Breaking Bad

It wasn't. He spent time with her at her parents house, ??????, then he left her and the company.

And Walter turning down the job was the first major clue that he had some serious issues.

If he accepted that job, he wouldn't have "lived" like he said to Skyler in the last episode.

One thing I had hoped for. At the end when he walked into the meth lab, I was thinking "oh shit, he's actually going to do it!" but he didn't... I thought he was finally going to smoke his product and die like that. Minor detail, but would've been badass.

when Walt broke into the Schwartzes'shome he alluded to their posh lifestyle in a derogatory way, but he never said thats why he left the company. its never confirmed, but its implied that Walt left because of Walt's imagined slight and not something that took place in reality.

Noodleface_sl said:

If he accepted that job, he wouldn't have "lived" like he said to Skyler in the last episode.

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That's exactly it. When the Dr. told him he only had a very short time to live, he didn't care in the slightest. It wasn't until he got into the meth trade that he felt he had something to live for

The 'writing as we go' process also leaves some loose ends. Things like Gus' Chilean past or the Germans. There is a whole scene in the German headquarters with a guy killing himself or something and that lead precisely nowhere.

Tarrant_sl said:

I'm fairly sure she or he explained real briefly in passing once that he up and left once, she came from money and he didnt and felt that he wasn't good enough for her parents so he left and that was that. I'll need to do some sleuthing.

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No; he never said this exactly. However, there was a conversation between him and Gratchen where they both recalled events very differently. She said "we were on vacation with my parents at the shore house and then you left without a word, you abandoned me". Which made Walt blow up. There were some subtle clues that Gretchen and Elliot came from wealth, while Walt was probably there on scholarship but nothing concrete--but that's where the whole theory came about that Walt might have been told he wasn't good enough for to marry Gretchen.

There were other theories that Walt's pride took something way to far. But we don't know--the writers don't even know, because they literally never wrote the back story, which they admitted in an interview. They weren't even going to have anything about Gray Matter in the final season until the Cancer Kid told them that the fans felt it was kind of important.

Tuco_sl said:

Walt's pride and how it fucked him was an important part of the show. I do agree with how stupid that decision was though. All throughout the show people were hoping to see the backstory behind Walt selling his share of the company, partially because it would make that decision to reject a job more believable.

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Honestly, them NOT telling the back story; brought the show down a notch for me--but I understand it. The fact is; I'm guessing even the writers knew that no explanation was going to do the mystery justice so they avoided it--because no matter HOW you explain it, it just doesn't make sense. So many holes come up. Being part of a noble winning team; having your name associated with billion dollar patents, these are things that can get you a job literally anywhere, no problem. If he had those credentials and the ego-maniac pride they implied then the start of show becomes kind of absurd. Long and short, his trajectory after Gray Matter makes absolutely no sense if we believe Walt was always like he was; because no way does he take a defeat or a "slight" by Elliot and Gretchen and not attempt some kind of reprisal (By making a name for himself elsewhere--and given those credentials he'd have doors open for him everywhere from DoW on down.)

And yet, if he wasn't like that--if his pride wasn't always a problem, then he'd have taken the Gray Matter job no problem. Him NOT taking the job becomes the absurdity, him not taking charity becomes kind of absurd. Either way; I think they knew, once they opened that Pandora's box and attempted to explain it? It would have diminished the arc of Walt in the show (Going from soft spoken, super-polite man to a drug lord killer.) But still, it bugged me not knowing and it does feel like there is a hole in the show due to it.

Szlia_sl said:

The 'writing as we go' process also leaves some loose ends. Things like Gus' Chilean past or the Germans. There is a whole scene in the German headquarters with a guy killing himself or something and that lead precisely nowhere.

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I don't really think the show would have benefited from trying to tie everything up. It feels more real, like a better story, with things left unsaid. Nothing they can tell us about Gus' past would be equal to our imaginations running wild, or any number of things in the show.

chaos_sl said:

I don't really think the show would have benefited from trying to tie everything up. It feels more real, like a better story, with things left unsaid. Nothing they can tell us about Gus' past would be equal to our imaginations running wild, or any number of things in the show.

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I tend to agree. The show was always about Walt. What we saw of Gus's backstory served the purpose it needed to - to let us know how dangerous it was that Walt and Jesse were attempting to go up against him. It really didn't need to go much deeper than that, because it wasn't terribly relevant to Walt's story. In my opinion, one of Breaking Bad's strengths was that it did a decent job staying focused and didn't go off on too many tangents.

Bryan Cranston: to more Breaking Bad - ITV News

Just flapping his gums.

I would so eat his ass out right now if I could. Or swallow his jizz. Or or.

Let's be honest, would you do that even without the announcement?

Leave it as is please.

FFS i hope Walter White stays dead.

I'm willing to believe that Walt was just inconsistent when it came to the expression of his ridiculous pride. Kinda like he was always fighting this internal conflict which he occassionaly lost, and that he stopped fighting entirely when he got his cancer. That's what I take away from them never explaining the backstory. I would prefer if they did, but I think they would have done better (much better) to not lead with the "nobel prize in chemistry" and used some less cheap/lofty way to assert that this dude is fuckin smart, yo.

I liked about 3/5ths of Breaking Bad. There was too much filler for me to put it in the "best show ever" category along with The Wire and Mad Men. Any time a woman not named Lydia was on screen the entire thing just ground to a screeching thud. For me, that's kinda a problem. But 3/5ths of it is GREAT.

ohkcrlho_sl said:

FFS i hope Walter White stays dead.

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Oh he's dead....but his twin brother Waldo White will show up!