Breaking Bad Season 3 Starts Tonight

[dsheinem]

"I am the one who knocks" - THAT, I think, is the most intense scene in the show.

Hard to argue against that. It was also like THE turning point in Walt's trajectory...

[Jrecee]

Ok, but even walt can't be trusted by walt. I mean, it's like saying Lex Luthor can't trust superman. . . Sure, but that doesn't make me root for lex luthor.

Sleeping with ted wasn't a betrayal, it was attempt to get walt out of the house. He came back against her (completely rational) will, and she didn't have another play. Walt had betrayed her over and over by that point.

His intentions were ok at the start, but by the time gretchen and elliot offered to pay for the treatment, it was clear that he was choosing the ego-driven route. If someone was truly trying to do the altruistic thing, he could have taken that money, but he chose to make meth instead, a decision that was clearly a dangerous choice from episode one.

On top of that, he had plenty of opportunities to come clean, at least to skyler. There was a huge opening in season two, where she clearly knew he was lying, yet he chose to lie further.

He had another opening to get out at the beginning of season three, when he had no commitment to gus, but again, he chose the worse path.

There were many sticky situations where he had to persevere, But there were also plenty of times when he could have gotten out, or at least have been truthful with his wife.

I don't see disliking her as a goal of the writers at all, I think it is an unfortunate result of focusing the show on walt, thereby allowing the audience to relate to him in even some of his darker moments. We know how he got here, she doesn't. Clearly this season, they are trying to make walt the badguy. We are supposed to feel for skyler. I truly don't understand how anyone could not be repulsed by him feeling her up in bed in those two scenes, or be scared for her as he stalks her around the bedroom.

[hashiriya1]

I am drawing from personal experience that you can't trust emotionally unstable people. Was Lex Luther like that? I have no idea. I've never seen any Superman movies or read any of the comics. I assume the Lex/Superman relationship is completely different from the Walt/Skyler relationship.

You're more knowledgeable about the show than I am, so I am just speaking from my short-term memory. I vaguely remember what even happened during the first couple of seasons since it was years ago. I don't remember if it was further discussed but I always thought he didn't take the money from that rich couple because he was too proud to take their money based on his history with both of them. I wouldn't have taken the money either. Besides, if he took their money and if he came clean to Skyler way back when, wouldn't the show be finished?

I do agree with what you said about the show being all about Walt... Skyler doesn't know him like the audience knows him, but I still take his side. He's the victim that became the attacker. I like stories like that.

[Jrecee]

I am drawing from personal experience that you can't trust emotionally unstable people. Was Lex Luther like that? I have no idea. I've never seen any Superman movies or read any of the comics. I assume the Lex/Superman relationship is completely different from the Walt/Skyler relationship.

You're more knowledgeable about the show than I am, so I am just speaking from my short-term memory. I vaguely remember what even happened during the first couple of seasons since it was years ago. I don't remember if it was further discussed but I always thought he didn't take the money from that rich couple because he was too proud to take their money based on his history with both of them. I wouldn't have taken the money either. Besides, if he took their money and if he came clean to Skyler way back when, wouldn't the show be finished?

I do agree with what you said about the show being all about Walt... Skyler doesn't know him like the audience knows him, but I still take his side. He's the victim that became the attacker. I like stories like that.

But walt is emotionally instable. Going back to the "I am the danger" scene, he was completely full of bs as he ranted and raved. His speech did not at all reflect the situation he was in, it reflected the situation he wanted to be in. It reflected how he wanted to see himself.

You are right about the reasons he didnt take the money, but the option he chose was still worse and reflected his ego, not what was best for his family, which is the excuse he always calls on to justify his actions.

Yes the show would be done if he just took their money and came clean, but just because the writers wanted more seasons (and entertaining tv) doesn't make his choices any more justified.

Skylers choices have been logical and calculated. She is genuinely trying to make the best of the situation. Leaving after discovering two seasons worth of lies? Absolutely logical. Trying to get a divorce? Again, makes perfect sense. Returning Jr's car? Buying the car wash instead of laser tag? Suggesting they go to the police when things were at the absolute worst (that was right before walt's famous speech)? I get that she can be a bitch, but nearly every decision she has made has been for the good of her kids.

[hashiriya1]

With the help of Mike, I think perhaps Walt is headed in the direction of the "I am the danger" persona (aka "Heisenberg").

Oh, no question about Skyler's intelligence. She's a smart cookie, but I just can't stand her facial expressions and her bitching. It's all pretty baseless and shallow, really. Some people you just don't like for whatever reason.

[Gamerforlife]

Ok, but even walt can't be trusted by walt. I mean, it's like saying Lex Luthor can't trust superman. . . Sure, but that doesn't make me root for lex luthor.

Sleeping with ted wasn't a betrayal, it was attempt to get walt out of the house. He came back against her (completely rational) will, and she didn't have another play. Walt had betrayed her over and over by that point.

His intentions were ok at the start, but by the time gretchen and elliot offered to pay for the treatment, it was clear that he was choosing the ego-driven route. If someone was truly trying to do the altruistic thing, he could have taken that money, but he chose to make meth instead, a decision that was clearly a dangerous choice from episode one.

On top of that, he had plenty of opportunities to come clean, at least to skyler. There was a huge opening in season two, where she clearly knew he was lying, yet he chose to lie further.

He had another opening to get out at the beginning of season three, when he had no commitment to gus, but again, he chose the worse path.

There were many sticky situations where he had to persevere, But there were also plenty of times when he could have gotten out, or at least have been truthful with his wife.

I don't see disliking her as a goal of the writers at all, I think it is an unfortunate result of focusing the show on walt, thereby allowing the audience to relate to him in even some of his darker moments. We know how he got here, she doesn't. Clearly this season, they are trying to make walt the badguy. We are supposed to feel for skyler. I truly don't understand how anyone could not be repulsed by him feeling her up in bed in those two scenes, or be scared for her as he stalks her around the bedroom.

Sleeping with Ted was a betrayal. At that point in time, she had discovered that Walt had been telling her lies, nothing more, nothing less. She responded to that BY SLEEPING WITH ANOTHER MAN AND TRYING TO FORCE WALTER OUT OF HIS OWN HOUSE! It was at that point that I decided that Skylar was a bitch. I love how she always wanted to sleep with Ted, but used Walt's lies as a flimsy excuse to do it. Bitch. And although I can sympathize with her situation in this current season and fully agree that Walt is a bad guy beyond redemptation at this point, it doesn't change the fact that I still view Skylar as a bitch(much like Walt Jr. did). She's never done anything to redeem herself in my eyes. Even when her and Walt were reconciling and he brought up her infidelity, she did NOT offer an apology. That tells you something about Skylar. She never admits to being in the wrong about anything and NEVER apologizes.

She's also a control freak and always has been. In the first season, she made Walt's cancer ALL ABOUT HER. She tried to take his choice away from him and decide his future for him when she pushed for him to get treatment when he didn't want to. I think she's partially responsible for the way Walt is now. She probably exerted her will onto him throughout their marriage. Part of the reason Walt broke bad is the sense that nothing in his life was under his control. He SAYS THIS EXPLICITLY when they had the intervention to try and make him get cancer treatmeat, which was Skylar's idea by the way, as she tried to FORCE Walt to get treatment, by trying to FORCE everyone to agree with her. Remember how she jumped down Marie's throat for saying that Walt should be the one to decide whether or not he wants treatment? That PISSED SKYLAR OFF. How dare Marie have her own opinion that doesn't agree with Skylar's. That was when I saw Skylar's true colors. Everyone HAS to bow down to her and acknowledge that she is right. Remember when Skylar discovered that Marie was a kleptomaniac? Did she EVER show compassion towards Marie? Try to find out why Marie was doing it? Try to help her? Nope, all she did was get furious at Marie because SKYLAR had been embarrassed and SKYLAR had not been apologized to. The world revolves around Skylar because she is a control freak

Don't get me wrong though, despite my strong dislike for Skylar I have to concede that every character in this show has their flaws, not just her. We saw what a complete ASSHOLE Hank can be when he got disabled and treated Marie like ABSOLUTE SHIT - driving her back into her kleptomania as a coping mechanism. As I've said before, the only squeaky clean character on the show is Walt Jr. He is the only truly innocent character on Breaking Bad.

[Gamerforlife]

and just to add some more thoughts to my previous post....

I see a rather strong difference between lying to someone and unfaithfulness. Skylar crossed a line when she slept with Ted and then threw it in Walter's face. That forever changed how I view her. Using unfaithfulness as a weapon against your significant other is about the coldest, cruelest thing a person can do. The fact that sleeping with Ted was always in the back of her mind, when she chose to work for him, and even the way she acted around him at work, just made me hate her that much more. The seed had always been there. She always wanted to cheat on Walt, she just needed an excuse.

Also, I hate Skylar for her hypocrisy. When she learned of Walter being a drug dealer, my god did she come down hard on him. However, she kept sleeping with Ted and acting like he was just a paragon of good behavior, despite her KNOWINGLY covering up his own criminal activities. What the hell was that all about? Why did she act like Ted was the perfect guy, when he was every bit the criminal that Walt was? That always made me question Skylar's moral compass

Also, about Walt not taking Gretchen's money, don't forget that her and her husband made a fortune off of Walt's work, while he went on to be a poorly paid school teacher. That's why he wouldn't take their charity. He's angry at them. Plus, I think it was implied that him and Gretchen has some kind of romantic history. He sees her as a betrayer. I don't condone the man that Walt has become, but re-watching the first two seasons it's not hard to see how he got there. Gretchen, her husband, Skylar, the cancer, and even Hank in a way are all part of it. Walt has always been jealous towards Hank for being such a traditional alpha male. You can't blame Hank though for Walt's character trajectory, but it was just one more thing that pushed Walt over to the dark side, especially seeing how much Walt Jr. looked up to Hank.

[Jrecee]

Walt coming back into the house was his way of playing her bluff. Just like Saul said. "blowback". He knew there wasn't anything she could do about it without creating a bigger disaster (I'm sure she's regretting not turning him in when she had the chance.). He trapped her in that position. Knowingly. She knew that he was a drug dealer at that point and that, yes, he was telling lies. . . On top of lies. I know that if my partner were to ever do what walt did to her, it would be over. Immediately. If anything, she should have packed up and gone to hank and marie's with the kids, but her lawyer told her to maintain residence. As she explained at that point, she was already hoping that the cancer would take care of the situation, but relationship wise, she was done with him, thatwas very clear. Sleeping with ted was a move to push walt away, which obviously backfired. I never saw it as anything more than that. After it failed, she became disgusted by her actions and cut herself off from ted.

She didn't want to sleep with ted all along, in fact when she talks to marie about going back to work there, it's clear that she left beneke because of his advances on her. If there were ever a first time where sleeping with him crossed her mind, it wasn't until Walt's erratic behavior started. But that came off to me as desperation for someone to talk to, Walt wasn't being honest about anything and she felt trapped.

But using the situation as just an excuse to bang her boss? I don't see it at all. She had plenty of opportunities to do it early on, she only actually did it when it had a beneficial purpose.

[Jrecee]

She never did act like ted was the perfect guy. That's my point about her only using him to escape from walt. She knew Ted was slimy. In fact that was probably part of the reason it would be effective against walt. If anything she was blinding herself to ted's negative aspects simply because she needed an escape. There was never any real romantic vibe between them.

There's a difference between having sex (and nothing else) with someone who's activities you already know about, and finding out your husband of 16 years has been lying to you about being a drug dealer for 6 months. Being duped by the person you're supposed to trust implicitly is probably one of the hardest things for anyone to take. Keeping him from the kids? That was harsh, but in the moment, not surprising at all. Everything else she did? 100% justified.

[Jrecee]

I know the whole history they had with grey matter, but at the end of the day it was a pride thing. The fact is, he could have spared his family all this pain, but he decided to sell drugs instead of swallowing his pride. That's about him, not his family. It was selfishly motivated so all his ramblings about doing things for his family are total bullshit. That's sort of the crux of the whole show, he's an egotistical ass who has convinced himself he's justified. That's pretty much the description of every villain there is.