"What's that noise, children?"
"DING DING DING"
"Oh, it's Tuco the deliveryman!"

I have to believe you've been saving this one. What a delightful, left-field choice of comparison mockery.

Or the rapping grammarian!

I like how in this instance "adult humor I didn't understand" = "ferocious spousal abuse."

@avclub-79c971df9097228e547f2661f55b9847:disqus "These bald guys — what's with their heads? Let's start with Hank. What gives, cue ball? I I look at you and I'm thinking, '14, side pocket!'"

This. It's not that he's bad, it's that he doesn't (until the very end) own his badness, which most of his antagonists do (Lydia being a major exception).

@avclub-2b88c1c9536414bc2c9e43d902eadcd0:disqus you're forgetting an important step — post-Grey Matter, Walter joins a well-to-do private chemistry-related business. I believe that's where he got the Nobel-related citation and that's the job he has during the flashback where he and Skyler buy the house. Walter is…

Great stuff, your student deserves that A. And the ricin, of course.

Yes, well said.

And where does that leave us? I think there's a tradition of storytelling, the English majors here can back me up or call me on my bullshit, where the protagonist is a bad dude who has tons of morally wrong and great-to-read-about adventures but social conventions of the time dictate he can't get away with it at the…

"We know it's a terrible idea to detonate a bomb in a nursing home… but
how else is he supposed to neutralize the threat that is Gus?"

@Drinking_with_Skeletons:disqus I think you're right in your assessment of Gus and Walter's characters, but Walter's "self-perpetuating flaws" sort of are his character, or the choice his character has made to embrace his particular self-gratification. Walter thrives on figuring his way out of his own messes, when he…

Ugh, now you've made me realize that "The Positive Aspect Of Negative Thinking" could be a Gladwell article title.

@avclub-bca3531762af8a993c4f60c48fd5e33b:disqus from your keyboard to god's ears. Is there a more empty word?

Perhaps the McLaughlin Group or Sinatra Show can debate the merits of Breaking Bad.

You know who had 20 minutes to call the damn cops before those "sniper scopes" came out? The Schwartzes, that's who. But Walter brass balls them down and convinces them to agree to the money scheme because they're too chickenshit to do otherwise, they just want him to leave. Screw them, I'm fine with them living in…

"He was an outsized character who showed us an alternate version of
Walter White, a version who was efficient and who wasn't, ultimately,
self-destructive."

Hmmm. I don't think you can analyze the show's morality without getting into its aesthetics and style, which are to entertain the fuck out of us. It was a gas to watch Walter be Walter, even the gut punches (like the end of Crawl Space) are stylish and showy, we're thrilled as we're horrified. It's a roller coaster.…

So does Walter get to the snow-covered car without leaving footprints for the cops to see, or do the cops just not notice?

"Walt has realized that he's been incredibly selfish, but self-knowledge hasn't freed him from selfish behavior"