Renzatic on 18/9/2013 at 13:13

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(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maureen-ryan/breaking-bad-reactions_b_3942905.html) This article sums up my opinions of Walter White almost perfectly. It's not so much that he's a good person with bad qualities, as he is a terrible human being with a few redeeming features.

One of the most brilliant things about Breaking Bad is how it allows Walt to manipulate the audience just as thoroughly as everyone else in the show. You can't help but root for the guy, despite the fact that he should be the last person anyone roots for. Everything he's done since season 1, every seemingly alturistic act on his part, has always had the underlying goal of stoking his own ego, of putting himself in a position of power over everyone else around him. Walt never does anything unless he can directly benefit from it.

Yeah, it's exciting watching someone transform from a seemingly meek underdog to someone who's taken the reigns of his own life, but the fact is he's only in the position we find him in at the beginning of the show due to his own bad qualities. He should be a billionaire, right alongside Elliot and everyone else involved with Grey Matters. He's got the intelligence, he's got the drive, but his own terrible quirks have kept him from any form of true success in his life. He doesn't want to share the spotlight, fights and sabotages everyone around him tooth and nail to get it, then blames these same people for being shortsighted and ignorant when everything starts falling apart around them. He has no one to blame but himself for how his life turned out, but he's too narcissistic and self centered to ever consider that. He always finds a ways to project the blame elsewhere.

We've seen enough of his past to realize what he's doing now isn't entirely unprecedented. History is repeating itself, only this time the results are much more terrible and damaging because he's felt the need to empower himself after seething with resentment and nursing a persecution complex for a good couple of decades.

Walt's not a complete monster. Even though he's a terrible father, husband, and friend, he does care about the people around him in his own way. He's just too much of a bastard to ever be as good a person as he could be.

This is why I think the show's gonna end by somehow placing him in a situation where he finally comes to realize what kind of person he is, but then realizes it's far too late for him to do anything about it. All he can do is look at the lives he's ruined, thinking about he's the one responsible for all that destruction while the he waits for the cancer to finish the job. For someone like Walt, who prides himself on his ability to act, and thinks himself capable of fixing any problem, it's be an absolute ironic hell to suffer through during the final months of his life.

And he'll deserve it.

Renzatic on 18/9/2013 at 14:38

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In that situation, I'm thinking it's just Walt being vindictive, and nothing more. It's not completely out of character for him, either. Think back to the entire Grey Matters affair, and that last conversation he had with Gretchen in the restaurant. If Walt feels slighted in any way, he will lash out.

...and he does feel very, very slighted by Jesse at that moment



As per his abilities. As he himself as stated, he's a severely overqualified high school chemistry teacher who's watched his friends and collegues succeed and surpass him in every way, leaving him behind to, from his perspective, languish in mediocrity. The thing is, Walt didn't fail becaue he wasn't good enough or lucky enough. He was primed for success, cofounding what eventually became a multibillion dollar business. He failed due to his abrasive personality and driving need to be considered exceptional above all others, which lead to a falling out with Elliot and the rest.



I think Hank's death is the catalyst, but it's gonna take even more to push him to the point of true remorse. Remember, as of this last episode, he's not blaming himself for Hank. He's blaming Jesse.



I think an important part of it is that Walt won't have time to atone. The clock's been ticking on Walt since day one. He might live another couple more years, but it won't be for too long after the show closes



Think about the scene that lead up to him telling Jesse about Jane. That look of pure loathing and disgust. He way he spit out "Pinkman" like it was an insult. The fact he was ready to stand there and calmly watch his execution tells me he doesn't have any lingering feelings of doubt about what he believes needs to happen to Jesse. He hates him, and wants him dead and gone.

...at least that's true at that moment.

Like Sulp said, he ended up being denied the satisfaction of watching him die then and there, so instead he decided to emotionally brutalize the kid one last time as a consolation prize.

Though I do think Jesse is gonna play an important role for Walt in the end. From a pure plot perpsective, Walt is the major focus of the show, it's his character study, his story being told. Jesse though, he's the closest thing the story has to a moral center. I think Walt's redemption (or the closest thing he'll get to it) or damnation directly hinges on what happens to Jesse in the last episode.



TOO DAMN LONG! I WANNA KNOW NOW! :mad:

Pyrian on 18/9/2013 at 23:23

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Oh, just assume they die horribly. :cheeky:

Renzatic on 19/9/2013 at 15:59

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(http://www.bettercallsaul.com/) Saul's got his own website now!

SubJeff on 19/9/2013 at 16:21

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Yeah, saw these a while ago.