No, but you’d have a second cell phone if you were getting calls to let you know the locations and times of illegal blackjack games and you didn’t want your wife checking call history. That part is consistent with his gambling story.
Hank points out the cars and expensive watch in a way a Fed/Detective might do about anything that jumps out to him as a change in the norm, or something out of place. He may even smell something fishy, or not quite ringing true with the gambling story, or even the car wash. But to make a leap from that to Walt being a mastermind that usurped a major and long-standing drug cartel is a vast one; it doesn’t even sound plausible just typing it out for myself, and I’ve witnessed his transformation and rise to head honcho, that made it seem believable.
Plus, the show will exaggerate these moments in a way that will make us uneasy, or that he’s on the verge, just to build some tension.
Who knows, maybe Hank will find the bug, and realize there’s only one real guy who could’ve done that. Especially if he connects Walt holding the picture frame.
Also, FWIW, Gilligan mentions he and the writers were contemplating setting the cold open of the season premier even another year further out; on his 53rd birthday.
Then he joked that would’ve required more bacon than they had in their bacon budget.
Anyhow, I thought that interesting, if all it tells us is this part of the story isn’t necessarily locked to some timing of the plot they’ve laid out for the finale.
Well, yeah, it seems likely that Hank is going to slowly start putting things together now that Walt and Skyler are practically at open war, and he’s learned a lot of details about Gus’ operation. What we’ve been discussing is whether or not Hank has known for some time, since he’s had so many little clues since the beginning.
Why bother though?
If Hank strongly suspects Walt is Heisenberg, why go through all those theatrics at home, with the Whites, at the DEA?
My favorite “clue” that Hank missed: when Hank, while helping Walt move out from his house, asked about the contents of a particularly heavy duffel bag. Walt’s response: “A half-million dollars.”
There is zero chance that Hank is currently consciously aware about Walt’s involvement in meth.
If Hank had known, but didn’t want to take down Walt, he still would have had him tailed/tracked to find out the scope of his activities and who his partners were. We haven’t seen anything like that happening. Also, when his life was supposedly in danger last season, and he indeed had known, we might have seen some sort of overture to Walt from him for help or escape out of that life.
At best, Hank’s subconscious knows there’s something not quite right with Walt’s public narrative, but it’s nothing more concrete than that.
I think we’re unknowingly agreeing with each other, again. Your post above is exactly what I meant when I said that coremelt’s assertion (that Hank has known for some time) would make no sense.
I think it’s going to come to a head sooner than later and the reveal is going to be related to the domestic situation in the White residence. Walt telling Hank that Sky doesn’t love him anymore and that he’s a bad father coupled with according to the preview for next week…
it looks like Sky and Marie have a heart to heart with Marie really pressing Sky for details on why the children aren’t safe at the White home.It’s been established that Marie can’t keep secrets and all that’s needed is for Hank and Marie to compare notes and start putting two and two together. Now this could be just Vince messing with us and it’s not like he’s not above resorting to a little misdirection when it comes to previews but there are only eleven episodes left in the entire show, three in this season. Clock’s ticking…
The crazy thing is that once Hank does find out, he will be trapped according to the established logic of the show. He’s just made ASAC and the previous ASAC just got canned for failing to notice someone “right under his nose” and Walt is a hell of a lot closer to Hank that Merkert was to Gus. So Hank gets dragged into the conspiracy or his career is toast. That’s the way I see it playing out, anyway.
It has a certain symmetry to it all. Walt got into all of this to provide for his family, pay off the mortgage, provide college funds, etc. Now, not only does his wife detest him, the kids are out of the house and living with Hank and Marie. It’s his family that will eventually prove to be his undoing.
At least that’s the way I see it playing out.
They certainly seem to be setting that up very carefully. My prediction is that Hank will offer Walt a way out, free and clear, some deal with immunity but that Walt will initially pretend to play along and then disappear himself on his own accord.
It seems to me the writers have to offer Walt one last chance of redemption and show the viewers his conscience free rejection to complete his transition.
I think that Hank himself may fall under suspicion if Walt is discovered, because of his close relationship with Walt and a number of other things.
[ul][li]He received therapy that his insurance doesn’t cover and that he shouldn’t have been able to afford.[/li][li]He walked away from the turtle bomb at exactly the right moment thus being the only on to not be injured or killed.[/li][li]He was over the top insistent that he remain in charge of the blue meth investigation, to the point that he turned down a promotion.[/li][li]He knew that Gus was guilty even though his evidence was not convincing to anyone else (maybe he was trying to eliminate the competition).[/li][li]The “fuck you” stunt pulled by Hector makes no sense unless he had some personal vendetta against Hank, and it occurred shortly before the nursing home bombing.[/ul][/li]It almost seems like the writers have been setting up Hank from the beginning.
We’d know a lot more about minerals though.
What’s great about the show is that Walt had both a totally selfish interest in seeing Jane dead (get his partner back, tie up a blackmailing loose end), and a reasonably selfless reason (Jane was likely to be the death of Jesse, as far as Walt could see she totally dominated him and the two of them armed with $400K would be dead in short order).
Remember that what inspired him to come back to the house was Jane’s father going on about never giving up on your family.
Thus, it is up the the viewer to interpret what “really” motivated Walt to refrain from lifting a finger to save Jane. Was it Walt acting totally out of self-interest? Was it Walt ‘never giving up’ on Jesse, his surrogate son?
Or was it Walt rationalizing the first by the second?
The scene of Marie persuading Hank to leave the hospital would have been very different.
I meant to say something yesterday about the whole idea of rooting for Walt. If you’re watching the extras and the discussions with Vince Gilligan you may know something I don’t, but I don’t think the writers are particularly interested in whether we’re rooting for Walt or dissuading us from rooting for Walt and things like that. It’s true that he’s pretty consistently become less likeable over the course of the series, but I think they’re focused on the arc of the character and the consequences of his actions and maintaining our interest, and those things that are more complex than rooting for or against a character. I remember near the end of the Sopranos there was a lot of discussion about how David Chase was going to teach everybody a lesson for rooting for Tony, and after the show ended Chase revealed that he’d found the whole discussion totally hypocritical and said it played no role in the end of the series anyway. Gilligan seems like a very different kind of person, but I think some of those basics also apply.
I have a sense that laying out the killing of innocents, children especially (a particularly heinous act) is precicely a device for us to react in horror. The interesting thing will be the consequences. Will Todd be spared by the team? Perhaps it will go to a vote.
Regardless for me, I can’t root for Walt anymore, but I can’t look away either. I want to find out what will happen to him, and a big part of me does not want to see him end up dead.
As far as Hank’s knowledge of Walt as Heisenberg is concerned, I think his subconscious knows what his head can’t fathom. It’s like when a wife knows her husband is cheating but has no proof until she sees it firsthand. He has a sense of Walter as secretive and manipulative. He could easily understand Walt as a cheater, and therefore untruthful, but was incredulous at Skyler’s infidelity. He’s not convinced of the explanations from Walter. Also, just by Hank remarking about Walter’s watch “as long as you can afford it” says to me the doubts about Walter are constantly on his mind.
ETA: Hank’s gentle probing is really a police tactic, and I think he’s looking for any clues from Walter that he is Heisenburg. Walter is too good an actor to let that happen, so Hank is stuck in suspicion, he has to be 100% sure
I just listened to the BB Podcast, and I love how Gilligan put the character of Walt (when talking about the scene in Hank’s office); that Bryan Cranston is a good actor, but so is Walt.
He didn’t really have to lie to get his crocodile tears going—instead he takes most of the truth about his situation (as he also did telling Marie Skyler had an affair with Ted), and uses it to his advantage. Like any really good liar actually; a kernel of truth and all, except Walt seems to use an entire nugget.
But this is what’s really clouding Hank’s judgement, I think. He smells a rat, in that his intuition is telling him something isn’t quite adding up with Walt + Skyler. Maybe he’s even been suspicious Walt’s not on the up and up, but if so, it probably only goes as far as his “gambling problem,” or maybe something like tax elation, etc. No where near his meth investigation.
Hank’s been forced into his most uncomfortable zone; the emotional trainwreck of family drama. Which was hilarious in this episode as Walt’s waterworks turned on, and hank sheepishly closed the blinds.
It’s this frame of mind that completely seems to disarm Hank, as he has no idea how to console or cope, so he’s really just looking for an escape, because he knows he’s totally clueless in those matters. I think Walt knows this as well, he knew Hank would be looking for some excuse to flee, so he could plant the bug.
It’s always fun to watch poor Hank adjust his collar.
I’d put it this way: Andiethewestie: Hank is suspicious of Walt, but he’s not suspicious that Walt is Heisenberg. And you make a lot of good points there, cmyk. Walt brilliantly used his knowledge of Hank to his advantage. He knew Hank would get uncomfortable and leave the room if he became emotional, which would allow him to plant the bug. Walt has become the kind of guy who sees both the truth and lies as tools to get what he wants. By way of contrast, Marie only knows how to use lies.
Ok here is where I can see the next few episodes going. Walt takes a shine to Todd as the young guy who knows what needs to be done. Why else would he be in on the heist unless Walt sees something in him.
He will brush off the murder as “what’s done is done” and work with Mike to clean up the mess.
There will be rift with Jesse and you’ll see Todd being groomed as the new Jesse. We’ll see a replay of the situation Walt was in when Gus had his replacement brought in. However Mike will play the wild card as he seems to have some loyalty to Jesse and no love for Walt.
Meanwhile all the loose ends will keep nagging Hank and he will close in on waltz operation.
From there who knows