Reply #22: I love the show

[deutsey]

I sympathize with Walt only to the extent that he's a very smart, talented man who's lived a very safe but frustrating life.

What begins as a quick way for him to make sure his family isn't left in financial ruin after his death begins to tap into all those frustrations, resentments, and humiliations he's suffered from taking the safe road all his life. I remember an early episode where Walt is working part time at a carwash to supplement his teaching job and he has to wash the expensive car of a smirking rich young punk that he had a disciplinary run in with at school.

While he starts off wanting to do a good thing for his family, the more he gets into the meth world, the more he finds himself empowered, a player, and even a badass...and he likes it.

That's the tragedy of the show, imo...he had such a good, strong family and in his effort to save it, he ends up losing it and even helps to make the world a shittier place in the process by contributing to the meth trade.