# Breaking Bad 5/16/10 - "Kafkaesque" - OPEN SPOILERS **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723 "2010-05-17T04:15:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/41 "2010-05-18T16:14:01Z")
Does anybody think Walt’s cancer is through as a plot point? ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/42 "2010-05-18T16:19:05Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Does anybody think Walt’s cancer is through as a plot point? Everyone with cancer should be so lucky! Cook some meth - miracle cure! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/43 "2010-05-18T16:28:10Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’ve never read Kafka. Was the counselor correct, using that reference? Yes and no. Jesse is arguably a monstrous vermin, but he didn’t suddenly wake up that way. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/44 "2010-05-18T18:24:55Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Does anybody think Walt’s cancer is through as a plot point? I’m kind of disappointed how the cancer subplot has essentially vanished from the plot this season. It was the big driver behind Walt’s turning bad and now it’s not even mentioned. I’m thinking that this may be deliberate by the writers and the big C will emerged again at just the wrong time for Walt. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/45 "2010-05-18T18:28:31Z")
[From Wikipedia:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafkaesque) > [@](#): > > **Kafkaesque** - The term, which is quite fluid in definition, has also been described as “marked by a senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity: Kafkaesque bureaucracies”[1] and "marked by surreal distortion and often a sense of impending danger: ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/46 "2010-05-19T03:03:02Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > [From Wikipedia:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafkaesque) Oh, so more like an insurance company… ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/47 "2010-05-19T07:05:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Saul Goodman has a [website](http://www.bettercallsaul.com/). With a link at the bottom to the [Save Walter White](http://www.savewalterwhite.com/) website by Walter Jr. > [@](#): > > Awww. One of the sponsors of Saul’s website is Los Pollos Hermanos. And there’s an ad for Beneke Fabricators. If you click on the Menswear ad, you get to see Saul in many badly-fitting suits. And the ECards you can send are hilarious. I don’t understand how the IRS isn’t going to wonder where Jesse got the money to buy the salon in which to launder his money. I also don’t believe that Gus would allow Jesse to know the location of the lab. All it would take is one agent to follow him there and Gus’s entire operation is blown. Jesse doesn’t know about Gus and Los Pollos Hermanos, does he? I can’t remember anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/48 "2010-05-19T07:12:06Z")
I wonder if Fabricators is a double entendre since in addition to making metal parts his accounting is fabricated. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2010, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/49 "2010-05-19T07:38:10Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I don’t understand how the IRS isn’t going to wonder where Jesse got the money to buy the salon in which to launder his money. Or his $400,000 house. There’s not really any viable way of explaining that. Especially considering the scrutiny the DEA should treat him with. > [@](#): > > I also don’t believe that Gus would allow Jesse to know the location of the lab. All it would take is one agent to follow him there and Gus’s entire operation is blown. I agree, I find it implausible. I can see why Gus might respect Walt’s autonomy enough to let him run his lab as he sees fit, but given the scrunity that Jesse is/should be under, plus his general dumbassness, I just can’t see Gus letting it happen that way. It’s just begging for trouble. > [@](#): > > Jesse doesn’t know about Gus and Los Pollos Hermanos, does he? I can’t remember anymore. He was there for the first meeting (when gus ignored/blew them off) and he knew Walt sold their 38 pounds of meth to the buyer they were supposed to meet there, but he may think that it was just a meeting place the other guy took, and doesn’t know Gus personally. ---
**Author:** ![deuelow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/91b2a8/32.png) [@deuelow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deuelow)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/50 "2010-05-19T18:59:58Z")
It’s a good show - my personal favourite - but it moves at a maddeningly glacial speed. No idea on the Madrigal thing. I thought the distribution thing was a little too cute, especially the fleets of them driving out of town. I didn’t think I’d miss Hank, but the show misses him big time. His angle on things is unique - compared to Pinkmans or Whites who obviously share a lot of scenes. Without him things are moving even slower than usual. Pinkmans character grows ever more strange. When he’s complaining about his lousy 1.5 mil take on a 100 mil enterprise, you feel like throwing the remote at him. You would if it’d do any good. Wouldn’t Walt remind him that not even a few weeks ago he was inside an RV with a DEA agent about to serve a warrabt? This guy can MOVE 100 mil worth of meth, build an underground lab, put 3 mil on the table. Risk v reward bro. Later through the strange scene with the lawyer it becomes clear that he has a self destructive streak. The going to therapy - and being honest about the weed - offer the small promise that he can resolve it, or at least understand his rationale. Will he though? Now that his sister-in-law knows that he has mega dollars, you would think Walter is doomed. He’s a chemistry teacher for goodness sake! Hoiw do you think he made the money?But as Goodman said in a previous episode - you might have to consider your options. How both Skyler and Walt figured the killers had anything to do with him is beyond me. It was so oblique I didn’t think he would work it out. But the cops inside information on the blue meth distribution, and Walts realisation they were originally after him were a nice way for him to acknowledge Gus. Especially following the revelation that Gus knew about the DEA and lung cancer the whole time - and still continued to do business with Walt. Someone will end up dead at the end of the season. Gus is a good candidate. Time will tell. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/51 "2010-05-19T20:02:52Z")
Man, I can’t wait until this season comes out on DVD. Cuz, I’m so corn-fused I’m going to need to sit down and watch it all again… ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/52 "2010-05-20T06:14:54Z")
> [@deuelow](#): > > Now that his sister-in-law knows that he has mega dollars, you would think Walter is doomed. He’s a chemistry teacher for goodness sake! Hoiw do you think he made the money?But as Goodman said in a previous episode - you might have to consider your options. > How both Skyler and Walt figured the killers had anything to do with him is beyond me. It was so oblique I didn’t think he would work it out. But the cops inside information on the blue meth distribution, and Walts realisation they were originally after him were a nice way for him to acknowledge Gus. Especially following the revelation that Gus knew about the DEA and lung cancer the whole time - and still continued to do business with Walt. > Someone will end up dead at the end of the season. Gus is a good candidate. Time will tell. As good a point as any to jump in… Might Skyler be getting on board the Heisenberg thing? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/53 "2010-05-20T06:26:30Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Might Skyler be getting on board the Heisenberg thing? I’m uncertain as to her principals. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/54 "2010-05-20T06:33:14Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’m uncertain as to her principals. Umm, they seem to be a little less than totally tight. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/55 "2010-05-20T08:15:57Z")
Skyler will someday take over the meth empire. Giving us more reason to hate her. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/56 "2010-05-20T16:39:36Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’ve never read Kafka. Was the counselor correct, using that reference? > > Jesse just can’t wrap his head around applying business principles to criminal activity. Didn’t he watch _The Wire_? Anyone think that maybe, if Saul had offered him something more masculine, Jesse might have gone for it? Like an auto shop, or a tattoo parlor? He did manage to figure out a marketing strategy though. That was evil, really evil. > > Anyone think that Walt wished that he’d come up with Skyler’s gambling story instead of confessing to meth making? I loved the look on his face as she responded to Marie’s questions. > > At least we know where the conflict will be for the rest of the season. The cousins are gone and the cartel is probably reeling, but there’s Jesse, skimming. Wasn’t the gambling story what he had planned to tell her early on if he got caught? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/57 "2010-05-20T18:25:49Z")
> [@Katriona](#): > > Wasn’t the gambling story what he had planned to tell her early on if he got caught? I don’t think so. If he’d thought of it, he would have used it. I don’t remember that he ever mentioned using gambling as a cover. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723/58 "2010-05-20T19:07:20Z")
Walt never once put any thought toward any kind of cover story. Which is out of character, but whatever. The gambling one is good, but I still like the one **Sampiro** (I think) came up with, where Walt was contracting with the US Government to create chemical weapons, which is terrible and unethical and super secret but Skylar I’m dying and I have to provide for you and the kids… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-10-kafkaesque-open-spoilers/539723.md?page=2)