Breaking Bad 5.04 "Fifty-One" Aug. 5, 2012

Walt told Skyler about how Jesse wanted him dead but changed his mind. How did Walt turn Jesse around? By poisoning a kid Jesse cared about. Walt will try to turn Skyler around by poisoning a kid she cares about, one of their own. Walt may even try to be a hero and tell the doctors that it might be ricin. It won’t work on Skyler, but Walt will try anyway.

For this to work Walt would have to be trying to convince Skyler that someone else was the danger and that Walt was her only chance of escaping it. Who exactly are you suggesting that Walt is going to frame this time?

Just FYI, I am a lawyer. I’m not a criminal lawyer. Bricker would be our go-to for full explanations of criminal law, but I can assure you that barring some exceptions, yes, the spousal communication privilege allows a spouse accused of a crime to prevent a testifying spouse to reveal communications between them, even after they have divorce. This may vary in detail from state to state, but a simple Google search should convince you that the basic principle is sound.

There is another half of the spousal privilege—the spousal immunity—which belongs solely to the testifying spouse. Even if Skyler chose to testify against Hank by waiving this particular privilege, she still couldn’t reveal confidential communications under the spousal communication privilege.

They definitely sleep together, and not just once. She goes over to house house daily for some period of time—it’s not made clear whether it’s a few days (at least twice, but I’m guessing more) or a few weeks—but they are shown having a routine in which Skyler comes over with the baby, sleeps with Ted, and then enjoys the luxury of his heated bathroom floor. And this happens enough times for her to slowly realize that she isn’t really enjoying it. At the end, she puts her towel underneath her feet to avoid feeling the warmth.

It’s not until there is a family crisis—Hank’s attempted assassination, if I recall correctly—that she stops going to see TEd.

Sometimes exes, parents that have drifted apart or a marriage on the rocks fixes itself when kid gets sick. I think what IC may have been saying is that by putting the kid in the hospital Skyler may forget about all this (in his mind) nonsense and be more worried about her family. When the kid comes through it, she may (again, in his head) start focusing on the ‘important things in life’. Or something like that.

Walt’s relationship with Jesse was very different and had to be dealt with differently. Walt could trick Jesse into thinking that Gus was out to get him. He’ll have to play Skyler differently. But I’m not sure if he plans to play her at all.

Marie gets that every day actually, off camera.

How about Mike? They don’t like each other. Walt recruited Mike to restart the business, but now that it’s up and running again, Walt may think He can takeover Mike’s job.

Mostly this. Worst case scenario in Walt’s mind is that by putting the kid in the hospital, Skyler is neutralized.

Skyler is now a full time smoker. If Walt decides to kill her, it will be with a ricin cig.

Does ricin in crystal/powder form work that way? Doesn’t it have to be ingested?

The cigarette was just a way to store the ricin. It was never meant to be smoked.

I’m pretty sure that secondhand smoking ricin is a tad bit unhealthier than regular secondhand smoking. If he gonna do her with ricin, he gonna slip it in her drink or something, not get every melon farmer in the house dead.

Nah, Jesse was going to try to peer pressure Gus Fring into smoking for the first time. COME ON MAN, ALL THE KIDS ARE DOING IT. BITCH.

I’m sad we never got that scene :frowning:

As an on-again, off-again smoker, I think I’d notice something if half of the tobacco in my cigarette were replaced with a glass tube of crystalline poison. Flavor, burn rate, burn characteristics, the glass tube sliding out after I smoked the three puffs worth in front of it, difficulty drawing through the sealed glass tube…

That’s what I said before, but people keep bringing it up as if it can be used to kill someone who smokes it.

It certainly could be smoked if the powder inside the glass cylinder is sprinkled in a cigarette. From wiki:
" A dose as small as a few grains of salt can kill an adult human. The LD50 of ricin is around 22 micrograms per kilogram (1.76 mg for an average adult, around 1⁄228 of a standard aspirin tablet/0.4 g gross) in humans if exposure is from injection or inhalation.[1]"

bolding mine

Will it survive being burned?

Even if it won’t, he could probably just put the powder on the filter so it gets in her mouth or stop over thinking it and put it in her coffee cup.

I wonder if Jr might decide he wants to try a cigarette.

This debate is fairly ridiculous. It’s not even in cigarette form now. It was clearly never meant to be used in cigarette form. But Walt is going to hide it back in a cigarette, risk it being discovered, risking the contaminants getting all over his own house rather than just putting it in her food or drinks? Come on.

I agree with you, I’m just pointing out that it can be inhaled.

Anyway, if the ricin is used on anyone, it won’t be Skyler, I think its going to be used on Mike instead. If walt kills skyler he’ll make it look like suicide and the ricin wouldn’t really fit for that.

What about intended for Skyler, but ends up getting Walt Jr.?

Would Skyler ever kill herself? I can’t see her going down that route - she cares too much about her kids. If somehow by killing herself she could ensure that Walt would never get custody of them - maybe.

The Ricin won’t be smoked. There is a fear it will be ingested. My worry is that vile is hidden in Baby Holly’s room. What if when the Baby comes home she goes crawling around, touching everything as babies do, and that electrical outlet plate comes off? Baby’s look at things and the next thing it’s in their mouth.