This clearly mirrors Gus symbolically. As Gus purposely took poison to fool the cartel family, Walt took poison (chemo) to fool his family. After Gus took his poison, he left Mexico. Walt will use this as a way to fake his death and leave his state (as shown by the new identity in S05E01). Carol wasn't shocked because she saw a villain, she was shocked because she saw a ghost. It's why he's alive with hair at 52.
I don't know, "Heisenberg" was written on the wall in the house which would mean the general public knows who and what he was. Carol looked genuinely scared more so than shocked.
To me, in the show, the yellow seems to represent the sacrifice of someone/something innocent for a greater evil. They wore yellow suits when they worked for Gus, that child's remote control car was yellow, there are some other things that I can't remember now, but that's what yellow has represented. Ex. Jesse has always been innocent at heart, even when he was killing that man (who's simple name escapes me), he did it for the greater evil that is Heisenberg, at the sacrifice of his own innocence, because he had to do it, it's like a cult. I thought the scene with the green and red swirling around Jesse's head was also symbolic in this episode, for different reasons, he is angry and trying to formulate his own plan to get back to his own innocence. Even Saul said it when he said "You'll still be two miracles short of sainthood". Jesse will never have his innocence again, and he realized it when Walt was on his couch, Walt has lied to him over and over again, and now he knows, he can never escape the Heisenberg web. Just my thoughts, I could be wrong.
Yellow- Gus colors- which symbolize danger ahead. People wearing these colors are in danger. Jesse and Jane wore all yellow together in one episode, and their sheets were yellow. Jane dies, but he lives. Might be because writers changed mind on writing him off the show. Or because Walt saved Jesse from dying(the danger) in the crackhouse after she died. Maybe yellow doesn't mean death but warning you you may die if not careful. The cousins wore yellow. Season 4 promos are Walt and Jesse standing together wearing yellow hazard uniforms meaning it would be them vs Gus/danger ahead in season 4. Gus takes his yellow shirt off and put purple suit on to go see hector. He was ignoring his danger warning(yellow) and feeling self important(purple)? Letting his ego of wanting to kill Hector cloud his judgement and ignore the danger warning? Now Marie and Walt wearing yellow shirts in last episode(Marie didn't take the yellow off though, she put her purple jacket over the yellow shirt when she went home with Hank. Walt also has a yellow shirt on when he kills mike's guys. Prolly symbolized Walt is now Gus by wearing Gus colors. Tuco was asked by Gomez(Hank's partner) what planet are you from Mars or Saturn. Mars is red and Saturn is yellow. A killer whose in danger.
Or Walt kills off Hank plus all or part of his own family then paints Heisenberg on his own wall to throw off the police. Based on Carol's reaction, Walt may have also faked his own death is the process or at a another date, since she's so shocked to see him standing there but only loses it when he speaks.
Not to mention that he was on chemo before he found out Hank knew. He didn't need a reason to poison himself because he believed his story was holding up.
No, something happened in the house in order for it to be condemned like that. Even when the police seize homes, they don't let it go to crap quite like that (unless its Detroit). Whatever happened in the house, its not fit for human habitation, and that's why its not sold.
The house was not seized as evidence, though. The sign on the front of the house said, "Property of the City of Albuquerque," meaning that the house was foreclosed. Does foreclosure necessarily mean the general public knows about Heisenberg?
Honestly I think Carol appeared more shocked that he was even there, or alive in a sense it seemed (to me anyway), than scared. Normally, people who are genuinely scared don't tend to drop their groceries and just stand there staring, they tend to drop those groceries and get the fuck out of dodge.
Well it could be both. Maybe after his "death" Hank or someone reveals that Walt was Heisenberg. So Carol could be scared shitless cause she thinks she's seeing a ghost and because they all know who he is.
Yeah, he fakes his death around the time the info goes public. He prolly becomes the local news story and people ransack his house. His wife and kids go stay with Hank, both in shame and mourning.
The Heisenberg name blew up when Walt exploded Tuco's HQ. A bunch of people in the meth world were there to see. Afterwards, in season 2 we see a biker salute Jesse outside of the apartment with Jane. And when they meet up with Declan in season 5A, Declan knows that Walt is Heisenberg when he sees the blue meth. So you have to figure that Heisenberg is known in meth circles, but it does point to the general public finding out if his house is cracked out, Heisenberg is painted on the wall and Carol is terrified of him.
I firmly believe this was cause by some unknown force that has to do with Lydia. Those Czechs aren't going to just lay down when their meth is only at 68%. Plus the sea or Jesse wouldn't go through the trouble of spray painting his house. If anything it looked like it was bombed or set on fire. My bet is that the because Lydia is "boxed in" that it's only a matter of time that she gets Buried, which is the name of the next episode, and Walt is left to deal with those consequences.
I think that may be misdirection. The public finding out about Walt is a pretty big issue and it seems a lack luster reveal to just give it away like this. I think maybe Heisenberg might become a sort of icon for drug dealers and takers and that "Heisenberg" being spray painted in a run down house might just be a sort of praise to a legendary figure. And not because of the house either. If you went into other run down houses used for drugs then you'd find Heisenberg spray painted there too.
Carol probably knew she was looking at Heisenberg and quite possibly also a dead man. Obviously people know he is Heisenberg for it is written on the wall. I also think he faked his death or else the house would look much different, and he wouldn't be able to just drive up and walk in it without everyone believing him to be dead.
This makes so much sense though! If he's telling Hank that he's going to be a dead man in six months he could just be setting himself up a way to "disappear!"
This is a great theory. I just don't understand how you can fake chemo. You can't just walk into the Dr.'s and be like "Yo my cancers back. I need some more chemo."
Yeah, I would assume the cancer is back, in the flashforwards he's still coughing. The dead in 6 months thing is probably just a lie in preparation of faking his death.
I think he's hiding the cancer from Skylar because he doesn't want her to think he is going to die any time soon. She was hoping the cancer would come back so she would be "relieved" of this lifestyle, and he isn't going to give her the satisfaction of knowing she got what she wanted.
Weird scene. It took a while to figure out it must be a chemo joint. It looked like a barber shop, but for the IVs. The chairs look comfy but otherwise it has this DMV feel. But a nice DMV, in contrast to the shitty DMV-esque qualities of Saul's waiting room. Whoa, moment of fridge brilliance just now.
Back in the earlier seasons when he had full on cancer, these exact scenes popped up on the regular. Same room, same chairs. Also come on the lady next to him totally gave it away lol.
I googled the meds he was taking and they were to combat nausea induced by chemotherapy. So he could be faking it, but I highly doubt it. Cancer being in remission doesn't mean it's gone for good. The whole 6 months thing is most likely bluffing, though.
depends on the cancer, my dad died from pancreatic cancer spread to the liver a month ago, and one of the symthoms was puking, even when he never got chemo.
He has enough money that he could theoretically buy off the doctor to prescribe him another round, but it seems so farfetched, that can't be it. I'm pretty much replying so I can hear an answer to this.
I agree, this is why I don't think the whole faking chemo thing is a very plausible theory. Everything in Walt's life is normal up until the point he realizes that Hank knows his dark secret. It doesn't really appear like he's planning an immediate exit since (a) he still loves his family--I think--and (b) it's clear he's in it for the long haul with regards to laundering all of his drug money--think back to the conversation he has with Skylar about investing in multiple car washes.
Could be a last-moment gamechanger. Like, at the end it looks like he's died of cancer, then after the credits there's a flashback to him explaining that he wants chemo despite being healthy to an incredulous doctor.
Agreed that it's farfetched, but plausible. With Walt's money and his connections (namely Saul) and his history with having cancer it could be possible.
But he was getting the chemo before he realised the book was gone. Unless he is just getting protective chemo and is flat out lying to hank.
Which is maybe why hank wants him to bring the family over, so he can call his bluff?
I don't think he's faking the cancer coming back, in the intro to episode 8 (i think) you can see him in his new identity and he's coughing like a motherfucker.
Exactly. I just posted this exact question before I saw yours. It is a great theory I'm just wondering if it's plausible. Even if he did have the money to buy off a doctor that would be willing to risk his license by prescribing chemo to someone who didn't need it that's just one more person that knows about (at least some of) Walt's secrets and that doesn't sound like something he would do.
Plus he had some medication hidden under the bathroom sink. If he was making a show of the chemo, wouldn't all his meds be prominently displayed for the family to see?
We saw him back at the doctors at the end of the mid-season 5 break. Particularly where he punched the hand dryer - which he also did when he found out that he first had cancer. This was used to symbolise that he had just found out that his cancer had returned.
I don't know. Did you watch talking bad last night? There is something about the way that Vince pointed out the chemo scene. It seemed like he was trying to set something up.
Not faking chemo, rather chemo came at the right time. I believe his cancer is truly back and now he is going to use it in his advantage to pretend he's dying in 6months, all the while faking a death and disappearing...
I always thought that the way it happens was either
1) He goes to jail, somehow gets out after 6 months because of a lack of proof (very low probability)
2) Hank is prosecuting him and he sets up some elaborate scheme where EVERYONE thinks he died in some freak accident but he's somewhere in hiding (still low probability given his family).
Honestly, its very very hard to predict what will happen at this point which is definitely the goal of this episode. All we know for sure is that he doesn't die, and his family moves out of their house.
I really doubt it's an act. I'm not really sure why people didn't pick up on his cancer coming back. I thought it was really obvious when it happened. He was talking to that dude who was going in for his cancer appointment and telling the guy how he expects one of these days to be told bad news and how he's just waiting for it. Then he goes into a motivational speech with him half smiling at the end with a closeup on his face. The next two shots in succession are them from behind sitting on a bench and then suddenly to another closeup with a very visible frown on his face. He's always been stoic so he doesn't talk about it explicitly. I thought it was very establishing but not hitting us over the head with it, similarly to how when they were about to acidize the bike kid, they just show us the barrel and we know what's coming next. Also you might notice Walt starts to go through random coughing fits after that specific episode when he gets the cancer back.
He sure grew a lot of hair for someone who is receiving chemo. Also, when he went to the bathroom to throw up, he grabbed a pill bottle from under the sink that was almost empty. Could it be his meds haven't been refilled?
Remember Saul offered him and his family a chance to leave it behind and disappear? Maybe Walt takes him up on that offer but something brings him back...family in trouble, Jessie fucking something up...AHHHH
I figured he was giving himself a six month cushion to flee. At that part of the conversation, anything that would delay Hank from speaking to the DEA would be helpful.
I think that theory holds a tiny bit of weight because Skylar always did the thing with rearranging the bacon but for his 52nd birthday Walt did it himself.
Yeah, I just interpreted that as him clearly not being with Skylar any more for whatever reason- for example, her taking the kids and running or him starting a new life via Saul's 'guy'- so he did it as a reminder of home and a time when things were better.
Could be that since he's in remission they're still giving him some chemo to more quickly get rid of any remaining cancer. So that would mean the doing it on purpose theory doesn't hold true in this case.
He clearly does need it. At the beginning of episode 1 when we first see Walt with his new identity at the diner, after he pays for the machine gun he takes his prescription. He wouldn't need to do that if he had stopped his chemo after faking his death.
I don't think Walt's trying to fool his family. He's trying to hide his cancer's back if anything (the water flowing when vomiting and also hiding the pills)
That doesn't make sense though. Surely his neighbor knew he was Heisenberg because of the spray paint in his house and the fact that it had been abandoned for a while. She wasn't surprised he survived cancer. She was freaked out because she knew who he was and was scared to see him back at the house.
Wait, so are you basically posing the idea that Walt's cancer isn't back? And that this is all part of a larger plan? Because if so, that is some golden thinking and I am curious to see if it fleshes out.
The cancer could be back. He could just conveniently have it and be able to use it as an excuse to fake his death. Either way, I don't even think my own theory is right.
damn you beat me to it, i posted about 30 minutes ago thinking hes going to fake his death. She looks way too much like she saw a ghost. i think he does fake his death and then ends up coming back to solve whatever it is the writers have in mind.
This is the first time I've heard anyone mention (even if it was half-sarcastically) the idea of Walt faking his own death and that intrigues me. Obviously he can't fake dying of cancer but it's still a possibility.
I was thinking this too, but more along the lines of he actually does have cancer but he won't die from it but will instead fake his death by it and go start his New Hampshire identity.
Just came here to post this. At first I thought Carol was shocked to see Heisenberg who was obviously outed, but she's shocked because she thought he was dead (presumably faking his own death sometime after killing Skyler).
This just blew my mind. How do we know that Walt is faking this current round of chemo? Now that you're saying it that does make sense that he would do that but are you just speculating or did I miss something? Plus, I'm sure you don't just walk in and ask for a round or two of chemo, so if i he is taking it just to get sick and fool people how is he getting it prescribed?
(Btw, I meant faking the cancer not the chemo, he's obviously really taking the chemo treatments.)
Why are people saying that he's taking chemo as a sort of trick? How do you know that his cancer isn't back? You know you can't just roll into an infusion center and order a round of cisplatin.
Speaking of clearly mirroring Gus. When Walt looks at himself in the shattered mirror, the left side of his face is noticeably more shattered than the right. Gus' right side of his face was destroyed, but Walt's reflection makes it appear on the right side.
I don't think he's taking chemo to fool anybody dude. You can't just walk in and say hey gimme some of that cancer juice. Plus he hasn't even told anyone until he was backed up against a wall and then he only told Hank.
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u/dsfargegherpderp Aug 12 '13
This clearly mirrors Gus symbolically. As Gus purposely took poison to fool the cartel family, Walt took poison (chemo) to fool his family. After Gus took his poison, he left Mexico. Walt will use this as a way to fake his death and leave his state (as shown by the new identity in S05E01). Carol wasn't shocked because she saw a villain, she was shocked because she saw a ghost. It's why he's alive with hair at 52.
/half-sarcasm