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

I know he's called him "Walt" once or twice, but it read to me as a vain attempt to shift the interpersonal dynamic (like, Jesse trying on a different relationship to see how it felt) and he always lapsed back into calling him Mr. White.

It's especially telling when he holds the power of life and death over Walt (eg when discussing it with Gus) and still calls him "Mr. White".

the look on Walt's face/tears in his eyes when he let Jesse's g/f die was one of the few moments where he had a "what am I becoming?" moment in later seasons

later seasons like #2

Walt Jr. is a whiny, entitled brat. He's 16 going on 12, complains when he doesn't get what he wants, mopes that mommy and daddy are splitting up, and all he does is make his mom cook him breakfast everyday.

in other words, a fairly normal teenager

I disagree. Unlike the Sopranos, where someone would accidentally burn their house down or kill Ralphie Cifaretto over something really, really pointless, almost every development on this show could be traced to events in prior seasons.

― Neanderthal, Sunday, November 6, 2011 10:21 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

what does this mean? if you don't see the reasons for stuff happening in the sopranos, you're not paying attention

and jesse, yeah, the interesting thing about him isnt any sort of "nobility," its the way he's aware of how he is rotting from the inside but can't really do anything to stop it

man the stuff that happened in Seasons 4 and 5 of Sopranos was a complete soap opera, that's about the time I checked out of the show

If a guy works in a top secret lab for a large salary, and he has a falling out with his colleagues and quits the company - CAN'T HE JUST GET A JOB AT ANOTHER TOP SECRET LAB FOR A HIGH SALARY INSTEAD OF HAVING TO TAKE A SIDE OB WASHING CARS?

no. there is only one TOP SECRET LAB on the planet.

unless there's another i don't know about.

The top secret underground lab field is a tough job market to penetrate.

I WAS ON A TEAM THAT WON THE NOBEL PRIZE - I'M SORRY YOU ARE ONLY QUALIFIED TO TEACH HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY.

walts vocation speaks to his psychology not the market for his skills

yeah, i figure it was more of a "fuck that world" reaction. He could have gotten a similar job but his pride/bitterness made him throw it away

thats the whole point iirc

i'd imagine it's not a huge market for super genius chemists - and once word is out you're a perpetual malcontent you're...
At the car wash
Talkin' about the car wash yeah!
Come on and sing it for me car wash.
Car wash yeah!

Wouldn't bitterness and pride compel him to start his own company and compete with Elliott Schwartz head on?

apparently not

there isn't really a formula for how different people react to things

weird to have to explain the different effects of bitterness and pride on a person to john freakin' lennon

Teaching is the noble path is one way to look at it

or just to like get out of the game completely after being disgusted by it

Walt is a classic underachiever terrified of success would be a level deeper

its kinda too bad that breaking bad isnt a network show w/longer seasons cuz then maybe wed get an alternate history episode where walt stitched together his pride and ambition and went to work in product development for dupont eventually rising to become middle management and lived a quite life of regret and ennui in suburban delaware

Flashback episode w/walt drinking the secret formula, becoming spiderman

its kinda too bad that breaking bad isnt a network show w/longer seasons cuz then maybe wed get an alternate history episode where walt stitched together his pride and ambition and went to work in product development for dupont eventually rising to become middle management and lived a quite life of regret and ennui in suburban delaware

― so solaris (Lamp), Wednesday, November 9, 2011 2:15 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

until a certain kid named jesse pinkman pulls in across the street in a slammin' sportscar

ironically he becomes addicted to meth in an attempt to escape the boredom and cruelty of his life, his failing marriage and spoiled, healthy kids and then realizes he can cook his own meth and itd be cheaper and purer... a voice rings out at the end of the episode I WIN AGAIN WALTER WHITE

he turns into a hulk

... spider hulk.

Walt is batman the dark night crystal meth

walt murders his orginal business partner steals the business idea becomes fabulously wealthy libertarian recluse funds assassination of comrade obama

The point is - why did they have to portray him like as a super genius slumming? especially if they were going to leave that top secret lab stuff so undefined for 4 seasons? Why couldn't they have made him just a really smart HS science teacher? it would have been a more believable premise. Great show, otherwise.

Being a really smart HS chem teacher is the opportunity, but the resentful slumming genius portrayal is totally necessary for motive.

Really? A really smart HS teacher who happens to be dying of cancer, who is put down because of his job, has to work an extra job because of his low salary, that's not reason enough to turn to dealing drugs? There are many people who turn to dealing drugs as a means of escaping a bad financial situation, that's not uncommon.

Because really, you don't have to be Einstein to cook meth, even great quality meth. People do it every day without PhDs.

John are you aware of how 'television shows' work

cuz its way more fun to watch a show about a frustrated angry genius who finally takes control of his world than a guy who's not?

John Lennon from what I read in this thread your idea of the ideal Breaking Bad is where Walter manufactures meth, sells it for a small profit each episode, and in the season finale, he does his taxes.

Well, to be fair the creator has always said the idea of the show was Mr. Chips deals drugs or whatever. But nowhere do they ever say/show that Walt is a good high school teacher, or even a beloved high school teacher, or even a liked high school teacher. They start him out pretty far down the descent, so we never see him "corrupted" per say. He's a put-upon crank from episode one, which I concede hinders the effectiveness of his transformation, as such.

If anything, I sort of wish the show had shown the sacrifices Skyler "aspiring novelist" White had made, too, or been subjected to (I get the impression, don't know why, that Walt Jr. may not have been planned? Or their marriage, for that matter?). But they've always portrayed her as sort of, I dunno, Pollyannaish? Naive?

the less they show of skyler the better imho

Oh, for sure. Just talking in a critical vacuum here, what would make it a better "narrative." I don't really give a shit about any of the characters' backgrounds.

How come they never show the baby

she's the mastermind

If a guy works in a top secret lab for a large salary, and he has a falling out with his colleagues and quits the company - CAN'T HE JUST GET A JOB AT ANOTHER TOP SECRET LAB FOR A HIGH SALARY INSTEAD OF HAVING TO TAKE A SIDE OB WASHING CARS?

he did iirc

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltxykoNZec1r0ufaco1_400.gif

Did I miss something about the lab being top secret? I mean I just got the sense it was run-of-the-mill biotech startup that happened to do well or whatevs--nothing secret or sinister.

We really haven't been told much about Walt's life before the series starts. Maybe his partners screwed him over, maybe he was somehow disgraced, who knows. There's a reason that portion of his life hasn't been the focus of the show.

Here is my understanding:

Walt, Gretchen, and the guy to whom Gretchen is now married were working on some Nobel Prize-level chemistry stuff.
Walt <3ed Gretchen.
Gretchen and the guy to whom she is now married became a thing.
Walt got pouty and quit working on the thing they were working on.
Gretchen and Mr. Gretchen made boatloads of money on the thing that Walt helped them develop but Walt did not get any of the money (either because he left before it became a money-making endeavor or because he refused the money due to his poutiness).
Walt became a high school science teacher. (Isn't there some implication that Walt chose the stability of public employment because Walt, Jr.'s disabilities necessitated stable income/health insurance? Or am I making it up?)
Being a HS science teacher doesn't pay enough to support his wife (who stopped working to write a book, IIRC) and son so he works at the car wash, too.
Gets cancer, makes meth, blows up major drug kingpin.

Sounds about right. Certainly Gretchen seems to feel some kind of guilt towards Walt (assuming offers of financial aid weren't just altruistic) and Walt seems resentful towards Gretchen (assuming it's not just his usual macho provider stuff). Maybe it'll get explored more next series, but I wouldn't expect so.

she made one brief comment that hinted at it the episode where he screamed at her in teh restaurant...something about him packing up his things and leaving at her father's house or something one weekend.