It’s been well established that Skyler and Walt’s relationship is, well, not really a relationship at all at this point. I admit that there were a few instances in the past couple of seasons when I though that — just maybe — Skyler would be completely enveloped in the work Walter’s dragged her into, and that their relationship might improve. Well, “improve” perhaps isn’t the right word, as it would certainly be different than it had been while Walt was a meager school teacher. Instead, let’s say that I thought there was a chance the thought of all that money — and being around Walter’s rise of power — would cause Skyler to see something different and, possibly, attractive in Walter to keep her around.
It’s safe to say that any of those thoughts I had about Skyler are all but gone since sometime last season. She’s clearly completely disgusted by Walter and the life he’s dragged her — and her children — into. At this point any chance of even a sincere smile in Walt’s direction by Skyler is a preposterous notion. That is unless, perhaps, Walter decided to clean his hands of the business and go back to teaching. Is there something that Skyler could do to change Walter’s quest for becoming a drug emperor?
Something Breaking Bad as touched on but hasn’t quite fully explored is the effect meth has on people and, more specifically, Walter witnessing its effects. Walt saw what it did to Jesse’s ex-girlfriend, Jane, first-hand, sure. What’s different about him seeing what happened to Jane is that he had really zero emotional connection to her. So, in effect, Walter quite easily detached himself from the business he’s in to what that product did to this girl. What if, though, Walter saw this happen to someone much closer to him? Like Skyler, perhaps?
Skyler’s looking for a way out of this mess, and she’s clearly pretty desperate. In fact, it’s not clear if she cares about her own well-being at all anymore, just that of her children. She’s tossed out a few options as being out of the question — leaving Walter, turning him in or claiming abuse. It would be one hell of a gamble on many fronts, but what if Skyler dipped into the blue meth and showed Walter first-hand what a mess it does to someone, this very product he’s creating?
The gamble is pretty clear. First of all, it assumes Walter truly cares for Skyler at all anymore. If not, Walter would simply use the opportunity to strip the children from her and leave her to O.D. in a ditch somewhere. There’s also the problem of the kids possibly finding out what’s happening to their mother, which would screw them up pretty severely, I’m betting. Let’s not forget the toll the drug would put on her, as well as any sort of recovery from it.
But — and this is a big “but” — if Walter cares at all about Skyler, I do wonder if his seeing what is product is really doing to people might turn him around. You’d think a major in-air plane crash might have caused Walter to calculate the wide ring of influence his drugs have, but he’s quite easily blocked that so far. Could be block seeing Skyler falling apart from it? Has he truly grasped the effect meth has on people, even when seeing Jesse go through it and seeing someone die from it? Is Jesse just not close enough to him for him to get the full effect of what meth does to people?
Seeing Jesse sit at the awkward “family” dinner is what brought this idea to mind. I could see this as being a sort-of catalyst for Skyler making such a move. She uses Jesse to get her hands on some of the product, and either Walter does make that (doubtful) recovery, or he finds out what Jesse did and takes it out on him. Jesse clearly wouldn’t give her any of the stuff if he thought she was going to use it, but I’m sure she’d have her ways of getting some regardless.
The idea is certainly a bit of a stretch, seeing as Walter just seems to get crazier as the series winds down. But with a decent amount of episodes to go, perhaps the answer to how things end up for Walter aren’t about gun fights and drug busts, but instead about seeing a man become clear in the head about his actions and do something to make things right again. Instead of “breaking bad,” he’s “making good” again.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Aug 20, 2012 @ 08:42 EST5EDT
