Shall we anticpate the AMC series "Breaking Bad"? I think I may.

It's exactly the same thing.

Unless you were kidding, in which case, lol.

Lack of realistic long-term goals - no

Disagree, a MASSIVE yes for this. WTF is he doing, when will he stop, why does he want the money now? He has no long-term plan whatsoever. He hasn't even bought himself a new pair of shoes.

lost count of the number of people i've talked to who gave up on this show midway through the 2nd season... can't seem to change anyone's mind though :/

Garda i think the real reasons lie elsewhere but it's true that Hank's medical bills appear to be gargantuan so that at least is an immediate reason to keep getting paid

but i basically agree with you about his total lack of perspective or goals. he has no idea wtf he's doing beyond just going FURTHER.

that said, the diagnosis of sociopathy is ridiculous (as it usually is). he still has plenty of empathy, even for strangers.

real reason: being a high school teacher was an under-utilization of his nobel-prize winning skillz, the meth thing just popped up at the right time in the right place and seemed like a challenge. plus he needed the money at that point. roller coaster ride of daily defiance of death + intriguing moral minefield cemented the deal

also the whole dealer thing is a sticky web just by it's intrinsic nature

why did he stick out the teaching no matter how frustrating and unfulfilling it was once he was in it?

vs

why does he stick out the meth cooking no matter how frustrating and unfulfilling it is now he's in it?

cause he's a stubborn, bloody-minded son of a bitch

i like the notion that his "other life", the one with the great job and gretchen, was something he rejected and now it's as if this new life as heisenberg is why, it is indeed bloody minded to an extreme level.

Walt's goal is to be the best at what he does. It's all ego, unleashed, with a twisted hubris invoked to justify his actions.

And yes, he is a psycho. There is something wrong with him that mere therapy likely would not clear up.

BTW, still don't know why Gus didn't threaten his family yet. I guess they're saving that for later, so that Walt can bust out some ironic paterfamilias moves.

how different would this story be if the U.S. had free healthcare?!

Sons of Anarchy, I've noted, has a running theme of these constantly injured bikers dealing with health care costs and insurance plans.

Likely Walt would have gone the meth route, regardless. Gretchen and her husband were the deus ex health insurance, but Walt was too proud. Remember, Walt didn't offer to pay for Hank's healthcare. It was Skyler, as a fuck you way to justify/spend his ill-gotten gains.

this amateur diagnosis stuff is silly to the extreme, but I can give you one reason he's not a sociopath - his loyalty to jesse

I think we need a professional diagnosis about this fake show about fake people doing fake things. That would be far more legit.

Actually, his "relationship" to Jesse is one of the least explored aspects of the shows. Is he using him? Feeling paternal? Feeling guilty? Seeing in Jesse a glimmer of redemption he knows is beyond him?

Personally, I think he's holding onto him the same reason he holds on to the eyeball.

no way. they're practically family at this point.

bloodbrothers even

Brothers? Maybe Walt thinks so. But Jesse does nothing but seethe with contempt for Walt. He has no love for Walt, despite Walt's eagerness to keep him around.

it's more of a father/son relationship tbh

jesse's father disowned him and walt's chosen a life his own son can't be a part of

But again, it seems pretty one way, no? Jesse's disposition is that of a dude chained to an asshole, dragged around against his will. Jesse has been out of Walt's life multiple times, but he keeps pulling him back in.

^ perfectly describes the dysfunctional relationship some sons have to their fathers

Well, sure, I know that's what the show is aiming for. But like I said, that relationship hasn't been developed on more than a superficial level. Neither, for that matter, has Walt's relationship with his real son. Who, to be fair, has totally fallen by the narrative wayside, as has his useless new baby, as a major character the show thus far has had very little use for and therefore must toss into an ep every once in a while just to remind us they exist.

The baby, btw, remains the most conspicuous sign to me that the show, like lots of serialized shows these days, may not have been that well charted out at the beginning. No doubt if they had to do it over again, Skyler never would have been pregnant. The baby adds nothing to this show, which is in direct inversion to the number of 24/7 demands any newborn presents to a family.

gilligan's admitted several times that he's making it up as he goes along

given how tightly plotted the last 2 eps of s3 were, it's kind of amazing

New babies kind of define the word "useless", tbh.. All they do is eat and sleep. I'm not surprised the baby's not a major character or whatever! I did kind of wonder who was looking after the baby when Skyler was working for Ted Beneke though.

still glad that season 5 will be its last though. xpost

xpost I think they might have tossed in a line about Skyler's sister babysitting?

i'm really waiting for the baby's arc to kick in. when are they gonna get her involved with the new family business?

the baby will probably end up smoking meth with sally draper

I think that old hooker Jesse used to hang out with is grown up Sally Draper.

*mind blown*

waiting for baby's flashback episode tbh

BTW, still don't know why Gus didn't threaten his family yet.

Gus is a family man himself, and beyond that, so far has never shown himself to fuck with anyone not in the game themselves.

That would be some rationalization on his part!

Baby should get a total flashback. Actually, baby will inevitably get a lame kidnap/child protective services subplot, so until then I'm happy with it glued in its car seat and stashed out of frame.

BTW, still don't know why Gus didn't threaten his family yet.

wondered this too. came to the conclusion that after Walt had Gale killed and seeing how protective of Jesse he was, Gus must have realized that even mentioning Walt's family would unleash an unprecedented shit-storm from hell.
and who's to say that *isn't* in the cards as some sort of last resort desperation move!

I think this season opener wrapped things up a bit too tidily. I was expecting Walt to be held prisoner and Jesse to be on the run after last season's cliffhanger. What's to stop them from just fleeing the country like Saul?

"you've got a passport, right?"

I doubt Saul is going to make it out, even if he tries.

Not that he'll be killed, he'll just be enslaved by Gus, as Jesse assumes he now is.

Yeah, Saul is going nowhere.

http://static.tvguide.com/MediaBin/Galleries/Shows/M_R/Mq_Mz/MyNameIsEarl/season4/my-name-earl133.jpg

Dale Dickey

she plays a helluva meth junkie

Someone on Wikipedia should fix her BB credit. Everyone knows it's Wendy!

Wendy's a different character/actress

oooh wait. was this the one with the vending machine?

yep!

gilligan's admitted several times that he's making it up as he goes along

When and if he has said that, he was making sly fun of the writers of "Lost," not actually admitting to being a bullshit artist who doesn't know where this is all going. The only writer I've ever heard honestly admit to that is Steven King. (Hmmm.)

I don't think so. He sounds pretty honest here

I'd love to be able to say that everything is pre-figured. I'd love to tell you I'm Bobby Fischer and I'm playing this game 20 moves ahead, but it's just not true. The writers and I, once we created the Cousins and put them into motion, the problem that we saw for ourselves was, "My God, how do we pay this off?" It's the exhilarating thing about this job and it's the terrifying thing about this job: We actively try to paint ourselves into corners at the end of episodes - at the end of seasons, at the end of scenes sometimes - and then we try to extricate ourselves from those corners. So far, so good. But one of these days, we'll probably paint ourselves into a corner we can't escape from.

doubt there are many, if any, shows where the writers had everything figured out from the start and then just filmed it. and i don't see why that would be any more entertaining either.

It won't necessarily make it more entertaining, but as "The Sopranos," "Lost" and "Seinfeld" proved, if you don't stick the landing it can cast the whole series in a bad light.