Obviously, guilt got the better of Cartwright, and instead of letting him die in that sleep chamber, he cut him free.
But why was he even considering killing Bauer at this moment?
Also, once Bauer was out, why did he immediately theorize that Cartwright did it on purpose and it would solve 'all of his problems'?
What problems? What would it have solved for Cartwright?
There's some logic gaps going on here.
well, killing Bauer allow him to awake Abby to join Cartwright in the maintenance cycles so that he can be with his wife.
It took Cartwright too way long to reach for the cutter, and Cartwright didn't even try to respond when Bauer asked for help.
Well, okay, but Bauer doesn't know about his relationship with Abby. So what is Bauer thinking in his head when he accuses Cartwright of trying to kill him. What problems does it solve? What is Bauer referring to here?
Obviously, later down the line, when Bauer sees the video recording, he does prove to be correct about Cartwright attempting to kill him (but he didn't know any of this stuff at the time when it happened).
The motive/problem is simple, Cartwright want to survive. Cartwright probly knew something wasn't right with the pot so he hesitated to go into the pot right away. Knowing Bauer, an impulsive person, probly would offer to take his pot first so he baited Bauer. Later, when the pot started failing, he (Cartwright) confirmed the pot is broken, so the only way for him to survive is to let Bauer die.
i think bauers immediate accusation was a cross between oxygen deprivation paranoia, panic, and the realization that there was only one working sleep pod.
shareBauer was aware that Cartwright was a little too interested in sleepers and goaded him about it. He also observed that Cartwright frequently talked when no one was present. He was possibly starting to fear that Cartwright was headed off the deep end, very much a potential danger as his delusions were becoming more frequent and elaborate.
~If you go through enough doors, sooner or later you're gonna find a dog on the other side.~๐
My theory:
At first Cartwright, facing the reality of a 30 to 150 years period until the atmosphere outside becomes clear again (which he finds out through the equation), considered killing Bauer and waking up his wife, to be with her during the maintenance periods at least. He takes advantage of the broken pod situation to try to carry on his plan. When replacing the pod parts, maybe he left something not working properly on purpose, then pretended to feel unsure about trying the pod, knowing that the hasty Bauer, who trusts him 100% (as he mentions, they are family) would offer himself to go - after all the air timer is still running.
Then Cartwright felt guilt and aborted the plan. After Bauer finds the tape, Cart calls it "a mistake" and invites Bauer to talk about it. Unfortunately this conversation never happens.
While Bauer still doesn't know about the tape (he confronted Cart as soon as he got out of the pod but only because of oxygen deprivation, panic etc), Cart's new plan is to fix the pod to make everything as it was before. Remember that he only got concerned about whether they had a replacement for the seal or not? See, whatever was wrong with the pod when Bauer tested it, did not seem to raise any concerns on Cartwright. More evidence that he could have engineered the failure.
After the tape revelation, trust is gone for good and it's a matter of survival until the end of the movie. I'm only unsure why Cart stood in front of Bauer after the Morphine shot and why Bauer did not shoot him.
"I'm only unsure why Cart stood in front of Bauer after the Morphine shot and why Bauer did not shoot him."
Bauer knew he was going to die so killing Cartwright to stay safe (which was why he wanted to kill Cartwright at all) was no a longer a valid reason, so he let him live.
It speaks to Bauer's personality that he didn't take the shot out of anger or revenge in that moment.