# Breaking Bad 5.09 "Blood Money" 8/11/2013 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973 "2013-08-11T22:21:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/281 "2013-08-17T22:12:29Z")
[The](http://santikov.net/uploads/posts/2011-07/1309714117_vo.vse.tyazkie.1.sezon.1.seriya.iz.7.2008.xvid.web-dlrip._santikov.net_00_05_08_00020.jpg) [plaque.](http://www.schnittberichte.com/pics/SBs/200/243014/19.jpg) We only see it in the pilot, I think. ([This](http://seriable.com/breaking-bad-1-01-pilot-observations/) site notes that Lydia has [something similar](http://cdn.seriable.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Nobel101.jpg)… maybe hinting at some similarities in their backstories? I certainly haven’t seen Lydia show any hints of genius, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/282 "2013-08-17T22:16:25Z")
An award for excellence in business is an accomplishment, but it ain’t exactly a Nobel. Gale had a backstory that was kind of similar to Walt’s. I thought he was intended to be a touchstone in that way. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/283 "2013-08-17T22:16:40Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > He might not have access to the tools and chemicals necessary to make the ricin. Didn’t he make some in his kitchen once? ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/284 "2013-08-17T23:38:16Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [There’s a plaque in the White home that says Walt was involved in a project that won a Nobel Prize in Physics.](http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2011/07/you-can-totally-still-catch-breaking-bad-premiere/39931/) I don’t think we’ve seen it since early in season one, but it’s one of those things that tells us he’s the most overqualified high school chemistry teacher in the world. I think someone asked earlier about the resolution to Gray Matter. I don’t know if anything more dramatic was ever planned, but to me, the climax of that subplot was when Walt suggested that his meth empire was had become his Gray Matter- the legacy he was leaving behind. That’s what I was alluding to, though I admit that I conflated the work Walt did as a grad student that won his Professors a Nobel with the work he did for Gray Matter (founded while he was in grad school) that made Elliot rich. Thinking that they were one and the same I thought that WW had not only lost out on the money but the award as well. I still hold out hope that the writers have a blockbuster of a scene that helps flesh out Walt’s back-story. IMHO it’s a needlessly weak spot in the show.\* For example: Did Walt finish his PhD? Sure, thematically what matters is that he’s a brilliant chemist working as a HS chem teacher. But the answer to that question would inform our understanding of how he wound up there, what that says about him and further highlight how he changed/reverted to form subsequent to his diagnosis. I don’t agree that we can assume, as posited up-thread, that it was just intended to show he was always egotistical and prone to maladaptive responses because there’s no evidence to back it up in his early interactions with Gretchen, Elliot or any other former colleagues, who greeted him with open arms seemingly oblivious to any hostility he might have had. That said, I don’t think it’s likely the topic is revisited, it won’t be a deal breaker for me, and agree that it was likely intended to have larger implications and just didn’t quite workout that way. \*Gilligan refused to write a back story, so Brian Cranston wrote one of his own. Maybe what I’m seeing as flaws are the inconsistencies that resulted from writers and directors enacting Gilligan’s vision for a character Cranston created without fully knowing where Gilligan was heading with him. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/285 "2013-08-18T00:56:02Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The entire series is a morality play about karma? I wouldn’t agree with that. I’d say it’s about a very angry man who lived the life if a good man until the prospect of certain death freed him to become who he really was. Absolutely. I rewatched the pilot a while back after finishing Season 5A, and I could see glimpses of Heisenberg showing themselves even way back at the beginning. The whole thing with Gretchen seemed like it was a situation of Walt’s own making; that he ruined his relationship with her and Elliot but blames them for the falling out. His own flaws cheated him out of an extraordinary life, despite his skills, but he just thinks it’s life that’s been holding him down. Heisenberg was buried under decades of doughy acceptance of the life he ended up in, but the cancer broke him out. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/286 "2013-08-18T01:02:46Z")
I think calling it a morality play is reductive. It’s a story first, not a lesson. But I absolutely agree that choices and consequences are up there with its primary themes. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/287 "2013-08-18T01:09:43Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Didn’t he make some in his kitchen once? I remember he had to steal some equipment from his school in order to do that, and it took some time to make. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/288 "2013-08-18T01:10:05Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > The whole thing with Gretchen seemed like it was a situation of Walt’s own making; that he ruined his relationship with her and Elliot but blames them for the falling out. His own flaws cheated him out of an extraordinary life, despite his skills, but he just thinks it’s life that’s been holding him down. Sometimes I think that Walt is like a kid who never grew up. He broke his own toys, but he throws a big tantrum and blames everyone else, and _someone, somewhere_ owes him new toys, dammit! His self-absorbed personality, gigantic ego and complete disregard for consequences makes him look an oversized five-year old at times. “It’s all about me, me, me!” ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/289 "2013-08-18T01:47:21Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > For example: Did Walt finish his PhD? No. His students call him Mr. White, not Dr. White. I got the impression that the founders of Gray Matter met in grad school and dropped out to start their own company. > [@Lakai](#): > > I remember he had to steal some equipment from his school in order to do that, and it took some time to make. He’s on the run and intended to go back to ABQ anyway. It was just easier to get it at the house. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/290 "2013-08-18T02:09:01Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > That said, I don’t think it’s likely the topic is revisited, it won’t be a deal breaker for me, and agree that it was likely intended to have larger implications and just didn’t quite work out that way. Yup. They have done only a very few flashbacks over the course of the show, which seems to suggest that they probably had more of that kind of thing planned originally, but just had too much present-day story to tell. > [@Crawlspace](#): > > \*Gilligan refused to write a back story, so Brian Cranston wrote one of his own. Maybe what I’m seeing as flaws are the inconsistencies that resulted from writers and directors enacting Gilligan’s vision for a character Cranston created without fully knowing where Gilligan was heading with him. Whoa, really? Do you have a source on this? ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/291 "2013-08-18T03:42:15Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > No. His students call him Mr. White, not Dr. White. I got the impression that the founders of Gray Matter met in grad school and dropped out to start their own company. They founded the company while in grad school. But aside from the “Mr” there’s no implication that they dropped out and when Elliot opens the ramen Walt gave him as a gift he explains to everyone that it’s what they lived on while writing their thesis, pretty much the last step to the degree. That everyone called him ‘Mr’ could just as easily be an indication of how the world was riding roughshod over him. Moreover, plenty of people have PhDs but don’t go by doctor and plenty more wouldn’t call one that if asked. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > Whoa, really? Do you have a source on this? From the [NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/magazine/the-dark-art-of-breaking-bad.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0): > [@](#): > > Cranston is from the total-commitment school of acting, and he once famously did a scene in “Malcolm in the Middle” while covered head to toe with bees. When Gilligan declined to fill in large holes in Walter’s back story, Cranston sat down and wrote out one of his own. On a handful of occasions, he has flagged lines in the script that felt false to him. Cranston reads each episode about a week in advance so that these bumps can be smoothed over before it’s time to start shooting. When he can’t resolve the issue with the writer on the set that week, a call is placed to Gilligan, who is usually in the writer’s room in Burbank. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/292 "2013-08-18T04:21:13Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Hank has not said anything only because he wanted to make sure he’s right before he accuses his brother-in-law of being a drug lord. He’s protecting his family. > > His investigation is more about making sure he’s not crazy, rather than gathering evidence to ensure a conviction. > > Now that he’s sure, I think he’ll go to the DEA soon. His risk is that if he goes too early and without evidence, the DEA will think he’s crazy and take him off the case. The only thing certain is that he will not let this go. > > My guess is that he’ll find Jesse, and Jesse will help him. Yeah. There’s no chance he’ll do anything else. He will take the case to someone: a higher-up, an ADA, someone. It may take a week or so, but once he’s sure, he’ll go there. Whether he’ll be believed is something else. They may tell him he’s working too hard, or the blue meth is gone, or there’s not enough evidence. But he’ll go there, and he’s not going to stop until he’s “cracked” the case. That’s his character. Walt, on the other hand, knows, or soon will know, the situation is unsustainable. He’s not going to be able to continue his phony life in ABQ now that his bro-in-law is on to him. But I think, for now, Walt’s done with killing. He’s had his reasons in the past, but he’s made his money, his cancer is (supposedly) back, and his family is supposedly the only reason he was doing any of this in the first place. What reason does he have now? To save himself? No. I think he’s done with killing. The next person Walt kills will be himself. He’ll fake his his own death - quote possibly with an explosion in his own house, and disappear. Only, somehow it won’t quote work out the way it was supposed to. Somebody Walt left behind is going to get screwed: arrested, indicted, killed, or something; and Walt is back to settle scores. One last prediction: he won’t use the gun for its intended purpose. I don’t know how he’ll use it, but it won’t be by shooting people. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/293 "2013-08-18T04:28:40Z")
> [@LinusK](#): > > He’ll fake his his own death - quote possibly with an explosion in his own house, and disappear. If Walt fakes his own death, I’ll personally go to Vince Gilligan’s house and punch him in the face. Fortunately, I don’t think that will happen. ---
**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 18, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/294 "2013-08-18T04:55:41Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The entire series is a morality play about karma? I wouldn’t agree with that. I’d say it’s about a very angry man who lived the life if a good man until the prospect of certain death freed him to become who he really was. Well, I did say _sort of_. Obviously it’s more complex than a simple story about just deserts. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/295 "2013-08-18T05:05:52Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Well, I did say _sort of_. Obviously it’s more complex than a simple story about just deserts. Well, New Mexico is \*mostly \*deserts. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/296 "2013-08-18T05:18:45Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > That was classic Lydia too. She thinks that she’s being slick but not taking her own car but is found out by taking a fresh rental to a car wash. Just like when she had Mike meet her at some out of the way diner so that she wouldn’t be noticed and was a total pain in the ass to the waitress about not having herbal tea. Didn’t help that Mike and the waitress were on a first-name basis either. ---
**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 18, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/297 "2013-08-18T05:32:11Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Well, New Mexico is \*mostly \*deserts. In case you were chiding me about the spelling, I spelled it correctly. > **[LANGUAGE CHECK: Just Deserts](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/just-deserts-meaning/)** > > Does a person who gets what he deserves receive his 'just desserts'? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/298 "2013-08-18T05:40:24Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > In case you were chiding me about the spelling, I spelled it correctly. > [Just Deserts | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/language/notthink/deserts.asp) Yeah, I was afraid that post would be misunderstood. 😛 I wasn’t complaining about the spelling, which was perfect. I was just making a joke. It sounded really funny in my head, anyway. ---
**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 18, 2013, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/299 "2013-08-18T06:08:30Z")
I thought that you might be joking but I wasn’t sure, and I love being all pedantic and superior. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/300 "2013-08-18T07:50:58Z")
Another irony about the Walt/Hank situation is that Hank was the one who inadvertently put Walt onto the idea of going into the meth business in the first place, at the birthday party in the pilot, when they’re watching the drug bust on TV. Then later, it’s during the ride-along with Hank that Walt spots Jesse escaping out the window. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973.md?page=16)