Breaking Bad - Part 8

[Brain Damage]

I don't like Skyler because of the really ****** way she goes about things, at least at the minute. She's ****ing her boss and made her own son think she's a *****. I know I would probably divorce Walt too if I was her, but at least he didn't betray her like that

Cooking meth, endagering their family and lying about EVERYTHING isn't betraying her?

 

[SpideyFan866]

Can we just admit she's not a greatly written character? I think even the people who defend her and her actions would have to admit as purely a character there is nothing particularly captivating about her?

I wouldn't say she's badly written, so much as shallowly written.

 

[Two-Face=Badass]

Um, no. She's one of the best written characters on the show. Just off the top of my head, the moment when Walt Jr. tells the cops that it's all his mom's fault and she just stands there and takes it is one of the best character moments in the series.

And there's tons more like that throughout.

That was one of the toughest moments on the show to watch. Kudos to Anne Gunn for her acting chops, you can just see the myriad of emotions passing through her face, with the dominant one being to save her son.

 

[giveyourself12%]

Cooking meth, endagering their family and lying about EVERYTHING isn't betraying her?

The difference is that Walter's intent, however misguided, was and has never been to betray her. It was always to save her, along with Walter Jr, and Holly, from the extreme hardship and financial burden left for them after his death.

Skyler's intent, with her passive aggressive, "I'm going to show you what it's like when your spouse leaves and doesn't tell you where they're going"...

...her coldness as soon as Walt comes home from the hospital from his faked fugue state, including her statement, "Maybe I did it in a fugue state" before she had any reason to doubt him(yes he lied but it stemmed from his desire to be back with his family after being abducted and almost killed)...

...her affair with her boss with her infant daughter lying feet away...

ALL were done with the pure and simple motivation of hurting Walt. There is no other way to spin it.

I think Anna Gunn is a talented actress and she's done a marvelous job of portraying a woman every bit as emotionally damaged and immature as Walter(who won't take charity even if he has to resort to manufacturing and selling drugs) has been shown to be.

I'm also reminded of the scene in ABQ where she first mentions leaving and taking the kids to Hank and Marie's and Walt asks, "If I tell you everything, will you stay?" and despite his offer of honesty she leaves anyway telling him something like, "I'm too scared to know."

How does that work? She's angry at him for lying but won't let him tell her the truth.

Let's not kid ourselves, while she loves her children every bit as much as Walt, her motivation, at least as part of her early responses to Walt's (to her) frustrating and baffling behavior, was to hurt him.

In summation: Walt's motivation - "A Man Provides"
Skyler's motivation - "Hurt Walt, Get Revenge"

Hence my dislike of the character. Like I said, Anna's a great actress and she's done really well with all this IMHO.

 

[RetroNaz]

I just dont get the Skyler "hate".
She's a character that serves her purpose on the show. Whether you love or hate her probably depends on where your allegiances are regarding Walt.

 

[Kane52630]

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Bad-Complete-Bryan-Cranston/dp/B00EEDNA4M/

That price is too damn high.

 

[BatMatt]

Wow, it was $175. Should have preordered it at that point. Still way more reasonable than the Dexter box set though.

 

[Brain Damage]

The difference is that Walter's intent, however misguided, was and has never been to betray her. It was always to save her, along with Walter Jr, and Holly, from the extreme hardship and financial burden left for them after his death.

Skyler's intent, with her passive aggressive, "I'm going to show you what it's like when your spouse leaves and doesn't tell you where they're going"...

...her coldness as soon as Walt comes home from the hospital from his faked fugue state, including her statement, "Maybe I did it in a fugue state" before she had any reason to doubt him(yes he lied but it stemmed from his desire to be back with his family after being abducted and almost killed)...

...her affair with her boss with her infant daughter lying feet away...

ALL were done with the pure and simple motivation of hurting Walt. There is no other way to spin it.

Yes, it was about hurting Walt. It was about fighting back the only way she knew how. Giving him a taste of his own medicine. Why Walter did what he did is irrelevant when he's constantly breaking the law, hurting people and lying to his family. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and all. If he really cared for his family ABOVE ALL, like he claims to, he would have put aside his damn pride and taken Gretchen and Eliot's money.

I can see by the below part of your post that we at least agree on this much

Point is, yes, Skyler does things to hurt Walt, but I see it as self defense. As the show goes on, she has less and less ways to fight back, so her methods of fighting back HAVE to get more extreme.

You don't tell me where you're going for hours on end? Fine, neither will I.

You're forcing yourself back into the house even after I told you I no longer want you in my life? Fine, but we aren't going to be husband and wife. (Ted)

You've become a murderer and are again forcing yourself back into the house? Fine, but I will do whatever it takes to get the kids out of here.

I think Anna Gunn is a talented actress and she's done a marvelous job of portraying a woman every bit as emotionally damaged and immature as Walter(who won't take charity even if he has to resort to manufacturing and selling drugs) has been shown to be.

I agree with you on almost everything here, except the immature angle. Yes, maybe so in Seasons 1 and 2, but when things got serious, when Skyler realized the full extent of Walt's crimes, she insists on staying as far away from it as she can. Meanwhile, Walt thinks he can just keep on cooking away and everything will be fine and dandy.

I'm also reminded of the scene in ABQ where she first mentions leaving and taking the kids to Hank and Marie's and Walt asks, "If I tell you everything, will you stay?" and despite his offer of honesty she leaves anyway telling him something like, "I'm too scared to know."

How does that work? She's angry at him for lying but won't let him tell her the truth.

Because it's not about Walt suddenly making everything better by coming clean. The damage has been done. She knows that if Walt tells her the truth, there are only two possibilities. Either it's something small that he didn't need to cover up, in which case he's just a lying bastard. Or, it's something huge that he DID need to constantly lie about, in which case she'd rather not know. Either way, this is not the man she married to.

One of my favorite lines in the series is when Skyler tells her lawyer "I didn't marry a criminal" and the lawyer responds "Well, you're married to one now."

Let's not kid ourselves, while she loves her children every bit as much as Walt, her motivation, at least as part of her early responses to Walt's (to her) frustrating and baffling behavior, was to hurt him.

In summation: Walt's motivation - "A Man Provides"
Skyler's motivation - "Hurt Walt, Get Revenge"

I don't think it's about hurting Walt, I think it's about self defense. Yes, those two naturally go together, but she wasn't trying to hurt him just to be a *****, she was doing it to show HIM how he was hurting HER. Maybe that's not the right path to take, but to me it's not only understandable, but also a million times better than anything Walt ever did.

And after she found out about the drug trade, it became all about distancing herself from that life and protecting her kids.

Hence my dislike of the character. Like I said, Anna's a great actress and she's done really well with all this IMHO.

Well, I'll say this. You've presented one of the most resonable anti-Skyler arguments I've read. Though I can't agree with it, I do respect you for having an opinion that isn't just "Skyler SUUUCKS she should just let Walt do what he wants!!1!!". So props, and let's agree to disagree.

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Bad-Complete-Bryan-Cranston/dp/B00EEDNA4M/

That price is too damn high.

Jesus Christ, Marie. I'm sure it'll go down before release, but still. I'm glad I didn't buy any of the individual seasons, now I can at least justify spending $200+ on all of them.

 

[A Necessary Evil]

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Bad-Complete-Bryan-Cranston/dp/B00EEDNA4M/

That price is too damn high.

I don't even think there's that many new special features either. I already have 1-5.1 on BR, will just pick up 5.2.

 

[Kane52630]

I got season 1 bluray for about $20 a couple years ago and I bought seasons 2, 3, and 4 during Black Friday last year for $11 each on bluray.

 

[Brain Damage]

Does every episode have commentary?

 

[Kane52630]

I believe season 1 (and maybe 2) have a few commentary tracks but the rest have commentary for all the episodes. I do remember listening to all of them though.

 

[Ramsay Snow]

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Bad-Complete-Bryan-Cranston/dp/B00EEDNA4M/

That price is too damn high.

Oh, Jesus Christ, Marie. You killed me here.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Spideyfan93]

For a second I was like, "Albert Brooks is gonna be on BB?!"

And then it clicked.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

I don't think it's about hurting Walt, I think it's about self defense. Yes, those two naturally go together, but she wasn't trying to hurt him just to be a *****, she was doing it to show HIM how he was hurting HER. Maybe that's not the right path to take, but to me it's not only understandable, but also a million times better than anything Walt ever did.

And after she found out about the drug trade, it became all about distancing herself from that life and protecting her kids.

The biggest problem with all of this is she then goes on to start helping Ted cook the books which leaves her looking like a huge hypocrite and blows her whole moral high ground to hell and entangles the family back up in further illegality. You can actually read a class element to her acceptance of Ted because he committed a white collar crime whereas meth production carries with it lower class connotations and is therefore less acceptable - even though she almost bought down the IRS on their heads which would have done them both in just as surely as Walt being arrested for making meth.

I do actually like Skyler a great deal during the show's run, but I sure didn't like her during S3 and I suspect a great deal of the dislike for her comes from that particular period.

 

[CrypticOne]

Just had a crazy dream.

Walt and Jesse were fighting. Todd and his uncle break in and start to torture Walt and Jesse for information (about what, I don't know.) They're getting tortured with some kinda electrical equipment. Walt gets tortured first and then Jesse. Jesse starts to mock Todd and Todd gets up and him and his uncle leave for a second. Jesse and Walt start talking, and when Todd and his uncle return, they're ready to kill both of em, but Jesse somehow escapes the chair he's tied in and kills the uncle and Todd then shoots and kills Jesse.

It was EPIC! I wish we could transfer dreams to Youtube or something

 

[Travesty]

Once again for clarity, no once is calling you sexist or misogynistic, nor am I painting you or those that dislike Skyler in broad strokes. I am merely pointing out that many (not all) that dislike Skyler, do so for problematic reasons, not ones relating to how she is written or other value judgements.

I never once said you, or anybody for that matter, was calling me one directly. Like I said, even if you did, I wouldn't give a ****. You chimed in to one of my original posts, when I was just talking about what was being said...much like you're doing now.

So you may stop fighting strawmen and boxing shadows. You are either being deliberately facetious, or are more concerned with tackling arguments that appear elsewhere and view my posts as an outlet to do so. But do not accuse me or furthering the arguments you are supposedly encountering. I have done no such thing.

"Appear elsewhere"? It was being talked about just before I made my post in this very thread. They were talking in generalizations, so I made a generalized response. I'm not accusing you of anything, so I don't know where you're even coming up with that? I'm just talking here, bud. I don't know where you think I was being "called out" in here, and I have no idea where you thought I was "attacking" you? This seems just a bit too defensive for no apparent reason that I can see.

 

[Bruce Malone]

I just dont get the Skyler "hate".
She's a character that serves her purpose on the show. Whether you love or hate her probably depends on where your allegiances are regarding Walt.

This is my issue with the skyler debate. It's not either or. Like I said I just don't think as a character she's really anything special. I said she's poorly written but maybe it's as another poster mentioned she's really more just a shallowly written character, who's really only defined by her actions in regards to walt and nothing really else?

I mentioned how on another show there is a female character who's actions I despise but i still find her character utterly fascinating, I can't say the same for skyler.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Travesty]

Tight, tight, tight, tight!!!

 

[Piper Maru]

I don't know any taco!

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Ramsay Snow]

The resolution of Tuco's storyline was very satisfying for me.