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Main theme: POWER and MANIPULATION
Outline:
- Can people seeking after control have friends? – Another theme: Friendship / Partnership. Discuss. Skyler, Walt, Hank, Marie, Mike, Gus.
- The real drug for Gustavo, Walt and Skylar: Power
- Skylar as master manipulator: IRS, Ted, “I found myself admiring the smooth con that Skyler pulled on the locksmith in order to get into Walt’s apartment.”
- Gustavo as expert manipulator: Jessie and the face robbery, killing that dude in the first episode
- Walt as master manipulator: ricin and the boy, Brock, Andrea’s son
- Black market discourse on gun control, and the New Mexico / Western culture of “stand your ground”
- In the game of manipulation and control: the greater sociopath wins, empathy loses
- Mike E. arrogance is cover for his past guilt.
- Madness as a coping mechanism …
- The car wash is a money laundry
- Walt expresses a common frustration of modernity: “I’m done explaining myself.” Supposedly in the past, asking for an explanation was also an invitation to a duel. Is that good or bad?
- Man in waiting room: “Man Plans, God laughs.” Walt: “That…is such bullshit.” Walt says that he’s in charge of his life regardless of cancer.
- Walt says he “won”, but what was his victory? What did it cost him?
Notes:
- Skylar as manipulator: the locksmith, the time at the jeweler … with pretty much everyone …
- A discourse on gun control and self defense … 38 snub …
- “White Residence” … when answering the phone … is there an undercurrent of racial commentary threaded into the show?
- The Greater Sociopath wins: Gus VS Walter
- Mike E. is smarmy and self-righteous by default. A form of arrogance that covers his past wrongs.
- I found myself admiring the smooth con that Skyler pulled on the locksmith in order to get into Walt’s apartment.
- Gus: “Well, get back to work.” Why did he kill that guy? What does it say about organizations? Is there an analogy to American Business in general?
- Madness as a coping mechanism is a theme of the show.
- Pride and Madness are closely related? Is pride Walt’s main downfall, his “Achille’s Heel?”
- The Car Wash is a Money Laundry. LOL
- Walt: “I am the one who knocks!”
- Gus channels Zig Ziglar! “I like to think I see things in people.” BS
- Man in waiting room: “Man Plans, God laughs.” Walt: “That…is such bullshit.” Walt says that he’s in charge of his life regardless of cancer.
- Walt expresses a common frustration of modernity: “I’m done explaining myself.” Supposedly in the past, asking for an explanation was also an invitation to a duel. Is that good or bad?
- Another theme: Friendship / Partnership. Discuss. Skyler, Walt, Hank, Marie, Mike, Gus.
- Walt says he “won”, but what was his victory? What did it cost him?
- With Gus out of the way, Walt takes a short trip to Hell and madness.