One narrative that constantly irritates me about Breaking Bad that is tangentially covered in this episode is that fans take Mike's criticism of Walter that he ruined a good thing with Gus at face value. Gus was always going to kill Walt. His initial plan was to have Walt teach Gil, who Gus had much more control of, how to cook meth to his standard and then get rid of him. Then he was trying to butter up Jesse to cook by himself. There was never a point at which Gus intended to let Walt cook indefinitely, make a ton of money, and then bow out gracefully when he was satisfied.
"We discuss why Walter continues saving him, and come to the conclusion that he just cared about Jesse, making Breaking Bad in its essence a true love story."
I wonder if it's because Walt sees Jesse as the son he never had. Cerebal palsy is heavily correlated with intellectual disability, and moreso the more severe the palsy, which is part of why RJ Mitte played a more exacerbated disability than his own more mild case. He could never've given Walt what he really wanted in a son.
Now true, Jesse probably wasn't gonna be a Nobel Laureate had he stayed sober, but he was legitimately interested in chemistry, even more interested in organizing plots, and got damn good at the former and even better at the latter over the course of the series. Having someone like that would've filled a hunger in Walt's soul he had probably long since given up on ever feeding.
One narrative that constantly irritates me about Breaking Bad that is tangentially covered in this episode is that fans take Mike's criticism of Walter that he ruined a good thing with Gus at face value. Gus was always going to kill Walt. His initial plan was to have Walt teach Gil, who Gus had much more control of, how to cook meth to his standard and then get rid of him. Then he was trying to butter up Jesse to cook by himself. There was never a point at which Gus intended to let Walt cook indefinitely, make a ton of money, and then bow out gracefully when he was satisfied.
"We discuss why Walter continues saving him, and come to the conclusion that he just cared about Jesse, making Breaking Bad in its essence a true love story."
I wonder if it's because Walt sees Jesse as the son he never had. Cerebal palsy is heavily correlated with intellectual disability, and moreso the more severe the palsy, which is part of why RJ Mitte played a more exacerbated disability than his own more mild case. He could never've given Walt what he really wanted in a son.
Now true, Jesse probably wasn't gonna be a Nobel Laureate had he stayed sober, but he was legitimately interested in chemistry, even more interested in organizing plots, and got damn good at the former and even better at the latter over the course of the series. Having someone like that would've filled a hunger in Walt's soul he had probably long since given up on ever feeding.