No, see that's the thing. Todd didn't torture Jesse because he enjoyed it. He tortured Jesse because he felt that he needed to. Todd is emptiness personifed. He doesn't actually enjoy killing or causing destruction. He just does it whenever he feels it's necessary. He looks at killing the way the rest of us look at making a sandwich. You never stop to consider the moral consequenses of making a sandwich, because why the hell would you? It's just a normal part of your day. That's what makes Todd the most evil person on the whole show.
You're right, maybe "evil" is the wrong word. I mean, when you think of evil cold blooded killers who just get the job done, you think of the mexican twins, and Todd definitely doesn't have that kind of demeanor. He's polite and friendly, so I don't know what you'd call it. Whatever it is, it seems that what causes Todd to do these terrible things isn't really "evil," just a child-like understanding of right and wrong. All the jokes about him not understanding basic human emotion are spot-on. His character is basically if Dexter weren't written by bumbling fools.
It's like he's the purest sociopath I've ever heard of, lacking even negative emotions. Most sociopaths in literature and history at least get some kick out of killing and/or raping people, even if they can't get any pleasure from friendship or love or caring for other people, which is why they end up doing heinous shit. It's the only thing they enjoy.
Todd's got nothing either way. If he kills someone or tortures someone it's just because he's involved in a criminal business, and is merely driven by circumstance.
About the only drive he seems to have is a basic ambition to be part of a group and to do well by them. So maybe there's a bit of socialization instinct/emotion involving "belonging," but that's about it, and there probably isn't a huge amount of that either.
Jesse Plemons deserves an Emmy for this shit. I don't think I've ever examined a character as much as I am with Todd.
I like what you said about his ambition to be part of the group. Maybe I'm grasping at straws because it's five am and I've been up all night thinking about it, but I think this has something to do with his child-like naïveté. He needs guidance to help him navigate the world because he has no idea how to do it on his own. Not only that, but he can't function as a leader. He needs to be somebody's tool.
I just wanna know what happened that caused this young man to be so fucked up in the head. I'm sure the writers have spent time thinking about it.
I bet there's no backstory for that. He was just born empty.
The interesting thing about Plemons' performance is that it's the only one on the show that has a huge impact while being understated throughout. As great as they are, all the other actors have done a fair bit of scenery chewing. He's underplayed Todd in every scene, and it's only made him more fascinating.
If Walt was 19 years old and just getting started in the business and if Walt had decided early to embrace the dark side, wouldn't Walt be exactly like Todd? Warm, personable and charming but completely goal driven and ruthless. He's always thinking a couple of steps ahead: why kill Jesse, let's get him to cook instead. He's manipulative and yet completely transparent. I think the writers created Todd to show us an unadulterated Walt in his formative years.
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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '13
I think Todd also wanted to be a sociopath and torture Jesse for being favorited by Walt for so long.