Breaking Bad S5E6: Walt Turns Down a $5 Million Exit Strategy
Throughout the series of Breaking Bad, Walt has told himself (and his wife) he's doing all the evil things he's doing as a rising drug lord for his family. His family would be bankrupted by his medical bills for cancer treatment. The drug money takes care of that. His family would be unable to afford basic living expenses once he dies. The drug money takes care of that. After his death his wife would have to go back to work, with an infant daughter and a special-needs son, just to come close to making ends meet. The drug money takes care of that. There'd be no money to send the kids to college. The drug money takes care of that. Walt even calculated how much money he needed, early in the series. He came up with a figure of $727,000. He just needed to get that much money, for his family, and then he'd be done.
Walt's financial target proved to be a moving goal. Partly that was because earning money illegally entailed challenges he didn't anticipate. There were costs for equipment. Costs for shady lawyers and payoffs. Costs for things breaking or being stolen. Costs for laundering money. That was a big one. He couldn't just leave his family a surprise bank account with three-quarters of a million dollars after a subsistence job teaching high school. He and Skyler- who, by that point was helping him launder money- boughtg a car wash business for $800,000 to launder excess profits through it.
Along the way Walt also raised his sight higher. That's laid bare in this episode, entitled "Payout", where Walt, Mike, and Jesse have the option to take $5 million, each, to be done with the drug trade. The money would come from selling the chemicals they robbed from a freight train to a rival drug lord in another state. They take the money and be out of the drug trade.
Mike wanted out. It was his idea to set up this deal. He was ready to retire, as the feds were tightening the noose around him and his former associates.
Jesse wanted out, too. In his evolution as the conscience of the Odd Throuple, he was so troubled by a gang member murdering an innocent boy during the train robbery that he wanted out.
But not Walt. Walt turned down the $5 million exit strategy. It wasn't good enough for him.
Indeed Walt had moved his own goal posts, significantly. He explains in a scene with Jesse that he's now no longer thinking about "doing it for his family" but doing it, basically, to settle a score with the universe.
Back in grad school, Walt explains, he founded a small scientific company with two fellow grad. When they had a falling out- something involving differences between him and his fiancée, who married the other business partner after she and Walt broke up-Walt sold his 33% stake in the company for $5,000. "That company is now worth over $2 billion, billion with a B," he laments to Jesse. "And I sold my share for a few months rent." Now he's not out just to get enough money to provide for his family after he's gone; he's out to build an empire to rival the one he lost.
Walt's financial target proved to be a moving goal. Partly that was because earning money illegally entailed challenges he didn't anticipate. There were costs for equipment. Costs for shady lawyers and payoffs. Costs for things breaking or being stolen. Costs for laundering money. That was a big one. He couldn't just leave his family a surprise bank account with three-quarters of a million dollars after a subsistence job teaching high school. He and Skyler- who, by that point was helping him launder money- boughtg a car wash business for $800,000 to launder excess profits through it.
Along the way Walt also raised his sight higher. That's laid bare in this episode, entitled "Payout", where Walt, Mike, and Jesse have the option to take $5 million, each, to be done with the drug trade. The money would come from selling the chemicals they robbed from a freight train to a rival drug lord in another state. They take the money and be out of the drug trade.
Mike wanted out. It was his idea to set up this deal. He was ready to retire, as the feds were tightening the noose around him and his former associates.
Jesse wanted out, too. In his evolution as the conscience of the Odd Throuple, he was so troubled by a gang member murdering an innocent boy during the train robbery that he wanted out.
But not Walt. Walt turned down the $5 million exit strategy. It wasn't good enough for him.
Indeed Walt had moved his own goal posts, significantly. He explains in a scene with Jesse that he's now no longer thinking about "doing it for his family" but doing it, basically, to settle a score with the universe.
Back in grad school, Walt explains, he founded a small scientific company with two fellow grad. When they had a falling out- something involving differences between him and his fiancée, who married the other business partner after she and Walt broke up-Walt sold his 33% stake in the company for $5,000. "That company is now worth over $2 billion, billion with a B," he laments to Jesse. "And I sold my share for a few months rent." Now he's not out just to get enough money to provide for his family after he's gone; he's out to build an empire to rival the one he lost.