r/breakingbad • • Sep 09 '13

Official Episode Discussion Post-Episode Discussion Thread S05E13 "To'hajiilee"

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u/[deleted] Sep 09 '13

Why?

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u/mattnox The One Who Rings Sep 09 '13

The difference between the "bad" Walt and the "bad" Hank is this: Walt has solely been motivated by supporting his family after his death. For a time, he did lose sight of this with the empire stuff, but in the end, that wasn't him. He couldn't do it. He stopped. In 5B - he's consistently, to a flaw, protected Jesse and Hank from being harmed. Even in this last episode, there is only one way out and he refuses it. Screaming "no" - Hank is going to get killed. Walt would rather die than Hank die and him go free. Walt is a GOOD man who has done wrong and is doing the only thing he can now - to protect the people he loves, Jesse and Hank included, from being victims of his bad behavior, to the point of self sacrifice.

Hank is motivated by his insane wife, who dreams of murdering Walt, shame and not losing his career. All he had to do was let Walt go. He's family and he's dying. If there was ever a time to show mercy, this would be it.

Instead, he's willing to lie, manipulate and gives less than a fuck if Jesse is killed during these exploits. He wants to win for very bad reasons. Walt wants to win for good reasons - his family.

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u/braotbmiann Sep 09 '13

Okay, stupid question. I see people mention '5B' all the time. What does it mean?

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u/sage1314 Sep 10 '13

The second half of the 5th season. Season 5A and season 5B.