@@exxzane it's never fully explained in the show, I think it's because he married Skyler and he needed money so he sold his share for $5000 then he spends the whole fucking series pissed about it lol
Best part is when he emphasizes that he’s apologized to her “three times.” That really illustrates the essence of Walter White. The guy is always keeping score - and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t get a chance to rectify every slight he’s ever perceived himself to suffer.
@@judeak2442 It's a joke to us, the viewers. To Walt, it comes of as a passive aggressive remark to Gretchen because he thinks the apology should be enough to get her off his back.
You can tell in this scene that Gretchen really loved Walt when they were together and was crushed when he left her. He never gave her an explanation and she still doesn't really know why he did it.
@Akshay Natu We know that, but she doesn't. She never saw him as less than her because he wasn't wealthy, so she probably doesn't even think that's the reason.
@@randomavenger3048 agreed, I think he had more chemistry with Gretchen in that one flashback scene of them in college than he did with Skylar during the entire show
There's more chemistry and intimacy in this scene than in the whole Walter and Skyler relationship. And that's not a criticism to Skyler character or their relationship, it's intentional and makes total sense on the plot. Gretchen is the love of his life, Skyler is the girl he ended up marrying, and that's one of the many Walter's frustations. That's so fucking well hinted by details. I love this show.
Yep. Granted she wasn't an idiot by any means, herself, but Walt was way out of Skylar's league intellectually (and with regard to ambition/motivation, and just potential in life all around). Which I'm positive was indeed the whole point of marrying her, instead of someone like Gretchen. I'm sure that, while the wealthy family thing did prompt him to leave her and was probably "the final straw" in his mind (however sudden it may have seemed to her), in another sense it was an excuse (even if only to himself, perhaps) to break things off because at the end of the day Walt's intense narcissism (he legit suffers from textbook severe NPD, in the actual clinical sense/definition) would never have tolerated having a romantic partner who even remotely approached being an intellectual equal. Walt and Gretchen's relationship was doomed from the get-go for this reason. It's the same reason behind how he treated Gale and why he ultimately blew up his whole association with Gus over that--a raging malignant narcissist like Walt sees anyone and everyone of roughly equal potential/ability/status as a threat by default to be done away with in favor of surrounding himself with people he can instead feel securely superior to, control, manipulate, dominate, and take ultimate credit for whatever successes they do have. People in his close circle (so not rivals, competitors, or enemies) were merely puppets and/or mushrooms (to be kept in the dark and fed you know what) to him ideally, and that long predates his "becoming" Heisenberg. So he'd rather work with an emotionally volatile, vulnerable addict who doesn't understand the underlying chemistry than a brilliant trained chemist who's already self-sufficiently competent and doesn't need constant prodding to be professional, just as he'd rather have a spouse like Skylar, a simple bookkeeper/clerk of mediocre/average intellect turned housewife whose grandest ambitions are being a mom, writing short stories and selling knick-knacks on Ebay (oh, and eventually, running a car wash...yeah), rather than one who's an ambitious scientist and entrepreneur in her own right, like Gretchen.
He walked away from earning billions and a beautiful wife because of her family’s perceived wealth relative to his own upbringing. So sad. Walter White’s mortal sin is Pride.
It was not only his pride. He had the great team of scientists and source of money (which most startups suffer to take off) and he left. Whatever he did Gretchen and Elliot always respected him and invited him to their parties. Also he had a great team in criminal world a great lawyer such as Saul a talented fixer such as Mike a brilliant assistant such as Gale and a great businessman such as Gus. What did he do? He wanted an incompetent assistant such as Jesse ,killed Gus and screw up everything… Sorry is not only pride. It was his ego,his inferiority complex and other things.
Small role? She and Elliot (also Walter himself) are the reasons why walters life is like this, and why he turned to making meth to begin with. Her role is one of the most important roles in this whole show
In the alternate universe , Walt married Gretchen and kept Grey Matter company while Elliot took $5,000 of his share and became Albuquerque meth king that goes by the name " Dumbo ".
The thing that scared me about Walt was that he was never really a "good guy". This scene shows he was always full of resentment and hatred, it was just bubbling away at him while he did nothing about it. Before the events of the series, he was dormant. He wasn't really living his life, he was just existing. But the moment he starts to act, he throws himself into a life of crime. The question is... how many people are out there like Walt? The sort of person who just lives the mundane life, but given the right opportunities and incentive, would willingly go down a horrible path? I bet there's a lot of people out there like that, and that's a pretty harrowing thought to me.
Just look at human history. Whatever made people capeable of those brutal acts of barbarism back then is still somewhere in most of us, somewhere deep down. I mean the people who did those things in the past were essentially the same people as us biologically, it was just the circumstances that are different nowadays.
congrats my friend, you figured out a major point of the entire show, not in universe, but applicable to real life. What happens if you let yourself go, and the secondary point isnt that there are tons of people out there like him, its that you, willrock, can turn into him.
I love the genocidal overtures you are making. “The world is full of secretly evil people whom we need to smoke out and deal with.” Someone narcissistic enough to sell his shares, just because he can’t bear to be around people richer than him, and then reinterpret that as them stealing from him is not going to go 30 years without it showing. If that’s too much for him, then the indignity of having to teach high school kids is going to provoke his ego such that he’ll be fired before the year is up. You can also bet that he’ll be grumbling Skylar’s ears off until she leaves him. Heck, theres no way he’s willingly teaching high school, so he almost certainly has a bloody trail of lost jobs. Whatever caused this would also be impossible to miss.
This is one of the most brilliant scenes in the show. You can tell that what was between Gretchen and Walt was true love and it turned into sheer bitterness. I always had the impression that Skyler was more like a compromise to Walt, she was the good enough woman, but his true, deep love had been with Gretchen. That's why she can evoke such intense feelings in him. Decades of bitterness and resentment surfaced in this scene and it was evident that Walt was provoking Gretchen in a passive-agressive way. Also I think Gretchen was the only one who, in this scene managed to intuit the depth of Walt's transformation. I for one think she actually knew Walt better than Skyler. When she says 'what happened to you, Walt? This is not you' she understood that some deep resentment had transformed him for good.
I agree with you. There're real chemistry between them, in love and in bitterness. Walter was her true love too, she probably ressent him because she would live a happier live if they stayed together (at least in her head, and previously FELINA).
It’s a curious thing to work ones head around. I think it’s clear enough walt does love skyler. Despite all the hardships to and fro he never stopped caring about her condition and safety. At the same time it’s clear in later parts of the series he was more than willing to intimidate her into silence/cooperation, and he didn’t hesitate in trying to rebound with carmen after skyler cheated on him.
Walt's outburst comes off as incredibly pathetic after the later episodes where we learn that he actually sold his share in the company. Self-serving memory at it's finest.
@@engell3707 I don't think so. The show's creator, Vince Gilligan, has said that Walt felt inferior to Gretchen due to her family's wealth and backed out of both his relationship with her and his partnership with Elliot out of a sense of pride.
Very true, but also Walt never wanted any help from Eliot or Gretchen, it was Skyler in the bday party who approached them telling them of Walt’s illness so that they could provide some sort of help. Though his outburst here was absolutely wrong considering that he had left Gretchen earlier, if it was upto Walt he would’ve never sought the rich couple’s help
From Season 2 Episode 6 "Peakaboo" Gretchen: You left me. Newport, 4th of July weekend. You and my father and my brothers and I go up to our room and you're packing your bags, barely talking. What? Did I dream all of that? Walt: That's your excuse to build your little empire on my work? Gretchen: How can you say that to me? You walked away. You abandoned us, me, Elliott. Walt: Little rich girl just adding to your millions. Gretchen: I don't even know what to say to you. I don't even know where to begin I feel so sorry for you, Walt. Walt: Fuck you. It's laid out clear from that moment. Walt was visiting Gretchen's family at the incredibly wealthy town of Newport, and left. When she brings that up, he refuses to answer why he did that, and instead attacks her as a "rich girl." In their previous meeting at Elliot's birthday from the episode "Gray Matter" we saw Walt's sad smile displaying longing and regret when he lays eyes on Gretchen and how uncomfortable he was at the party seeing the Schwartzs' wealth and being amongst many distinguished scientists, engineers, and businessmen. He was embarrassed when he mentioned he was an educator to the other successful scientists and they asked him what university he taught at. By Season 2 Episode 3 "Bit by a Dead Bee" as Walt is being questioned about his fugue state he says: Walter White: My wife is seven months pregnant with a baby we didn't intend. My fifteen-year old son has cerebral palsy. I am an extremely overqualified high school chemistry teacher. When I can work, I make $43,700 per year. I have watched all of my colleagues and friends surpass me in every way imaginable. In the following link Gretchen's actress Jessica Hecht gives us the backstory. www.amc.com/shows/breaking-bad/talk/2009/05/jessica-hecht-interview "Vince Gilligan told us exactly what went down between the characters off screen: We were very much in love and we were to get married. And he came home and met my family, and I come from this really successful, wealthy family, and that knocks him on his side. He couldn’t deal with this inferiority he felt - this lack of connection to privilege. It made him terrified, and he literally just left me, and I was devastated. Walt is fighting his way out of going back to that emotional place, so he says, “F- you.” ... In the following link Vince Gilligan himself gives us the word of God. www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/vince-gilligan-walter-white-gray-matter_us_56e85f27e4b0b25c91838d57 “It ends with him being so nasty to her saying, ‘Fuck you,' and then she leaves tearfully,” said Gilligan. “In my mind, the interesting thing here, and I always kind of hate to nail it down so explicitly - but let’s put it this way, most viewers of ‘Breaking Bad’ assume Gretchen and Elliott are the bad guys, and they assume that Walt got ripped off by them, got ill used by them, and I never actually saw it that way.” Gilligan explained that the truth is more nuanced. It all stemmed from White’s feeling of inferiority while spending time with Gretchen’s family. “I think it was kind of situation where he didn’t realize the girl he was about to marry was so very wealthy and came from such a prominent family, and it kind of blew his mind and made him feel inferior and he overreacted. He just kind of checked out. I think there is that whole other side to the story, and it can be gleaned. This isn’t really the CliffsNotes version so much. These facts can be gleaned if you watch some of these scenes really closely enough, and you watch them without too much of an overriding bias toward Walt and against Gretchen and Elliott,” said Gilligan. .... From: Season 5 Episode 6 "Buyout" Walter White: Jesse, have you heard of a company called "Gray Matter?" Jesse Pinkman: No. Walter White: Well, I co-founded it in grad school with a couple of friends of mine. Actually, I was the one who named it. And back then, it was just... oh, it was just small-time. We had a couple patents pending, but nothing earth-shattering. Course, we all knew the potential. Yeah, we were gonna take the world by storm. And then... This, uh... Well, something happened between the three of us. And I'm not gonna go into detail, but for personal reasons, I decided to leave the company and I sold my share to my two partners. I took a buyout for $5000. Now at the time, that was a lot of money for me. Care to guess what that company is worth now? Jesse Pinkman: Millions? Walter White: Billions. With a "b." Two point one-six billion as of last Friday. I look it up every week. And I sold my share, my potential, for $5000. I sold my kids' birthright for a few months' rent. Walter White: Jesse, you asked me if I was in the meth business or the money business. Neither. I'm in the empire business. Walt has both an inferiority and superiority complex. He feels insecure that all his peers have surpassed him, and around other geniuses like Gale. Yet he has a massive ego and believes he deserves more. Hence why he could not work with someone like Gale and needs someone like Jesse to feel smarter and boss around. He never would've said yes because of his fragile ego.
I thought his problem with Gale was that he recognized that with Gale there he was disposable? IIRC, it's been a while, didn't they get along great at first?
Problem is, people are more attuned to Walt's point of view since he is the protagonist and see him as right or justified. Some of them so stubbornly hound onto this point of view that they'll ignore the truth when someone spells it out.
That's a lot of blinking though. I don't understand how people missed the whole thing. Especially since this is literally the driving force behind the series. He produces. He could no longer produce because he had issues with Gretchen and developed a persona to hide himself. The anger was buried but growing the entire time.
@@yougood809 Walt felt inferior to Gretchen’s family because they were wealthy when he met them. Walt has a huge sense of pride and ego due to his intelligence, and he’s also a narcissist, so when someone challenges his wealth or “power”. He feels inferior
@@SkatingPizza I see it exactly as portrayed... A man in the right getting screwed harder and harder, getting angrier and angrier as the one who keeps screwing him harder and harder plays innocent... This is exactly how it's done in real life.
This scene really epitomizes how childish and immature Walter White is once you step away from all of his brilliance and sophistication. I know this doesn't look like it has much in common with Jesse, but they really are two different flavors of irresponsibility
Yeah, Walt basically throws away everything he achieved because of ego. He had so many chances to save himself throughout the show, but he never took them. He could have accepted the position in Gray Matter, work with Elliot and Gretchen, make good money and cure his cancer. He could have kept working for Gus with Gale as his assistant, make a ton of money without taking any of the risk.
@@jirkazalabak1514 I think the Walt was concerned that even if the cancer treatment worked, he couldn’t provide enough money for his family to live comfortably. Also, he couldn’t trust Gale who was being used to replace him.
@@nimahanna1709 Well, if Gretchen and Elliot paid for his treatment, his family would have decent savings and no medical debt, which is what he was mainly worried about. And Gus had a tremendous amount of respect for Walt. Gale was only meant to replace him AFTER Walt killed those two drug dealers. If he just let Jessie (who he didn´t even care about ultimately) die and worked with Gus, he could have retired a rich man in a couple of years. Nah, he did it because of his own ego and ambition.
I think Walter White is not as simple as you said. We don't know the details of what happened between him and Gretchen so all we can do is assume. But I also think he had his own reasons for separation from Eliot and her. Perhaps, I think that way due to my enormous life to Heisenberg. I think he did absolutely nothing wrong.
Even after so many years, you can tell her character still truly loves Walt. They both married into people they never truly loved, and you can tell when she recounted the day he left her, that it destroyed her and when he hurt her again here with his outburst, she was clearly crushed again. Despite him hurting her, she still offered to help and even wept on the phone to him when she found out about his cancer diagnosis.
Yeah well if she truly loved him why not just bring him back into the fold as a thank you for being the brains behind her billion dollar business years before. She just wanted to hold that money over his head as revenge for leaving her, shes a bad person too.
@@jackd6881 She did have Elliot offer to bring him back in to the company doing what he was passionate about and without directly hurting his masculine pride by offering to pay outright he mentioned that they have the best health benefits. Gretchen and Elliot are good people, great really. Gretchen never looked down on Walt for not being in her social strata and Elliot came from nothing like Walt did and never forgot that.
@@DarkFilmDirector Elliot was a scumbag and Simple coward.He was smart and he was competent but he was a jealous bitch and coward.He was not standing like Walt.Walt got pride and (it is morally wrong but shows his character of a warrior all his wrong doings),Eliot is smart and he was doing what Haisenberg-manipulating,laying,deciving and destroying concurence but on other people basis.He would shit himself to do things neceserry .He manipulated and humiliated Walt for years.He used Walt inventions and conections. He felt better from Walt suffering.Gretchen was spoiled lying sejf centered bitch who wanted to show Walt where is his place in their relations.She loved his suffering after her lost and that is .They were not Goo people.They ve been acting moral but were weak and corrupted as much as the bad guys.Diffrence is that bad guys at least you know what you can expierience.
@@jackd6881ecause it was Walt who left in the first place. He left both her and the company. Elliot even offered to bring him back after they found out about his health conditions but Walt turned them down out of pride. What more could they have realistically done??? Elliot and Gretchen literally did nothing wrong?
@Brendan he died bittersweet. With a murdered brother in law and family that hated him. If his ego didn't make him leave Gretchen and Gray Matter he would have died a billionaire and admired around the world rather than feared
This is what happens when you talk to someone who´s totally hurting: they take everything you say personally, everything you say offends them. It´s like they have a giant wound and everything you say somehow scratches them. This is the same with characters like Mark in social Network or the Steve Jobs´ film (2015). Trying to reason with them is completely useless because they see themselves as victims, not as responsible for their actions. They are powerless and keep shifting the blame to you,
And yet everyone sees Walt as the bad guy here. His last line in this scene shows how much he cares, how much he doesn't want to be with Skyler, how much he wishes things would have gone differently, how he wished he could have been with Gretchen. One thing he never got was forgiveness, I've been in relationships where I wish I could have a dinner like this and tell my exes the same things Walt told Gretchen. It's a dark place to be in, but the catharsis of just saying that is something maybe we don't have words to express. Just want to point out, I have never abused anybody in my relationships, physically or emotionally, so I've never actually said anything like this. It would feel good to say though.
The thing was is that Walt had an inferiority complex and saw how Gretchen looked at Eliot when they were in gray matter and when he went to the diner he thought skylar as a way to escape gray matter and regrets how it grew to be worth billions.
See, things like this are why I tend to subscribe to the idea that, to some extent, Walt was Heisenberg all along. That tendency in Walt's personality and behaviour was always there, and it got brought out in very ugly ways by his involvement in the criminal underworld. Suddenly, Walt was immersed into a world where violence ruled and where you had to be able to use violence in order to push back against people who would otherwise control you. A lot of the problems in Walt's life are the result of his own bad decisions which in turn stem from his massive ego and sense of pride. But Walt can't admit that. Walt can't admit that he left Gretchen because he felt intimidated and overshadowed by her family's wealth. He left a relationship with a woman he loved and cashed out of a company that could have made him a billionaire rather than an extremely overqualified high school chemistry teacher who is woefully underprepared to provide for his family. Even when he is sincerely given a chance to escape this problem of his own making (by Gretchen who would be totally justified in cutting Walt out of her life entirely at that) he still refuses. Walt didn't become Heisenberg, not really. Heisenberg just emerged more and more clearly.
@@HellqueenRoz I agree. Its like I've heard it said about being drunk; it doesn't change who you are, it reveals it. Its like you said about the adversity in Walt's life just exposed who he was all along.
Jessica Hecht's performance in this is incredible. You can tell Gretchen still really loves Walter, in spite of it all, and how heartbroken she is at the awful things he's saying to her. It's the pivotal scene that defines why Walter is the way he is, how prideful he is, how he left Gray Matter, and how that pride led him to become Heisenberg. Just got done with Better Call Saul and had to revisit this scene. It's a shame we didn't get to see more flashbacks of them together.
I'm pissed that we never got a flashback to that 4th of July weekend. The mystery I wanted solved more than anything was the Walt-Gretchen "What Happened?" moment. It took Vince Gilligan's post-show admission to clear up that there *was* no mystery.
What is so impressive is the backstory they’re willing to create despite it never being shown. They do this with all the characters. That’s why better call Saul was such a rich prequel. I’m convinced the story was written long before breaking bad ever aired.
@@billyb4790 Absolutely. What baffles me though is the whole "How MUCH did they write?" So, we can figure out that Gus was one of Pinochet's generals from the clues in the show. BUT, how thorough was that biography in the show bible? Did they go the whole 9 or did they just flesh out enough so you could know what we know and be okay with it? That's the kind of thing that irritates me about the Walt-Gretchen thing. You wanna know HOW much backstory they did and how much was just "I think this happened" vs. "this is precisely what happened."
That micro expression Gretchen makes at 4:30 when Walt leans in was brilliantly acted. She thinks he’s about to make amends and then he drops the bomb on her lol.
Walter White is pretty much a Shakespearean character. An incredibly talented and gifted man with a lot of potential who threw it all away purely because of his pride. It's that single flaw that defines his entire character. It's why he left Greymatter, why he gets into the meth business in the first place, why he refused Gretchen and Elliots money, why he led Hank away from Gael because he didn't want someone else taking the credit for his work, why he refused to quit the meth business when he already had millions by that point Such a well written character and a perfect performance from Bryan Cranston
Yes, good observation. I always thought Walter White was a character in a Greek tragedy because he - like many characters in the BB / BCS universe have distinct character flaws which spiral out of control. But there are many Shakespearean tragedies with the same concept.
The thing I like about it is that it took him completely by surprise. You can see in the chalkboard flashback in S1 that he's an arrogant prick, but he's so self-satisfied that it doesn't make him mean or angry, just swaggery. It's pretty easy to see how this guy would have a corresponding rage when his self-image is shattered by a reality he can't control.
He emotionally murdered Gretchen and then years later involves her in his lie. Then of course he actually murders Mike for not feeding his ego/delusions. The cherry on top is his "apologies" which mean absolutely nothing haha. Narcissism is WILD.
Gilligan said in an interview that the reason Walt left Gretchen was that, despite loving her and vice versa, he felt inadequate compared to her family's wealthy background.
Marvelously well judged acting when she delivered the line- "I feel so sorry for you, Walt." The nuance of her inflection the micro-expression she conjured inferred a deeper narrative beyond the lines on the page. Great show, amazing attention to detail.
I have never seen as masterful a performance as Bryan Cranston's in this show. Not only his verbal stuff but his non-verbal, super subtle acting is amazing. It made me feel like I was right alongside him the entire show as he developed. Also a great job by Gretchen's actress in this scene.
You can see that Gretchen still had feelings for Walter. She is also still clueless about the kind of person he really is. Drug dealer or not, with cancer or without, Walter does not deserve her tears.
Walt really did let a good thing go. In this scene you can tell Gretchen in some form/capacity still holds an earnest love for Walt despite his anger and rage. Walt's obsession and resentment over her and what occurred even backs up this idea that even him in some capacity still has a weird love entanglement towards her. Like one other commenter said previously, she was the love of his life and Skyler was simply the woman he married. Big difference there which highlights a tragedy that is left unspoken.
This scene is heartbreaking. Walt still harboring animosity over how it ended with Gray Matter, too stubborn and prideful to admit that he was wrong. And Gretchen obviously still hurting over how it ended with Walt who is now dying of cancer. Both of them too broken to see each other’s side.
Jilted lovers aside they made Billions off of the work he made, the right thing to do would have to just offer him some sort of settlement once they hit big in the first place as a thank you, Gretchen gave him dust because of her feelings, that's a real shitty thing to do.
@@jackd6881 No it isn't. They bought Walt's third or half of the company because he wanted to sell, and then they turned a company worth 10 or 15 thousand dollars into a billion-dollar empire. Walt said himself that the company had a few patents pending, but nothing groundbreaking by the time he left. They made it big without him, not because of him.
At a deep level, Walter White feels a resentment for Gretchen and Elliot, but strategically, he is using that anger to get Gretchen to stop pursuing the question she came in with: why did he lie? By projecting his own insecurities and resentment onto Gretchen, Walter completely blindsides her and leaves her emotionally unable to process the moves Walter is making. At the heart of the bitterness and sadness there is still a mechanical level of evil precision behind everything Walter White does.
@@marcomarco6834 Gretchen helped start the company. She earned that money too, and it was used to help others. She can't help it if Walt walks away because his ego can't handle it. What was she supposed to do? Dissolve the company?
@@logangantner3863 exactly. Walt was the founder of the company not Gretchen not Eliott. If I started a company with a few friends of course I would disolve it cuz im the one who created it and I should be the one who destroy it. THEY BECOME BILIONARES BECAUSE OF WALTER'S WORK SO IS ITS RIGHT
It only showed how petty he was. He brought it all on himself and instead of owning it, chooses to blame two people who did him no wrong and tried to help him.
Cancer really did awake him, the idea of having your days counted made him realize all of his work and research was not gonna be to his name and just gonna be remembered as an ordinary man that begged for his life, from the desire of wealth (family) turns to manifestation of pride (recognition) and turns to desire of power and becoming the bad guy that was builded in small quantities by everyone.
When Gretchen asks Walt "What happened to you?" is the exact same moment, when Heisenberg takes control and shows himself, so she trully isn't able to recognize this hateful face. The beauty of Heisenbergs character is that was something more than just a symbolic idea of high school teachers dark alter ego. He/it was really there.
Fuck all the comments saying that there are Walt and Heisenberg. It's just Walt. He was always egomaniac. It all showed up when he was started cooking. He became a big narcissist. Serie doesn't show us that Walt become someone else, but show us even good and smart people like him can change when they start being powerful.
@@uktea785 Also, why do you think a man as brilliant as Walt ended up teaching High School? Because in high school he'll always be the smartest one in the room.
@@oogs9114 He changed because of power, but its still him. He was ALWAYS a narcissist, like Mike said, he was just a time bomb ready to explote, he just didnt know that it had already exploted a long, long time ago back in s1
@@LeonardoHernandez-eg5dv yeah i know , he was never a bad man before i don’t think. When he first started i genuinely believe he just wanted to make that 800k like he planned and call it quits but Walts “ I cook, you sell” plan never worked so then Walt had to start getting more down in the dirt to push his business , which got him more involved in the game. That day Walt blew up Tucos drug house was the day he knew he loved it and wasn’t going to stop
Since E1 even without any background one totally gets the vibe Skyler wasn't Walter's love life; like yeah, he is with her because he realized he had to form a family at some point, but half the episode is him doing things he doesn't want to but she makes him to, and he can't eve say no, there's no room for honesty and compromise he is just obliged to do as she pleases
This is the fundamental reason why I love every breaking bad argument. You can never really on either person’s argument because both bring up really good points. Bravo vince
This is the 20th time I've watched this scene but it's only now that I see the heartbreak of it. Resentment is truly an ugly thing. It ruins you not the perpetrator.
I think we all fail to realize Walt’s ego essentially ruined his life from way back when. He told jesse he sold his share in the company for personal reasons but after watching this scene again I believe it was pure ego involved
I have to watch this show now. That was insanely good acting. God, it looked like he was going to cry knowing he is lost, knowing his pride, and his own fears have ruined his potential, but having to double down on the madness he has enveloped himself in.
0:30 I love how the couple sitting to Walter and Gretchen's left looks a lot like Walter and Skyler from the past, a kind of symbology of what's about to happen (reliving the past). Details.
Breaking Bad is basically how Walt's overcompensation blew up right in his face, and this particular scene is a brilliant presentation of that idea. These two clearly loved each other deeply in the past and you can tell Gretchen was absolutely crushed when Walt decided to leave her without an explanation. Gretchen still cared for him deeply and she was, probably the only character that truly touched on what transformed Walt: his ego, his pride and his inferiority complex had driven him away from her, and from what could have been his success story, which had led to decades of frustration, bitterness, unfulfillment, underachievement and resentment. Walt always had to find an altar, find recognition and worship one way or the other, be it starting Grey Matter with a genius idea, leaving Gretchen because she made him feel inferior and hurt his ego, settling for a good enough woman in Skyler, having a (what he deemed) lesser assistant in Jesse, getting rid of an actually competent and professional assistant in Gale, killing Gus, a much more capable manager than he will ever be. Walt always had the brain power to achieve the marvelous, yet he also always had the ego to burn everything he had right to the ground, along with everyone in his path. Watching Breaking Bad is like watching a trainwreck taking place in slo-mo, while being tied to a chair. You know the characters would do things not because that's how the script was written, but because that's exactly who they were, which begs the question: what comes first, the path, or the personality? Truly brilliant show.
Most intelligent comment I've read from a Breaking Bad watcher. Most people watch BB videos and blame every character except for Walter White himself. Like, none of this would have happened if Walter White didnt let his ego get the best of him. He let his toxicity win and for the first time in his life.. he felt like himself, free from society's shackles and became "alive".
Am I the only one who thinks that Walt is behaving like a jerk? I don’t think Gretchen and Elliot did anything wrong to him. He left the company and sold his shares for 5000$. But it takes a LOT a LOT of work and sleepless nights to make the company profitable and successful. Walt was missing during this time and Gretchen and Elliot did the majority of the work.
Killing Gale for Jessy was the most stupid thing Walt did. Gale was a brilliant chemist and I think Walt was afraid that he would have been much better than him as time goes by while Jessy was safe bet. Killing Gus who was a great manager was another stupid thing Walt did. Mike told him straight on his face “you fucked up” we had a great thing going on with Gus…
Fuck all the comments saying that there are Walt and Heisenberg. It's just Walt. He was always egomaniac. It all showed up when he was started cooking. He became a big narcissist. Serie doesn't show us that Walt become someone else, but show us even good and smart people like him can change when they start being powerful.
Walt's inferiority complex made him leave Gretchen, even when he had everything - a lovable woman, a share in a promising company and his potential wife's family's support in his endeavors. Its sad self doubt triggers disastrous decisions. That is why Walt is so relatable. Just sad.
@@aikaterineillt9876 you missed the whole point about Walt being manipulative and spinning stories to seem like he's the victim. Gretchen never did anything to him other than use his research to further the company after he left. He left on his own accord but has spun it to seem like he was manipulated into leaving which is not the truth. He tells jesse he chose to sell his share the company for some quick cash when it was barely worth anything.
@@aikaterineillt9876 Gretchen is a class act. Walt walked out on her and broke her heart, but she’s still willing to help him at the drop of a hat. She doesn’t put him to his wife when he drags her into his lie, she talks to him man to…well, woman to find out his side. Even after he loses it at her, she doesn’t hit with personal insults and doesn’t start drama with his wife.
This was roughly where I stopped feeling sorry for Walt. He is an arrogant, insecure, and pathetic man-child here. As one guy below said, self-serving memory at its best. Gus and Saul were absolutely right about him. What is he thinking, going into THIS business without an alibi? Sometimes I'm curious as to whether Walter himself believes all the lies he says.
He's been looked down upon all his life by everyone and it got worse after people found out he has cancer. This is walt standing up for himself, dealing with his own problems and knowing his worth. I rather he be independent than continue being the weak guy that gets controlled by his wife and has to depend on other people.
@@icespicefan4771 He hasn't been looked down upon his whole life though. He was absolutely killing it at one point - with Gretchen, with Gray Matter. He doesn't push back against her recounting of the events from that period because everything she's saying is true. All he can come up with is the pitiful: "Just a rich girl just adding to her millions", as if that's what her plan was the whole time. He's delusional.
@@icespicefan4771 Nope, that's just what walt thinks. That's the whole point of his character. He has an inferiority complex and a massive ego. No one looked down on him, Gretchen and Elliot had huge amounts of respect for him, he played a part in what would later become a wildly successful company. But none of it was enough because Walt couldn't control his ego.
@@josephk1342 Walt has to work two jobs and gets overworked by his car wash boss despite being a talented scientist. If Elliot and Gretchen didnt look down on him, society definitely did. Walt got the shit end while E&G thrived. His grievance is justified.
@@icespicefan4771 He sold his shares and left the company. It's entirely his fault what happened to him. His ego was too big and he refused to stay with the company, stay in his relationship with gretchen, and later accept her money when he was in dire need of it. Unfortunately, all his woes are almost entirely on him.
That's so sadly ironic, Walt built his ambition, business and alter ego over recognition he thought he'd never got while in fact everything was his to seize and Gretchen already loved and respected him for who he initially was.
Anyone would be angry. His best friend moved in on his girl and married her. And they both took Walt’s ideas and created their own company without inviting him. He lost a woman he loved to his best friend who also both took away a rich future from him.
@@randomguyontheinternet8345 Did you even watch the video? HE LEFT HER. She even said it and was incredibly confused why he's twisting history. Later in the show we also find out he sold his shares to the company, so really he's the one who backed out of HIS FUTURE.
She really is just a victim. She loved Walter and wanted to be with him, and his pride and ego meant he could never love old money. Pride, and ego. The 2 things that defined and ultimately killed Walter White
All his life, Walt has been his own biggest enemy. He's not a good man that turned bad. He's an insecure, selfish, angry asshole who stopped pretending to be a good guy.
Walter definitely has that Michael Jordan mentality. He doesn’t let anything slide. It could be now, 10 years ago or whenever. If you slight him or go against him in any way, he’s going to take it personal. Tbh the way he looked at Gretchen here I’m surprised she lived to see the end of the show
My favorite part is the moment when it's clear Gretchen is holding onto her composure by a thread. The part where she said, "Did I dream all that" you can tell she almost slips into an explosion of anger.
Gretchen was just another victim of Walt's pride and ego. He broke off engagement with her because he felt inferior when he was introduced to her wealthy family. This scene shows he has always been that kind of man.
Imagine working so hard on something and someone else other than u profit off of something u worked on with such passion and hard work and dedication and someone other than u benefit off of it,will genuinely piss me off too .
Walt's refusal to take responsibility and accountability for his own actions is what kept him sinking deeper into the rathole he would eventually die in. He blamed all his tragedies and mistakes on other people; including his best friend and the woman he loved. Throwing them under the bus and projecting his own actions onto them.
This scene is amazing. But goddamn Walter makes so little sense it’s actually kind of hilarious. He lies about getting money from Gretchen and Elliot without them knowing, denied an offer in which is still actually available LMFAO. And only does this shit just so he can be the D A N G E R, or whatever the fuck. And vent his frustration how he was jealous of how Gretchen was richer than Walter. Kinda sad since Walter keeps ruining and destroying his relationships just for his petty pride.
this really is the most compelling scene in the show to me (lol ironically it plays during Jesse’s confrontation scene which I felt was the show’s weakest moment). anyone in Walt’s position would have a complete horrible time coping with it, and it deserves some real compassion no matter how at fault he is for his own past decisions. Walt deserves compassion especially for his perspective- but nonetheless he is indeed in the wrong. as a result of the way life turned out, Walt’s regrets are way too extreme to the point of denial, becoming a blame-game of a collapsed house of cards. for anyone to write it all off saying “that’s just life,” “it’s just business,” or “get over it,” doesn’t do anything but fuel fire to the situation- and Walt’s pride this scene was particularly compelling to me because I am witnessing it first-hand with a family member (though not to Walt’s extreme thankfully)
Walt had two brilliant teams in the real world (Gretchen and Elliot) and in the criminal world (Saul,Mike,Gale and Gus) He screwed up both opportunities because of his massive ego and his inferiority complex.
Walt doesn't deserve any compassion. Yeah, his decision to walk away from the project with elliot and gretchen was wrong. But Walt had 20 f*cking years to make it right. But no, he choose to live as a loser for decades and than choose to kill people just because he had the power. I am sorry, but i have no compassion for sociopathic monsters
One of my favorite bits of dialogue in the whole show is, 2:10 after she crisply lays out the situation, “Let me just get this straight…”, he responds blankly, 2:38 “yeah. That’s pretty much the size of it.” LML
Some real going to the dark side exercising on Walt's part going on in this scene. It was clear Gretchen still loved him. You could tell when she started talking about how he left her, she kept hesitating, probably out of a sense of loyalty to her husband, but it came out anyways. Walt still went at her anyways.
this scene is so funny to me because of how visibly triggered walt's demonic ego is here. demonic and childish at the same time. "i apologized", yet this isn't the behavior of a regretful man 😂
Thank goodness AMC censored that f-bomb for my children who are watching Breaking Bad with me.
I totally agree, this show is a great example of keeping it kid-friendly, and maybe even giving my kids a future job plan.
IMAGINE CENSORING WORDS BUT LETTING YOUR KIDS WATCH A SHOW ABOUT METHEADS AND CARTELS.
@@ulysses4989 Apparently you've never encountered sarcasm in your life.
@@ulysses4989 Don't care dude. I responded to your comment. It starts and ends there.
There is so much sense in Usa in terms of sex, violence and language
Walt had everything a guy could ask for in his youth: Lots of brains, a promising startup idea with his own best friend and a girl who loved him
Don’t forget cancer
Tatus Maximus he didn’t have it in his youth man
He’s talking about when he started gray matter
Then why did he left?
@@exxzane it's never fully explained in the show, I think it's because he married Skyler and he needed money so he sold his share for $5000 then he spends the whole fucking series pissed about it lol
@WungusBill shit now that you mention it it makes sense, still he's really pissed about the money remember he checked the company's value every week
Best part is when he emphasizes that he’s apologized to her “three times.” That really illustrates the essence of Walter White. The guy is always keeping score - and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t get a chance to rectify every slight he’s ever perceived himself to suffer.
That was such a good bit of writing.
It’s also quite funny. ‘Two times.’ ‘Three times now.’ Lol
It was meant to be a joke to smooth the tension
Then he should’ve murdered Chad and his girlfriend for making fun and taking pictures of him at the car wash back in the pilot episode.
@@judeak2442 It's a joke to us, the viewers. To Walt, it comes of as a passive aggressive remark to Gretchen because he thinks the apology should be enough to get her off his back.
You can tell in this scene that Gretchen really loved Walt when they were together and was crushed when he left her. He never gave her an explanation and she still doesn't really know why he did it.
I can tell he loved her too. He's more emotional on this scene than all Skyler's scenes.
@Akshay Natu We know that, but she doesn't. She never saw him as less than her because he wasn't wealthy, so she probably doesn't even think that's the reason.
But why Walt left Gray Matter?
@@randomavenger3048 agreed, I think he had more chemistry with Gretchen in that one flashback scene of them in college than he did with Skylar during the entire show
@@Rose-oh4mc Without a doubt.
"There's nothing but chemistry here" is one of my favorite lines of the show.
There's more chemistry and intimacy in this scene than in the whole Walter and Skyler relationship.
And that's not a criticism to Skyler character or their relationship, it's intentional and makes total sense on the plot. Gretchen is the love of his life, Skyler is the girl he ended up marrying, and that's one of the many Walter's frustations. That's so fucking well hinted by details. I love this show.
So true. In the same episode before when they met it's insane.. you immediately feel there is this insane chemistry between them
Also Gretchen immediately sees into him, whereas Skyler could never understand or see what was going on
Yep. Granted she wasn't an idiot by any means, herself, but Walt was way out of Skylar's league intellectually (and with regard to ambition/motivation, and just potential in life all around). Which I'm positive was indeed the whole point of marrying her, instead of someone like Gretchen.
I'm sure that, while the wealthy family thing did prompt him to leave her and was probably "the final straw" in his mind (however sudden it may have seemed to her), in another sense it was an excuse (even if only to himself, perhaps) to break things off because at the end of the day Walt's intense narcissism (he legit suffers from textbook severe NPD, in the actual clinical sense/definition) would never have tolerated having a romantic partner who even remotely approached being an intellectual equal. Walt and Gretchen's relationship was doomed from the get-go for this reason. It's the same reason behind how he treated Gale and why he ultimately blew up his whole association with Gus over that--a raging malignant narcissist like Walt sees anyone and everyone of roughly equal potential/ability/status as a threat by default to be done away with in favor of surrounding himself with people he can instead feel securely superior to, control, manipulate, dominate, and take ultimate credit for whatever successes they do have. People in his close circle (so not rivals, competitors, or enemies) were merely puppets and/or mushrooms (to be kept in the dark and fed you know what) to him ideally, and that long predates his "becoming" Heisenberg. So he'd rather work with an emotionally volatile, vulnerable addict who doesn't understand the underlying chemistry than a brilliant trained chemist who's already self-sufficiently competent and doesn't need constant prodding to be professional, just as he'd rather have a spouse like Skylar, a simple bookkeeper/clerk of mediocre/average intellect turned housewife whose grandest ambitions are being a mom, writing short stories and selling knick-knacks on Ebay (oh, and eventually, running a car wash...yeah), rather than one who's an ambitious scientist and entrepreneur in her own right, like Gretchen.
@Not An Alcoholic Toobz She's a great character, that's why so many people hate her. Bad characters are just forgetable.
@@randomavenger3048 I have to skip almost every scene with Skyler cause they are just that fucking boring and annoying barring the scene in Felina.
He walked away from earning billions and a beautiful wife because of her family’s perceived wealth relative to his own upbringing. So sad.
Walter White’s mortal sin is Pride.
There's a reason it's called the father of all sins.
Well, he chose the better way.
It was not only his pride.
He had the great team of scientists and source of money (which most startups suffer to take off) and he left.
Whatever he did Gretchen and Elliot always respected him and invited him to their parties.
Also he had a great team in criminal world a great lawyer such as Saul a talented fixer such as Mike a brilliant assistant such as Gale and a great businessman such as Gus.
What did he do?
He wanted an incompetent assistant such as Jesse ,killed Gus and screw up everything…
Sorry is not only pride. It was his ego,his inferiority complex and other things.
@@mirix1515 He didn‘t choose Jesse initially when working for Gus and he didn’t arbitrarily mess it up neither.
Thank you for confirming that for me, I was wondering if it was her family intimidating him that made him leave
Gretchen had a small role in the series, but it was a very important character. And, excellent actress.
Indeed
Small role? She and Elliot (also Walter himself) are the reasons why walters life is like this, and why he turned to making meth to begin with. Her role is one of the most important roles in this whole show
@@platinumsellingbitch. you know what they meant. Trying so hard to seem smart
It’s pretty funny seeing her become a cult zealot in The Boys.
There are no small roles, only small actors.
In the alternate universe , Walt married Gretchen and kept Grey Matter company while Elliot took $5,000 of his share and became Albuquerque meth king that goes by the name " Dumbo ".
Ok buddy chicanery
Dumbo and combo would've been best friends.
Lmao
Why has this never occurred to me 😂
Lmaoooo
The thing that scared me about Walt was that he was never really a "good guy". This scene shows he was always full of resentment and hatred, it was just bubbling away at him while he did nothing about it. Before the events of the series, he was dormant. He wasn't really living his life, he was just existing. But the moment he starts to act, he throws himself into a life of crime.
The question is... how many people are out there like Walt? The sort of person who just lives the mundane life, but given the right opportunities and incentive, would willingly go down a horrible path? I bet there's a lot of people out there like that, and that's a pretty harrowing thought to me.
Just look at human history. Whatever made people capeable of those brutal acts of barbarism back then is still somewhere in most of us, somewhere deep down. I mean the people who did those things in the past were essentially the same people as us biologically, it was just the circumstances that are different nowadays.
yep... just like a malignant tumor... god this show is amazing...
A lot more than you'd think pal
congrats my friend, you figured out a major point of the entire show, not in universe, but applicable to real life. What happens if you let yourself go, and the secondary point isnt that there are tons of people out there like him, its that you, willrock, can turn into him.
I love the genocidal overtures you are making. “The world is full of secretly evil people whom we need to smoke out and deal with.”
Someone narcissistic enough to sell his shares, just because he can’t bear to be around people richer than him, and then reinterpret that as them stealing from him is not going to go 30 years without it showing. If that’s too much for him, then the indignity of having to teach high school kids is going to provoke his ego such that he’ll be fired before the year is up. You can also bet that he’ll be grumbling Skylar’s ears off until she leaves him.
Heck, theres no way he’s willingly teaching high school, so he almost certainly has a bloody trail of lost jobs. Whatever caused this would also be impossible to miss.
Kinda funny how Walt can be such a smart old man and such an annoying man-child at the same time.
He's smart but unwise
Like Sheldon Cooper but without the lovable quirks.
they were talking so softly because they knew Elliot could hear them with those ears
💀💀
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
If this was season five he would have invited her back to under the guise of apologizing and put Ricin in her coffee
Nah he hired the two biggest hitmen!
@@tarkan9000 West of the Mississippi 😂
@@nk3_venom My boys Badger and Skinny Pete!!
@@nk3_venom hReheheehehh.
Sending Gretchen on a trip to Belize
The acting is so fucking amazing
This is one of the most brilliant scenes in the show. You can tell that what was between Gretchen and Walt was true love and it turned into sheer bitterness. I always had the impression that Skyler was more like a compromise to Walt, she was the good enough woman, but his true, deep love had been with Gretchen. That's why she can evoke such intense feelings in him. Decades of bitterness and resentment surfaced in this scene and it was evident that Walt was provoking Gretchen in a passive-agressive way.
Also I think Gretchen was the only one who, in this scene managed to intuit the depth of Walt's transformation. I for one think she actually knew Walt better than Skyler. When she says 'what happened to you, Walt? This is not you' she understood that some deep resentment had transformed him for good.
I agree with you. There're real chemistry between them, in love and in bitterness. Walter was her true love too, she probably ressent him because she would live a happier live if they stayed together (at least in her head, and previously FELINA).
It’s a curious thing to work ones head around. I think it’s clear enough walt does love skyler. Despite all the hardships to and fro he never stopped caring about her condition and safety. At the same time it’s clear in later parts of the series he was more than willing to intimidate her into silence/cooperation, and he didn’t hesitate in trying to rebound with carmen after skyler cheated on him.
@@GreaterGrievobeast55 "Caring about her condition and safety" isn't the best definition for romantic love.
Bravo Vince, I mean 3hutp.
@@randomavenger3048 isn't it?
Walt's outburst comes off as incredibly pathetic after the later episodes where we learn that he actually sold his share in the company. Self-serving memory at it's finest.
He didn’t have a choice I think. It was either that or walk away empty handed.
@@engell3707 I don't think so. The show's creator, Vince Gilligan, has said that Walt felt inferior to Gretchen due to her family's wealth and backed out of both his relationship with her and his partnership with Elliot out of a sense of pride.
Sam Costello that is a thing that happens a very often. I understand Walt. He had an inferiority complex from way before getting cancer.
Very true, but also Walt never wanted any help from Eliot or Gretchen, it was Skyler in the bday party who approached them telling them of Walt’s illness so that they could provide some sort of help. Though his outburst here was absolutely wrong considering that he had left Gretchen earlier, if it was upto Walt he would’ve never sought the rich couple’s help
RAHUL ANAND that is correct.
From Season 2 Episode 6 "Peakaboo"
Gretchen: You left me. Newport, 4th of July weekend. You and my father and my brothers and I go up to our room and you're packing your bags, barely talking. What? Did I dream all of that?
Walt: That's your excuse to build your little empire on my work?
Gretchen: How can you say that to me? You walked away. You abandoned us, me, Elliott.
Walt: Little rich girl just adding to your millions.
Gretchen: I don't even know what to say to you. I don't even know where to begin I feel so sorry for you, Walt.
Walt: Fuck you.
It's laid out clear from that moment. Walt was visiting Gretchen's family at the incredibly wealthy town of Newport, and left. When she brings that up, he refuses to answer why he did that, and instead attacks her as a "rich girl." In their previous meeting at Elliot's birthday from the episode "Gray Matter" we saw Walt's sad smile displaying longing and regret when he lays eyes on Gretchen and how uncomfortable he was at the party seeing the Schwartzs' wealth and being amongst many distinguished scientists, engineers, and businessmen. He was embarrassed when he mentioned he was an educator to the other successful scientists and they asked him what university he taught at.
By Season 2 Episode 3 "Bit by a Dead Bee" as Walt is being questioned about his fugue state he says:
Walter White: My wife is seven months pregnant with a baby we didn't intend. My fifteen-year old son has cerebral palsy. I am an extremely overqualified high school chemistry teacher. When I can work, I make $43,700 per year. I have watched all of my colleagues and friends surpass me in every way imaginable.
In the following link Gretchen's actress Jessica Hecht gives us the backstory.
www.amc.com/shows/breaking-bad/talk/2009/05/jessica-hecht-interview
"Vince Gilligan told us exactly what went down between the characters off screen: We were very much in love and we were to get married. And he came home and met my family, and I come from this really successful, wealthy family, and that knocks him on his side. He couldn’t deal with this inferiority he felt - this lack of connection to privilege. It made him terrified, and he literally just left me, and I was devastated. Walt is fighting his way out of going back to that emotional place, so he says, “F- you.”
...
In the following link Vince Gilligan himself gives us the word of God.
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/vince-gilligan-walter-white-gray-matter_us_56e85f27e4b0b25c91838d57
“It ends with him being so nasty to her saying, ‘Fuck you,' and then she leaves tearfully,” said Gilligan. “In my mind, the interesting thing here, and I always kind of hate to nail it down so explicitly - but let’s put it this way, most viewers of ‘Breaking Bad’ assume Gretchen and Elliott are the bad guys, and they assume that Walt got ripped off by them, got ill used by them, and I never actually saw it that way.”
Gilligan explained that the truth is more nuanced. It all stemmed from White’s feeling of inferiority while spending time with Gretchen’s family.
“I think it was kind of situation where he didn’t realize the girl he was about to marry was so very wealthy and came from such a prominent family, and it kind of blew his mind and made him feel inferior and he overreacted. He just kind of checked out. I think there is that whole other side to the story, and it can be gleaned. This isn’t really the CliffsNotes version so much. These facts can be gleaned if you watch some of these scenes really closely enough, and you watch them without too much of an overriding bias toward Walt and against Gretchen and Elliott,” said Gilligan.
....
From: Season 5 Episode 6 "Buyout"
Walter White: Jesse, have you heard of a company called "Gray Matter?"
Jesse Pinkman: No.
Walter White: Well, I co-founded it in grad school with a couple of friends of mine. Actually, I was the one who named it. And back then, it was just... oh, it was just small-time. We had a couple patents pending, but nothing earth-shattering. Course, we all knew the potential. Yeah, we were gonna take the world by storm. And then... This, uh... Well, something happened between the three of us. And I'm not gonna go into detail, but for personal reasons, I decided to leave the company and I sold my share to my two partners. I took a buyout for $5000. Now at the time, that was a lot of money for me. Care to guess what that company is worth now?
Jesse Pinkman: Millions?
Walter White: Billions. With a "b." Two point one-six billion as of last Friday. I look it up every week. And I sold my share, my potential, for $5000. I sold my kids' birthright for a few months' rent.
Walter White: Jesse, you asked me if I was in the meth business or the money business. Neither. I'm in the empire business.
Walt has both an inferiority and superiority complex. He feels insecure that all his peers have surpassed him, and around other geniuses like Gale. Yet he has a massive ego and believes he deserves more. Hence why he could not work with someone like Gale and needs someone like Jesse to feel smarter and boss around. He never would've said yes because of his fragile ego.
I thought his problem with Gale was that he recognized that with Gale there he was disposable? IIRC, it's been a while, didn't they get along great at first?
@@BillyBob-qu1fs The reason Gale was dropped and Jesse Pinkman became his assistant was to get Jesse to drop the assault charges against Hank.
Lmao u copy and pasted this from the “Im in the Empire Business” video
He fired Gale because Jesse threatened to bring Hank down. Not because of the inferiority thing
you straight up stole this comment from this youtube video: ua-cam.com/video/_IT-lgt2L5o/v-deo.html
from user Mild Misanthrope
Tons of fans to this day don't know why Walt left Grey Matter, but it's stated right here. Blink-and-you'll-miss how important this scene is.
Problem is, people are more attuned to Walt's point of view since he is the protagonist and see him as right or justified. Some of them so stubbornly hound onto this point of view that they'll ignore the truth when someone spells it out.
That's a lot of blinking though. I don't understand how people missed the whole thing. Especially since this is literally the driving force behind the series. He produces. He could no longer produce because he had issues with Gretchen and developed a persona to hide himself. The anger was buried but growing the entire time.
@@whyisblue923taken Wait. I don't get it. why did he leave Gray matter?
@@yougood809 Walt felt inferior to Gretchen’s family because they were wealthy when he met them. Walt has a huge sense of pride and ego due to his intelligence, and he’s also a narcissist, so when someone challenges his wealth or “power”. He feels inferior
@@SkatingPizza I see it exactly as portrayed... A man in the right getting screwed harder and harder, getting angrier and angrier as the one who keeps screwing him harder and harder plays innocent... This is exactly how it's done in real life.
This scene really epitomizes how childish and immature Walter White is once you step away from all of his brilliance and sophistication. I know this doesn't look like it has much in common with Jesse, but they really are two different flavors of irresponsibility
Yeah, Walt basically throws away everything he achieved because of ego. He had so many chances to save himself throughout the show, but he never took them. He could have accepted the position in Gray Matter, work with Elliot and Gretchen, make good money and cure his cancer. He could have kept working for Gus with Gale as his assistant, make a ton of money without taking any of the risk.
@@jirkazalabak1514 I think the Walt was concerned that even if the cancer treatment worked, he couldn’t provide enough money for his family to live comfortably. Also, he couldn’t trust Gale who was being used to replace him.
@@nimahanna1709 Well, if Gretchen and Elliot paid for his treatment, his family would have decent savings and no medical debt, which is what he was mainly worried about. And Gus had a tremendous amount of respect for Walt. Gale was only meant to replace him AFTER Walt killed those two drug dealers. If he just let Jessie (who he didn´t even care about ultimately) die and worked with Gus, he could have retired a rich man in a couple of years. Nah, he did it because of his own ego and ambition.
I think Walter White is not as simple as you said. We don't know the details of what happened between him and Gretchen so all we can do is assume. But I also think he had his own reasons for separation from Eliot and her. Perhaps, I think that way due to my enormous life to Heisenberg. I think he did absolutely nothing wrong.
@@evgeneschenko23 leaving Gretchen and breaking her heart without so much as an explanation?
That boiling resentment over the years is probably what gave him cancer
Even after so many years, you can tell her character still truly loves Walt. They both married into people they never truly loved, and you can tell when she recounted the day he left her, that it destroyed her and when he hurt her again here with his outburst, she was clearly crushed again. Despite him hurting her, she still offered to help and even wept on the phone to him when she found out about his cancer diagnosis.
Yeah well if she truly loved him why not just bring him back into the fold as a thank you for being the brains behind her billion dollar business years before. She just wanted to hold that money over his head as revenge for leaving her, shes a bad person too.
@@jackd6881 She did have Elliot offer to bring him back in to the company doing what he was passionate about and without directly hurting his masculine pride by offering to pay outright he mentioned that they have the best health benefits. Gretchen and Elliot are good people, great really. Gretchen never looked down on Walt for not being in her social strata and Elliot came from nothing like Walt did and never forgot that.
@@jackd6881 true, she’s pretty manipulative and has a very deceiving persona of charity
@@DarkFilmDirector Elliot was a scumbag and Simple coward.He was smart and he was competent but he was a jealous bitch and coward.He was not standing like Walt.Walt got pride and (it is morally wrong but shows his character of a warrior all his wrong doings),Eliot is smart and he was doing what Haisenberg-manipulating,laying,deciving and destroying concurence but on other people basis.He would shit himself to do things neceserry .He manipulated and humiliated Walt for years.He used Walt inventions and conections. He felt better from Walt suffering.Gretchen was spoiled lying sejf centered bitch who wanted to show Walt where is his place in their relations.She loved his suffering after her lost and that is .They were not Goo people.They ve been acting moral but were weak and corrupted as much as the bad guys.Diffrence is that bad guys at least you know what you can expierience.
@@jackd6881ecause it was Walt who left in the first place. He left both her and the company. Elliot even offered to bring him back after they found out about his health conditions but Walt turned them down out of pride. What more could they have realistically done??? Elliot and Gretchen literally did nothing wrong?
I liked the last thing he said the best.
That was him being a child and avoiding the truth.
That is Walts deep seeded resentment and anger coming out in two words...
69th like.....
This is what should happen with such people
Yes, immature idiots tend to like this kind of behaviour.
2:34 Heisenberg is activated.
Fuck you
@@randomname5646 what's your problem, piece of shit
Walters’s ego really ruined his life and his family
what a wuss comment
@Brendan he died bittersweet. With a murdered brother in law and family that hated him. If his ego didn't make him leave Gretchen and Gray Matter he would have died a billionaire and admired around the world rather than feared
still, he was the best
Jesse fucked it up more.
@@MrE073 accurate = wuss now?
that was the smoothest F word ever.
Honestly, I liked the black dude on vine who did it in class. That shit was mad smooth.
@@sw1rly801 send it to me
@@creativegravedigger7289 gotchu.
ua-cam.com/video/zCRRX31uBmI/v-deo.html
This is what happens when you talk to someone who´s totally hurting: they take everything you say personally, everything you say offends them. It´s like they have a giant wound and everything you say somehow scratches them. This is the same with characters like Mark in social Network or the Steve Jobs´ film (2015). Trying to reason with them is completely useless because they see themselves as victims, not as responsible for their actions. They are powerless and keep shifting the blame to you,
And yet everyone sees Walt as the bad guy here. His last line in this scene shows how much he cares, how much he doesn't want to be with Skyler, how much he wishes things would have gone differently, how he wished he could have been with Gretchen. One thing he never got was forgiveness, I've been in relationships where I wish I could have a dinner like this and tell my exes the same things Walt told Gretchen. It's a dark place to be in, but the catharsis of just saying that is something maybe we don't have words to express.
Just want to point out, I have never abused anybody in my relationships, physically or emotionally, so I've never actually said anything like this. It would feel good to say though.
The thing was is that Walt had an inferiority complex and saw how Gretchen looked at Eliot when they were in gray matter and when he went to the diner he thought skylar as a way to escape gray matter and regrets how it grew to be worth billions.
See, things like this are why I tend to subscribe to the idea that, to some extent, Walt was Heisenberg all along. That tendency in Walt's personality and behaviour was always there, and it got brought out in very ugly ways by his involvement in the criminal underworld. Suddenly, Walt was immersed into a world where violence ruled and where you had to be able to use violence in order to push back against people who would otherwise control you.
A lot of the problems in Walt's life are the result of his own bad decisions which in turn stem from his massive ego and sense of pride. But Walt can't admit that. Walt can't admit that he left Gretchen because he felt intimidated and overshadowed by her family's wealth. He left a relationship with a woman he loved and cashed out of a company that could have made him a billionaire rather than an extremely overqualified high school chemistry teacher who is woefully underprepared to provide for his family.
Even when he is sincerely given a chance to escape this problem of his own making (by Gretchen who would be totally justified in cutting Walt out of her life entirely at that) he still refuses.
Walt didn't become Heisenberg, not really. Heisenberg just emerged more and more clearly.
@@HellqueenRoz I agree. Its like I've heard it said about being drunk; it doesn't change who you are, it reveals it. Its like you said about the adversity in Walt's life just exposed who he was all along.
Jessica Hecht's performance in this is incredible. You can tell Gretchen still really loves Walter, in spite of it all, and how heartbroken she is at the awful things he's saying to her. It's the pivotal scene that defines why Walter is the way he is, how prideful he is, how he left Gray Matter, and how that pride led him to become Heisenberg.
Just got done with Better Call Saul and had to revisit this scene. It's a shame we didn't get to see more flashbacks of them together.
I'm pissed that we never got a flashback to that 4th of July weekend. The mystery I wanted solved more than anything was the Walt-Gretchen "What Happened?" moment. It took Vince Gilligan's post-show admission to clear up that there *was* no mystery.
What is so impressive is the backstory they’re willing to create despite it never being shown. They do this with all the characters. That’s why better call Saul was such a rich prequel. I’m convinced the story was written long before breaking bad ever aired.
@@billyb4790 Absolutely. What baffles me though is the whole "How MUCH did they write?" So, we can figure out that Gus was one of Pinochet's generals from the clues in the show. BUT, how thorough was that biography in the show bible? Did they go the whole 9 or did they just flesh out enough so you could know what we know and be okay with it?
That's the kind of thing that irritates me about the Walt-Gretchen thing. You wanna know HOW much backstory they did and how much was just "I think this happened" vs. "this is precisely what happened."
@@Theomite yeah I ask myself the same questions. Either way, it's amazing talent on the writer's part.
That micro expression Gretchen makes at 4:30 when Walt leans in was brilliantly acted. She thinks he’s about to make amends and then he drops the bomb on her lol.
Just noticed this. Jeez she is acting her ass off lol.
It's for a split second, but you are so right. Brilliant catch
I came here to look for a comment that would talk about that , though I thought she somehow s was trying to kiss him and then he dropped the bomb
@@andristo206 You’re probably right too given that she still wasn’t over their relationship.
he looks less angry and more like hes choking back tears
Ehhhh looks angry to me
No, this is his unadulterated rage coming out. lol
Gretchen: I don't even know what to say to you. I don't know where to begin
Walt: then perhaps the best course would be to *tread lightly*
Gretchen: Really? I was going to try the fish.
lol
Walter White is pretty much a Shakespearean character. An incredibly talented and gifted man with a lot of potential who threw it all away purely because of his pride. It's that single flaw that defines his entire character.
It's why he left Greymatter, why he gets into the meth business in the first place, why he refused Gretchen and Elliots money, why he led Hank away from Gael because he didn't want someone else taking the credit for his work, why he refused to quit the meth business when he already had millions by that point
Such a well written character and a perfect performance from Bryan Cranston
Should be top comment
Yes, good observation. I always thought Walter White was a character in a Greek tragedy because he - like many characters in the BB / BCS universe have distinct character flaws which spiral out of control.
But there are many Shakespearean tragedies with the same concept.
The thing I like about it is that it took him completely by surprise. You can see in the chalkboard flashback in S1 that he's an arrogant prick, but he's so self-satisfied that it doesn't make him mean or angry, just swaggery. It's pretty easy to see how this guy would have a corresponding rage when his self-image is shattered by a reality he can't control.
He emotionally murdered Gretchen and then years later involves her in his lie. Then of course he actually murders Mike for not feeding his ego/delusions. The cherry on top is his "apologies" which mean absolutely nothing haha. Narcissism is WILD.
Gilligan said in an interview that the reason Walt left Gretchen was that, despite loving her and vice versa, he felt inadequate compared to her family's wealthy background.
Marvelously well judged acting when she delivered the line- "I feel so sorry for you, Walt." The nuance of her inflection the micro-expression she conjured inferred a deeper narrative beyond the lines on the page. Great show, amazing attention to detail.
I have never seen as masterful a performance as Bryan Cranston's in this show. Not only his verbal stuff but his non-verbal, super subtle acting is amazing. It made me feel like I was right alongside him the entire show as he developed. Also a great job by Gretchen's actress in this scene.
You can see that Gretchen still had feelings for Walter. She is also still clueless about the kind of person he really is. Drug dealer or not, with cancer or without, Walter does not deserve her tears.
When someone is counting and reminding you how many times they have apologized you, they don't mean the apology at all.
Walt really did let a good thing go. In this scene you can tell Gretchen in some form/capacity still holds an earnest love for Walt despite his anger and rage. Walt's obsession and resentment over her and what occurred even backs up this idea that even him in some capacity still has a weird love entanglement towards her. Like one other commenter said previously, she was the love of his life and Skyler was simply the woman he married. Big difference there which highlights a tragedy that is left unspoken.
Cranston is such a brilliant actor. That little shake at 2:53 when he’s so enraged he can barely hold still. What a hell of a show and cast!
I love how without even trying she pushes all of his buttons. She stands up to all his bullshit
Imagine sitting at a table nearby hearing such an intense exchange lol
This scene is heartbreaking. Walt still harboring animosity over how it ended with Gray Matter, too stubborn and prideful to admit that he was wrong. And Gretchen obviously still hurting over how it ended with Walt who is now dying of cancer. Both of them too broken to see each other’s side.
Jilted lovers aside they made Billions off of the work he made, the right thing to do would have to just offer him some sort of settlement once they hit big in the first place as a thank you, Gretchen gave him dust because of her feelings, that's a real shitty thing to do.
@@jackd6881 he would have accepted it he never accepted money from either of them even when they offered it
@@jackd6881 No it isn't. They bought Walt's third or half of the company because he wanted to sell, and then they turned a company worth 10 or 15 thousand dollars into a billion-dollar empire. Walt said himself that the company had a few patents pending, but nothing groundbreaking by the time he left. They made it big without him, not because of him.
At a deep level, Walter White feels a resentment for Gretchen and Elliot, but strategically, he is using that anger to get Gretchen to stop pursuing the question she came in with: why did he lie? By projecting his own insecurities and resentment onto Gretchen, Walter completely blindsides her and leaves her emotionally unable to process the moves Walter is making. At the heart of the bitterness and sadness there is still a mechanical level of evil precision behind everything Walter White does.
You hit the nail on the head
How many of you think that gretchen was more suitable for walter rather than skyler
Obviously, it was his love....
Yep, Walt and Gretchen were meant for each other that’s part of the reason why Walt became so bitter after it all went downhill.
She deserves so much better than Walt though. His inferiority complex caused him to ruin their relationship.
@@Gamergirl-.- ya but if they were together then walter would never die
yeah and i think Skyler is more suitable for Hank...he would have put her in her place
That is still the best 'ef-you' in all of television/cinema/theatre/puppet-shows
Gretchen's actress does more in this scene with just her eyelashes than lot of actors do in their entire careers.
They were so so kind to him. They were completely guilt free. They didn’t even rip him off.
I love when he says
"And what would you know about me?"
Idk why it's so badass
BeCaUSe iTs aCtUalLy HeiSeNBerG tAlkInG nOT wALt
@@carlito___fml2652 shut up bitch
spoiler (for a show past a decade old anyway)
not as badass as the last thing he said to tuco before jesse took him out but ok
@@gargf8899 Nein.
@@carlito___fml2652 oh ok
That moment where the main character is being absolutely wrong, but we as viewers don't actually mind
“rich girl adding to her millions” holy fuck hahaha
That sums it up!
And then Walt became a rich boy adding to his millions with blood on the money
@@reneye1813 everything rich man won money with blood
@@marcomarco6834 Gretchen helped start the company. She earned that money too, and it was used to help others. She can't help it if Walt walks away because his ego can't handle it. What was she supposed to do? Dissolve the company?
@@logangantner3863 exactly. Walt was the founder of the company not Gretchen not Eliott. If I started a company with a few friends of course I would disolve it cuz im the one who created it and I should be the one who destroy it. THEY BECOME BILIONARES BECAUSE OF WALTER'S WORK SO IS ITS RIGHT
most cathartic moment in the show for me. it was the prime motive for everything he has done
It only showed how petty he was. He brought it all on himself and instead of owning it, chooses to blame two people who did him no wrong and tried to help him.
Should call it Breaking Pride, half of the reason why Walt turned evil was because he was too prideful of his work.
Or Pride and Prejudice :-)
Cancer really did awake him, the idea of having your days counted made him realize all of his work and research was not gonna be to his name and just gonna be remembered as an ordinary man that begged for his life, from the desire of wealth (family) turns to manifestation of pride (recognition) and turns to desire of power and becoming the bad guy that was builded in small quantities by everyone.
When Gretchen asks Walt "What happened to you?" is the exact same moment, when Heisenberg takes control and shows himself, so she trully isn't able to recognize this hateful face. The beauty of Heisenbergs character is that was something more than just a symbolic idea of high school teachers dark alter ego. He/it was really there.
Fuck all the comments saying that there are Walt and Heisenberg. It's just Walt. He was always egomaniac. It all showed up when he was started cooking. He became a big narcissist. Serie doesn't show us that Walt become someone else, but show us even good and smart people like him can change when they start being powerful.
@@uktea785 Also, why do you think a man as brilliant as Walt ended up teaching High School? Because in high school he'll always be the smartest one in the room.
@@uktea785 so Walter didn’t change ? He clearly changes through out the series
@@oogs9114 He changed because of power, but its still him. He was ALWAYS a narcissist, like Mike said, he was just a time bomb ready to explote, he just didnt know that it had already exploted a long, long time ago back in s1
@@LeonardoHernandez-eg5dv yeah i know , he was never a bad man before i don’t think. When he first started i genuinely believe he just wanted to make that 800k like he planned and call it quits but Walts “ I cook, you sell” plan never worked so then Walt had to start getting more down in the dirt to push his business , which got him more involved in the game. That day Walt blew up Tucos drug house was the day he knew he loved it and wasn’t going to stop
This is the scene that explains walts character the most.
This is the scene Walter White become Nicola Tesla.
Since E1 even without any background one totally gets the vibe Skyler wasn't Walter's love life; like yeah, he is with her because he realized he had to form a family at some point, but half the episode is him doing things he doesn't want to but she makes him to, and he can't eve say no, there's no room for honesty and compromise he is just obliged to do as she pleases
This is the fundamental reason why I love every breaking bad argument. You can never really on either person’s argument because both bring up really good points. Bravo vince
This is the 20th time I've watched this scene but it's only now that I see the heartbreak of it. Resentment is truly an ugly thing. It ruins you not the perpetrator.
the acting of gretchen is just amazing
I think we all fail to realize Walt’s ego essentially ruined his life from way back when. He told jesse he sold his share in the company for personal reasons but after watching this scene again I believe it was pure ego involved
I have to watch this show now. That was insanely good acting. God, it looked like he was going to cry knowing he is lost, knowing his pride, and his own fears have ruined his potential, but having to double down on the madness he has enveloped himself in.
0:30
I love how the couple sitting to Walter and Gretchen's left looks a lot like Walter and Skyler from the past, a kind of symbology of what's about to happen (reliving the past). Details.
That was well spotted my man 👌
Such a great scene the waiters knew not to interrupt
Breaking Bad is basically how Walt's overcompensation blew up right in his face, and this particular scene is a brilliant presentation of that idea.
These two clearly loved each other deeply in the past and you can tell Gretchen was absolutely crushed when Walt decided to leave her without an explanation. Gretchen still cared for him deeply and she was, probably the only character that truly touched on what transformed Walt: his ego, his pride and his inferiority complex had driven him away from her, and from what could have been his success story, which had led to decades of frustration, bitterness, unfulfillment, underachievement and resentment.
Walt always had to find an altar, find recognition and worship one way or the other, be it starting Grey Matter with a genius idea, leaving Gretchen because she made him feel inferior and hurt his ego, settling for a good enough woman in Skyler, having a (what he deemed) lesser assistant in Jesse, getting rid of an actually competent and professional assistant in Gale, killing Gus, a much more capable manager than he will ever be. Walt always had the brain power to achieve the marvelous, yet he also always had the ego to burn everything he had right to the ground, along with everyone in his path.
Watching Breaking Bad is like watching a trainwreck taking place in slo-mo, while being tied to a chair. You know the characters would do things not because that's how the script was written, but because that's exactly who they were, which begs the question: what comes first, the path, or the personality?
Truly brilliant show.
Perfect comment.
Oh shit, that must be the most profound insight on BB I've seen yet
Most intelligent comment I've read from a Breaking Bad watcher. Most people watch BB videos and blame every character except for Walter White himself. Like, none of this would have happened if Walter White didnt let his ego get the best of him. He let his toxicity win and for the first time in his life.. he felt like himself, free from society's shackles and became "alive".
Am I the only one who thinks that Walt is behaving like a jerk?
I don’t think Gretchen and Elliot did anything wrong to him.
He left the company and sold his shares for 5000$.
But it takes a LOT a LOT of work and sleepless nights to make the company profitable and successful.
Walt was missing during this time and Gretchen and Elliot did the majority of the work.
Killing Gale for Jessy was the most stupid thing Walt did.
Gale was a brilliant chemist and I think Walt was afraid that he would have been much better than him as time goes by while Jessy was safe bet.
Killing Gus who was a great manager was another stupid thing Walt did.
Mike told him straight on his face “you fucked up” we had a great thing going on with Gus…
one of the most important scenes in the whole show.
She wasn’t talking to Walt but to Heisenberg
Nah I’m pretty sure in this instance Walt was being himself, a hurt man who always got the short end of the stick in his life.
Fuck all the comments saying that there are Walt and Heisenberg. It's just Walt. He was always egomaniac. It all showed up when he was started cooking. He became a big narcissist. Serie doesn't show us that Walt become someone else, but show us even good and smart people like him can change when they start being powerful.
@@ouchiegiverjr he literally had an opportunity to amass wealth from the company but he blew it.
Walt's inferiority complex made him leave Gretchen, even when he had everything - a lovable woman, a share in a promising company and his potential wife's family's support in his endeavors. Its sad self doubt triggers disastrous decisions. That is why Walt is so relatable. Just sad.
Gretchen is a condescending, privileged asshole.
@@aikaterineillt9876 you missed the whole point about Walt being manipulative and spinning stories to seem like he's the victim. Gretchen never did anything to him other than use his research to further the company after he left. He left on his own accord but has spun it to seem like he was manipulated into leaving which is not the truth. He tells jesse he chose to sell his share the company for some quick cash when it was barely worth anything.
Not inferiority complex but pride and ego. He wanted to create something on his own without help of his girlfriend's rich family.
@@aikaterineillt9876 Gretchen is a class act. Walt walked out on her and broke her heart, but she’s still willing to help him at the drop of a hat. She doesn’t put him to his wife when he drags her into his lie, she talks to him man to…well, woman to find out his side. Even after he loses it at her, she doesn’t hit with personal insults and doesn’t start drama with his wife.
@@aikaterineillt9876 Yep, the overused stereotype.
People instantly thinking rich people = bad lmao
Walt's pride caused all this suffering. He looked like he wanted to reach across and murder Gretchen right there at the end.
Walt is the definition of a true narcissist
This was roughly where I stopped feeling sorry for Walt. He is an arrogant, insecure, and pathetic man-child here. As one guy below said, self-serving memory at its best. Gus and Saul were absolutely right about him. What is he thinking, going into THIS business without an alibi? Sometimes I'm curious as to whether Walter himself believes all the lies he says.
He's been looked down upon all his life by everyone and it got worse after people found out he has cancer. This is walt standing up for himself, dealing with his own problems and knowing his worth. I rather he be independent than continue being the weak guy that gets controlled by his wife and has to depend on other people.
@@icespicefan4771 He hasn't been looked down upon his whole life though. He was absolutely killing it at one point - with Gretchen, with Gray Matter. He doesn't push back against her recounting of the events from that period because everything she's saying is true. All he can come up with is the pitiful: "Just a rich girl just adding to her millions", as if that's what her plan was the whole time. He's delusional.
@@icespicefan4771 Nope, that's just what walt thinks. That's the whole point of his character. He has an inferiority complex and a massive ego. No one looked down on him, Gretchen and Elliot had huge amounts of respect for him, he played a part in what would later become a wildly successful company. But none of it was enough because Walt couldn't control his ego.
@@josephk1342 Walt has to work two jobs and gets overworked by his car wash boss despite being a talented scientist. If Elliot and Gretchen didnt look down on him, society definitely did. Walt got the shit end while E&G thrived. His grievance is justified.
@@icespicefan4771 He sold his shares and left the company. It's entirely his fault what happened to him. His ego was too big and he refused to stay with the company, stay in his relationship with gretchen, and later accept her money when he was in dire need of it. Unfortunately, all his woes are almost entirely on him.
That's so sadly ironic, Walt built his ambition, business and alter ego over recognition he thought he'd never got while in fact everything was his to seize and Gretchen already loved and respected him for who he initially was.
Walt’s stubbornness is what got him in this whole thing.
@2:30 change from Mr. White to Heisenberg. What a great change in facial expressions.
I watch this every day, i just love this scene. It really shows walt's deep seated anger about what happened between him, gretchen, and elliot.
Anyone would be angry. His best friend moved in on his girl and married her.
And they both took Walt’s ideas and created their own company without inviting him.
He lost a woman he loved to his best friend who also both took away a rich future from him.
@@randomguyontheinternet8345
Did you even watch the video?
HE LEFT HER. She even said it and was incredibly confused why he's twisting history.
Later in the show we also find out he sold his shares to the company, so really he's the one who backed out of HIS FUTURE.
@@SteelBallRun1890it’s a show, RELAX dude. Lol
@@randomguyontheinternet8345 lol 🤣
Another case of Walt believing he is entitled. He definitely owes her an explanation.
Yeah, I can't see that going well.
She really is just a victim. She loved Walter and wanted to be with him, and his pride and ego meant he could never love old money. Pride, and ego. The 2 things that defined and ultimately killed Walter White
All his life, Walt has been his own biggest enemy. He's not a good man that turned bad. He's an insecure, selfish, angry asshole who stopped pretending to be a good guy.
It feels great not to pretend anymore
Walter definitely has that Michael Jordan mentality. He doesn’t let anything slide. It could be now, 10 years ago or whenever. If you slight him or go against him in any way, he’s going to take it personal. Tbh the way he looked at Gretchen here I’m surprised she lived to see the end of the show
My favorite part is the moment when it's clear Gretchen is holding onto her composure by a thread. The part where she said, "Did I dream all that" you can tell she almost slips into an explosion of anger.
If Walt wasn’t so damn prideful, he could’ve been staking his money while Gretchen paid for his treatment.
Walt: MY Research, MY Findings, MY Experiments, MY Money. Grey Matter was MINE!
Gretchen: Walt this Isn’t Personal
Walt: *IT IS. IT IS PERSONAL*
For me, this is one the best scenes in the show. The two of them both pull it off so well.
Good for them Walter walked away. With him being the CEO, the company wouldn't last so long.
Gretchen was just another victim of Walt's pride and ego. He broke off engagement with her because he felt inferior when he was introduced to her wealthy family. This scene shows he has always been that kind of man.
4:32 when you see your Algebra teacher at the grocery store 20 years later
"It was perfect. But, no, you just had to blow it up. You and your pride and your ego! You just had to be the man."
Imagine working so hard on something and someone else other than u profit off of something u worked on with such passion and hard work and dedication and someone other than u benefit off of it,will genuinely piss me off too .
It was his own decision to leave.
Walt's refusal to take responsibility and accountability for his own actions is what kept him sinking deeper into the rathole he would eventually die in. He blamed all his tragedies and mistakes on other people; including his best friend and the woman he loved. Throwing them under the bus and projecting his own actions onto them.
This scene is amazing. But goddamn Walter makes so little sense it’s actually kind of hilarious. He lies about getting money from Gretchen and Elliot without them knowing, denied an offer in which is still actually available LMFAO. And only does this shit just so he can be the D A N G E R, or whatever the fuck. And vent his frustration how he was jealous of how Gretchen was richer than Walter. Kinda sad since Walter keeps ruining and destroying his relationships just for his petty pride.
@Rachel Fourie I don’t care about your star sign lmfao.
As petty as it is, there are a lot of men out there who have Walter's pride
do you even watch the show? you seem clueless
pride
@@Tony-ge2jr No actually they're right on the money. Walt is a clown looking to be the top dog at something because he screwed up everywhere else.
If Walt really wanted to revenge Skyler, he should have made the move with Gretchen. Not the school principal
this really is the most compelling scene in the show to me (lol ironically it plays during Jesse’s confrontation scene which I felt was the show’s weakest moment). anyone in Walt’s position would have a complete horrible time coping with it, and it deserves some real compassion no matter how at fault he is for his own past decisions. Walt deserves compassion especially for his perspective- but nonetheless he is indeed in the wrong. as a result of the way life turned out, Walt’s regrets are way too extreme to the point of denial, becoming a blame-game of a collapsed house of cards. for anyone to write it all off saying “that’s just life,” “it’s just business,” or “get over it,” doesn’t do anything but fuel fire to the situation- and Walt’s pride
this scene was particularly compelling to me because I am witnessing it first-hand with a family member (though not to Walt’s extreme thankfully)
Walt had two brilliant teams in the real world (Gretchen and Elliot) and in the criminal world (Saul,Mike,Gale and Gus)
He screwed up both opportunities because of his massive ego and his inferiority complex.
Walt doesn't deserve any compassion. Yeah, his decision to walk away from the project with elliot and gretchen was wrong. But Walt had 20 f*cking years to make it right. But no, he choose to live as a loser for decades and than choose to kill people just because he had the power. I am sorry, but i have no compassion for sociopathic monsters
@@mirix1515 y you leaving out my man jesse?
@@mappingshaman5280
Jessy was part of the problem.
@@mirix1515 yes and so was walt, but jesse was a good criminal
Keeping score of apologies negates the apologies.
One of my favorite bits of dialogue in the whole show is,
2:10 after she crisply lays out the situation, “Let me just get this straight…”, he responds blankly,
2:38 “yeah. That’s pretty much the size of it.”
LML
Great acting I love how she keeps looking around as if to avoid causing a scene
Some real going to the dark side exercising on Walt's part going on in this scene. It was clear Gretchen still loved him. You could tell when she started talking about how he left her, she kept hesitating, probably out of a sense of loyalty to her husband, but it came out anyways. Walt still went at her anyways.
And it is still clear that Walt still loves her
this scene is so funny to me because of how visibly triggered walt's demonic ego is here. demonic and childish at the same time. "i apologized", yet this isn't the behavior of a regretful man 😂
He admitted to Jesse later on that he made the decision to leave. Its only after hes achieved a level of status/grandeur can he admit he was wrong
holy shit is she a good actress
shes the lesbian from FRIENDS
@@squidwarden226 lol
That's it. Gonna rewatch this for an 8th time.
truly an incredible acting skills showcased by the people in background