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This post is about the AMC show Breaking Bad. If you have not seen up to season 5 episode 6 this post may contain spoilers.
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I'm a fan of the show Breaking Bad on AMC. Last week's episode, the train heist, was epic! After watching this week's episode, I've come to realize I don't much care for Walt as a character anymore. Walt was never a hero, rather he was an antihero, an overqualified high school chemistry teacher who, through the misfortune of being diagnosed with cancer and thinking his days would soon end, decided to put his chemistry degree to use and start cooking meth to leave a little nest egg for his pregnant wife and adolescent son with cerebral palsy.
In the beginning of the series, Walt's actions, though illegal, were at least understandable. His decision to not accept the chemo money from his former business partners was incredibly dumb. But even that action can be explained away by pride and the desire to leave a nest egg for his family, since he didn't know if the chemo would work or not. The decisions Walt made during his early days as Heisenberg, his street-name taken from the German theoretical physicist (see Wikipedia page), were also understandable. Making the fulminated mercury and blowing up Tuco's office and eventually killing Tuco and his gang were all done for survival. By the way, as a science nerd, I love how Walt uses science and chemistry to get out of situations, like the first two murders in the series, tonight's episode, all the use of acid, the ricin and lilly of valley poisonings, etc. Walt's decision to kill Glen and Fring* was also understandable, there was no way Fring was just going to let Jesse and Walt walk away from the business.
This season Walt is more and more becoming a villain and no longer an antihero. The way he was talking to Skylar last week reminded of Michael Corleone and his wife. All of Walt's actions this season have not been understandable. Why continue cooking after killing Fring and destroying evidence of your involvement? And today's episode, just take the $5million and walk away!!! You can have your life and your family back! Get over the poor decision you made in grad school (a poor decision in itself!) of selling your share in GreyMatter! So what you won't be a billionaire with a "b", $5 million is nothing to sneeze at! Walt's actions used to stem from survival, but this season they all stem from greed and egotism making him an unlikable and unsympathetic character. Jesse, on the other hand, has become a lot more likable as the series has progressed.
Favorite quote of the night: "Jesse, you asked me if I was in the meth business or the money business. Neither. I'm in the empire business." ~ Walter White
Well, every great empire in the world falls, Walt, and so will yours.
*Side note: I would love to know more about Fring's background story. What's the deal with his time in Chile? Who's son is he? Maybe he's the son of Pinochet? Or the son of a former cartel leader in Chile. Why was it so important to hide his time in Chile? I hope the writers reveal that before the series ends.
This post is about the AMC show Breaking Bad. If you have not seen up to season 5 episode 6 this post may contain spoilers.
*********************************************************************************
I'm a fan of the show Breaking Bad on AMC. Last week's episode, the train heist, was epic! After watching this week's episode, I've come to realize I don't much care for Walt as a character anymore. Walt was never a hero, rather he was an antihero, an overqualified high school chemistry teacher who, through the misfortune of being diagnosed with cancer and thinking his days would soon end, decided to put his chemistry degree to use and start cooking meth to leave a little nest egg for his pregnant wife and adolescent son with cerebral palsy.
In the beginning of the series, Walt's actions, though illegal, were at least understandable. His decision to not accept the chemo money from his former business partners was incredibly dumb. But even that action can be explained away by pride and the desire to leave a nest egg for his family, since he didn't know if the chemo would work or not. The decisions Walt made during his early days as Heisenberg, his street-name taken from the German theoretical physicist (see Wikipedia page), were also understandable. Making the fulminated mercury and blowing up Tuco's office and eventually killing Tuco and his gang were all done for survival. By the way, as a science nerd, I love how Walt uses science and chemistry to get out of situations, like the first two murders in the series, tonight's episode, all the use of acid, the ricin and lilly of valley poisonings, etc. Walt's decision to kill Glen and Fring* was also understandable, there was no way Fring was just going to let Jesse and Walt walk away from the business.
This season Walt is more and more becoming a villain and no longer an antihero. The way he was talking to Skylar last week reminded of Michael Corleone and his wife. All of Walt's actions this season have not been understandable. Why continue cooking after killing Fring and destroying evidence of your involvement? And today's episode, just take the $5million and walk away!!! You can have your life and your family back! Get over the poor decision you made in grad school (a poor decision in itself!) of selling your share in GreyMatter! So what you won't be a billionaire with a "b", $5 million is nothing to sneeze at! Walt's actions used to stem from survival, but this season they all stem from greed and egotism making him an unlikable and unsympathetic character. Jesse, on the other hand, has become a lot more likable as the series has progressed.
Favorite quote of the night: "Jesse, you asked me if I was in the meth business or the money business. Neither. I'm in the empire business." ~ Walter White
Well, every great empire in the world falls, Walt, and so will yours.
*Side note: I would love to know more about Fring's background story. What's the deal with his time in Chile? Who's son is he? Maybe he's the son of Pinochet? Or the son of a former cartel leader in Chile. Why was it so important to hide his time in Chile? I hope the writers reveal that before the series ends.
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