Lydia was the catalyst that allowed the Nazi’s to keep cooking and gave them a reason to keep Jessie alive. Had she not provided the methylamine, the Nazi’s would have just taken then 80 million and killed Jessie instead of making him suffer.
He finds out through Skinny Pete and Badger that Jessie is cooking and makes the connection that she is at least partly responsible for that.
Also, she convinces Meth Damon to set Walt up and kill him at the compound. Todd had opportunities to kill Walt but did not even when it was beneficial to his cause. Lydia convinces him it needs to be done (“Do I need to spell this out for you?”).
That whole scene was one of the most beautifully written/acted/directed moments in the whole series. Walt had chosen the path that led up to the final goodbye with his young daughter and wife. It was his actions that caused the chaos that swallowed him and those around him. I’m the father of four young kids and that scene brought me to tears in a way I didn’t expect. Your kids are your kids and you always love them. It’s making me choke up even now thinking back to that scene…I’ve got to go watch it again.
Loved this final episode. Loved the tragedy. Loved the final moments Walt lived. Truly a great show.
Technically, that is true. You originally wrote that “Jesse did such a good job convincing himself Walt is to blame […]” If Jesse considers that Walt is to blame, then Jesse should consider Jesse blameless, otherwise Jesse would be considering Walt partially to blame [avoidance of pronouns add clarity and awkward frisson ].
Jesse didn’t pretend to be a victim, he knew he was in the wrong (see this quote); Walt pretended to be a victim.
I don’t think we watched the same series.
Now, guilt that’s another story. I posit that Jesse did feel guilt – and that this is shown via his repeated self-punishment (if there are any textual references to back this up, I don’t know). Prior to working with Walt his meth-use was recreational (and perhaps business-related, but that was more of a recreational outgrowth). Post Gale (if not before), Jesse is using to forget, to avoid, and to punish. He assaults his ears, he assaults his house – the house that to him represents his aunt.
I’m not sure if it would be considered extra-textual, but in the above-referenced quote where Jesse recoginzed that he and Walt are “the bad guys” it is a shaken, un-proud acceptance, unlike Walt’s proud assertion of “I am the one who knocks.”
Right. Part of the blame, part of the time, a bit of both,either one. It isn’t black and white. Jesse has no one to blame but himself yet he blames Walt for plenty. He is just as guilty as Walt. Remember, Jesse had his chance to get out long after he knew what the repercussions were and what Walt was capable of but he forced his way back in because he wanted to get paid.
Am I the only one who thinks “Felina” is Heisenberg? I’ve seen in-depth analyses of the lyrics of “El Paso” - sometimes even line-by-line story correlations. I don’t think it’s that literal. Walt was a nobody. He was mediocre, almost a failure. He stood out to no one. Then he faced a genuine crisis, and hit upon a way of trying to help his family while possibly affording the care he needed to try to save himself. As he got into the scheme, he began to find his stride. He discovered a place in which he truly felt himself alive, and he had made that place for and by himself. (Although Jesse helped, it was Walt’s knowledge that made him a star.) In having to deal with the new circumstances of his success, Walt had to dig deep to cope. Enter Heisenberg. Heisenberg became the man everyone needed. The man everyone both loved and feared. The man who was envied. Heisenberg was everything Walt was not. And Walt was completely seduced by Heisenberg. He just couldn’t stay away. Even after months in the cabin, “my love is stronger than my fear of death.” Walt came back one last time, partly to wrap up his final business, but even more to wear Heisenberg again. Everything he did upon his return was Heisenberg, with the exception of his admission to Skyler and his goodbye to Holly and Flynn. The schemes, intimidation, violence, murder. He even killed Lydia to ensure that his legacy would die with him. In the end, he reclaimed what he had tried to give up, and died as Heisenberg, the legend. In essence, Walt died in Heisenberg’s arms, seduced one final time, unable to let him go.
Wait, what? The same guy who founded Grey Matter and worked on Nobel physics projects was “mediocre”? I don’t think so.
Walt was brilliant, just zigged when he should have zagged, and didn’t get the brass ring. Heisenberg was him rediscovering himself, though sometimes in dark, destructive ways.
I have to disagree that Jesse should not have killed again. Todd shot Andrea in the head right in front of him and threatened to kill Brock to force Jesse to cook for them. I think this was a murder most people in that situation would have committed.
Ah yes, good catch. I’d file that under continuity errors.
Of course, I never really pay attention to such things in winter because I always wipe/sweep off the windows as the first order of business before going anywhere. Being in the car with snow on the windows is just not normal to begin with.
Saul implied, falsely or not, that he was always insulated from Gus. (A man that my guy knows, or words to that effect.) On that basis I think Gus could be in or out; they can choose to play it as a lie to protect himself, or the truth. (On reflection, though, it seems likely that Saul knew Fring all along, given his eagerness to go into the meth business with Walt, and Mike’s being a key part of the Fring organization.)
In any case, we know Saul knew Mike well and worked with him regularly, and it seemed implicit that they had a fairly long association.
So I think Mike has to be a regular character sooner or later even if Fring doesn’t.
Well, it provides good cover if you’re trying to steal said car. But whenever it’s that sorta fluffy snow that magically sticks to the car, but can be wiped away with a tiny gust of wind, I always make sure to wipe off as much around the door/window/roof as I can before opening the door, because the air currents caused by opening the door often cause snow to end up fluffing in on my driver’s seat, which then leads to a damp bum.
No, the same guy who was so emasculated in the pilot that his brother-in-law takes the drink from Walt’s hand, then uses it to raise a toast to him, leaving Walt with no way to accept the toast - and Walt meekly gestures, empty-handedly. The guy who took endless menial assignments from an abusive boss at a car wash. Walt’s intellect was never mediocre - he as a person was mediocre. For Heisenberg to be Walt “rediscovering himself” you’d have to accept that Walt was capable of doing everything that Heisenberg did, not merely that they shared an intellect. Heisenberg was everything Walt would never allow himself to dream of being, powered by the rage of that defeated, mediocre man who felt that he deserved a better break than he always got. That’s why Heisenberg could be “Wicked and evil while casting a spell”.
Mmmm… I could see how you would see it that way. But I rather had the feeling that Walt took the cheap buy-out in order to be with Sky. And she was nothing, if not mediocre.
Walt WAS Heisenberg. He wasn’t incapable - he was just confronted with two mutually-exclusive life paths. That he got hit with cancer right about the same time most guys get hit with a mid-life crisis anyway? Some crazy WAS gonna happen. It was just Walt-crazy. which was just naturally orders of magnitude beyond regular crazy.
And then - Sky’s divorce plans? C’mon. Everybody knows when a guy in the office is going through a divorce. He shaves a beard. Or grows a new one. Gets hair plugs. Suddenly owns a pink dress shirt. And either a muscle car or a convertible. For Walt, a head shave, a hat, and a muscle car. And a drug empire. Because he’s Walt. It couldn’t BE one more single minute of mediocre.
If Walt took the buy-out to be with Skyler, why harbor such a long-smoldering resentment against the Schwartzes (especially Gretchen)? It’s been well established that Gretchen was a big part of the reason Walt turned his back on Gray Matter. As for Walt’s sort-of mid-life crisis - you almost make my point for me. He grew a beard, shaved his head, affected the hat; just not for another woman, per se. It was for Heisenberg, that seductive, evil bastard that made Walt feel so alive. Just as Felina does in the song.
Ok - but how that negates Walt being Walt with superior abilities, I don’t understand. Sure, he had his head in the game all the way. But like Fring, once you understood what was driving him, it became much harder to dislike him. I didn’t see them as ‘evil’, per se. Just as incredibly driven by a whole host of circumstances and desires. But then…I only see Charlie Manson as a twisted mental case, so…
It doesn’t so much negate Walt being himself as propose the concept that Walt entered the Heisenberg persona to be able to do the things he would not have done as himself. Like Beyoncé becomes “Sasha Fierce” onstage. Heisenberg originated in Walt’s crushed soul, but emerged as far more than Walt would allow himself to be. That’s not the same as being Walt with super powers. That’s someone who not only possesses greater abilities, but also lacks character traits that would stop WW from taking the same kinds of actions. If Walt could have emerged successfully at any time without going Heisenberg, why the crappy teaching job? (It wasn’t because of his devotion to teaching.) Why the car wash job? Why not pull it up and make something of himself as Walt? He had the chance to do that with Gray Matter - but walked away. Heisenberg never walked away unless something was blowing up behind him - and he lit the fuse.
But whenever it’s that sorta fluffy snow that magically sticks to the car, but can be wiped away with a tiny gust of wind, I always make sure to wipe off as much around the door/window/roof as I can before opening the door, because the air currents caused by opening the door often cause snow to end up fluffing in on my driver’s seat, which then leads to a damp bum.