And actual MRA type once brought that up as a discussion point to say how Skyler tried to control Walt. It was a desperate gamble, sure, but the fact was that Walt had absolutely refused to discuss his reasoning. And given how close that whole family was and how distant Walt has been from that episode, it came off as forceful, but only because it absolutely needed to be for her to get Walt to talk. And given how his death would affect her life, I think it's absolutely fair for her to force Walt to speak to his reasons. It might be difficult for him, but it's not any less difficult than what he was asking her to do. "Honey, I'm gonna go die of cancer, just accept it." He can deal with some forced confrontation.
But fine, let's say the exercise itself was unfair. If Walt wants to just die without explanation, she should just respect his wishes and put up with it without a word of complaint. Whatever.
But if she's as controlling as she is, then I think the actual ending of that scene bears some relevance. Walt gives his truly heart-rending speech and... She accepts it. Tearfully, because this is NOT what she wants... But she's respecting his wishes to die without treatment. The scene that Skyler's detractors use to prove her controlling tendencies, if they have a point at all regarding that forced confrontation, refutes the notion that she can't let go, because that's exactly what she does. And if she is such a control freak, think how much more difficult it must have been for her to have done that. But she did, out of love and respect for her husband, even if she disagreed with him entirely. Doesn't that paint the scene as not just the opposite of what they describe her as, but also introducing an element of self sacrifice in her acceptance?
And in the morning, it's Walt who, completely unprompted, decides he will take the treatment, and voluntarily goes back to cooking meth.
This is getting off topic, but I genuinely feel that the detractors never had a point. Skyler was a normal woman. If she was controlling, it wasn't in any more of a way than a slight power imbalance that isn't in any way harmful that is present in virtually any marriage that is blown way out of proportion into some kind of shrieking banshee caricature that only exists in people's minds. Gilligan wrote how a person placed in Skyler's place would react pretty well, and if that's somehow inconvenient to Walter, that's too bad. Spouses aren't there to be convenient, they're supposed to loving partners. Skyler was going out of her way to save the man she loved because he wasn't saving himself and she had no idea why. At worst, she took desperate measures to try to fix a desperate situation.
