talk Skyler into writing a novel instead of short stories, because short stories are not marketable. :)

On 7/24/2017 at 10:17 AM, Atlanta said:

Totally forgot about Skylar having had been a novelist (though unpublished). She could certainly write an interesting memoir by the end of the series. LOL Do we ever find out her education background? She's obviously good with numbers. I know she was a waitress or cashier at a restaurant when they met. Maybe she was working there while earning her accounting degree?

Do you think Gretchen and Elliott kept up their agreement to eventually give that money to Walt Jr and Holly? How much was it? I can't remember. Also can't remember if Mike was able to funnel some of his $ to Kaley. I know, at least, a large chunk was seized by the feds. What will money grubbing Stacey do? Ha ha!

I think Gretchen and Elliot kept the agreement.  Walt has the scared to death that the 2 "hit men" would kill them if they did not.  

I don't think Mike got any money to Kaylee.  The Feds took her offshore bank account ($2 million I believe) that Fring was funding and the cash in the big safety deposit box as well.   I hope he at least got to send some kind of letter to her before he died.  

[qtpye]

1 hour ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I think Sklyer's caution was good to a point, but I think her being overly cautious may have held Walt back in his chemistry career.  Regarding the money laundering, I think she was a mixed bag.  She was right that they needed a viable story, but she seemed to get too caught up in the details and brought up concerns that were not genuine.  For example she got all upset about Walt buying a $320 bottle of champagne.  "Oh, no!  There goes the STORY!"  But, they were celebrating the purchase of an $800,000 car wash.  If they could explain the $800,000 to the IRS through the phony w2-g's that Saul got from his casino buddies, why would explaining another $320 purchase be an issue?

BTW, Skyler was writing short stories, not a novel.  I know this because Marie, in her well meaning but annoying way, tried to talk Skyler into writing a novel instead of short stories, because short stories are not marketable. :)

I think Gretchen and Elliot kept the agreement.  Walt has the scared to death that the 2 "hit men" would kill them if they did not.  

I don't think Mike got any money to Kaylee.  The Feds took her offshore bank account ($2 million I believe) that Fring was funding and the cash in the big safety deposit box as well.   I hope he at least got to send some kind of letter to her before he died.  

This show is like Greek tragedy.  Mike mainly got into this life to provide for Kaylee and she will never see a dime.

[spaceytraci1208]

During the rewatch I was struck by how througout the series, even though he called Walt all kinds of "bitches" and "assholes", Jesse always generally referred to him as "Mr. White"...it's kind of endearing lol. 

[susannot]

I can't help myself--I'm getting caught up in the Breaking Bad marathon currently showing on AMC.  Just showed the heartbreaking episode Peekaboo.  I think this is where we first learned that Jesse's weakness is kids (which is not a weakness  and why he has a redemption arc).  Do we ever find out what happened to the little kid in this episode?  Anyone?

[SunnyBeBe]

I did the same thing.  Last night, after getting frustrated with various New Year's type programs, I landed on BB marathon and it was such a treat.  It's been quite a few years for me.  I can't believe just how funny this stuff is.  I LOL several times.  (Walt walks naked into a convenience store. lol)  

I recall the episode with the child that Jesse tries to protect.  He calls 911 and hopes the child will be safe til police arrive.  I'm not sure if they ever give an outcome about the child, later on.  Jesse may have had a heart when it came to kids, but, it was never enough for me to really get past some other stuff he did.  I think most viewers liked his character much more than I did towards the end. 

[ByTor]

22 hours ago, susannot said:

Do we ever find out what happened to the little kid in this episode?

 

19 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I'm not sure if they ever give an outcome about the child, later on. 

No, we never did find out.

19 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I think most viewers liked his character much more than I did towards the end. 

I liked Jesse my 1st go-around with the series, but after each rewatch I like him less & less.  Now, I'd say, like you, most people liked him more than I do.

Edited January 2, 2018 by ByTor

[SunnyBeBe]

30 minutes ago, ByTor said:

 

No, we never did find out.

I liked Jesse my 1st go-around with the series, but after each rewatch I like him less & less.  Now, I'd say, like you, most people liked him more than I do.

Jesse could be funny, but, then when he just did super crazy stuff like throwing cash out the car window......I lost patience.  I mean, Walt did stupid stuff too, like, causing Hank to drop his idea that Heisenburg was not dead. He could exasperate me too, but, I had more patience with Walt.  Jesse seemed to blame his parents for troubles that he brought on himself, imo. 

[ByTor]

1 minute ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Jesse could be funny, but, then when he just did super crazy stuff like throwing cash out the car window......I lost patience. 

I know what you mean.  It seemed like he should have been a lot more street smart than his actions indicated.

[SunnyBeBe]

22 minutes ago, ByTor said:

I know what you mean.  It seemed like he should have been a lot more street smart than his actions indicated.

Yeah, well, he was in some things, but, with other stuff, he was hopeless.  Two funnies from Jesse, 1. When contemplating a trip to Mexico for a drug meeting, he's certain they will speak Mexican.  (This stresses him, because he doesn't speak Mexican. lol)  and 2.  Gatorade me, B*tch!

[Uncle JUICE]

15 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Jesse could be funny, but, then when he just did super crazy stuff like throwing cash out the car window......I lost patience.  I mean, Walt did stupid stuff too, like, causing Hank to drop his idea that Heisenburg was not dead. He could exasperate me too, but, I had more patience with Walt.  Jesse seemed to blame his parents for troubles that he brought on himself, imo. 

 

15 hours ago, ByTor said:

I know what you mean.  It seemed like he should have been a lot more street smart than his actions indicated.

The cash out the car window I attributed to an actual nervous breakdown. His brain was acting out unconsciously and trying to separate from the meth money after an incredible stress streak. The legitimately STUPID stuff he does is what ultimately costs everyone everything: he couldn't keep himself from selling the blue on the side when he and Walt worked for Gus. Where the throwing money out a car window was irrational and more of an instinctive reaction to some external threat, deciding that he wanted a bigger piece of the pie than Gus was giving them based on the street value he'd calculated they were cooking (I believe it was 0.75% each, around there, half of $3M out of $200M per batch), he made THAT decision out of sheer stupidity. He was too dumb to realize several key probabilities. The first being that Walt would figure it out, the next being that Gus would figure it out, another that the money he'd end up making on top (I think they were getting about a pound above the 200 pounds) would likely not be worth the exposure given how hard he'd have to work to make it....that's just stupidity. Worst case, he might have been able to say to himself "If Mr. White is doing the math and realizing that we're over-delivering our product, basically giving this guy free money, and HE hasn't tried to capitalize on it, I wonder if he has a good reason...maybe I'll ask him outside the lab." Nope. Pinkman, you never apply yourself!

[SunnyBeBe]

Good points about Pinkman.  I laughed when Walt is getting on Jesse about something basic and he says, didn't you learn anything in my class? Jesse says, no, you failed me. lol 

Edited January 3, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[Uncle JUICE]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Good points about Pinkman.  I laughed when Walt is getting on Jesse about something basic and he says, didn't you learn anything in my class? Jesse says, no, you failed me. lol 

I caught the episode on Sunday where Jesse shows up at Walt's house with the Winnebago, covered in portapotty fluid, right after Skylar storms out on him after he won't tell her the truth about the second cell phone. He's enraged, gets into the Winnebago and genuinely asks "WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?"  In sincere frustration, the way I have done with my children, except without the ensuing fisticuffs. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Yes, there is so much humor in BB.  I think that I have listed my favorite and funniest BB moments elsewhere around here, but, my most favorite is the entire portion of what transpires after Walt and Jesse escape their attackers in the desert while making meth in the Winnebago..  Both in gas masks, Walt in his underwear, riding down the road freaking out with a body in the thing, when they break down........It makes me laugh so hard that my belly hurts! 

Edited January 3, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[Spartan Girl]

I watched the episode where Walt lashed out Gretchen, blaming her for everything that went wrong and for her and Elliot getting rich off his own work.  I'd really love to have gotten the full story of what went down between the three of them.  But whatever happened, I don't know if Gretchen and Elliot really deserved to life the rest of their lives in terror of an imaginary hit man.  Walt has always milked the victim card, and I'm pretty sure his own hubris had a large part in getting screwed out of Gray Matter.  

[Uncle JUICE]

4 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I watched the episode where Walt lashed out Gretchen, blaming her for everything that went wrong and for her and Elliot getting rich off his own work.  I'd really love to have gotten the full story of what went down between the three of them.  But whatever happened, I don't know if Gretchen and Elliot really deserved to life the rest of their lives in terror of an imaginary hit man.  Walt has always milked the victim card, and I'm pretty sure his own hubris had a large part in getting screwed out of Gray Matter.  

I think NOT giving the viewer the full story really was a genius choice. It really could be a coin flip, but in the end, I think Gretchen and Eliot were closer to truthful for some reason (besides, it'd been like 30 years since Walt left, his taking credit for anything they achieved is ludicrous, but his being bitter and resentful that his $5K divestiture on an eventual multibillion dollar company, that sounds quite like the revisionist history Walt would concoct for himself). And nope, they didn't deserve what happened to them either...but they were in Walt's orbit, right at the event horizon, thankfully, but they were there. Like everyone else he ever encounters once he decides to continue cooking, their lives are negatively affected, permanently, They ended up with the least crushing fate. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Another funny for me on rewatch is when Walt is standing out on the cove outside the window at the nursing home, (hiding) when the little old lady next door sees him from her window and starts calling out to him. lol 

[Spartan Girl]

Do you think Skyler really went through with using Hank and Gomie's burial location to get a deal with the DEA? Because if she did, I doubt that she would be able to salvage anything remotely resembling a relationship with Marie. 

[qtpye]

4 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Do you think Skyler really went through with using Hank and Gomie's burial location to get a deal with the DEA? Because if she did, I doubt that she would be able to salvage anything remotely resembling a relationship with Marie. 

I think a relationship with Marie is out of the question.  That bond has been broken beyond the point of repair.  I imagine Marie called her when Walter was in town, mainly for the protection of the children (she knew Walt tried to run off with the baby once).

It is sad how many lives Walter destroyed.

[bad things are bad]

Quote

 I doubt that she would be able to salvage anything remotely resembling a relationship with Marie. 

IDK. Marie would be essentially alone in the world, without even children to occupy her life. And she would have had closure, to coin a cliche, knowing finally where Hank ended up. Marie and Skyler might have ended up clinging to each other in their grief. 

[Spartan Girl]

4 hours ago, bad things are bad said:

IDK. Marie would be essentially alone in the world, without even children to occupy her life. And she would have had closure, to coin a cliche, knowing finally where Hank ended up. Marie and Skyler might have ended up clinging to each other in their grief. 

Perhaps, but knowing the Skyler used that info to save herself would be a tough hurtle to get over.

[Uncle JUICE]

On 1/3/2018 at 7:24 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Do you think Skyler really went through with using Hank and Gomie's burial location to get a deal with the DEA? Because if she did, I doubt that she would be able to salvage anything remotely resembling a relationship with Marie. 

I don't think she did, because I don't think she could have. Yes, it was some sort of closure, but they didn't need the bodies to pin their murders on Walt. I'm not sure what the DEA would have needed from Skyler, they had all the leverage, unless she could physically deliver Walt. She was either as his willing accomplice or, the angle I figure she must have played, his hostage and essentially his money laundering slave. I figure she gave them every detail she could about Walter's operation (beyond the car wash money stuff, what did she really know anyway? Did she know Declan? Walt's co-workers invaded her home and physically threatened her baby in masks and she didn't know who they were), clearly she forfeited all the money and assets based on where she is in Felina, and could definitely tell a story wherein her special needs son had to defend her from her drug lord husband by wielding a knife. Yes, she could have been charged with accessory, but my guess is the DEA knew she wasn't who they were after, so they took her statement and kept her under gaurd, hoping to bait Walter out.

As for her relationship with Marie, that looked like it was over once they gave them the DVD, before they got their guac made tableside.  

[ByTor]

On 1/4/2018 at 1:13 PM, bad things are bad said:

IDK. Marie would be essentially alone in the world, without even children to occupy her life. And she would have had closure, to coin a cliche, knowing finally where Hank ended up. Marie and Skyler might have ended up clinging to each other in their grief. 

I agree, and because of this I do think that Marie & Skylar went on to have a relationship, but I doubt anything like the one they used to have. 

10 hours ago, Uncle JUICE said:

I don't think she did, because I don't think she could have. Yes, it was some sort of closure, but they didn't need the bodies to pin their murders on Walt. I'm not sure what the DEA would have needed from Skyler, they had all the leverage, unless she could physically deliver Walt.

Good point.

10 hours ago, Uncle JUICE said:

As for her relationship with Marie, that looked like it was over once they gave them the DVD, before they got their guac made tableside.  

I think Marie would eventually be able to convince herself that Skylar didn't go along with making that DVD willingly.

I'm curious once all was said and done if Marie went back to shoplifting.

[Spartan Girl]

It was kind of funny watching Skyler get so angry with Marie over the shoplifted tiara, knowing the road she was about to go down.

I always feel sad when the reruns start from the pilot. Say what you want about Skyler being a nagging bitch, but you can't deny that before Walt threw an atom bomb into their lives, they were a pretty happy family. Maybe they weren't rich and their lifestyle didn't measure up to the delusions of grandeur Walt had envisioned for himself, but he was so blinded by his frustrated resentments that he failed to appreciate what he had.

Had he just sucked it up and accepted financial help instead of going into the drug business, they might have been okay. He still would have died, but at least he would have died with a family that loved him.

And all the people whose lives were destroyed wouldn't have been affected. Other than maybe the little Peekaboo kid, there wasn't a single life that was made better because of Walt's master plan.

[DangerousMinds]

I think it was worth a lot to the DEA to find out where Hank and Gomez's bodies were buried.

[susannot]

OMG.  Here we go.  Season 3 with "No Mas" and the Twins.

[Spartan Girl]

I really felt for Skyler in this season. I get why Flynn was upset since he didn't know the real story and maybe Skyler could have handled things differently even though she was 100 percent in the right. Still it's tough that she would rather let her son hate her just to shield him from the truth about Walt.

I spent years waiting for Flynn to finally find out, but when it finally happened, it was awesome -- for about five seconds. Then I felt sick and ashamed because it was so devastating to him. As much as he pissed me off at times, he never deserved that.

[susannot]

I had forgotten Walt's totally inappropriate speech at the school assembly about the air crash.  "It was only the 53rd worst air disaster.  So people can move on!"

[Spartan Girl]

I get why Jesse's parents didn't trust him, but the way they just cut him out even when he was clean was kind of cold. Too bad they never found out the little brother was doing drugs.

[susannot]

That was awful.  As a parent I would never cut my child off completely no matter what he had done.

 

I remember living through that extremely tense scene with the cartel twins in Walt's bedroom while he was in the shower.  I was freaking out.

[ByTor]

21 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

As much as he pissed me off at times, he never deserved that.

I don't know if this is unpopular or not, but I loved Flynn, aka Walt Jr, aka Emo McGee :)  Besides baby Holly, I thought he was the only one with clean hands.

[Spartan Girl]

"One Minute" is on now. Still can't believe Walt had the nerve to say "Not lately" when Skyler was trying to get him to help Hank because he's family. Mind you, Walt had plenty of low(er) moments on the show, but that was low even for him.

[bad things are bad]

Quote

That was awful.  As a parent I would never cut my child off completely no matter what he had done.

Hmmm. As a parent of a useless alcoholic adult son who won't get the hell out of my house (and believe me, he was not raised to be a parasite on society), I totally felt what Jesse's parents were going through. You still love the kid but they have to decide to change on their own, you can't make them. And the Pinkmans had another son they hoped would be OK, and that keeping Jesse away would be removing a bad influence. 

Quote

Still can't believe Walt had the nerve to say "Not lately" when Skyler was trying to get him to help Hank because he's family. Mind you, Walt had plenty of low(er) moments on the show, but that was low even for him

Every rewatch make me hate Walt more and sympathize with Skyler more as well. Walt Jr treating her like crap, knowing what she was dealing with, was awful.  

[susannot]

4 hours ago, bad things are bad said:

Hmmm. As a parent of a useless alcoholic adult son who won't get the hell out of my house (and believe me, he was not raised to be a parasite on society), I totally felt what Jesse's parents were going through. You still love the kid but they have to decide to change on their own, you can't make them. And the Pinkmans had another son they hoped would be OK, and that keeping Jesse away would be removing a bad influence. 

Every rewatch make me hate Walt more and sympathize with Skyler more as well. Walt Jr treating her like crap, knowing what she was dealing with, was awful.  

That's true and I never had to deal with that so my sympathies to those who did.  Yeah, Season 3 makes me realize just how many opportunities Walt had to turn aside and take another path and how he chose cooking his fabulous blue meth over everything else--family, job, and the lives of everyone around him.

"One Minute" was a killer episode.  (No pun intended.) AMC is captioning its reruns and a caption said this was Dean Norris's favorite episode.  Understandable why.

Actually, Season 2 also showed that there were multiple turning points for  Walt.  For instance, after he learned that his cancer was in remission, his stated reason that he had to provide for his family was no longer operative.  He could have--and he did-go back to work, and stop with the drugs.  But no, the allure of being a big-time drug kingpin attracted him every time.  Heisenberg was who he wanted to be.

Edited January 8, 2018 by susannot
another thought

[Spartan Girl]

8 hours ago, bad things are bad said:

Every rewatch make me hate Walt more and sympathize with Skyler more as well. Walt Jr treating her like crap, knowing what she was dealing with, was awful.  

Yeah, but I do understand what it looks like to him: his mom kicking his terminally ill dad out for no reason he can see. In his position, I'd be mad too. 

It's depressing to think that he and Walt seemed to have such a good relationship. Once upon a time, Walt was a good dad. One of the few moments I liked Walt was way back in the pilot when he threatened to beat up those assholes making fun of him in the clothing store.

I did like how the show handled Jr/Flynn's CP. Unlike the many shows that turn characters with disabilities into jerks that always get away with everything, Flynn was allowed to be a regular kid. His parents, Hank, and Marie weren't afraid to tell him off when he was acting like a snot.

[qtpye]

On 1/8/2018 at 1:14 PM, bad things are bad said:

Hmmm. As a parent of a useless alcoholic adult son who won't get the hell out of my house (and believe me, he was not raised to be a parasite on society), I totally felt what Jesse's parents were going through. You still love the kid but they have to decide to change on their own, you can't make them. And the Pinkmans had another son they hoped would be OK, and that keeping Jesse away would be removing a bad influence. 

Every rewatch make me hate Walt more and sympathize with Skyler more as well. Walt Jr treating her like crap, knowing what she was dealing with, was awful.  

 

On 1/6/2018 at 8:15 PM, susannot said:

That was awful.  As a parent I would never cut my child off completely no matter what he had done.

 

I remember living through that extremely tense scene with the cartel twins in Walt's bedroom while he was in the shower.  I was freaking out.

 

I knew a lady whose brother was an addict for many years and never wanted to change.  He stole money and jewelry from her and even threatened to kill her kids if she did not give him cash for drugs.  The kicker was their mother expected the woman to do nothing, but blindly support her drug addict brother.  The mother even told the lady that when she prayed, she told god to take her daughter and spare her son, because sons are just more valuable to their mothers.

The lady cut off all contact with her toxic horrible family 7 years ago and has never been happier.  She has an amazing life.  Sometimes the mother calls her, demanding she give money to her brother and she just ignores it.  It was the best decision she has ever made.

That being said, I think Jessie's parents are very similar to Walt's Gretchen and Elliot situation.  We really do not know the whole story.  Maybe Jessie totally deserves the way he is being cut off by his parents or perhaps they are just assholes or it could be somewhere in between.

I remember being floored when I saw what a nice family Jessie came from.  I really thought he must have had an upbringing like Eminem, the way he acted and that is why he was living with his aunt.

Also Jessie would frustrate me with his hypocrisy.  He is stealing the meth overages from the lab and then is using the NA meetings to sell the product, which was incredibly low.  Then he has the nerve to judge Andrea, because she wants to get high with a child.  It's like he had no clue how many children he was indirectly and directly hurting by being a meth cook and dealer, even after seeing how the tweakers lived.

There was also a chance that if Jessie's parents opened up their doors to him, he could have left the life or the whole family could have been killed by the Cartel or Nazis.  It's just one of those things where we do not have enough information to judge.

[ByTor]

23 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I did like how the show handled Jr/Flynn's CP. Unlike the many shows that turn characters with disabilities into jerks that always get away with everything, Flynn was allowed to be a regular kid. His parents, Hank, and Marie weren't afraid to tell him off when he was acting like a snot.

You did a great job describing why I liked Jr/Flynn so much.  For sure he was a good kid, but he was also allowed to be a typical teenage pain in the ass.

[Spartan Girl]

The part in "Full Measure" with Holly snatching off Walt's glasses was so cute. Was that unscripted too? Or was that a puppet baby hand? Hey you never know on this show.

[Portia]

As a Christmas gift I gave my husband Alan Sepinwall's book Breaking Bad 101: The Complete Critical Companion.  We can't recommend the book highly enough! There's a chapter for every episode plus some fun little extra essays here and there. We just finished a massive rewatch (helped out by a lot of days off for the holidays and inclement weather). After each episode, one of us would read the corresponding chapter aloud. I'm guessing there are some fellow nerds on this forum who might enjoy a similar project!

Edited January 18, 2018 by Portia
late-night typo

[SunnyBeBe]

I don't think that I ever thought of Walt as as an actual nice guy, say after season two, but, he still held a soft soft for me, for some reason.  I never had as much patience for Jesse, though.  He basically, just didn't try.  Even before he got the Walter White treatment, Jesse was centered around drugs and crime.  He did crack me up a lot though.  

As smart as Walt was, I don't think that he had nearly the introspective thought and critical thinking that Skylar had.  Upon a recent rewatch, I cracked up as Skylar plots out in detail the speech they will give to Hank and Holly.....when to pause, when to tear up......lol.  Walt looks at Skylar in disbelief, because he doesn't realize how important this presentation is.  Skylar scoffs at Walt, because she thinks that such a lying spectacle comes naturally to Walt.  lol  But, you know......I think Skylar was pretty good at the lying too.  She hit it out of the ballpark with the IRS.

Edited January 23, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[ByTor]

Walt certainly wasn't a nice person, and he did many horrible things.  Yet for the murders he's committed, among other atrocities, the thing that bugged me the most was when he kept giving Jr. booze at that one party, and basically shamed him to keep drinking, until he got sick and threw up in the pool.  I never understood the point of that scene.  If it was to show Walt was being a dick, it certainly achieved its goal!

[qtpye]

On 1/23/2018 at 2:56 PM, SunnyBeBe said:

I don't think that I ever thought of Walt as as an actual nice guy, say after season two, but, he still held a soft soft for me, for some reason.  I never had as much patience for Jesse, though.  He basically, just didn't try.  Even before he got the Walter White treatment, Jesse was centered around drugs and crime.  He did crack me up a lot though.  

As smart as Walt was, I don't think that he had nearly the introspective thought and critical thinking that Skylar had.  Upon a recent rewatch, I cracked up as Skylar plots out in detail the speech they will give to Hank and Holly.....when to pause, when to tear up......lol.  Walt looks at Skylar in disbelief, because he doesn't realize how important this presentation is.  Skylar scoffs at Walt, because she thinks that such a lying spectacle comes naturally to Walt.  lol  But, you know......I think Skylar was pretty good at the lying too.  She hit it out of the ballpark with the IRS.

Skylar is amazingly precise and controlled in everything she does.  She is actually more of a control freak then Walt.  I firmly believe after the rewatch that she subliminally thought that if she could buy the car wash and make it a success (which she did), then she could convince Walt to get out of the meth business.

Skylar is terrified and sends the kids to live with Hank and Marie, because she realizes that it is well beyond anything they can control and the greatest danger to her family, might be Walt and his oversized ego.  Unfortunately, this fear is not enough for her to turn him in.

On 1/26/2018 at 11:37 AM, ByTor said:

Walt certainly wasn't a nice person, and he did many horrible things.  Yet for the murders he's committed, among other atrocities, the thing that bugged me the most was when he kept giving Jr. booze at that one party, and basically shamed him to keep drinking, until he got sick and threw up in the pool.  I never understood the point of that scene.  If it was to show Walt was being a dick, it certainly achieved its goal!

Walt has such an interesting relationship with Junior.  Everything that Junior admired about his dad, was everything Walt hated about himself.  In a room with Hank, Walt was always the beta male and Junior just loved eating up Hank's easy bravado.  He was using Jr. in that scene for his own purposes and it kind of alludes to how petty he can be.