Breaking Bad Season 2 (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Pounds]

No kidding...

As the scene was playing out, my wife let out a "what in the world does she think she's doing!!??"

 

[Joe_H]

Eh, doesn't matter anyway now that she quit.

 

[MarkMel]

Wait, did she quit? I thought she was going to but came back. Am I not remembering right?

 

[Joe_H]

I didn't think she went back yet, but I might've missed something. Though, I did have the distinct impression that she would go back at some point.

 

[ScottH]

Didn't they show her pull into the parking lot?

 

[Joe_H]

If they did I just totally missed that scene (which is very possible).

 

[ScottH]

I don't know if I'm totally imagining it, but I seem to remember a scene of her pulling into the parking lot and her boss at the window seeing her (or maybe he didn't see her).

 

[MarkMel]

I guess the answer is that we don't officially know. I bet we'll find out Sunday though.

 

[ScottH]

I just re-watched. Not only does she pull into the parking lot (with boss man watching through the window), but when she first starts having her labor pains, she's sitting at her desk.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I can't believe Walt just let her die. For Christ's sake, his daughter was just born, I can't buy his coldheartedness in this scene. Saving the girl could have bought him more good will in the girl's eyes. Letting her die just seems like a writer's cop-out after writing Walt into a total corner. Had Walt not been there, and it just happened naturally, sure, it'd feel just a writer's cop-out, but at least it was earned by both of the character's history with their weakness for drugs. Now Walt is truly in a dark place that should consume his soul in guilt for any goodness he receives going forward. Whatever empathy I might have for Walt has considerably waned with this choice of inaction on his part. I realize he realized this was the best thing to happen for his own hide and his family's future, but on a sliding scale of wrong and breaking bad, it's truly a black mark on his permanent record.

 

[ScottH]

I hear what you're saying, but for some reason it made sense to me. I think it had a lot to do with the conversation he had with her dad at the bar as well. I think he actually did it more for Jesse than anything else. Maybe thinking it would be a major wakeup call for him. Let's not forget that Walt didn't know anything about her situation and that she was in recovery and Jesse is the one that pushed her over the edge. For all Walt knew, SHE was the bad influence on him.

Either way, it was a very disturbing scene. And had Walt not even come there, she'd probably still be alive because his shaking of Jesse caused the girl to roll over onto her back.

As for bringing him more good in the girl's eyes, she probably wouldn't have even remembered or been aware had he saved her.

I say BRAVO to the writers for doing something totally unconventional and unexpected, but I can see how some will not be accepting of it.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'm not saying Jane's a good human being, she's obviously had experiences with using people to get what she wants, and more than willing to play some dirty cards to achieve her objectives. Had Walt tried to save Jane and she still died, at least her death isn't on his conscience. Now, his inaction is one more boat anchor on his soul bound for the depths of hell. Walt's in the "Broke Bad" phase of his adventures as a meth cooker and supplier. With this turn, I can't say Walt can ever be seen as a tragic figure in this tale going forward, he chose evil due to his new circumstances, as well meaning as his inaction was (to save his family from the effects of him being exposed as a meth supplier), it was deliberate and calculating and when the house of cards come tumbling down on him, he will have brought it all upon himself and his family with a distinct path littered with dead bodies and broken families.

Walt's pragmatisim has gone very amoral. This is where his arc has progressed so far, in the beginning he only cooked meth to provide for his family after his impending death, but now, every moment he lives is time spent hoping for death and absolution (one can hope his moral compass gets righted, not holding my breath).

Does Walt turn into true anti-hero status make this show more interesting to watch, or simply provides us with Walt's growing irredeemability on display. I think most of us watching this show rooted for Walt for the most part as he juggled many situations to keep his secret meth cooker life from being revealed, otherwise when Walt does get out of the situations, the viewers would not sigh in relief that Walt gets to cook meth another day to keep his enterprise with Jesse going because their relationship dynamic was funny to watch. Now, do viewers root against Walt, hoping he finally gets caught because he has turned into an unrootable protagonist? Walt deserves every bad break coming his way.

 

[ScottH]

I definitely understand your point of view, Patrick. And as you say, the key for the viewer is whether this turn makes the show more interesting to watch. Only time will tell. I think I can still root for Walt even given this latest turn. And it's not like this turn was sudden - the writers did a really good job of slowly pushing Walt down this path over the course of the entire season. We saw the first clear evidence of this when he received positive news about his disease and he didn't need to cook anymore...yet he couldn't walk away because he realized how miserable he really was in his normal dull life.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

No I felt it was what his character would've done at this point in his development. The Girl was an obstacle in his Buisness and Partner's Life, He had a moment where his face did indeed wrestle with the decision, but then she was dead... these are Morale ambiguous characters like on the Sopranos, I still feel for them but it will get harder and harder as time goes on.

 

[Walter C]

I also think it goes back to when Saul said that "conscience is a bitch". For starters, Saul getting into the deal, after a failed attempt to scare him, which ended up working out for him financially. Then, the whole thing with Badger, and trying to bail him out, rather than letting him rot in jail or kill him off.

And it does look like Skylar will be back at her job. I'm pretty sure the whole thing with Ted is not over.

 

[MarkMel]

To me it felt like Walt thinks of Jesse as more than a partner, as noted when he was talking with Jane's father about his nephew.

Still was disturbing watching him let Jane die.

But I do think that Jane was the worse influence on Jesse that he was on her. She has been a mess for 10 years according to her father, and in the scene where her father busted into the apartment you can see how good she is lying and manipulating.

I do feel that with all the cash she and prob Jesse would've been dead shortly anyway.

The thing that's going to be hard is waiting for season 3 after Sunday's season finale, where we won't get enough answers.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

It is definitely a watershed moment for the character. I'm ambivalent at this moment about it. Need to see a few episodes more to see how the repercussions of Walt's decision play out.

Regardless of how one feels about that moment, Bryan Cranston played it superbly.

 

[googus]

Great ep.. Too bad ther eis only one left:frowning:

 

[TravisR]

That's my take on it too. Like others have said, Walt will probably rationalize his inaction by saying that letting Jane die kept Jesse alive. He also averts any future problems that she might cause him but I think he primarily let it happen to save Jesse.

 

[Raasean Asaad]

Why is there "outrage" that Walt let Jane die? How is this worse than the other cold-blooded murders he and Jesse have committed?