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[Puddles]

The thing to do, as any morally sane person would have done, would be to exit stage left, go to the police, enter witness protection and take responsibility for what you've done. For the earlier action, it would have been to not get involved in the first place. But let's say you justify the first two murders he ever committed. The one in the basement? That's "self-defense"? He had him tied up. Just because he took a piece of plate glass? Walt knew before that moment what he had done, which is the moment he chose to kill him. Walt could have, instead, gone to the police and admitted what he had done, and taken responsibility. That is the morally right thing to do.

Perhaps that would have been the right thing to do, but killing a person who is trying to kill you when you're in a horrible situation doesn't make you a monstrous human being.

Justified how? Is it justified to the legal system? Is it justified only to your moral code? Is it justified as a form of survival? Would anyone see it that way? If in real life you involve yourself with a gang and then, in the process, someone ends up dead because you decided it was either him or you, what do you think would happen?

A. You'd get off scott free and everyone would think it was justified.
B. You'd spend life in prison.
C. You'd spend life in prison but the judge and most people would be all "it was wrong but, you know, I understand why you did it! I would have done the same thing too!"

The situation on the show is a lot more complicated than some fight between rival gangs on the street. Obviously you'd spend life in prison in your scenario.

He had many clear ways out many many times.

I don't think he's had a clear way out, short of witness protection, since late Season 2.

 

[harSon]

Like I said, she has to live with the decision she made since it was a bad decision. But it was Walt who put her in that horrible place, having to choose. It's not cancer. It's not a random act of nature. It was a human putting another human in a place where she had to choose. And sometimes in the choosing people make mistakes, it's true. And that doesn't justify what Skyler is now doing even 1%. It does, however, mean Walt is ALSO responsible.

Your stance on this is completely contradictory to your stance on drugs, isn't it? You've always taken the hard line stance that while drug suppliers and dealers ultimately put the product on the street, it's the users fault and their fault only for abusing the drug.

Pretty much every aspect of life is a collection of cause and effect, so Skyler's situation in that regard is nothing special. It's true that Walt's decisions put her in the position to make the difficult choice between keeping her family completely intact by helping Walt or truly protecting her children by turning him in, but Walt did not hold a gun to her head and force her to make that decision. That decision is hers and hers alone. Walt paved the road to it, but he had absolutely nothing to do with the decision itself. And while he deserves much blame, in regards to her decision, he deserves none.

 

[Puddles]

Anyway, it just seems way over the top to call Walt a monster when the show gives you plenty of real monsters, like Gus, Victor, Tuco, the cartel, etc.

 

[tycoonheart]

Perhaps that would have been the right thing to do, but killing a person who is trying to kill you when you're in a horrible situation doesn't make you a monstrous human being.

And this is exactly where I am. I don't think there has been a single death that Walt has been a part of that he's done it in a cold-blooded way, including Jane's death. Most of what he has done has been for survival, and I understand that his actions have put him in these situations in the first place.

 

[Fry]

Kind of episode that makes the week a pain to go by. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Jesse was amazing.

 

[kehs]

This episode was super sloooooow btw.

Jesse's still sitting on a wall, nobody know which way he'll fall *yawn*

Walt....oh look at me I'm cooking risin....for the third time!

Gus......I'm delightful! Until it's business time....now imseriousmanwithmoney

Saul.....I'm a goofball...see this facade behind me, it's even better *batman safe*

Skysky....mmmm que rico cock

Marie.....what am I doing here again?

It's like the fly all over again.

 

[dave is ok]

This episode was super sloooooow btw.

Jesse's still sitting on a wall, nobody know which way he'll fall *yawn*

Walt....oh look at me I'm cooking risin....for the third time!

Gus......I'm delightful! Until it's business time....now imseriousmanwithmoney

Saul.....I'm a goofball...see this facade behind me, it's even better *batman safe*

Skysky....mmmm que rico cock

Marie.....what am I doing here again?

It's like the fly all over again.

Trollin'

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Could somebody remind me why Jesse does not need a cover story like Walt does?

And also, doesn't Gus own all of Los Pollos Hermanos? Why can this dude always be found at like, one restaurant?

 

[Persona7]

Could somebody remind me why Jesse does not need a cover story like Walt does?

And also, doesn't Gus own all of Los Pollos Hermanos? Why can this dude always be found at like, one restaurant?

Maybe because he lives near the one he is always at and manages the rest from there?

 

[Speevy]

And also, doesn't Gus own all of Los Pollos Hermanos? Why can this dude always be found at like, one restaurant?

Multiple Guses.

Can we help you?

 

[Zeliard]

Just finished the ep. Last half of the episode was just fantastic, with the Gus/cartel meet-up, Jesse at the anti-drug meeting (great acting once again) and Hank pitching his ideas on Heisenberg. Shit's starting to seriously heat up. Gus is being threatened from all corners.

 

[brianjones]

HERMANOS

*breaking bad title screen*

 

[kehs]

Trollin'

Seriously, what actually happened. They literally shot monsters, had a nonsensical explosion, and a future superhero emerged out of adversity.


It's a transformer crowd appeaser episode.

 

[smokeymicpot]

Could somebody remind me why Jesse does not need a cover story like Walt does?

And also, doesn't Gus own all of Los Pollos Hermanos? Why can this dude always be found at like, one restaurant?

I think Saul set something up for him but they never really confirmed it.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Multiple Guses.

Can we help you?

This is my favorite answer. It is now canon.

 

[AlternativeUlster]

Maybe that was why he did it for, like, three and a half episodes. After that it was because he loved the rush it gave him, because he was prideful in the product he was making, because it gave him a sense of control and power, because he's egotistical. It has stopped being about his family ages ago.

But, I can assure you, if I had a family, turning to meth would be the absolutely last thing I would do to try to get money. If you sat your family down and asked them what they wanted to do, and they are fine with X, then go with X. In this case, Skyler and Walter Jr. was fine with struggling. Walt Jr. set up a charity thing.

But, specific to the show even more directly, Walt could have swallowed his pride and accepted that goddamn job he was offered with his former colleagues.

I suppose we are different people then for I could never accept an offer to a company that made millions upon millions off of my ideas with a pity job. He didn't find out about his cancer going into remission until towards the end of the 2nd season. When people watch all episodes in the span of a couple of weeks to catch up and haven't been following it as long as some others, that time frame would be lost than people who have been here at the start. That is actually a good possibility.

Walt also had no intentions of telling his family about the cancer in the first place too if you remember that so I am sure that a family talk was out of the question and as men, we have a sense of pride as the head of household and if we asked opinions about what should be done, nothing will ever get done. Also if you want to constantly have these opinion meetings with your family, it sort of makes you weak and despite what any woman says, what a woman looks in a spouse is masculinity, the ability to protect, to provide. None of his family would advise to make meth for them to survive and his intentions weren't for them to ever know about it and while they said they were fine with struggling, after Walt's medical bills building up, his funeral costs, losing the house, not being able to eat (I suppose Jr could drop out of school to watch Holly while Skyler works but would you want your son to do that?), do you want to see your family there?

It is about Walt's ego now but when you have been at the bottom of the barrel for so long, why wouldn't you want to feel this power? Walt used to be stepped on by anyone and everyone and now Walt has the most amount of control in his life than he ever has even though he thinks he can die at the flick of Gus' wrist.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Could somebody remind me why Jesse does not need a cover story like Walt does?

And also, doesn't Gus own all of Los Pollos Hermanos? Why can this dude always be found at like, one restaurant?

By Walt's cover story do you mean the car wash?
Saul tried to get Jesse a cover story with the hair salon or whatever that was where he explained money laundering using Q-tips. Not sure what ended up happening with that, did Jesse buy the place? Or maybe he bought the laser tag, since he was living there while on the run?

Gus operates out of one store because the fast food business is just a cover, he probably has an office in the back out of which he runs his meth business and/or global Madrigal empire.

 

[kehs]

By the end of this show, I hope walt buys grey matter and shuts it down, just for the hell of it.

 

[tycoonheart]

By the end of this show, I hope walt buys grey matter and shuts it down, just for the hell of it.

That would be hysterical.

 

[daw840]

Maybe that was why he did it for, like, three and a half episodes. After that it was because he loved the rush it gave him, because he was prideful in the product he was making, because it gave him a sense of control and power, because he's egotistical. It has stopped being about his family ages ago.

But, I can assure you, if I had a family, turning to meth would be the absolutely last thing I would do to try to get money. If you sat your family down and asked them what they wanted to do, and they are fine with X, then go with X. In this case, Skyler and Walter Jr. was fine with struggling. Walt Jr. set up a charity thing.

But, specific to the show even more directly, Walt could have swallowed his pride and accepted that goddamn job he was offered with his former colleagues.

You're a drug addict, you must be able to sympathize with the rush and not being able to quit it. Especially if you think that what you are doing is noble, which I believe he did for at least the first 2 seasons. Seems like everyone on GAF can come up with a reason why it's not someone's fault that they are how they are.

Spoiler

I don't really think you're a drug addict....or are you?

 

[AlternativeUlster]

By the end of this show, I hope walt buys grey matter and shuts it down, just for the hell of it.

That would be the best ending possible for this show and would be amazing.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

By the end of this show, I hope walt buys grey matter and shuts it down, just for the hell of it.

hahaha

 

[Vlad]

Gus redirects the danger that Hank was only in because Walt is a horrible meth cooking asshole. The cartel was going after Walt, then because Gus needed him to continue to be the awful human being he is... he found a scape goat to misdirect the violence. It's a direct expansion of the danger his family is always in due to what he does, and that he carelessly discards as if it means nothing.

It's hilarious to me how people are constantly trying to find ways to justify the awful things Walt has done to literally every person he knows. I always love reading these comments, genuinely.

I don't think that people are trying to justify Walt's actions when it comes to Hank's shooting. The thing is that they're discussing which wrongs he's directly responsible for, by which I personally interpret as something that he could have possibly forseen happening as a direct result of his actions. I put Hank's shooting on the same level as the plane crash as far as Walt's culpability in it goes. For me, the result is removed enough from Walt's actions to at least not call him "directly" responsible.

..... and I just realized that I was in such a hurry to respond to that that I missed an entire page of people trying to justify Walt's actions... wow.

I was just about to bring up The Shield too, before realizing that people already did the Vic vs Walt comparison, but hey, another two cents won't hurt...

One thing that strikes me as interesting is how both Breaking Bad and The Shield portray their antihero protagonists (spoilers for Season 7 of The Shield):

Spoiler

Vic was pretty much portrayed as a total monster for the entire run of the show. Still, the people he abused were either lawbreaking thugs, or portrayed as meek enough to almost deserve it (basically Dutch). Between that and his various "defending the innocent" moments, most people didn't really realize how bad what he was doing was. Then Season 7 rolls around, and does a masterful job of deconstructing the character. First, Vic defiantly quits, tossing his badge on Claudette's desk with the full intention of hunting down Shane. However, in the very next episode, we see how he's pretty much powerless without his badge, as he can't use it to bully information from witnesses, and the criminals don't fear him any more. The big thing for me, though, was the confession in the penultimate episode. Not only did we hear Vic actually vocalize a few of his many crimes, but his attitude about the whole thing showed that he was completely remorseless. By the time Claudette and Dutch come along, he's laughing and reminiscing about his misdeeds like they're the "good old days".

Compare that to Breaking Bad, which has given Walt very few moments to shine. For the most part, he's just making horrible, prideful decisions that end up hurting his family and putting those close to him in further and further danger. The most we get are the "badass" moments like in Crazy Handful of Nothing and Half-Measures.

 

[MikeTyson]

Only good thing about the last episode was


Hank

 

[Salsa]

oh, one nitpick that i always had and i always cringe about in episodes: Gus cant talk Spanish for SHIT

as a spanish speaker this really turns me out of the character's credibility. Its downright awful and sometimes impossible to understand, and it makes no sense considering the character's background.

 

[kehs]

I'll be honest about Hank, it's super predictable and pretty much the only route for them to take with him.


I hope they surprise me and have the head DEA head turn hank corrupt, and then they'll all have broken bad.

 

[Speevy]

oh, one nitpick that i always had and i always cringe about in episodes: Gus cant talk Spanish for SHIT

as a spanish speaker these really turns me out of the character's credibility. Its downright awful and sometimes impossible to understand, and it makes no sense considering the character's background.

Still though, he's a great actor which balances it out I think.

 

[sixteen-bit]

By the end of this show, I hope walt buys grey matter and shuts it down, just for the hell of it.

That would be incredible.

 

[beelzebozo]

as someone who took some spanish classes in college, i just want to say that it is awesome how much work they put into gus's accent. i watch the show and actually feel like i'm IN mexico sometimes. he is very convincing.

 

[Salsa]

as someone who took some spanish classes in college, i just want to say that it is awesome how much work they put into gus's accent. i watch the show and actually feel like i'm IN mexico sometimes. he is very convincing.

are you insane


oh my god are you insane


you are either insane or you were terrible at your college classes


his Spanish is TERRIBLE, and i didnt take lessons, i speak it since birth, he's even more ridiculous when they put it alongisde an actor who can actually speak it

 

[beelzebozo]

are you insane


oh my god are you insane


you are either insane or you were terrible at your college classes


his Spanish is TERRIBLE, and i didnt take lessons, i speak it since birth, he's even more ridiculous when they put it alongisde an actor who can actually speak it

dee chicken BROTHERS

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

as someone who took some spanish classes in college, i just want to say that it is awesome how much work they put into gus's accent. i watch the show and actually feel like i'm IN mexico sometimes. he is very convincing.

sometimes he speaks spanish so well the show might as well be set in Spain

 

[sixteen-bit]

Paul might have a massive head, but I like this pic

 

[Salsa]

i hate you trolls

 

[RaidenZR]

Could somebody remind me why Jesse does not need a cover story like Walt does?

Probably because he's not doing anything with it. He's been tossing bills into the mouths of bums and ordering pizza. Walt and Skyler are paying for Hanks exuberant medical fees and they need to do something to support the "gambling profits" story.

Also, when did this thread turn into a super-serious debate of our life views? This is a fictional TV show about fictional characters doing, yeah, some morally reprehensible acts. I think I can speak for a few people in this thread when I say that just because we watch and enjoy shows like Breaking Bad (and the characters that live in it) it doesn't mean we endorse the depicted choices, events, and actions in real life. I think Scar from The Lion King is a badass character in many ways, but I'm not a proponent for murdering my brother and exiling kin.

 

[brianjones]

we know bean speak when we hear it

 

[Salsa]

Probably because he's not doing anything with it. He's been tossing bills into the mouths of bums and ordering pizza.

and not buying massive stereos

 

[Zeliard]

oh, one nitpick that i always had and i always cringe about in episodes: Gus cant talk Spanish for SHIT

as a spanish speaker this really turns me out of the character's credibility. Its downright awful and sometimes impossible to understand, and it makes no sense considering the character's background.

No wonder the cartel guy was unhappy.

 

[Amir0x]

You're a drug addict, you must be able to sympathize with the rush and not being able to quit it. Especially if you think that what you are doing is noble, which I believe he did for at least the first 2 seasons. Seems like everyone on GAF can come up with a reason why it's not someone's fault that they are how they are.

It's not a sympathetic thing. If I do drugs, and decide to destroy myself, I must live with the responsibility. I can't go around pretending it's somehow not quite my fault. When it slips into things like murder, involving people other than yourself without their knowledge (especially putting them in danger), then it becomes something far more sinister than just a lack of self-control.

I am totally for being able to take responsibility, and I believe you should be able to take responsibility... as long as those things are impacting you and you alone. Once they start to impact someone else (say, you start stealing to support your habit, or you start KILLING to save your drug dealing job... or you put your family at risk), then it becomes truly detestable.

Spoiler

I don't really think you're a drug addict....or are you?

I have been addicted to things before, but I don't think you'd have labeled me the way some of these guys were. I never stole for my shit, for example. I always just spent most of my money on it or would mooch off those who had some already, so I was just always poor. It just hurt myself at the time.

I am not currently an addict, not really... I love taking percocet, but I limit it to two weekends per month. It's a large quantity in those weekends, granted. A very large quantity. Cancer-treatement quantities. But still. I dabble in everything else, depending on my mood. I never really stick to one thing for an extended period of time.

 

[RaidenZR]

and not buying massive stereos

I know but it's paltry and way less conspicuous than the medical bills Hank has. I'm not saying Jesse is being smart, because even Saul told him it'd be safer to have a front, but compared to Walt on paper he's less of an eyebrow-raiser when it comes to the financials.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

I know but it's paltry and way less conspicuous than the medical bills Hank has. I'm not saying Jesse is being smart, because even Saul told him it'd be safer to have a front, but compared to Walt on paper he's less of an eyebrow-raiser when it comes to the financials.

How is he paying for his apartment with no job? Settlement from the Hank beatdown or what?

 

[kehs]

How is he paying for his apartment with no job? Settlement from the Hank beatdown or what?

He probably gets paid in cash and buys everything cash.

Cash, the only traceable currency that's untraceable.


It's not an apartment, it's his aunt's old house he bough through saul.

 

[Cornballer]

- Tim Goodman's review of this week's episode

 

[markot]

He does have a cover story, he works at the laundry above the meth lab >_<!

Its what he tells the rehab group, and he probably does get a check from them and is on the payroll to help the story. He already has a house and he doesnt really flash it about, he still drives that crappy car, and when he does splurge its on pretty small stuff.

 

[iammeiam]

Sort of thinking more and more that the series is building to Walt killing Jesse. Jesse's continued inability to deal with the sort of shit Walt wants him to handle, combined with possibly showing a little disloyalty by not killing Gus on command, seems to be just building to something. I don't necessarily think Walt would off Jesse to save his life, but I could see him doing it to save his ego and evade capture. It'd have to come somewhere in the final season, but it'd be sort of fitting (and a good way to make sure the entire audience agrees that Walt is not a basically good dude, anymore, for the end-game.)

 

[markot]

Sort of thinking more and more that the series is building to Walt killing Jesse. Jesse's continued inability to deal with the sort of shit Walt wants him to handle, combined with possibly showing a little disloyalty by not killing Gus on command, seems to be just building to something. I don't necessarily think Walt would off Jesse to save his life, but I could see him doing it to save his ego and evade capture. It'd have to come somewhere in the final season, but it'd be sort of fitting (and a good way to make sure the entire audience agrees that Hank is not a basically good dude, anymore, for the end-game.)

I dont think so >.< I think it might be the other way around, Jesse killing Walt and getting out of the whole business with his money. Walt still treats him like crap, and I think eventually he will bite back. Walts ego will be his downfall, and one of the main victims of his ego is Jesse.

 

[Zeliard]

Can't see either Walt or Jesse offing the other. They basically have a father-son relationship.

 

[iAmMaximus]

Best episode of the season, imo. GOT DAMN!

 

[thekad]

Walt kills Jesse in the season finale.

 

[Puddles]

I'm glad that video scrubbed that shlocky mess out of my head. Six Feet Under should have ended with Nate falling out of the frame of the side view mirror and Claire drives off. Boy I did not like that ending.

At all.

Fuck no. FUCK no.

The transition from

Spoiler

Claire dying in her bed at 102 to the shot of her in the car, driving off down the highway with all those years still ahead of her

was one of the greatest things ever.