Countdown to Breaking Bad!!!

[globetrotter]



That was in Ep 1, wasn't it? I mean, before he cooked his first batch of meth, and just seemed like a ***** whipped, broken spirited, poor teacher working an extra job at an eff'ing car wash to keep a roof over his family's head. So basically she was quite a condescending ***** prior to anything breaking bad.

Yeah she had a lot in making Walt what he is. He is really very Alfa now- he is willing to do all sorts of stupid **** to establish his dominance, and that strikes me as being pent up over years of being ***** whipped

 

[Joffrey]

Lol thanks for the reminders guys. The $650K thing I didn't forget. Who was the 2nd man she slept with?

 

[Piobaire]

Here's something I've never 100% had a handle on: why did Walt leave the company he co-founded? Was it over the chic? Over Skylar?

 

[globetrotter]



Here's something I've never 100% had a handle on: why did Walt leave the company he co-founded? Was it over the chic? Over Skylar?

You can bet your ass it was because skylar was pregnant with junior and wanted him to have a more stable job

 

[Teacher]



You can bet your ass it was because skylar was pregnant with junior and wanted him to have a more stable job

Those were the base reasons, though I don't know if it was Skylar pushing him or his anxiety over financial stability (it was just a startup at that point).

 

[idfnl]



Those were the base reasons, though I don't know if it was Skylar pushing him or his anxiety over financial stability (it was just a startup at that point).

My recollection is that the other partner screwed Walt over. Seems to feed his need to succeed at this.

 

[globetrotter]



My recollection is that the other partner screwed Walt over. Seems to feed his need to succeed at this.

I think that is how he remembered it, but it was more like the other guys ha a little money to invest and he didn't

 

[idfnl]



I think that is how he remembered it, but it was more like the other guys ha a little money to invest and he didn't

Still, at some point that guy cut him out.

 

[Piobaire]

LOL. I found a BB wiki:

http://breakingbad.wikia.com/wiki/Walter_White

Walter studied at Caltech with Elliott Schwartz, where he was a brilliant chemist who specialized in crystallography ("Gray Matter").

In 1985, Walt's groundbreaking research regarding photon radiography contributed to a project that was awarded the Nobel Prize ("Pilot").

He went on to co-found Gray Matter Technologies with his friend, Elliott Schwartz. At this time, he was dating his female lab assistant, Gretchen ("...and the Bag's in the River"). For reasons not yet explained, Walter suddenly left Gretchen during a vacation with her family, leaving her and his research behind ("Peekaboo").

Gretchen eventually went on to marry Elliot instead, and Gray Matter became a highly successful company using Walter's research. Walter secretly feels that his work was stolen from him and bitterly blames Elliott and Gretchen for his lot in life, although the truth to his claim has not yet been verified.

Around 20 years ago, Walt worked in Application Labs. ("Cancer Man")

He also worked in a chemical lab near Los Alamos, and met Skyler, a hostess at that time, in a restaurant. ("Cancer Man")

He moved to Albuquerque to work for Sandia Laboratories just prior to his firstborn ("Full Measure").

Walt eventually went on to become a chemistry teacher at JP Wynne High School where his son, Walt Jr., also attends as a student. Financially, this job was not enough to support his family, so Walt took on a second job at a local car wash.

So we don't really know why he left Gray Matter but there was obviously money as he won a Nobel.

 

[Gradstudent78]



So we don't really know why he left Gray Matter but there was obviously money as he won a Nobel.

He did work that contributed to a team winning a nobel, he didn't necessarily win anything or receive any money.

 

[Piobaire]

So we don't really know why he left Gray Matter but there was obviously money as he won a Nobel.

He did work that contributed to a team winning a nobel, he didn't necessarily win anything or receive any money.

So your contention is he either was not part of the team that used his "ground breaking research", or he was a member of the team, and the fellow that contributed the "ground breaking research" was cut out of the prize money? I'm going to contend that the guy that did the ground breaking research was part of the team and the team did not cut him out of the prize money.

Whatever happened that made him leave Gray matter and become a bitter under achiever happened post-1985 I'm going to go with my scenario until proven wrong. It is TV-land, so maybe you're right, but it doesn't fit with the character time line.

Now, in 2008, Gray Matter was nominated for one and Walt's research might have been part of that but Walt definitely was not.

 

[John Doe]

Didn't they win the Nobel Prize after Walt left? I don't think he was cut out, he just left right before they hit it big and he resented that because his work contributed to the success, however he left at the wrong time. He realized his mistake in timing and just twisted it in his mind that he had somehow been wronged.

 

[Piobaire]



Didn't they win the Nobel Prize after Walt left?

The wiki is saying there was a win in 1985 and then a nomination for Gray Matter in 2008.

 

[Gradstudent78]



So your contention is he either was not part of the team that used his "ground breaking research", or he was a member of the team, and the fellow that contributed the "ground breaking research" was cut out of the prize money? I'm going to contend that the guy that did the ground breaking research was part of the team and the team did not cut him out of the prize money.
Whatever happened that made him leave Gray matter and become a bitter under achiever happened post-1985 I'm going to go with my scenario until proven wrong. It is TV-land, so maybe you're right, but it doesn't fit with the character time line.
Now, in 2008, Gray Matter was nominated for one and Walt's research might have been part of that but Walt definitely was not.

As far as I know, the only thing linking him in the show to a nobel prize is a plaque on his wall thanking him for contributions to work that was awarded a nobel prize (I'm not even sure ground breaking is used in reference to that particular work). He very well could have worked in a lab doing graduate or post doc work where whoever was running the lab received a nobel prize in chemistry for the work being done there (In which case whoever the laureate was received the money and Walter got a plaque). In the context of the show it might even make sense for his contribution to be underrecognized (contributing to his need for power/recognition now). Really though, we don't have much information to work with.

 

[Piobaire]

So your contention is he either was not part of the team that used his "ground breaking research", or he was a member of the team, and the fellow that contributed the "ground breaking research" was cut out of the prize money? I'm going to contend that the guy that did the ground breaking research was part of the team and the team did not cut him out of the prize money.
Whatever happened that made him leave Gray matter and become a bitter under achiever happened post-1985 I'm going to go with my scenario until proven wrong. It is TV-land, so maybe you're right, but it doesn't fit with the character time line.
Now, in 2008, Gray Matter was nominated for one and Walt's research might have been part of that but Walt definitely was not.

As far as I know, the only thing linking him in the show to a nobel prize is a plaque on his wall thanking him for contributions to work that was awarded a nobel prize (I'm not even sure ground breaking is used in reference to that particular work). He very well could have worked in a lab doing graduate or post doc work where whoever was running the lab received a nobel prize in chemistry for the work being done there (In which case whoever the laureate was received the money and Walter got a plaque). In the context of the show it might even make sense for his contribution to be underrecognized (contributing to his need for power/recognition now). Really though, we don't have much information to work with.

You make great points here, and are right, we don't have a lot of info to go on.