Is Walter's change believable

[8 Bit WWBG]

Watching Walter change over the course of Breaking Bad was quite a journey.  You get a glimpse of it just in the span of the first episode, and quite a lot over the first season.  He goes from being a pathetic joke of a man, to a serious, all-out warrior.  Do you think people really do that in real life?  I suppose finding out one had only a finite time to live would make one rethink one's priorities and how one changes over time.  But absent a diagnosis like that, is it believable?

Its funny because even the producers had doubts about choosing Bryan Cranston, seeing as how he'd portrayed a comedic pushover in Malcolm in the Middle.  Low and behold...

[Deleted]

I don't think it was that believable at his age. To drastic.

If he was actually doing the meth, then maybe.

[MarleyKeezy78]

That was a great show! 

[Cass]

It was a great show!
And I completely hated him by the final season.

[Happy prose]

Best show ever made! I think both Walter and Jesse were completely believable. 8 Bit WWBG are you still on season one? It gets better and better. We blew through all the seasons pretty quickly!

[Deleted]

Walter turned into a monster.

I just don't see middle aged people go from sweet to monster unless they are drug addicts or alcoholics.

 I guess it was semi believable for me.

[weltschmerz]

May 1, 2015 17:50:29 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

Watching Walter change over the course of Breaking Bad was quite a journey.  You get a glimpse of it just in the span of the first episode, and quite a lot over the first season.  He goes from being a pathetic joke of a man, to a serious, all-out warrior.  Do you think people really do that in real life?  I suppose finding out one had only a finite time to live would make one rethink one's priorities and how one changes over time.  But absent a diagnosis like that, is it believable?

Its funny because even the producers had doubts about choosing Bryan Cranston, seeing as how he'd portrayed a comedic pushover in Malcolm in the Middle.  Low and behold...

We all only have a finite time to live.

(I'm waxing philosophical.)

[Works4me]

I never looked at it as if he really changed that much, instead I think he explored and exposed those sides that we all have that are sublimated. He had a lot of anger inside from being a life-long patsy and in many ways all he wanted was recognition. For the first time in his life GE was really good at something and for the first time he refused to surrender to others. Yes, he changed in some ways but only by becoming more of what he was and taken to the ultimately unbelievable limit.

ETA - IMHO, one of the best TV series ever!

[8 Bit WWBG]

I've watched the whole thing, so I know how far it goes.  I guess it just makes me wonder.

...:::"He had a lot of anger inside from being a life-long patsy and in many ways all he wanted was recognition.":::...

And a very short time frame to get that recognition.  I guess everyone has their breaking points.  Its interesting how he starts by doing somewhat passive things -- like when he places the rod across the BMW engine to make it blow up.  But in the end, people are definitely scared of him and what he proved himself capable of.

There's a small scene that I love because it just fits in there, but it speaks to how far he's come.  Its when he wants to rent an apartment, and he not only demands the model unit, but that it come fully furnished.  Its not clear whether he pays extra for this privilege, but he sure made the landlord decide it was better to obey.

[Ryan]

May 1, 2015 17:50:29 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

Watching Walter change over the course of Breaking Bad was quite a journey.  You get a glimpse of it just in the span of the first episode, and quite a lot over the first season.  He goes from being a pathetic joke of a man, to a serious, all-out warrior.  Do you think people really do that in real life?  I suppose finding out one had only a finite time to live would make one rethink one's priorities and how one changes over time.  But absent a diagnosis like that, is it believable?

Its funny because even the producers had doubts about choosing Bryan Cranston, seeing as how he'd portrayed a comedic pushover in Malcolm in the Middle.  Low and behold...

I've only watched in here and there, but I think it's believable (to a point anyway).  There are tons of people that are kinda panzies, but they probably just are going ballistic in their heads at how they are mistreated.  Once you just DGAF, he probably just turned into the person who was in his head.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I think it's believable. He starts out with good intentions and it's a slow slide over the line. We like to think that we live in a black/white world and we can easily tell the difference, but the line is a lot more blurry than we think.  "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" as they say.

It's believable to me, especially when DH and I catch earlier episodes.  It's not like Walt becomes this evil drug kingpin out of nowhere.  We know he's a genius at chemistry from the start   He originally chooses to use his skills for "good" and we watch him dance around as the line between right/wrong keeps changing.

And at the end of it all he accomplished his goal, he has the money to give his children but it came at a huge price.

I think we all have that dark side, the majority of us are never given the opportunity to express it.  Walt had nothing to lose at the start of the show and by the end of it, he had power.   That's hard to give up once you obtain it, there is no way he was going to be able to walk and go back to being a chemistry teacher at a high school.   As he told Jesse he was dumb enough to accept being bought out of Grey Matter, he wasn't going to let that happen again.

[happyhoix]

I think it's believable. How many of us follow the rules and work hard and yet never seem to get anywhere, and then get hit with some final kick in the ass (like a terminal cancer diagnosis).

Walter tries making drugs initially just as a short term project so he can leave some money to his wife and kids when he passes. Then he realizes he's really good at making very high quality meth (he has pride in his workmanship). He wasn't able to be financially successful as a businessman, but here is an opportunity to really excel in a different venue. When other drug lords try to control his business, he has to push back, but since he's a dead man anyway,  he's fearless.

And I think his success as a drug lord is very believable, because he's very smart and he doesn't use the drugs himself, so his thinking doesn't get warped. And as someone who's dying soon anyway, his recklessness is understandable. 

I understood Walter pretty well, but I thought the Chicken Man was fascinating, and I wished we had more of his back story. Such a ruthless, cold person, you wonder what kind of life he came from.  

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I think we'll get to know more of Gus on Better Call Saul. At least I hope so!

[happyhoix]

I hope so, too. The Chicken Man was so organized and had such fierce self control, he would have been awesome as a legitimate businessman, and yet he chose to excel in the drug trade instead. You wonder what his motivation was.  I don't think it ever showed his family (if he had one).

I like Better Call Saul, but if it also introduces us to the Chicken Man at the start of his career, that would be fabulous.

[Plain Old Petunia]

May 1, 2015 20:23:24 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

Walter turned into a monster.

I just don't see middle aged people go from sweet to monster unless they are drug addicts or alcoholics.

 I guess it was semi believable for me.

He kind of was on a drug though. He was tasting success for the first time, after a lifetime of pursuing it. He was the best in his field, after a lifetime of being overlooked.  He became powerful, also for the first time ever.  Those things can be very intoxicating.