# Breaking Bad 5.15 "Granite State" 9/22/13 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2013, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429 "2013-09-22T09:43:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/441 "2013-09-26T01:25:14Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > She’s not leverage. She’s just the biggest fish they have. I think that’s a pretty accurate rendering of what the government usually does in these cases: if they can’t get the person responsible, they’ll hit the next-most-responsible person with everything they have. She’s in the same situation if Walt is dead. I don’t know how often they go after mob wives irl actually. They may strip her of all money/ property but I don’t see them chasing down a conviction. I wonder if the Gray matter thing may be a bit of a red herring. Maybe they pissed him off but really just gave him an idea for a cunning plan. For instance, they are throwing him under the bus so maybe he thought of a way to throw someone else under the bus as well. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/442 "2013-09-26T01:30:10Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I don’t know how often they go after mob wives irl actually. They may strip her of all money/ property but I don’t see them chasing down a conviction. She’s more of a co-conspirator than a mob wife, though. It sounds like the government knows that- or at least they think she’s not the innocent she purports to be. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/443 "2013-09-26T02:41:35Z")
Okay, we know Schwartzes/Gray Matter can’t give money directly to Skyler or even hire as a bookkeeper. But we have seen that Skyler is being represented by a public defender, a very young, inexperienced public defender. Could Walt threaten/force/guilt trip Elliott into underwriting legal representation to Skyler? Could that be done anonymously? Would an attorney have to disclose the source of the retainer. This might be a great case for a Gloria Allred type. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/444 "2013-09-26T03:07:57Z")
Well she didn’t kill anybody. She’s not responsible for Hank’s death, or for Gomez. She’s not a drug kingpin. She didn’t manufacture a gram of meth. She was married to Walt, but they are the only ones who know what was said between the two of them. Walt won’t be testifying, and she’s represented. If shes cooperating, she should be getting at least testimonial immunity. She is guilty of money laundering. But again, what evidence do they have for that, other than what Sky has told them? ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/445 "2013-09-26T03:16:48Z")
I think there will be a flash back to that fateful 4[sup]th[/sup] holiday. It will show Walt’s same weakness of pride. And how it led to everything Walt has done since. The real question seems to be. Does Walt die with his pride, blaming others? Or. Does he accept that everything is all his own fault? Oh. And who all he takes along with him too. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/446 "2013-09-26T03:19:39Z")
> [@LinusK](#): > > She was married to Walt, but they are the only ones who know what was said between the two of them. Walt won’t be testifying, and she’s represented. If shes cooperating, she should be getting at least testimonial immunity. She’s not cooperating, though. She’s stonewalling and they think she knows something. > [@](#): > > She is guilty of money laundering. But again, what evidence do they have for that, other than what Sky has told them? I don’t know if they have a lot of evidence, but they’re obviously suspicious and not letting her off easy. She’s working as a taxi dispatcher, so she’s lost the car wash. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/447 "2013-09-26T03:47:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > She’s not cooperating, though. She’s stonewalling and they think she knows something. > > I don’t know if they have a lot of evidence, but they’re obviously suspicious and not letting her off easy. She’s working as a taxi dispatcher, so she’s lost the car wash. So I’m just saying, a year from now, or two years from now, or five - assuming, for the moment, Walt dies on Sunday - how much more evidence are they going to have against Sky than what they have now? And if there isn’t any, and the guy they want is dead, how many agents will be assigned to Sky’s case then? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/448 "2013-09-26T03:55:27Z")
I’m not sure we are going to find out. But if that’s the case her life is still going to suck. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/449 "2013-09-26T04:04:03Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I don’t think you can even call that a kidnapping. He took his own child at a time when he and Skyler were not even separated. Or divorced. And thus there was no court order giving custody to the mother, no court order for him to stay away from Holly. IANAL, but it seems to me that legally, he had every right to take her. > [@Marley23](#): > > It was a kidnapping. There was an Amber Alert. > [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > “My husband has taken off with our daughter” is one thing. “My husband, just who just threatened our family with a knife, has most likely just committed a couple of murders, and is also a meth kingpin, has taken off with our daughter” is another. Fine, they were looking for him because of the circumstances of the situation, and they feared a possible threat to the little girl. But could you call it a “kidnapping” per se? I don’t think he could be charged with that. It was his daughter, and there was no court order giving sole custody to the mother. Admittedly, IANAL. ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/450 "2013-09-26T04:04:30Z")
Best thing for Sky is to cut a deal where she does a couple of years. When she gets out Flinn is a legal Adult. She gets the baby back from her sister. Then she her sister and the baby get the other $80 million in the next locker over and disappear. Fuck Flinn. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/451 "2013-09-26T04:38:30Z")
> [@Glazer](#): > > Best thing for Sky is to cut a deal where she does a couple of years. When she gets out Flinn is a legal Adult. She gets the baby back from her sister. Then she her sister and the baby get the other $80 million in the next locker over and disappear. Fuck Flinn. I literally laughed out loud at this. That would be hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/452 "2013-09-26T06:37:05Z")
That’s probably not too farfetched. Except the taking Marie with her part—fuck that schizo purple goofball. But Skyler didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. She had to have stashed at least a small portion of that cash somewhere else—she simply had to. She knows what happens to crooks. They eventually get caught and/or get dead. She’ll do four years tops, get out, and sail off to someplace that has liberal banking policies, where she’ll spend the rest of her life sipping piña coladas with 20-year-old cabana boys. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2013, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/453 "2013-09-26T07:16:59Z")
So…earlier in the thread, a lot of people were complaining about the out-of-nowhere Gray Matter reveal. I post about the reason for it, and not only does no one else apparently share my opinion that this is more galling than if it was just organically decided upon by the writing staff…but suddenly no one seems to have a problem with it any more (or be willing to say so out loud). What, is doing something a dying teen asks you to like carrying Excalibur around? No one can criticise it now because it would dishonour his memory or something? Sheesh, this is _Breaking Bad_, not _Highway to Heaven_ for chrissakes. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2013, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/454 "2013-09-26T10:06:47Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > What, is doing something a dying teen asks you to like carrying Excalibur around? No one can criticise it now because it would dishonour his memory or something? Sheesh, this is _Breaking Bad_, not _Highway to Heaven_ for chrissakes. What? The dying teen wanted to know more about what happened with Gray Matter. The Charlie Rose interview, if anything, just makes the whole thing even murkier. Unless Gray Matter plays a big part in the finale (I’m betting that it won’t show up at all), the dying teen didn’t actually get what he asked for. I’d say it’s more like they gave him the finger. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/455 "2013-09-26T10:55:12Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > So…earlier in the thread, a lot of people were complaining about the out-of-nowhere Gray Matter reveal. I post about the reason for it, and not only does no one else apparently share my opinion that this is more galling than if it was just organically decided upon by the writing staff…but suddenly no one seems to have a problem with it any more (or be willing to say so out loud). What, is doing something a dying teen asks you to like carrying Excalibur around? No one can criticise it now because it would dishonour his memory or something? Sheesh, this is _Breaking Bad_, not _Highway to Heaven_ for chrissakes. For my part, I said all I needed to say. Gray Matter is irrelevant. Going back to it will either be redundant or a terrible mistake. On one hand, it will simply show us exactly how Walt was prideful, rash and stupid in his decisions, which we (mostly) already grasp just fine and don’t need Basil Exposition to spell out for us. Alternatively, it will set up some kind of scenario where Walt was wronged, providing at the 11th hour some kind of exculpatory (narratively speaking) justification for Walt’s choices since then. The latter would suck balls. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/456 "2013-09-26T11:10:36Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > I don’t get fans that want to discuss all the legal minutiae of every little thing that happens on this show. Do you really think that’s what the plot is going to hinge on? That the final scene of the final episode will be Walt driving off into the sunset with his barrels after a mistrial because Hank did not read him his miranda rights off a fucking card? Or because him taking Holly was not _technically_ kidnapping, so he gets a get-out-of-jail free card? That’s not what this show is about, and yet you see people on the boards thinking they know how it’s going to end because they figured out that Hank’s evidence is not admissible in court. If that was inspired by my moment about Amber alerts and parent kidnapping, I wasn’t suggesting it was relevent as a plot point but just to comment on the suggestion that Amber alerts were common when a parent took a child, in general. It was only in response to the post I quoted. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/457 "2013-09-26T11:35:50Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > So…earlier in the thread, a lot of people were complaining about the out-of-nowhere Gray Matter reveal. I post about the reason for it, and not only does no one else apparently share my opinion that this is more galling than if it was just organically decided upon by the writing staff…but suddenly no one seems to have a problem with it any more (or be willing to say so out loud). What, is doing something a dying teen asks you to like carrying Excalibur around? No one can criticise it now because it would dishonour his memory or something? Sheesh, this is _Breaking Bad_, not _Highway to Heaven_ for chrissakes. I personally don’t care one whit where a writer gets his ideas. From dreams, from personal experience, from imagination, from overheard conversations, _from suggestions from others_. What does that matter? The main thing is “does it work?” Gray Matter as a motivating tool, or something to nudge Walt to choose a different course of action works for me. But like many others here, I don’t want to see it as some sort of revenge motif or “oh, no, it’s a loophole we have to close in the last 75 minutes of the show–quick, come up with some grande finale” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/458 "2013-09-26T13:05:03Z")
**SlackerInc** , I’d like offer a hearty “get over it.” I’ve said a bunch of times that the specifics of the Gray Matter thing aren’t important and I’m not that interested in them, but you’re exaggerating what happened and you may be assuming it’s going to play a bigger role in the last episode than it actually will. Regardless, I trust the show and the writers. There’s no perfect TV show but they’ve nailed pretty much everything up to this point. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/459 "2013-09-26T13:17:56Z")
I don’t know if I would say they “…nailed pretty much everything up to this point.” But for a TV show, yeah, they have pretty gifted writers. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/460 "2013-09-26T13:30:35Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > I don’t know if I would say they “…nailed pretty much everything up to this point.” But for a TV show, yeah, they have pretty gifted writers. I’m tempted to ask what you’re comparing TV to, but I’ll skip it. I think most of us would agree it’s been a very good season to this point - I’d say it’s about as good as anything you can reasonably expect. For that reason we shouldn’t get all bent out of shape at hearing they worked something about Gray Matter into the last episode or that the idea came from a young cancer patient. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429.md?page=24)