# Breaking Bad 5.8 "Gliding Over All" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506 "2012-09-03T01:55:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [September 3, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/121 "2012-09-03T16:42:35Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > And the only loose ends tying Walt to the blue meth (if he really is retired, as he claims) are Lydia, Todd, Goodman, and Jesse. As far as I can see, there is absolutely no physical evidence anywhere linking the Blue Sky to W.W. There’s also the rest of the exterminator crew, and Todd’s uncle and his friends can link Walt to the prison murders. The storage locker full of cash is physical evidence of some sort of illegality, and the handwriting in the book is physical evidence of a connection between Walt and a known meth cook. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/122 "2012-09-03T17:05:37Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Ep. 6, S3, Walt and Gale do their first cook, and at the end of the day, Gale recites “The Learned Astronomer” from memory for Walt, proudly proclaiming his geek credentials. > > Next scene is Hank surveilling Jesse’s house, and he calls Walt, who is now at his apartment (the one he paid the leasing agent to leave all the “model home” furniture in) reading the very book Hank has found. > > Since Walt is still in the blue shirt and slacks he put on that morning (to the tune of Travis Porter’s/Buddy Stuart’s “Sun, Shine On Me Today”), I assume it’s the same day. > > So Gale obviously had a copy of Walt Whitman’s poetry on him at the lab or in his car, signed it, and gave it to Walt. Thank you for this. I just went to Netflix and sure enough S3:E6:25:00 there is a huge shot of Walt reading this exact copy of Leaves of Grass. It does make it better that we’ve seen this book before this season (two seasons ago!), but I still hate that the gifting was off-screen. It just smells a lot like ret-conning. Similar to if what lead to Walt’s downfall was the belated discovery of a Valentine’s Day card from Jesse from season 1 reading, “Yo, Mr. White, you cook some mean blue. Let’s put some chili p in it next time. Love, Jesse P.” Just too pat and cheap. I feel slightly better about the episode but a bit surprised I am the only one who hated the Leaves of Grass reveal. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/123 "2012-09-03T17:10:03Z")
He was clearly shown with the book. There is no need for a paint-by-numbers scene in which we actually see shake handing it to him. This is drama, not an Agatha Christie mystery in which we expect everything ti be laid out explicitly. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/124 "2012-09-03T17:18:13Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > What am I going to watch for a year? _Breaking Bad_ has ruined me for mere pedestrian television. I’ve never seen _The Wire_. Guess it’s time to get crackin’ and see if all the hoopla is justified. Ditto with _The Walking Dead_. Never seen _Burn Notice_, either—should I give it a shot? I almost feel as if I’ve been abandoned—like a spouse had left me after years of marriage. A couple of months from now they’ll find me dead in bed with empty booze bottles all over the place, a _Breaking Bad_ disc spinning away in the Blu-Ray… Well, we can’t have that. Try Sons of Anarchy, or Justified (I’m such a whore for FX). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/125 "2012-09-03T17:21:38Z")
So now we’re left to speculate even more on why Walt was buying an M-60 machine gun in the season’s cold opening. For the sake of argument, let’s say that the Mexican cartel, the DEA, and the American drug element are all still in play, and that one or more are coming for Walt. The cartel may want revenge, and Fring is no longer available. Lydia may want out, but she’s obsessive. As long as Walt is alive, he’s a potential danger to her. Todd and his charming family and friends are also known to Walt, which makes Walt a liability for them. Of all those elements, the DEA is the least likely reason for him buying a weapon. My money is on Todd & Company. I’m now wondering, since Walt was clearly on the lam in the cold opening, if this bunch has already taken out Jesse and perhaps part or all of Walt’s family (or they’re in Wit protection) and Walt is planning his own one-man assault on them. If the cancer is back, he really has nothing to lose by trying to take them out. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/126 "2012-09-03T17:41:07Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > He was clearly shown with the book. There is no need for a paint-by-numbers scene in which we actually see shake handing it to him. This is drama, not an Agatha Christie mystery in which we expect everything ti be laid out explicitly. I don’t need to be hit over the head, but I would like some pre-planning. To me, the whole thing reeked of the writers’ room. “Hey, didn’t we show Walt with a Whitman book a couple of seasons ago? I know! Let’s say that Gale gave him that copy and furthermore personally dedicated it to Walt after knowing him for 24 hours! Yes, something incriminating. And Walt moves it from his condo to his house. And keeps it in the shitter! This is all gold.” Eh, I’ve said my piece on this. I think it was cheap. Literally everyone else disagrees with me. I accept that. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/127 "2012-09-03T17:44:09Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Thank you for this. I just went to Netflix and sure enough S3:E6:25:00 there is a huge shot of Walt reading this exact copy of Leaves of Grass. It does make it better that we’ve seen this book before this season (two seasons ago!), but I still hate that the gifting was off-screen. Ture dat. Walt could’ve stopped by a book store on the way home from the lab and picked it up. But again, that would’ve happened off-screen. > [@Erdosain](#): > > It just smells a lot like ret-conning. Similar to if what lead to Walt’s downfall was the belated discovery of a Valentine’s Day card from Jesse from season 1 reading, “Yo, Mr. White, you cook some mean blue. Let’s put some chili p in it next time. Love, Jesse P.” Just too pat and cheap. Possibly, but we did at least get an establishing scene (the first cook together) of Gale as a Walt Whitman fan as well as rapidly becoming a Walter White fan; this is further supported in later episodes of the season when Gus goes to see Gale, hinting that he needs to step up and learn Walt’s formula/process quickly, and you see Gale’s hesitancy about assuming that burden. This can be for several equally valid reasons, but here are my favorite theories: 1. Gale feels that he doesn’t have the competence/confidence to run the lab, or perhaps doesn’t want the responsibility. He seems content to be the capable “Number 2” to Walt’s leadership in the lab; 2. Gale understands his position in the Fring-Ring, knows what the visit and message entails for Walter, and, in spite of the brief “hiccup” in their relationship, still likes and respects Walter, and doesn’t want to see him get killed; 3. In spite of Gale’s Libertarianism, he can’t possibly be blind to the fact that he’s an important cog in a violent (when necessary) criminal organization, and he gets to hang around dead-eyed killers the likes of Mike Ehrmantraut, Tyrus Kitt, and Victor. Walter must have seemed like a breath of fresh air, a true intellectual and emotional compatriot in the Fring organization. Take all that, and consider that we see that Gale is an emotional, touchy/feely guy, and could very easily be given to sentimental actions, like signing his copy of Leaves of Grass to his new mentor after their first day of cooking together. > [@Erdosain](#): > > I feel slightly better about the episode but a bit surprised I am the only one who hated the Leaves of Grass reveal. I agree that it may have been better to see a direct hand-off of the book from Gale to Walter (especially if we saw Gale scribble something on the inside cover); even if we’d just had a single line from Gale to the effect of, “I’ll give you my copy of Walt Whitman’s poetry.” But the book itself isn’t completely out of left-field, a never-before seen, mentioned, or hinted-at maguffin dropped in out-of-the-blue to bridge a plot point. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/128 "2012-09-03T17:44:48Z")
But it wasn’t like the book was totally out of the blue. The whole W.W. thing was talked about a few seasons ago and Walt was seen reading that exact book. Maybe it could have been done better (we pretty much all knew that the penny would drop for Hank as the cliff hanger) but it wasn’t a horrible stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/129 "2012-09-03T17:46:53Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Thank you for this. I just went to Netflix and sure enough S3:E6:25:00 there is a huge shot of Walt reading this exact copy of Leaves of Grass. It does make it better that we’ve seen this book before this season (two seasons ago!), but I still hate that the gifting was off-screen. > > It just smells a lot like ret-conning. Similar to if what lead to Walt’s downfall was the belated discovery of a Valentine’s Day card from Jesse from season 1 reading, “Yo, Mr. White, you cook some mean blue. Let’s put some chili p in it next time. Love, Jesse P.” Just too pat and cheap. > > I feel slightly better about the episode but a bit surprised I am the only one who hated the Leaves of Grass reveal. I’m with you. I remembered the book being introduced in that scene, but assumed Walt had been inspired by Gales love for WW to pick up a copy on the way home or dig out an old copy. It never occurred to me that Gale had given it to him. What’s more, it seems very unlikely that Walt would have left that page in the book, especially after the conversation he had with Hank about the initials in Gale’s journal. My initial thought while watching the episode was that Hank was going to find some incriminating scrap of paper or picture stuck in the pages, something scribbled in the margin, etc. That we learn that the book was from Gale with an inscription feels like a bit of a let down. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/130 "2012-09-03T17:55:35Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Ture dat. Walt could’ve stopped by a book store on the way home from the lab and picked it up. But again, that would’ve happened off-screen. > > Possibly, but we did at least get an establishing scene (the first cook together) of Gale as a Walt Whitman fan as well as rapidly becoming a Walter White fan; this is further supported in later episodes of the season when Gus goes to see Gale, hinting that he needs to step up and learn Walt’s formula/process quickly, and you see Gale’s hesitancy about assuming that burden. This can be for several equally valid reasons, but here are my favorite theories: > > 1. Gale feels that he doesn’t have the competence/confidence to run the lab, or perhaps doesn’t want the responsibility. He seems content to be the capable “Number 2” to Walt’s leadership in the lab; > > 2. Gale understands his position in the Fring-Ring, knows what the visit and message entails for Walter, and, in spite of the brief “hiccup” in their relationship, still likes and respects Walter, and doesn’t want to see him get killed; > > 3. In spite of Gale’s Libertarianism, he can’t possibly be blind to the fact that he’s an important cog in a violent (when necessary) criminal organization, and he gets to hang around dead-eyed killers the likes of Mike Ehrmantraut, Tyrus Kitt, and Victor. Walter must have seemed like a breath of fresh air, a true intellectual and emotional compatriot in the Fring organization. > > Take all that, and consider that we see that Gale is an emotional, touchy/feely guy, and could very easily be given to sentimental actions, like signing his copy of Leaves of Grass to his new mentor after their first day of cooking together. > > I agree that it may have been better to see a direct hand-off of the book from Gale to Walter (especially if we saw Gale scribble something on the inside cover); even if we’d just had a single line from Gale to the effect of, “I’ll give you my copy of Walt Whitman’s poetry.” > > But the book itself isn’t completely out of left-field, a never-before seen, mentioned, or hinted-at maguffin dropped in out-of-the-blue to bridge a plot point. These are all good points. Inscribing the book to Walt after one cook is totally in character for Gale. He was always trying so hard to be Walt’s best bud. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/131 "2012-09-03T18:04:17Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > What if he’s uncertain about what to do, leaves it there, then later in the evening Walt somehow realizes it’s there (maybe because it’s been disturbed) and destroys it. > [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > Wonder if Walt will wind up using the ricin on Hank that he didn’t use on Lydia As long as the book isn’t on top of the stack (and actually, even if it is) - that’s not going to tip Walt off. The point of reading material in the bathroom is that someone might read it. And following from that - Walt isn’t going to poison Hank. Assuming Hank doesn’t confront Walt immediately, by the time Walt knows that Hanks is on to him, killing Hank won’t buy anything - there will be an official investigation under way. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/132 "2012-09-03T18:07:34Z")
Hank has already been warned not to work on the Fring network anymore. Now that The Ten have been killed, will management let him continue? Hank may go totally rogue. ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/133 "2012-09-03T18:10:21Z")
As to Walt’s stupidity at keeping the page with the inscription, he might not have known it was there. When someone gives me a book as a gift I never think to check that they’ve written something in it. It being a book of poetry I could easily see Walt having only flipped around in it before and never noticed what Gale wrote. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/134 "2012-09-03T18:18:40Z")
Hank now has to realize where all the money Walt and Skyler gave him for his hospital bills/physical therapy/etc came from. Is Hank’s institutional loyalty to the D.E.A stronger than his loyalty to his family? Regardless of his badge, are his personal ethics going to allow him to let that slide? He’s always ribbed Walt about his “lack of manliness” (for want of a better phrase), but him and Marie have also always been there for Walt and Skyler when they needed it, offering to help kick in for Walt’s medical expenses when they thought Walt & Skyler were pretty much broke. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/135 "2012-09-03T18:25:49Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > I don’t need to be hit over the head, but I would like some pre-planning. To me, the whole thing reeked of the writers’ room. “Hey, didn’t we show Walt with a Whitman book a couple of seasons ago? I know! Let’s say that Gale gave him that copy and furthermore personally dedicated it to Walt after knowing him for 24 hours! Yes, something incriminating. And Walt moves it from his condo to his house. And keeps it in the shitter! This is all gold.” > > Eh, I’ve said my piece on this. I think it was cheap. Literally everyone else disagrees with me. I accept that. I agree with this. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/136 "2012-09-03T18:32:02Z")
Hank’s response will be fascinating. Remember he thinks - knows - the men he hunts are monsters. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/137 "2012-09-03T18:33:27Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > [Here’s what $205.6 million looks like from a drug raid.](http://www.snopes.com/photos/crime/drugmoney.asp) > > I want a bed like that. ☹ Of sure, but don’t forget to spray for silverfish! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/138 "2012-09-03T18:44:40Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > As long as the book isn’t on top of the stack (and actually, even if it is) - that’s not going to tip Walt off. The point of reading material in the bathroom is that someone might read it. I don’t care who poops in my toilet, but it’s rare for a guest to linger long enough to need something to read. Gale is a distant memory to Walt. Does Walt know about Gale’s notebooks, that the DEA found them? Gus knew about the books, but I don’t think Walt did. Does Walt even know that Gale’s death was of interest to the DEA? I can’t remember. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/139 "2012-09-03T18:46:12Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > IDoes Walt know about Gale’s notebooks, that the DEA found them? Gus knew about the books, but I don’t think Walt did. Does Walt even know that Gale’s death was of interest to the DEA? I can’t remember. Yes. That is key to the whole scene. Hank flashed back on it and it has been mentioned several times in this very thread. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506/140 "2012-09-03T18:49:06Z")
Hank and Walt looked at the notebooks together. That’s what was going on in the flashback scene. This revelation was perfectly set up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-8-gliding-over-all/633506.md?page=8)