# Breaking Bad 4.06 "Cornered" 8/21 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611 "2011-08-22T02:35:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/61 "2011-08-23T17:59:47Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Plus there’s the fact that Skyler is: > > - Terrified for her fucking life, and the lives of her children > - an accountant by trade (or whatever her job was officially; it related to managing financial records) > - the type of person who feels a need to maintain control over her husband > > So in light of these facts, her reactions are believable. We’ve been over this before - it’s easy to sit there from your omniscient armchair-economist’s point-of-view and make calculated, rational judgments about these fictional events. But the characters do not have the benefit of omniscience, nor can they afford to be so clinically detached from matters that impact their lives in such enormous ways. And since they are _characters_, we’re not supposed to expect that they would always behave in the most logical manner anyway. If that is your expectation, then you fundamentally fail to grasp the concept of television/storytelling. I totally buy that for Skyler. I don’t buy it at all for Walter… particularly given how he glories in making himself feel superior by being able to be the “rational” one in the situation. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/62 "2011-08-23T17:59:47Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I can’t remember why Skyler decided to stay married to Walt. If I were her, I’d be rethinking that whole thing. At the very least, I’d have to do something about Walt Jr.’s perceptions of the situation. Skyler told Walt she didn’t finalize the divorce because if they stayed married, she couldn’t be forced to testify against him. A bullshit reason, since at the time she doesn’t know anything except what he’s told her, and that’d be hearsay, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/63 "2011-08-23T18:47:06Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > It would have to be plausible for two unemployed people to get a loan in the first place. I don’t find it remotely so. Your mileage evidently varies. The entire loan doesn’t have to come from a bank. They can say that they got some or all of the money from friends and relatives. Plus, as I said earlier, buying the car wash was an unavoidable risk. Any other investment they make would raise questions with Hank, so they had to buy the car wash if they wanted to launder money. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/64 "2011-08-23T19:31:26Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I totally buy that for Skyler. I don’t buy it at all for Walter… particularly given how he glories in making himself feel superior by being able to be the “rational” one in the situation. True, but he’s also never been very good at winning arguments with Skyler. He’d rather concede than fight it. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/65 "2011-08-23T21:29:31Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Skyler told Walt she didn’t finalize the divorce because if they stayed married, she couldn’t be forced to testify against him. > > A bullshit reason, since at the time she doesn’t know anything except what he’s told her, and that’d be hearsay, wouldn’t it? I believe it depends (hearsay is insanely complex) on what you mean by “that”: he told her he is a meth cook, that would not be hearsay, she’d be testifying to what he stated about himself to her. But beyond that…well, actually beyond that he hasn’t told her anything so all she could testify to would be her direct experiences and observations, which would mostly be about money. ---
**Author:** ![palacheck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@palacheck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palacheck)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/66 "2011-08-23T21:59:43Z")
Walt’s becoming very unlikable. Which somehow makes him likable. Or something. I don’t have any sympathy for Skyler. She’s controlling as all hell. She’s also now aware that her husband has possibly murdered people during the course of his tenure as the Gordon Ramsay of meth. She’s complicit in Walt’s illegal activities, and I don’t buy the “it’s for the kids” bullshit excuse. I think she experiences a thrill similar to what Walt feels(albeit on a smaller scale). They’re both despicable and I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/67 "2011-08-23T22:23:10Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > For artistic reasons? It makes a better visual and ties in to the episode title. > > Plus I got the feeling she needed to get away from Walt for a while. Maybe she had second thoughts about leaving during the drive. Plus she keeps dragging the coin back from Colorado to New Mexico. It would be harder to show that equivocation in flipping a quarter. And the show’s filmed in New Mexico, might as well use some identifiable landmarks. This show is actually really good about that- much better than shows that are set in Atlanta or Chicago but might as well be set in Cleveland or Jackson MO; you get a real sense of the place. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/68 "2011-08-23T23:18:27Z")
I think that what the show is trying to convey is that Walt is cracking. He has been tone deaf and megalomanical before, but not to this degree. The looming box cutter hanging over his throat is stressing him out. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/69 "2011-08-23T23:28:35Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I think my sympathy reserves got drained when he made Bogdan give him the dollar, AFTER he had felt the need to INSANELY wag his “I"m-a-murdering-badass” dick at his wife whom he JUST reconciled with. The dollar thing was great and was basically just a final “FUCK YOU ASSHOLE _grabs crotch in tighty whities_” to Bogdan who kept being a dick about the whole “as is” thing. > [@marshmallow](#): > > Walter Jr. is a completely useless character who just eats breakfast. Now he drinks coffee, too! > [@AuntiePam](#): > > > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > > > I can’t remember why Skyler decided to stay married to Walt. If I were her, I’d be rethinking that whole thing. At the very least, I’d have to do something about Walt Jr.’s perceptions of the situation. > > Skyler told Walt she didn’t finalize the divorce because if they stayed married, she couldn’t be forced to testify against him. > > A bullshit reason, since at the time she doesn’t know anything except what he’s told her, and that’d be hearsay, wouldn’t it? That is how she rationalized it, but the real reason was the money. She’s been seduced by it. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/70 "2011-08-23T23:48:35Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Walter Jr. is a completely useless character who just eats breakfast. > [@TBG](#): > > Now he drinks coffee, too! I can’t wait for the action figure! ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/71 "2011-08-24T00:10:44Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > …Now he drinks coffee, too!.. That’s not some new thing he does, it’s just part of breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/72 "2011-08-24T00:19:05Z")
I think there are only a few occasions when Walt Sr. and Walt Jr. interact.[ul][_]Over breakfast[_]In a carDiscussing a car[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/73 "2011-08-24T00:37:17Z")
[quote=“davidm, post:72, topic:593611”] I think there are only a few occasions when Walt Sr. and Walt Jr. interact.[ul][li]Over breakfast[_]In a car[_]Discussing a car[/ul][/li][/QUOTE] In next week’s episode they discuss his new car over breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/74 "2011-08-24T01:18:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > In next week’s episode they discuss his new car over breakfast. While eating that breakfast… in a car! With coffee! _Black_ coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/75 "2011-08-24T01:21:30Z")
I think Skyler’s solution to the car situation (which I agree was a shitty move on Walt’s part) should have been to take the new car for herself (or have Walt take it if she doesn’t want to drive the baby in it) and give Jr. the older car. This gives him a safer but still functional car, and he can always borrow the Chickmobile if he has a date. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/76 "2011-08-24T09:44:35Z")
The reason was not that they were afraid it was unsafe. The reason was that they were afraid of the IRS or similar. Btw, “I am the one who knocks”, was the most awesome line since Pulp Fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/77 "2011-08-24T14:30:16Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I really expected new Victor (sorry not sure what his name is, Tyrone?, whatever) to kill those ladies instead of sending them home. Someone upthread said maybe he killed them and just didn’t tell Walt, but that would make no sense. Sending them home is sending a message to Walt, not just getting the women out of there for seeing something they shouldn’t (they already knew something shady was going on as seen by their reluctance to follow Walt until the cash came out). Killing them would’ve sent a stronger message to Walt than sending them home, so if they were going to be killed, no reason to hide it from Walt. Remember how Walt and Jesse reacted to the little boy being killed? I think Gus was hoping to avoid a similar outcome with the innocent cleaning ladies. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/78 "2011-08-24T14:41:54Z")
Quite possibly they were killed offscreen. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/79 "2011-08-24T16:02:47Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Quite possibly they were killed offscreen. I don’t think so. From the audience’s point of view (and Walt’s), it was just as bad to send them home. **mr. jp** , I don’t think that’s what Sampiro meant by “safe”. A powerful car like that isn’t most parents’ first choice for a teenager. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611/80 "2011-08-24T16:04:18Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > **mr. jp** , I don’t think that’s what Sampiro meant by “safe”. A powerful car like that isn’t most parents’ first choice for a teenager. Yes, and I’m saying he misunderstood what his parents were worried about. It was not the power of the car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-4-06-cornered-8-21/593611.md?page=5)