Breaking Bad observation (minor spoilers)

[NewJeffCT]

I just started watching the show, and Walter gets the alternate treatment from the cancer expert. $90,000, but it's not covered by his HMO.

So, the whole series is basically driven by the potential medical bankruptcy he was facing. So, the whole critically acclaimed show wouldn't have happened in other first world countries.

(I've only just started episode 8, so I don't know what comes next)

[sharp_stick]

1. Here's Breaking Bad Canada

not a long run.

[DebJ]

16. Awesome. Straight to my Facebook page. Thanks. nt

[mucifer]

2. Well actually Walt has insurance he would get treatment but he wants the best doctor in the area

Not everyone in New Mexico can be a patient of the best doctor in the area. Walt is an asshole. I love the show. I love hating Walt. I still have half a season left of the series.

[NewJeffCT]

3. I thought the first doctor

said it was inoperable and there wasn't much they could do, which is why his wife insisted on getting the experts involved through her sister?

[mucifer]

7. I'm just saying if he was in Canada he might not be on the fancy experimental cutting edge

treatment.

[femmocrat]

4. Does anyone know when the marathon ends?

I have been recording it for days and days now.

I was interested in seeing the early ones because I never saw them. I set my dvr to record the entire series.

[NewJeffCT]

5. I think it ends tonight

Because AMC is running a Walking Dead marathon starting on New Year's Eve...

[Inkfreak]

6. Sometime Tuesday morning this week.

I've been recording them too. We've seen the whole series, but it's gonna be nice to rewatch at our leisure in the future. I'm doing the same for the Walking Dead marathon right after.

[The2ndWheel]

8. I wouldn't say it's driven by that

That's the foot in the door to get it off the ground.

[charlie and algernon]

9. And too, if Walt doesn't see that news report about Hank

Or Hank tells Walt to fuck off when Walt asks to tag along during a meth bust, none of this happens either. If anything, we end up with a serious drama about a family coping to pay off crippling medical bills and the potential death of the father.

[The2ndWheel]

11. A perfect storm

The Mr. White that we came to know was just waiting for a chance.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

13. IIRC, Hank brought up the Idea of a ride long. nt

[sendero]

31. He did..

... and Walt was uninterested at first, but later changed his mind.

Also, initially, Walt's motivation for breaking bad was not to fund his treatment, in fact he seemed all but resigned to dying. What is was about was providing for his family.

[Sheldon Cooper]

10. I think Walt's initial motivation was to leave a bunch of money for Skyler

by cooking meth for as long as he could. Seeing the video of Hank's successful raid, and finding out that $700K wasn't an unusual haul, provided the impetus to get him started on that quest.

[NewJeffCT]

12. Yes, it seemed pretty clear

in season 1 that he wanted to provide for Skyler, Walt Jr, and baby Holly. Just watched a scene last night where he's calculating how much he needs to pay off the house, home equity loan and also put the two kids through college and give them some additional money.... $737,000 or $717,000 was his calculation.

I do think Walt's attitude definitely influenced his decision.

I'm only on episode 8, though, which is Season 2, episode 1... so, I have no idea how it changes.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. But then he gradually discovered he *liked* being a badass.

He totally went over to the dark side after making all the money he needed when he realized he'd have to be just as evil and ruthless as the other bad guys just to stay alive, and then got to liking the power that came from being The Guy. An interesting study in corruption.

[Sheldon Cooper]

21. It is an interesting study, isn't it?

He started out from a sympathetic spot, and then made a series of colossally bad decisions on his path to power, which ultimately destroyed practically everyone in the process. He was a frustrated underachiever who finally had a chance to reach his potential and did so in a spectacularly bad way.

The show did make me wonder, though. If given the same set of circumstances as Walt, would I have followed a similar path? I doubt it, but I'm not sure I can say that with absolute certainty.

[pokerfan]

15. OK, all you people watching BrBa for the first time

please remember It's ok to record it but you will need to take an eleven month viewing hiatus between episodes 8 and 9 of the final season. If we had to suffer, so do you.

[DebJ]

17. LOL we watched the entire series in 10 days. COULD ..... NOT ..... STOP

And then we had to buy the videos to share with friends.

[nirvana555]

18. I'm watching the marathon on AMC now. I just can't help myself. I've already seen

Each episode in the entire series at least 2-3 times.The final episode "Felina" airs (PST) from 2:03 -3:18 a.m.

[tammywammy]

19. Oh good, someone else that can't stop watching the marathon.

[dipsydoodle]

23. Wondered how long it take

I bought the boxed 5 season set on DVD a few weeks back. Might start them watching tonight.

Happy New Year.

[warrior1]

20. I'm now at season 3 about 8 ep in

I have so say, that for being a smart guy, Walt sure has screwed up and destroyed many many people's lives.

Not talking about criminals, just innocents.

It's a good series, but it's hard to know who do root for.

I see Walt as a bitter man who has made horrible decisions just to help his family.

In the end, is it really worth all the damage to everyone he effected.

[valerief]

27. Isn't it refreshing to not have a hero? nt

[JVS]

22. His family was already treading water before the cancer diagnosis.

Remember the shitty water heater and Skyler giving him shit about using the "wrong card" to buy $15 worth of printer paper. Even with free medical attention (and BTW as a public school teacher he would almost certainly have had insurance of some sort) the White family would have been impoverished in short order.

One of the rules of Breaking Bad is that you always go outside of your insurance coverage (Walt and Hank both went out of coverage). This is a practice that greatly raises the cost of treatment.

[NewJeffCT]

24. If I recall the first episode

the implication was that the doctor in his network couldn't really do anything, while the experts outside his HMO network would at least prolong his life through chemo and other treatments.

[JVS]

25. Like I said, in the Breaking Bad universe you have to go outside of network to get anything done.

If you go outside of network, untreatable cancer goes right into remission and severe spinal injuries can be rehabbed away over the course of a few weeks.

[valerief]

26. Right! America's lack of a safety net drives the whole storyline. nt

[riverwalker]

28. watched both BB marathons

watched the first one non-stop, could not stop watching it. Was a total BB virgin, not into serial dramas, just had to see what all the fuss was about this show, and the hype leading to the finale. First episode: Totally hooked. Could not stop. Three days latter I emerged from the BB world, glassy eyed, out of groceries.
Second marathon, did not plan to watch, was still kinda embarrassed that I didn't leave the house for three days with the first one. C'mon, could it have really been THAT good? A TV show? Well maybe I'll watch a little......saw things I missed the first time...aha, so that's what that meant!....missed a couple episodes last time due to wasting time sleeping. Hooked again.
It was even better.

[NewJeffCT]

29. One thing I will say

is that it seems AMC is inconsistent with how they bleep out expletives. Sometimes, I hear them, other times not. Was that how it was on the original show as they aired? Or, are they bleeping shows in the marathon that are aired during the day?

[mucifer]

30. That's the great part about watching it on DVD. Some episodes have extra scenes.

I'm not sure if netflix shows the episodes with the extra scenes in them or not. I bought all of the dvds. I don't have cable tv or netflix. 5 more episodes of the series to go . Unfortunately, I'm mostly spoiled.

If you start watching it now you pretty much have a lot of it spoiled for you just by knowing which characters make it to the final season.