Did they? I remember Walt taking some kind of leave of absence for his treatment, and then being welcomed back when it was done… But then when he starts to go a little bit crazy, he makes a pass at the principal, and THAT got him fired.
Whether they explicitly depicted it on the show or not, medical leave is generally finite. If a teacher is sick enough for long enough they won’t be bringing in a salary, which means paying thousands in deductibles and ongoing insurance premiums is next to impossible. And that’s just for standard care… remember, Walt was getting his treatments at the highly-regarded-but-not-covered-by-his-insurance cancer clinic that Marie referred him to.
Heh… my brain is breaking down!
Right, but they didn’t fire him. They welcomed him back when he was actually able to do his job again. They also didn’t explicitly depict whether or not Walt was getting disability insurance through his union while he was on this medical leave of absence, because he was making money through other means at that point and it wasn’t really germane to the plot. Not being at work because of his cancer treatment certainly wasn’t a factor in his deciding to cook meth, as that decision was made well before. And I actually don’t even remember if the school asked him to take the medical leave, or if he took it of his own volition. Or if that was even explicitly mentioned.
Point being, teacher’s union benefits don’t mean a cancer diagnosis won’t drag your family into financial ruin.
I had the impression that Jr’s medical issues were already a financial strain on the family and that’s why they didn’t have a cushion to fall back on when the cancer came.
I also assumed that his total inability to share power is what drove him out of the startup. Everybody else was acting like equal partners, and Walt just can’t stand that.
Hrmm, I didn’t get that from my watch through at all. The weird quasi-romantic chemistry stuff with Gretchen in the early episodes (flashbacks to their time in school, I think?), and then the reveal that Gretchen and Elliot are married now, is what led me to presume that it was a romantic pride thing. But that side of the plot was never really fully fleshed out, if memory serves.
You’re right. I think his speech at the assembly after the two planes crashed was part of what prompted that meeting too. Though even making a pass at the principal still won’t get you immediately canned with a good teacher’s union.
True - though I bet if Walt had actually cared, he might have fought it and won. I think the point was, though, that Walt was beyond caring at that point, and didn’t bother fighting it.
My husband was diagnosed with Stage III Breast Cancer in 2010. A couple months ago I decided to catch up on Breaking Bad via Netflix. We watched a couple of episodes together but he quickly decided that it was not a show he wanted to watch, as it hit a little too close to home. I kept watching. During one early episode, I cried big fat ugly wailing tears - I cried longer and harder than I ever did when he actually had cancer. For my own emotional health, I’m glad the cancer took a back seat.
But it wasn’t only the treatment that he wanted. He wanted to provide for his family from beyond the grave – mortgage payment, college tuition for two kids, etc.
Doesn’t chemo treatment leave a person feeling weak? Or would it still be plausible for a guy to bury half a dozen barrels full of cash in the New Mexico desert without passing out until he gets home? (This doesn’t stop me from loving the show, but seemed like a stretch.)
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