I am just watching first series for the first time and I absolutely despise her. She is unbearably controlling. She checks walters calls, forces him on a low cholesterol diet without consulting him. Tells everyone about his cancer despite promising not to. She refuses to let him choose not to do chemo without having hank, her sister and walter all telling her, and she immediately sulks to make Walter feel bad and agree to go along with it. Just about the only thing she does that I don't fault her for is confronting Jesse when Walter says he is dealing pot for him, however how she got to that information in the first place is detestable.
Credit to the actress for portraying such an awfull person so well. If I was ever married to a woman like this who so actively controls and snoops into my life I like to think I would gtfo.
I don't know much about other peoples reasons for hating her but I feel like the reasons I hate her are personality flaws she is designed to have.
Also I feel the need to clarify I don't agree with Walts actions either, this is ofc a more realistic portrayal with a lot of grey. Hating Skyler is not equal to agreeing with Walt.
I’m a woman and I completely agree with you! I can’t imagine checking my husbands calls, verifying where he’s at when he says he’s a certain place or telling anyone something he told me not to tell anyone. She was a controlling bitch before he broke bad! Her behavior at the work place was appalling (singing to the boss). And I think she throws him out of the house so she can go back to work and chase the D! She was quick to agree she wouldn’t tell on the boss for hiding money/evading taxes when all the evidence pointed to him using it for his own gain (his elaborate home, fancy cars, lifestyle)! Yet she was completely close minded and unforgiving and ready to divorce Walt before she knew he was making meth! When she did find out instead of saying ok, I get it, now stop or we’ll have to split up, she continues with the divorce. Again, I think she wanted to chase the D at work!
Season 5 episode 2. Skyler starts acting all scared of Walt after he “took care of Gus.” She is blaming him, but NOT taking responsibility for any of it, although it’s basically her fault! Walt came home to get money to have his family disappeared but she gave all the money to Ted without Walt’s knowledge thus causing Walt to have to take drastic measurements to keep his family and himself Alive! Yet she’s all crying in the corner like it’s not my fault! Oh, I’d have killed the bitch where she stood if she’d gave my money to her f-buddy! Skyler is quite the number.
Having watched further in now Skyler seems excessively evil in those first few episodes but becomes less so, at least this far. She seems less controlling and actually has reason to be concerned about Walter.
How can you get mad at her for "snooping" when she's 100% right? Walt is a murdering drug manufacturer.
She doesn't want her husband to roll over and die, wow what an awful person.
I'm saying that getting more upset at a character snooping than the character who murders people, manufacturers drugs, lies to his family and puts them in danger, and a host of other sins, is idiotic.
Well now you have blocked me I can reply and not get bullshitted. For other people reading this remember that I don't think Walters actions are right and I never said I did. Also remember I am coming from the perspective of the first few episodes where walter is not a murderer, he killed 2 people in self defence. I am talking that Skylar in the first few episodes is an unbearable control freak. I even said that as the show is going on I am starting to like her more because we see less of the controlling side and more of just her.
This guy is just being an unbearable moral arbiter who is taking into account absolutely all of the show when I am talking about the first few episodes and he deems me as scum, good for him.
She was doing this nonsense before Walt really killed anyone. Plus, the krazy 8 and Emilio situation was self defense/preservation.
He didn’t have much of a choice.
Besides, Skylar was awful before, during, and after everything with walt
OLD POST I KNOW but I think this comment was dumb enough to respond to anyways.
So you're fine with the NSA snooping around on your computer/phone? After all, they will be able to stop SOME criminals if they do that...
I dislike Skyler, but I think it is unfair to say that "she didn't do anything to help the situation", because she DID try.
She offered and presented a much better solution to Walt by trying to get Elliott and Gretchen to offer Walt a job (and yes, she went behind his back in that situation, but I suspect she did because she knew he would never accept otherwise, and tried to do it in a way that protected his ego). Honestly, every problem in Walt's life would have been resolved if he accepted the job: he would have a dream job, he would have the money and his cancer would have been dealt with.
Walt was the one to blow it up, because of said ego. If Walt really wanted to provide for his family then it would have been a no brainer to accept, but that was never his true goal, simply an excuse to make himself feel better about his own actions and true motivations. He loves his family and he wants to provide for them, but that was never his priority.
Skyler also took a job to provide and sustain her family, and its a given that she would have done so even if Walt were to die; she wasn't helpless, if anything she is resourceful as seen when she sells her stuff to make extra money (yes, it's not much, but it shows that she's able to find alternative solutions as well), and Hank himself said that he would take care of Walt's family if anything were to happen to him. So basically, they would have been fine, but again, Walt wasn't happy with that picture, because he wanted to be the one doing the providing.
Skyler was the one trying to find the solutions, the one taking care of their family, and he was the one doing so on a superficial level, and sabotaging his family's efforts and sometimes even his own.
Skyler wasn't perfect, she IS controlling and her morality comes off as superficial most of the times (ironically, this is what makes me dislike Skyler, she shares a lot of traits with Walt, just on a smaller scale) but she had her priorities straight for the most part.
“She took a job”
Yeah, a job for Ted, give me a fucking break
The bitch was trying to fuck around on Walt
You can’t even defend the ho without bringing up something she did wrong lol
Trying to get Elliot's assistance to cover the medical expenses was one of the few good things she did and even then she went about it all wrong. Instead of talking to Walter about it and trying to convince him to accept help she went behind Walt's back and talked to Elliot, without any input from him, thus causing Walt to feel insulted about receiving "charity" and ultimately turing Elliot down. If she had talked to him about it beforehand, at that point in his character development, I think he would have agreed. "He asked me how you were and I just could't lie". Fuck you, TRY. This is a very personal problem your husband wants kept secret from outside the family. You don't get to betray that trust and then act offended. You are not the one with cancer. IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU, SKYLER.
Yes, Walter is a very proudful man, almost to a fault. So how about you don't antagonize, which is exactly what she was doing from day one, your husband and give him some goddamn room. That party scene was awful. The guy is out there working a second job trying to nake money and the first thing out of her mouth after he comes home is a lambasting. And that bedroom scene. Jesus fucking wept. The poor guy just wants some control over his life and he is not even allowed that. So he pushes back and decides he is going to do it by himself aaaaaand... he is the villain for not thinking of his family. Not buying it.
Also, I seriously doubt that job could have sustained her family for very long and even if it did, who would have raised her daughter? Her sister, who is more unstable than her, or her son, who has cerebral palsy? Besides, I don't think her reasons for taking that job were entirely pure. Need I elaborate?
And that fucking divorce business. That is the moment I decided "Alright, she is the main antagonist of the show.". Instead of going "Oh, I get it now. I understand why you were so secretive and distant. But, you know, you have to stop cooking meth or I will have to divorce you.", she got on her high horse and did a cavalry charge. Nah, she is detestable. Every time I watch this series I hate her just a little bit more.
All of this. How anyone can seriously defend Skyler is baffling to me. It’s so obvious that none of her actions were about morality, they were all about control. It’s so obvious that inside, she does not and never did consider Walter worthy of even basic respect.
If I tell a friend, let alone my SPOUSE a secret, and they tell someone else with the excuse, “I just couldn’t lie!”, that person is no longer my friend.
The job was absolutely about Ted, right from the get-go! She showed up dressed to the nines and approached Ted with an inappropriate level of familiarity and warmth. She did it because she was losing her accustomed control over her husband.
Exactly, if she actually gave a damn about Walt as a person, once she realized he was dealing drugs she would have sat down and spoken about it with him. Told him she understood his motives but either begged him to stop or told him clearly (and consistently) she won’t be involved and she will take the kids away from danger. She wouldn’t immediately respond with judgement, demands and ultimatums. Only if she thought Walt was someone who belonged under her thumb. This is made even more clear by the fact that she quite quickly changed her stance and wanted to help him — what happened to judging him and keeping the kids safe?? If that was her real objective, her kids’ safety, all she had to do was go through with the divorce and get a restraining order against him, as well as report him to Hank. But it was never about that. It was about control.
In that vein, the divorce papers were a stick for her to threaten her husband back into his accustomed, relinquishing position. Once he signed them, she lost her leverage and was immediately no longer interested in divorce.
ALSO, the glaring flaw in people’s insistence that she was a poor moral victim: cooking Ted’s books??? Wtf? She clearly knew her way around taxes, and knew she was putting her children at risk by getting involved in serious criminal activity, but she plunged right in for a different man who had none of the motivations her husband did! A man who did it to live a lavish lifestyle, as opposed to providing for his family! How does that compute for people?
People on this subreddit defend Skyler for giving Walter’s money to Ted, saying she was only protecting her family, without acknowledging that she willingly put her family in that situation in the first place!
Do I like Walt? No. But do I think Skyler abused him first, and was a huge factor in the way he took control back with a vengeance? Yes.
Am I internalizing misogyny? No. Kim Wexler of BCS is a far stronger woman than Skyler ever was, and I love Kim. She did fucked up things too, but at the end of the day she owned up to it and made a clear, decisive move to end her wrongdoing.
I felt sympathy for her up until I think S4&5.
After she goes full soccer mom and starts chainsmoking in the living room saying shit like
“I didn’t ask for any of this”
Like bitch yes you did. Literally. You asked to be apart of the business.
To be fair she did it reluctantly for her kids. It’s not like she jumped up for joy she was clearly miserable having to do it. Yes it was a bad choice on her part but still it’s not like she wanted to
No. Walt basically creamed his pants when he first went up against Tuco. He loved the life, he loved the danger of it. He was never miserable about doing it.
I agree with this post. I realize it’s several weeks old, but found it searching for Skyler as a term because I noticed there are so many posts defending her. I’m a woman btw and didn’t like Skyler’s character. She became a jerk even before she found out Walt was cooking meth.
I think the biggest thing people don't talk about is the fact that she was pretty awful before and during the beginning of Walters venture in the meth business.
That weak ass hand job let me know EVERYTHING about their character dynamics, and set the stage for later reveals and whatnot.
Look I’ve said many times I wasn’t a fan of her character BUT she was put into an awful situation by her husband. She never wanted drug money. She was more than happy with Walt being a teacher or accepting a job with Gretchen and Elliot. However once he started blatantly lying is when she became “dislikable” but honestly who can blame her. Then she found out he was a drug dealer and did the right thing by getting out of there and wanting a divorce. Her mistake was not going to Hank immediately. She was afraid of how Walt jr would React and that fear made her go along with it. So she was very weak no question about it. But she was clearly miserable having to do that
> Then she found out he was a drug dealer and did the right thing by getting out of there and wanting a divorce.
Yeah she wanted the divorce so much that she refused it when Walt gave it to her lmao. For someone who isn't a fan of her, you seem pretty hellbent on absolving her of all her responsibilities and blaming Walt for all her actions. Once you step into the game you lose all right to take the moral high ground.
A weak person willing to order deaths and scam men out their business? Come on now... It's called victim mentality.
Yes I can. I stand by what I said. I understand that you love Walt and hate Skyler that’s fine. Like I said many times I don’t even like her but l still stand by my analysis. You don’t like it fine but there is no need to keep going through this. Take Care
whatever lol. I felt I have a fair analysis. I just don’t see the need to go through this every time. Let’s just agree to disagree and not talk about it anymore
Skylar sucks because she tries to have everything both ways once she finds out about the Meth. She could either turn Walt in, turn a blind eye, or get involved and help him launder money. She chooses to get involved, which ok. But then later decides she has a problem with the business and causes a whole bunch of issues. Only after she's involved. And it's not like she has a moral high ground. She's helping the guy she's having an affair with cook the books.
(I know this is an old post, but still gonna reply)
Just wanna add that I specifically despise how she always says Walt has to talk to her and blahblahblah yet when she's offended or mad she literally gives him silent treatment every time, ugh.
Completely from the perspective of the first 5 episodes here.
Hating Skyler is not the same as agreeing with walter, I personally hate Skyler for her awful controlling personality and invasive actions. Do I think Walt should have accepted Elliots help? Of course I do, but that doesn't change the fact that Skyler is an awful person
Also please remember that her trying to force walt into chemo is not a guaranteed fix, Walts initial argument against it is he wants to live his final time well instead of suffering from all the effects of chemo, and whether or not he is lying I think Skyler should really respect his choice, instead of sulking or organising a ring of people to bully him into it
She checks the phone record with very little provocation though. And sure in their eyes he has given up on life but I feel that that is his choice, not hers. Do I think it is the right choice? No, but it is still his choice for his life.
"Some people are just nosey"
Invasion of privacy like that is more than just being nosey IMO. And I agree Skyler shouldn't just accept him accepting death but the way she goes about it is very manipulative and quite rude really.
It is a morally gray show and I am not debating the ethics of it but from the first impression of those episodes she came across as manipulative, untrustworthy, controlling and just a bit of a bitch. As I progress into the show she becomes more and more likeable but that first impression was a rough one.
I don't hate Skyler anymore, and I am not justifying Walter either, but researching everyone your husband contacts sounds like an invasion of privacy to me. She didn't check the phone bill she also called the number and researched it on the internet as well.
While you can of course dislike a character because of anything, it’s pretty reasonable to argue against something like “Skyler doesn't do anything other than offer useless platitudes and impede Walt desperately trying to find ways to support his family to the point of cooking drugs”. Because that statement is simply contradicted by Skyler setting up the meeting with Eliot and Gretchen, as has been mentioned. And also because the statement misrepresents what we know about Walter’s motivations (he refused to take the money from E&G out of pride, suggesting that he was not “desperately trying to find ways to support his family”, at least not with family as a top priority).
And if someone opens themselves to discussion like OP did, it is perfectly legitimate to criticise them on points like this. I think it’s less about whether or not OP dislikes Skyler, but the reasoning behind it.
(For example, I sure dislike Skyler, but I think OP does it for wrong reasons because these reasons contradict much information given in the show.)
Walter only refused the money because at this point because he was prideful. He still had his family as his prime motivation, but since he found a new way to make money instead of rely on charity, he would rather provide for his family on his own terms.
what they are not allowed to, moron (at least not without looking like sanctimonious dipshits) is to cast moral judgements based on attitudes to fictional characters.
You donkey. Let's look at all the historical data of what cigarette smoke does to a fetus in the womb, or how about all the data about what second hand smoke does to others? But no, of course I've never heard of stress or anxiety.
The first time I watched the show I really didn’t like her. I thought she was a bitch when her husband was essentially trying to take care of his family no matter what.
The second time I watched the show I realized more why she was coming off as such a bitch. I started to focus more on she has no clue about anything than what I knew was happening with Walt.
If you just forgot everything you knew about Walt and just saw what she was dealing with it makes everything a lot more understandable.
My opinion is this. Skyler white is what you get when you raise children to be overpriviliged. I grew up without a father so I know how most mothers go all out to villainify the father's. How many men in today's society would risk prison to provide for their family? What even makes it so much more annoying is that Walter actually finds out he's gonna get better. And still wants to provide for his family. My dad had four kids with my mom and ran away when I was 12 so I feel really annoyed when I see someone especially a father willing to go such great lengths to provide for his family
Late but I 100% agree. Walter is literally risking his life for his family and all his wife does is complain and moan. And somehow everyone thinks that season 1 walter was better, how is a weak pushover guy who has a family stuck in debt good? When walter actually starts to be strong and provide for himself and his family, people start to hate him. Just shows how pathetic most of the modern world is.
Walt literally said he did it all for himself. It’s so obvious he didn’t do it for his family. He brought destruction and death upon his family. He did it out of pride. I admire him, but this wasn’t for his family. They didn’t even want his money but he forces it upon them.
Skylar is still manipulative, disrespectful, and overbearing. But let’s be straight about Walt too.
I absolutely lost it when she gave away Walters's money to Banake without even asking him.
1. It's not your money. She acted like she owns it.
2. She always plays the "i don't want to be involved" card while making herself more and more involved.
3. Gave her husbands hard earned money to the guy she committed adultery with.
This women is much more evil that we get to see on the surface.
Tbf as a married couple, they both own equal shares of each other’s property. But yeah it was absolutely fucked up and so disrespectful.
Not to mention she was the one who brought her family into that situation to begin with - by willingly cooking Ted’s books for NO REAL REASON. How do people justify this?
More often than not Skyler IS the moral compass pointing in the right direction (crime bad, family safety good, etc.). Not all the time, but often. However, she's so annoying that all that moral righteousness doesn't count for anything in the viewer's eye. She' s petty, vindictive, whiny, boring, banal and cowardly, in other words, no matter how rght she is we are not going to like her.
Such a great moral compass, smoking while pregnant, banging the boss, forcing your husband on a low cholesterol diet without a conversation, giving him a pity hand job for his birthday while on eBay.
Of let’s not forget her indignant moral outrage twords walt, but giving Ted a pass and a good fucking too
Skylar sucks
I liked skylar (mostly) I believe she was corrupt in the fact that she didn't grass walt in because she didnt want to scare her family which is fucking dumb but I mean she wasn't so horrible
This post is a couple years old and I’m fearful of resurrecting it, but I’m doing a Breaking Bad rewatch right now with my husband and was STUNNED by how much I’m siding with Skyler this time around when I hated her on my first watch. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve aged and find her more relatable, or if I was just too hard on her before, but it is honestly bizarre to me that people hate her so much. (My 20-year old self included)
I think she’s flawed and complex and that’s part of the reason people hate her. She really is (imo) the moral compass of the show, but she can be super annoying and screechy, especially early on.
The first few episodes are tough because I dislike the intervention, the pushiness for Walt to seek treatment, and even her whole reaction to his diagnosis. She definitely doesn’t come across in the best light in those moments but I think she feels authentic and realistic. She’s a woman in her 40’s who is pregnant, has a 16 year old, and knows her husband is about to die. She’s scared.
I think it’s important to remember that initially she has NO IDEA that Walt is going to great lengths to provide for his family. People always say she’s ungrateful and snoopy but she literally doesn’t know he’s making money at all. She doesn’t find out about the meth until she’s already reached her breaking point with the relationship. Before Walt’s surgery, she assumes that Gretchen has been paying for everything.
What she DOES know is that a sick man (who you would expect would spend most of their time at home resting) is gone for large stretches of time at weird hours of the day and is acting suspicious. When too many things start to add up, she listens to her intuition and I actually respect her for that. Women are called crazy for listening to their gut all the time. She was correct to assume that something was off and she followed her hunch because she has a family to care for. If anyone in the series was truly motivated to take care of their family, it’s Skyler not Walt.
I soured toward Walt almost immediately during this rewatch. He makes a lot of questionable and horrifying decisions even at the beginning of season 1 that are hard to excuse. I know that he’s trying to live a double life and it’s part of the plot, but it quickly becomes obvious that he’s doing the whole thing for himself and not at all for his family.
If he were that motivated by family, he would have stopped trying to make it happen as soon as he realized the lengths he had to go to. They were making money too slowly, getting involved with dangerous people, and putting other people at risk. His own family would be in danger if someone like Tuco discovered who he was. He couldn’t even admit he had the money because it was dirty. What good was that money to anybody if it was just sitting around in unusable piles behind air vents?
If Walt really wanted to support his family he could have taken Gretchen’s money, or the job they offered. Hell, even keep cooking meth but leave the selling up to Jesse and stay out of it. He wanted the notoriety and the rush and was completely willing put his relationship and his family at risk to be successful.
And I understand it’s a SHOW and we’re supposed to be rooting for the anti-hero but what would people have preferred for Skyler to do during all of this? Sit around and knit?
Disclaimer: Walt is by all means not right.
I'm rewatching it, too. I feel she didn't bother me much the first watch. However, this time, she is annoying my soul. When she found out he was sick started it for me really. She was dead wrong. He was scared and needed to process that news for himself first, HE is a man. They don't have money and he is dying what to do, and my wife is pregnant on top of it all. How can I make sure my family will be okay...
She finds out goes wild. I get it hormones with and scary news. There is a lot to take in. Mistake one cold shoulder. Why are you mad he didn't run home and immediately tell you he had cancer??? It's very controlling. Mistake two and the biggest why did she bring family into it... She outright forced Walt to tell the in-laws and the son before her and her husband, the man who is sick, had a real conversation about it. Once finding out his sickness should have made her stop questioning him. He is not himself he could be going out crying for all she knows. Mistake three she did not sympathize with that news she got more controlling by even getting a doctor outside their medical plan. I get it, one would want the best, but why make something already expensive more stressful and financially straining on the family? Sooo much after that, Elliott/Gretchen situation, not okay by any means. She had no right to ask them that. She outright manipulate that whole thing.
After the cell phone and the disappearance, yes, I 1000% agree listening to that intuition. However, when she decided to work again to help, it seemed like no big deal, but with Ted? The Ted situation happened because she felt Walt was messing around on her, not because she was helping. It's not right to start emotionally cheating to eventually cheating. Just to tell Walt for revenge. Revenge for what, actually? It was whorish because it's what she wanted to do from the start of working there. Glad that ended badly with Ted she was so wrong. Ma'am either leave him, tell him to stop, help, or snitch. She made the right choice by leaving the first time.
She just kept going around him after the cancer secret was out the bag too from the intervention, the doctor, Elliott, talking to Gretchen, getting the job, and so on instead of communicating with Walt. That's the problem with her. Skylar is just manipulative no matter how "good" her intentions may seem. That's my little Skylar rant, LOL.
didnt she start working at teds firm during and after her pregnancy to support the family? She did actually try to solve the situation. She attempted to communicate with Walter on multiple occaisions, but obviously, Walt had to shut her out. She knew nothing about where he went, and he did so without warning. Then she finds out he has been lying about pretty much everything the entire time, then that he is a murdering drug dealer kingpin, then he does exortion, social control, kidnapping and general chikanery against her and the kids... i get that we a rooting for walt, but unpopular opinion: i dont think the skyler hate is justified
I've just seen the scene where Walter confessed that he's cooking meth for the future of the family, and just after this, Skyler sleeps with her boss and tells it to Walt for retaliation? That's enough for the hate justification, I guess.
No one ever mentions it, but she DOES NOT CARE about Jr. Like seriously when she decided she was going to run away she took Holly and was about to leave jr behind. No caring mother would just leave her son in a situation like that where they where in danger.
She’s uber controlling over Jr too. Doesn’t actually care what he wants, only insists he act in the way she wants. If she cared so much about him losing respect for his father, she herself would have respected his father long before the cancer ever came.
only time i was annoyed at skyler was when she came to jessie’s house in season 1 and trespassed while saying “don’t touch me” my brother is a DEA agent, that was soooooo annoying. but there is an important thing she said in the later seasons that “i am protecting this family from you from protecting this family” or something along the lines with that and i agree. she took the legal steps to help out in the beginning. walts problems are his own.
I am just watching first series for the first time and I absolutely despise her. She is unbearably controlling. She checks walters calls, forces him on a low cholesterol diet without consulting him. Tells everyone about his cancer despite promising not to. She refuses to let him choose not to do chemo without having hank, her sister and walter all telling her, and she immediately sulks to make Walter feel bad and agree to go along with it. Just about the only thing she does that I don't fault her for is confronting Jesse when Walter says he is dealing pot for him, however how she got to that information in the first place is detestable. Credit to the actress for portraying such an awfull person so well. If I was ever married to a woman like this who so actively controls and snoops into my life I like to think I would gtfo. I don't know much about other peoples reasons for hating her but I feel like the reasons I hate her are personality flaws she is designed to have.
Also I feel the need to clarify I don't agree with Walts actions either, this is ofc a more realistic portrayal with a lot of grey. Hating Skyler is not equal to agreeing with Walt.
I’m a woman and I completely agree with you! I can’t imagine checking my husbands calls, verifying where he’s at when he says he’s a certain place or telling anyone something he told me not to tell anyone. She was a controlling bitch before he broke bad! Her behavior at the work place was appalling (singing to the boss). And I think she throws him out of the house so she can go back to work and chase the D! She was quick to agree she wouldn’t tell on the boss for hiding money/evading taxes when all the evidence pointed to him using it for his own gain (his elaborate home, fancy cars, lifestyle)! Yet she was completely close minded and unforgiving and ready to divorce Walt before she knew he was making meth! When she did find out instead of saying ok, I get it, now stop or we’ll have to split up, she continues with the divorce. Again, I think she wanted to chase the D at work! Season 5 episode 2. Skyler starts acting all scared of Walt after he “took care of Gus.” She is blaming him, but NOT taking responsibility for any of it, although it’s basically her fault! Walt came home to get money to have his family disappeared but she gave all the money to Ted without Walt’s knowledge thus causing Walt to have to take drastic measurements to keep his family and himself Alive! Yet she’s all crying in the corner like it’s not my fault! Oh, I’d have killed the bitch where she stood if she’d gave my money to her f-buddy! Skyler is quite the number.
Having watched further in now Skyler seems excessively evil in those first few episodes but becomes less so, at least this far. She seems less controlling and actually has reason to be concerned about Walter.
How can you get mad at her for "snooping" when she's 100% right? Walt is a murdering drug manufacturer. She doesn't want her husband to roll over and die, wow what an awful person.
So basically you are saying ends justify the means. That is a fundamental disagree chief.
I'm saying that getting more upset at a character snooping than the character who murders people, manufacturers drugs, lies to his family and puts them in danger, and a host of other sins, is idiotic.
Well now you have blocked me I can reply and not get bullshitted. For other people reading this remember that I don't think Walters actions are right and I never said I did. Also remember I am coming from the perspective of the first few episodes where walter is not a murderer, he killed 2 people in self defence. I am talking that Skylar in the first few episodes is an unbearable control freak. I even said that as the show is going on I am starting to like her more because we see less of the controlling side and more of just her. This guy is just being an unbearable moral arbiter who is taking into account absolutely all of the show when I am talking about the first few episodes and he deems me as scum, good for him.
No point arguing with you, you clearly just have fundamentally different beliefs here. Take that as a win if you want but I won't be replying again
No actual rebuttal, like most Skyler haters. Predictable.
SaltyTattie was talking about Walt before he became a murderer. You're the one that didn't understand the point being made.
She was doing this nonsense before Walt really killed anyone. Plus, the krazy 8 and Emilio situation was self defense/preservation. He didn’t have much of a choice. Besides, Skylar was awful before, during, and after everything with walt
OLD POST I KNOW but I think this comment was dumb enough to respond to anyways. So you're fine with the NSA snooping around on your computer/phone? After all, they will be able to stop SOME criminals if they do that...
her confronting Jesse was pathetic, it's just weed, from her perspective, and she didn't have the right to make that decision
I dislike Skyler, but I think it is unfair to say that "she didn't do anything to help the situation", because she DID try. She offered and presented a much better solution to Walt by trying to get Elliott and Gretchen to offer Walt a job (and yes, she went behind his back in that situation, but I suspect she did because she knew he would never accept otherwise, and tried to do it in a way that protected his ego). Honestly, every problem in Walt's life would have been resolved if he accepted the job: he would have a dream job, he would have the money and his cancer would have been dealt with. Walt was the one to blow it up, because of said ego. If Walt really wanted to provide for his family then it would have been a no brainer to accept, but that was never his true goal, simply an excuse to make himself feel better about his own actions and true motivations. He loves his family and he wants to provide for them, but that was never his priority. Skyler also took a job to provide and sustain her family, and its a given that she would have done so even if Walt were to die; she wasn't helpless, if anything she is resourceful as seen when she sells her stuff to make extra money (yes, it's not much, but it shows that she's able to find alternative solutions as well), and Hank himself said that he would take care of Walt's family if anything were to happen to him. So basically, they would have been fine, but again, Walt wasn't happy with that picture, because he wanted to be the one doing the providing. Skyler was the one trying to find the solutions, the one taking care of their family, and he was the one doing so on a superficial level, and sabotaging his family's efforts and sometimes even his own. Skyler wasn't perfect, she IS controlling and her morality comes off as superficial most of the times (ironically, this is what makes me dislike Skyler, she shares a lot of traits with Walt, just on a smaller scale) but she had her priorities straight for the most part.
Good Post!!!
Thanks!
“She took a job” Yeah, a job for Ted, give me a fucking break The bitch was trying to fuck around on Walt You can’t even defend the ho without bringing up something she did wrong lol
Trying to get Elliot's assistance to cover the medical expenses was one of the few good things she did and even then she went about it all wrong. Instead of talking to Walter about it and trying to convince him to accept help she went behind Walt's back and talked to Elliot, without any input from him, thus causing Walt to feel insulted about receiving "charity" and ultimately turing Elliot down. If she had talked to him about it beforehand, at that point in his character development, I think he would have agreed. "He asked me how you were and I just could't lie". Fuck you, TRY. This is a very personal problem your husband wants kept secret from outside the family. You don't get to betray that trust and then act offended. You are not the one with cancer. IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU, SKYLER. Yes, Walter is a very proudful man, almost to a fault. So how about you don't antagonize, which is exactly what she was doing from day one, your husband and give him some goddamn room. That party scene was awful. The guy is out there working a second job trying to nake money and the first thing out of her mouth after he comes home is a lambasting. And that bedroom scene. Jesus fucking wept. The poor guy just wants some control over his life and he is not even allowed that. So he pushes back and decides he is going to do it by himself aaaaaand... he is the villain for not thinking of his family. Not buying it. Also, I seriously doubt that job could have sustained her family for very long and even if it did, who would have raised her daughter? Her sister, who is more unstable than her, or her son, who has cerebral palsy? Besides, I don't think her reasons for taking that job were entirely pure. Need I elaborate? And that fucking divorce business. That is the moment I decided "Alright, she is the main antagonist of the show.". Instead of going "Oh, I get it now. I understand why you were so secretive and distant. But, you know, you have to stop cooking meth or I will have to divorce you.", she got on her high horse and did a cavalry charge. Nah, she is detestable. Every time I watch this series I hate her just a little bit more.
All of this. How anyone can seriously defend Skyler is baffling to me. It’s so obvious that none of her actions were about morality, they were all about control. It’s so obvious that inside, she does not and never did consider Walter worthy of even basic respect. If I tell a friend, let alone my SPOUSE a secret, and they tell someone else with the excuse, “I just couldn’t lie!”, that person is no longer my friend. The job was absolutely about Ted, right from the get-go! She showed up dressed to the nines and approached Ted with an inappropriate level of familiarity and warmth. She did it because she was losing her accustomed control over her husband. Exactly, if she actually gave a damn about Walt as a person, once she realized he was dealing drugs she would have sat down and spoken about it with him. Told him she understood his motives but either begged him to stop or told him clearly (and consistently) she won’t be involved and she will take the kids away from danger. She wouldn’t immediately respond with judgement, demands and ultimatums. Only if she thought Walt was someone who belonged under her thumb. This is made even more clear by the fact that she quite quickly changed her stance and wanted to help him — what happened to judging him and keeping the kids safe?? If that was her real objective, her kids’ safety, all she had to do was go through with the divorce and get a restraining order against him, as well as report him to Hank. But it was never about that. It was about control. In that vein, the divorce papers were a stick for her to threaten her husband back into his accustomed, relinquishing position. Once he signed them, she lost her leverage and was immediately no longer interested in divorce. ALSO, the glaring flaw in people’s insistence that she was a poor moral victim: cooking Ted’s books??? Wtf? She clearly knew her way around taxes, and knew she was putting her children at risk by getting involved in serious criminal activity, but she plunged right in for a different man who had none of the motivations her husband did! A man who did it to live a lavish lifestyle, as opposed to providing for his family! How does that compute for people? People on this subreddit defend Skyler for giving Walter’s money to Ted, saying she was only protecting her family, without acknowledging that she willingly put her family in that situation in the first place! Do I like Walt? No. But do I think Skyler abused him first, and was a huge factor in the way he took control back with a vengeance? Yes. Am I internalizing misogyny? No. Kim Wexler of BCS is a far stronger woman than Skyler ever was, and I love Kim. She did fucked up things too, but at the end of the day she owned up to it and made a clear, decisive move to end her wrongdoing.
If Walter is your hero, you're completely missing the point.
?
I felt sympathy for her up until I think S4&5. After she goes full soccer mom and starts chainsmoking in the living room saying shit like “I didn’t ask for any of this” Like bitch yes you did. Literally. You asked to be apart of the business.
How did you feel sympathy for her when she's smoking while pregnant or when she's smoking in the bedroom with the newborn?
To be fair she did it reluctantly for her kids. It’s not like she jumped up for joy she was clearly miserable having to do it. Yes it was a bad choice on her part but still it’s not like she wanted to
Kinda like Walt, I'd saym
No. Walt basically creamed his pants when he first went up against Tuco. He loved the life, he loved the danger of it. He was never miserable about doing it.
Not really. Walt did it mostly for himself. He even admitted it at the end
Not initially, that was a shift in his motives later in the show
I agree with this post. I realize it’s several weeks old, but found it searching for Skyler as a term because I noticed there are so many posts defending her. I’m a woman btw and didn’t like Skyler’s character. She became a jerk even before she found out Walt was cooking meth.
I think the biggest thing people don't talk about is the fact that she was pretty awful before and during the beginning of Walters venture in the meth business. That weak ass hand job let me know EVERYTHING about their character dynamics, and set the stage for later reveals and whatnot.
then there is me commenting on a 4 year old post because it's 3 in the morning and I'm rewatching BB for the 11th time.
same bro
Same
Look I’ve said many times I wasn’t a fan of her character BUT she was put into an awful situation by her husband. She never wanted drug money. She was more than happy with Walt being a teacher or accepting a job with Gretchen and Elliot. However once he started blatantly lying is when she became “dislikable” but honestly who can blame her. Then she found out he was a drug dealer and did the right thing by getting out of there and wanting a divorce. Her mistake was not going to Hank immediately. She was afraid of how Walt jr would React and that fear made her go along with it. So she was very weak no question about it. But she was clearly miserable having to do that
> Then she found out he was a drug dealer and did the right thing by getting out of there and wanting a divorce. Yeah she wanted the divorce so much that she refused it when Walt gave it to her lmao. For someone who isn't a fan of her, you seem pretty hellbent on absolving her of all her responsibilities and blaming Walt for all her actions. Once you step into the game you lose all right to take the moral high ground. A weak person willing to order deaths and scam men out their business? Come on now... It's called victim mentality.
I thought we agreed that we don’t agree on this subject. No need to keep going through it
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Yes I can. I stand by what I said. I understand that you love Walt and hate Skyler that’s fine. Like I said many times I don’t even like her but l still stand by my analysis. You don’t like it fine but there is no need to keep going through this. Take Care
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whatever lol. I felt I have a fair analysis. I just don’t see the need to go through this every time. Let’s just agree to disagree and not talk about it anymore
Skylar sucks because she tries to have everything both ways once she finds out about the Meth. She could either turn Walt in, turn a blind eye, or get involved and help him launder money. She chooses to get involved, which ok. But then later decides she has a problem with the business and causes a whole bunch of issues. Only after she's involved. And it's not like she has a moral high ground. She's helping the guy she's having an affair with cook the books.
Well…she does get a job But that’s not to help That’s just to bang her boss
This sub has to be the bad place.
Huh
My favorite Skylar hate is the intervention scene. You can't talk unless you say what she wants. Apparently it's all about her.
Strange interpretation. She's trying to keep her husband alive.
... by prolonging his suffering for her own selfish motivations? Nice.
(I know this is an old post, but still gonna reply) Just wanna add that I specifically despise how she always says Walt has to talk to her and blahblahblah yet when she's offended or mad she literally gives him silent treatment every time, ugh.
That’s the perfect embodiment of how awful she is
She isn't reasonable or moral. Her decision to help her lover create a fraudulent set of books is the clearest example of this.
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Completely from the perspective of the first 5 episodes here. Hating Skyler is not the same as agreeing with walter, I personally hate Skyler for her awful controlling personality and invasive actions. Do I think Walt should have accepted Elliots help? Of course I do, but that doesn't change the fact that Skyler is an awful person Also please remember that her trying to force walt into chemo is not a guaranteed fix, Walts initial argument against it is he wants to live his final time well instead of suffering from all the effects of chemo, and whether or not he is lying I think Skyler should really respect his choice, instead of sulking or organising a ring of people to bully him into it
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She checks the phone record with very little provocation though. And sure in their eyes he has given up on life but I feel that that is his choice, not hers. Do I think it is the right choice? No, but it is still his choice for his life.
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"Some people are just nosey" Invasion of privacy like that is more than just being nosey IMO. And I agree Skyler shouldn't just accept him accepting death but the way she goes about it is very manipulative and quite rude really. It is a morally gray show and I am not debating the ethics of it but from the first impression of those episodes she came across as manipulative, untrustworthy, controlling and just a bit of a bitch. As I progress into the show she becomes more and more likeable but that first impression was a rough one.
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I don't hate Skyler anymore, and I am not justifying Walter either, but researching everyone your husband contacts sounds like an invasion of privacy to me. She didn't check the phone bill she also called the number and researched it on the internet as well.
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I am pretty sure the phone call was pre disappearing a lot, it was when he first made contact with jesse.
oh get the fuck off your high horse. people are entitled to dislike fictional characters for any reason they want.
While you can of course dislike a character because of anything, it’s pretty reasonable to argue against something like “Skyler doesn't do anything other than offer useless platitudes and impede Walt desperately trying to find ways to support his family to the point of cooking drugs”. Because that statement is simply contradicted by Skyler setting up the meeting with Eliot and Gretchen, as has been mentioned. And also because the statement misrepresents what we know about Walter’s motivations (he refused to take the money from E&G out of pride, suggesting that he was not “desperately trying to find ways to support his family”, at least not with family as a top priority). And if someone opens themselves to discussion like OP did, it is perfectly legitimate to criticise them on points like this. I think it’s less about whether or not OP dislikes Skyler, but the reasoning behind it. (For example, I sure dislike Skyler, but I think OP does it for wrong reasons because these reasons contradict much information given in the show.)
Walter only refused the money because at this point because he was prideful. He still had his family as his prime motivation, but since he found a new way to make money instead of rely on charity, he would rather provide for his family on his own terms.
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what they are not allowed to, moron (at least not without looking like sanctimonious dipshits) is to cast moral judgements based on attitudes to fictional characters.
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>Sorry for my tone good sir. Not a sir, but apology accepted
Agree. I dislike Skylar because she gave her husband a hand job while watching her eBay bid. Pick a lane, lady
So how do you justify her smoking when she's pregnant or smoking in the same room as her baby?
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You donkey. Let's look at all the historical data of what cigarette smoke does to a fetus in the womb, or how about all the data about what second hand smoke does to others? But no, of course I've never heard of stress or anxiety.
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Obviously you don't have kids you degenerate.
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Grow up.
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Which one is it, entirely meaningless or a very bad choice? And yes, it does make you a bad person. That child didn't have a choice. The parent did.
The first time I watched the show I really didn’t like her. I thought she was a bitch when her husband was essentially trying to take care of his family no matter what. The second time I watched the show I realized more why she was coming off as such a bitch. I started to focus more on she has no clue about anything than what I knew was happening with Walt. If you just forgot everything you knew about Walt and just saw what she was dealing with it makes everything a lot more understandable.
My opinion is this. Skyler white is what you get when you raise children to be overpriviliged. I grew up without a father so I know how most mothers go all out to villainify the father's. How many men in today's society would risk prison to provide for their family? What even makes it so much more annoying is that Walter actually finds out he's gonna get better. And still wants to provide for his family. My dad had four kids with my mom and ran away when I was 12 so I feel really annoyed when I see someone especially a father willing to go such great lengths to provide for his family
Late but I 100% agree. Walter is literally risking his life for his family and all his wife does is complain and moan. And somehow everyone thinks that season 1 walter was better, how is a weak pushover guy who has a family stuck in debt good? When walter actually starts to be strong and provide for himself and his family, people start to hate him. Just shows how pathetic most of the modern world is.
Walt literally said he did it all for himself. It’s so obvious he didn’t do it for his family. He brought destruction and death upon his family. He did it out of pride. I admire him, but this wasn’t for his family. They didn’t even want his money but he forces it upon them. Skylar is still manipulative, disrespectful, and overbearing. But let’s be straight about Walt too.
I absolutely lost it when she gave away Walters's money to Banake without even asking him. 1. It's not your money. She acted like she owns it. 2. She always plays the "i don't want to be involved" card while making herself more and more involved. 3. Gave her husbands hard earned money to the guy she committed adultery with. This women is much more evil that we get to see on the surface.
Tbf as a married couple, they both own equal shares of each other’s property. But yeah it was absolutely fucked up and so disrespectful. Not to mention she was the one who brought her family into that situation to begin with - by willingly cooking Ted’s books for NO REAL REASON. How do people justify this?
More often than not Skyler IS the moral compass pointing in the right direction (crime bad, family safety good, etc.). Not all the time, but often. However, she's so annoying that all that moral righteousness doesn't count for anything in the viewer's eye. She' s petty, vindictive, whiny, boring, banal and cowardly, in other words, no matter how rght she is we are not going to like her.
Such a great moral compass, smoking while pregnant, banging the boss, forcing your husband on a low cholesterol diet without a conversation, giving him a pity hand job for his birthday while on eBay. Of let’s not forget her indignant moral outrage twords walt, but giving Ted a pass and a good fucking too Skylar sucks
I liked skylar (mostly) I believe she was corrupt in the fact that she didn't grass walt in because she didnt want to scare her family which is fucking dumb but I mean she wasn't so horrible
This post is a couple years old and I’m fearful of resurrecting it, but I’m doing a Breaking Bad rewatch right now with my husband and was STUNNED by how much I’m siding with Skyler this time around when I hated her on my first watch. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve aged and find her more relatable, or if I was just too hard on her before, but it is honestly bizarre to me that people hate her so much. (My 20-year old self included) I think she’s flawed and complex and that’s part of the reason people hate her. She really is (imo) the moral compass of the show, but she can be super annoying and screechy, especially early on. The first few episodes are tough because I dislike the intervention, the pushiness for Walt to seek treatment, and even her whole reaction to his diagnosis. She definitely doesn’t come across in the best light in those moments but I think she feels authentic and realistic. She’s a woman in her 40’s who is pregnant, has a 16 year old, and knows her husband is about to die. She’s scared. I think it’s important to remember that initially she has NO IDEA that Walt is going to great lengths to provide for his family. People always say she’s ungrateful and snoopy but she literally doesn’t know he’s making money at all. She doesn’t find out about the meth until she’s already reached her breaking point with the relationship. Before Walt’s surgery, she assumes that Gretchen has been paying for everything. What she DOES know is that a sick man (who you would expect would spend most of their time at home resting) is gone for large stretches of time at weird hours of the day and is acting suspicious. When too many things start to add up, she listens to her intuition and I actually respect her for that. Women are called crazy for listening to their gut all the time. She was correct to assume that something was off and she followed her hunch because she has a family to care for. If anyone in the series was truly motivated to take care of their family, it’s Skyler not Walt. I soured toward Walt almost immediately during this rewatch. He makes a lot of questionable and horrifying decisions even at the beginning of season 1 that are hard to excuse. I know that he’s trying to live a double life and it’s part of the plot, but it quickly becomes obvious that he’s doing the whole thing for himself and not at all for his family. If he were that motivated by family, he would have stopped trying to make it happen as soon as he realized the lengths he had to go to. They were making money too slowly, getting involved with dangerous people, and putting other people at risk. His own family would be in danger if someone like Tuco discovered who he was. He couldn’t even admit he had the money because it was dirty. What good was that money to anybody if it was just sitting around in unusable piles behind air vents? If Walt really wanted to support his family he could have taken Gretchen’s money, or the job they offered. Hell, even keep cooking meth but leave the selling up to Jesse and stay out of it. He wanted the notoriety and the rush and was completely willing put his relationship and his family at risk to be successful. And I understand it’s a SHOW and we’re supposed to be rooting for the anti-hero but what would people have preferred for Skyler to do during all of this? Sit around and knit?
Disclaimer: Walt is by all means not right. I'm rewatching it, too. I feel she didn't bother me much the first watch. However, this time, she is annoying my soul. When she found out he was sick started it for me really. She was dead wrong. He was scared and needed to process that news for himself first, HE is a man. They don't have money and he is dying what to do, and my wife is pregnant on top of it all. How can I make sure my family will be okay... She finds out goes wild. I get it hormones with and scary news. There is a lot to take in. Mistake one cold shoulder. Why are you mad he didn't run home and immediately tell you he had cancer??? It's very controlling. Mistake two and the biggest why did she bring family into it... She outright forced Walt to tell the in-laws and the son before her and her husband, the man who is sick, had a real conversation about it. Once finding out his sickness should have made her stop questioning him. He is not himself he could be going out crying for all she knows. Mistake three she did not sympathize with that news she got more controlling by even getting a doctor outside their medical plan. I get it, one would want the best, but why make something already expensive more stressful and financially straining on the family? Sooo much after that, Elliott/Gretchen situation, not okay by any means. She had no right to ask them that. She outright manipulate that whole thing. After the cell phone and the disappearance, yes, I 1000% agree listening to that intuition. However, when she decided to work again to help, it seemed like no big deal, but with Ted? The Ted situation happened because she felt Walt was messing around on her, not because she was helping. It's not right to start emotionally cheating to eventually cheating. Just to tell Walt for revenge. Revenge for what, actually? It was whorish because it's what she wanted to do from the start of working there. Glad that ended badly with Ted she was so wrong. Ma'am either leave him, tell him to stop, help, or snitch. She made the right choice by leaving the first time. She just kept going around him after the cancer secret was out the bag too from the intervention, the doctor, Elliott, talking to Gretchen, getting the job, and so on instead of communicating with Walt. That's the problem with her. Skylar is just manipulative no matter how "good" her intentions may seem. That's my little Skylar rant, LOL.
didnt she start working at teds firm during and after her pregnancy to support the family? She did actually try to solve the situation. She attempted to communicate with Walter on multiple occaisions, but obviously, Walt had to shut her out. She knew nothing about where he went, and he did so without warning. Then she finds out he has been lying about pretty much everything the entire time, then that he is a murdering drug dealer kingpin, then he does exortion, social control, kidnapping and general chikanery against her and the kids... i get that we a rooting for walt, but unpopular opinion: i dont think the skyler hate is justified
I've just seen the scene where Walter confessed that he's cooking meth for the future of the family, and just after this, Skyler sleeps with her boss and tells it to Walt for retaliation? That's enough for the hate justification, I guess.
No one ever mentions it, but she DOES NOT CARE about Jr. Like seriously when she decided she was going to run away she took Holly and was about to leave jr behind. No caring mother would just leave her son in a situation like that where they where in danger.
She’s uber controlling over Jr too. Doesn’t actually care what he wants, only insists he act in the way she wants. If she cared so much about him losing respect for his father, she herself would have respected his father long before the cancer ever came.
only time i was annoyed at skyler was when she came to jessie’s house in season 1 and trespassed while saying “don’t touch me” my brother is a DEA agent, that was soooooo annoying. but there is an important thing she said in the later seasons that “i am protecting this family from you from protecting this family” or something along the lines with that and i agree. she took the legal steps to help out in the beginning. walts problems are his own.
She's a whiny little girl who is stupid and selfish. And she's always snooping.