He's not a complete sociopath IMO. He isnt emotionally disconnected from everyone in his life but the developments he has gone through have changed the way he handles problems.

I dont think he let her die just because she was ****ing with his life. I think he was looking after Jesse and realized it might be best for him to let her die

Thats kind of what I felt. It looked like as soon as he looked at jesse he stopped from rolling her over and left her to her fate.

They're also wrong. Walt is clearly not a straight sociopath, even if the writers are hinting that he's going to get even darker. He's comparable to Soprano only in so far as he's heading in that direction. Everything he does is for a self-conceived greater good, and they actually have a distinct purpose and tangible result outside of his own self-interest. Tony masked his own sociopathy in a delusion of "for the family" and consistently acted in a manner that singularly served himself.

only a sociopath wouldn't sit there crying while the girl died

Meant to also add that you really missed an integral part of Walt's character if you don't understand why he let the girl die. The best part of that scene is his seemingly genuine emotion for the situation (a child figure to him, and his child's love passed out in a heroine coma) and the cold, emotionless stare he holds while watching this girl choke to death.

There's a grey scale involved. It isn't as black and white as either Walt being an emotionless psycho or being a normal coupon clipping human being. Usually, Sociopathy is attributed to people who act in their own self-interest and act in a manner abhorrent to the social norm. Walt, while filling the latter, doesn't always roll with the former. Most of his shocking actions have multiple interests beyond himself. In the case of Apology Girl, it was looking out for his "son". She was clearly a destructive force in Jesse's life, so letting her die would be a benefit to him.

i dont think that walt let her die to "protect" jesse, i rather saw it as the peak of his character developing to the dark side. while in the very beginning he had trouble to kill a man who just tried to kill him, and still will ("he will kill your entire family if you let him live"), now at the end of season 2, he does not hesitate to take the life of innocent people only for his own benefit. i think apology girl was only a bad influence towards their buisness operation, not to jesses life in general.
@thug bubbles: why do you see her as a "destructive force" in jesses life? imo the whole think was getting too much for jesse anyway and he could have had a chance to escape from it all. walt was manipulating jesse, and she was the one who interrupted that.

ah and those who say the show is cheap because the characters differ in various episodes or that some characters add nothing to the story (i agree, some are annoying, but thats not the point), your wasting your time watching a show that is a level too high.

She got him into heroine which is a pretty bad influence on his life. I mean I guess he was already smoking crystal but still.

good point...but i still see the reasoning for walts acting was more his own purpose, jesse was a junkie before. wonder if the scene when he gets jesse out of that crackhole was supposed to show the indifference in his character (his "transformation is not complete yet), or maybe im interpreting too much

The best part of the show is when they are just straight up ripping off The Wire (like Combo getting shot).

What could season 3 be about?

Skylar is such a bad character. "You shoplifted this. I will never speak to again. Wah, Wah"

How is this straight up ripping off The Wire? Anytime a drug dealer gets shot, it's a Wire rip off?

As far as what season 3 is about:

Stylistically.

Hope they sent D.Simon a check.

They have borrowed very little stylistically from The Wire. The Wire isn't nearly as dark as Breaking Bad.

Is today opposite day?

The Wire is infinitely darker than Breaking Bad.

So I guess ANY show that centers around drugs is ripping off The Wire?

One show is about the inner-city drug trade and examines the issues society needs to address in order to put an end to the cycle of violence caused by drugs from the perspective of the dealers, law enforcement, and government's point of view.

The other show is a character study about the transformation of one guy from mild-mannered school teacher to drug kingpin.

Wow you are right they are COMPLETELY the same show! They have SOOOOOOO many things in common i am gonna start a list here.

1. Drugs (of course heroin and crystal meth are the same drug)
2. nothing
3. nothing
4. nothing
5. nothing

So I guess according to you Scrubs, ER, and Grey's Anatomy are all the same show too?

What? Maybe in a very generalized sense this is true (as The Wire is commentary on something that's actually happening, while that's not the main focus of BB). But as far as the actual artistic style of the show, this is way off.

They should all send a check to Quincy, obv Quincy ripoffs.




Been jonesing for s3 since the mad men finale.

Morons,

I said, "Breaking Bad is at its best when they are ripping off The Wire" not that Breaking Bad is a rip off of The Wire. If you cannot see how the Combo gets got scene was The Wire inspired (cinematography, pacing, mood, sound, framing), I can't help you.

If you think Breaking Bad is darker than The Wire, then you are an idiot/blind/******ed/etc.

Wait.. this turd can't possibly think dark = skin color, can he?
yeah ok, he probably can.

I'd say it's inspired borrowing long before saying it's ripping off.

lol nh

That Combo scene isn't a rip off of The Wire. The Wire is shot in a much grittier way they don't have action pieces like Breaking Bad does. The Combo scene is shot in a very stylistic way that resembles a horror movie more than it does The Wire.

As Autocratic said The Wire may be darker because of the scope of it's despair, but that is it.

good writers borrow from other writers. great writers steal from them outright.

new season: March 7, 2010

woot

Not too bad of a wait since I haven't thought of this show in awhile. I hope it makes me forget that Dexter's not back till Sept.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!