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What was Walt's worst, most critical mistake? MAJOR SPOILER ALERT

posted 2 years ago by whynotwriteme (7438)
16 replies | jump to latest

The whole series is a never-ending chain of mistakes, accidents and poor judgement calls, but which of these was the most devastating?

Not including his original decision to get into the meth business or pre-show incidents like selling his share of Grey Matter, what is the most crucial mistake Walt made in the series?

My picks are these:

#3 Getting drunk and telling Hank that the mastermind of Gus's operation must still be around after Hank had given up on the case following Gus's death.

#2 Leaving "Leaves of Grass" with the "W.W" inscription from Gale in open view in his bathroom for Hank to find.

#1 The magnet plan to erase Gus's laptop. Not only was it completely unnecessary, as the laptop was encrypted, it directly led to the discovery of Gus's secret financial accounts, which caused the involvement of Madrigal and all the horror and death that occurred in Season 5. Of course, Walt & friends had no way of knowing the laptop was encrypted, but their decision to use the magnet is the key error that led to the "End Times" as Saul would put it.

Actually, the very, very worst mistake made in the actual time-frame of the show was probably turning down the generous offer to return to Grey Matter, but of the errors made in the actual course of building the meth empire, I would definitely choose the 3 I listed.

Note: My son and I still have to watch the last 2 episodes tonight, so I won't check this thread again until after then, so I don't get spoilers in case Walt makes even more crucial errors in those.

[–] aavfreak (2980) 2 years ago

These are very good picks. I don't know why the hell he would keep something around like the Leaves of Grass anyway.

[–] Mattc164 (609) a year ago

Because its an old adage that criminals secretly want to get caught.

[–] Ace_Spade (9458) 2 years ago

You've got good picks. I'll try to keep this SPOILER light, but yeah, finish watching before reading.

My number one agrees with your stating that he turned down Elliot and Gretchen, yes. But in his operations...

I'd go with your number three there. If Walt could've checked his ego and let Hank think Gale was Heisenberg, Hank would've let leads go cold for awhile.

Now, if Walt was still going to cook, the Blue would still turn up and Hank would probably have come back around at some point, but who knows what could've happened there?

He makes a MAJOR mistake involving a GPS later, but things are already pretty much spiralling out of control.

My number two choice of mistake he makes is in the final season when he starts to try to build his empire. He could have taken a buyout and ghosted, but he doesn't, and that leads him to hiring on questionable people (because he doesn't have Gus' networks or business sense) and getting in bed with some real shady types. All of that leads him down the real darkness.

Number three: he was "out" and let Gus talk him back in to coming on board for more cooks.

I don't really agree with your number one choice, mostly because "get rid of that evidence" is a reasonable goal and anticipating the fallout was impossible. In other words: that's more bad luck than a mistake.

All points where Walt doubles-down and accelerates his dark fate are due to his ego. His problem is pride. Vanity causes Walt to tell Hank - I don't buy that he's that drunk. He hates somebody else getting the credit. Look how he reacts to Jesse cooking his formula. It's also pure vanity that makes him try to recklessly build an Empire with Jack and Lydia. And, of course, his delusions of grandeur make him come back on-board with Gus.

There's a moment in the final episode that really puts Walt's perpetual ego trip into perspective - a scene between Walt and Skyler - and I'd love to hear your thoughts on that once you've seen it.

[–] aavfreak (2980) 2 years ago

I agree with you here that the laptop incident wasn't as much of a bad decision as it was bad luck.

It's been a lot of years since I watched this show through, but the thing that sticks out to me the most is that he didn't know when enough was enough. I would put your number two as my number one. Once he let it get to the point where he involved himself with the unscrupulous in the final season, then there was just too much to overcome. He could have cashed out before that, lived his final years, and left his family with a nice fortune. But then, that sort of fairytale ending wouldn't have really fit with the show.

[–] Ace_Spade (9458) 2 years ago

No, it wouldn't have fit with the show. I'm of the opinion that Breaking Bad left us with one of the all-time best ever finales on television.

I wonder how it would've played out if Hank had found that notebook and Walter was out... Hank would've been frothing at the mouth still, but Walt might've been able to play it off like, "Oh, I was trying to leave my family money and then I got in over my head and Gus made me do it," and made it work. Probably not, but maybe. At the very least, there might've been a "mutually-assured destruction" thing where Hank turning Walt in would mean losing everything himself. Would Hank torpedo himself (and Marie) to catch Heisenberg? I dunno...

[–] DrRed (527) 2 years ago

His least critical mistake was carrying the barrel.
It's a barrel. It rolls.

[–] JaqenHgar (702) 2 years ago

I think it's close between 2 and 3, but closer to #3. As another poster adequately stated,

His problem is pride. Vanity causes Walt to tell Hank - I don't buy that he's that drunk. He hates somebody else getting the credit.

Jesse reminded Walt in season 5, episode 6, that when they started cooking, he only needed/wanted $737,000. Then Walt goes on about how he bowed out of Gray Matter and sold his children's inheritance for rent, etc. Walt's character flaw was always ego/pride.

[–] jekporkins (1935) 2 years ago

I'll say when he had a chance to sell those chemicals from the train heist for $5 million and kept going was the straw.

He already had millions, but then to turn down that additional $5 million and keep going was simple greed. He had no idea how much money he had already made - Skylar showed him the storage unit and neither of them knew how much it was but it was $80 million.

He could have then moved that family away from ALB for good. Why on earth they stuck around that town I'll never know. They could have started fresh away from the bad people, away from the DEA, and Marie. They would have been safe.

[–] moviechatterer (14171) 2 years ago

yes! i was about to post the same thing.
He managed to shit all over Jesse's life at the same time by denying him the share of the buyout

Jesse put it well:
"when you started , you said you needed $1m"

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 2 years ago

Not killing Jesse in the Confessions episode when he had the chance.

[–] whoanelly (1570) a year ago

Yup. That’s a biggie imo too.

[–] phony (219) 2 years ago

Turning down Elliot and Gretchen is the only correct answer :p

[–] chilone (17400) a year ago

💯

[–] Foster (876) a year ago

As I recall Walt got the idea for cooking meth during a ride-along with Hank --- NOW can't remember if that was before or after his diagnosis of cancer

AFTER the diagnosis he determines that he doesn't have enough insurance to insure a good enough life for his wife and son, AND it was possible to do so by cooking meth

So he teams up with Jesse and starts cooking and putting the cash aside, and had a million or so in the wall

THEN his cancer went into remission totally --- He'd made all he wanted to -- he could have stopped and gone back to his life

But NOOOOoooooo he continued cooking

That was the worst decision and where he Broke Bad