Anyone else rewatching breaking bad?

[Anonymous]

I never realized... if they were struggling so bad even before Walt got sick, why didn’t Skyler have a job? I mean, junior was in high school so it’s not like she couldn’t have gone back to work. We find out Walt makes $46k a year... barring any major difficulties, she should have had a full time job, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never realized... if they were struggling so bad even before Walt got sick, why didn’t Skyler have a job? I mean, junior was in high school so it’s not like she couldn’t have gone back to work. We find out Walt makes $46k a year... barring any major difficulties, she should have had a full time job, no?

Didn’t they have a 6 month old baby? Maybe that’s why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never realized... if they were struggling so bad even before Walt got sick, why didn’t Skyler have a job? I mean, junior was in high school so it’s not like she couldn’t have gone back to work. We find out Walt makes $46k a year... barring any major difficulties, she should have had a full time job, no?

Didn’t they have a 6 month old baby? Maybe that’s why?

She was pregnant when the series started. Holly isn’t born until he end of season 2.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

So funny. I am re-watching Breaking Bad. I love that show and I am picking up on so many different aspects than the first time around. I dont have insight as to why she didn't have a job before her baby was born.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never realized... if they were struggling so bad even before Walt got sick, why didn’t Skyler have a job? I mean, junior was in high school so it’s not like she couldn’t have gone back to work. We find out Walt makes $46k a year... barring any major difficulties, she should have had a full time job, no?

Didn’t they have a 6 month old baby? Maybe that’s why?

She was pregnant when the series started. Holly isn’t born until he end of season 2.

And it was pretty clear that she had been out of the workforce for a while.

[Anonymous]

On re-watch I couldn’t believe how awful Walt was. I just always was hoping he had some good in him. I should have taken the series title to heart. But just a great series and that’s not my type at all.

[Anonymous]

I agree. Also on re-watch, I am seeing the good in Pinkman. The chemistry between him and Mr. White is amazing in the beginning.

[Anonymous]

Walt Jr. has cerebral palsy, maybe she was caring for him, so couldn’t work. Then got pregnant with Holly.

Skyler also had her side hustle of selling chotchkes on eBay.

[Anonymous]

When Skyler was pregnant with Walt Jr., Walt Sr. was working for a lab and making good money by their standards. When they bought the house while Skyler was pregnant, Walt had actually wanted to get a bigger house because he was doing so well. At some point he left that job, though, and started teaching instead (at a much lower salary), which is when Skyler started doing little side jobs like the ebay selling to make extra money. Given that they had a child with significant special needs at that point, Skyler probably wasn't in a position to go back to work in a meaningful capacity, between the time needed for Walt Jr.'s likely therapies and the difficulty finding a daycare that can properly care for a child with his special needs. At some point in there she did work for Beneke as a bookkeeper, but then left after Ted made a pass at her. Walt only got the second job at the car wash after Skyler got pregnant with Holly, so while things were tight, they were probably making ends meet on his income and her side work before then.

I don't find it unrealistic at all that Skyler wouldn't be working outside the home under those circumstances. At any given time, it probably felt like they just needed to get over the financial hurdle right in front of them (just pay for the new hot water heater, just pay for this new set of crutches for Walt Jr., etc.), and then they'd be able to breath a little easier. When you think you're just about to get past the worst of it, it's easy to justify maintaining the status quo rather than upheaving everything for the non-working spouse to get a job. Plus there's the question of how much Skyler would realistically make if she did given her limited work experience -- remember that when she finally did decide to go back to work, she went back to Ted Beneke (despite having left previously over his inappropriate advances) because that was her best chance at getting a job.

[Anonymous]

Walt jr was in high school and we never see any indication of him needing very high levels of care different from and other teen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Walt jr was in high school and we never see any indication of him needing very high levels of care different from and other teen.

So you missed the crutches, the motor control issues, and the speech difficulties? And that was probably after lots of therapies when he was younger.

[Anonymous]

Walt jr was in high school and we never see any indication of him needing very high levels of care different from and other teen.

Things can be assumed to be happening off screen that don't advance the plot. We never see Skyler take a dump or play Words with Friends on her phone, but it's reasonable to assume those things might happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Walt jr was in high school and we never see any indication of him needing very high levels of care different from and other teen.

Things can be assumed to be happening off screen that don't advance the plot. We never see Skyler take a dump or play Words with Friends on her phone, but it's reasonable to assume those things might happen.

We could also assume baby holly is the Night Stalker but that wouldn’t be logical in the context of the show. We know Jr goes to and from school with his friend, comes home and hangs out in his room. I feel like if he was getting 2-3x a week treatments/therapies... it would have been mentioned at least once in the course of several seasons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walt jr was in high school and we never see any indication of him needing very high levels of care different from and other teen.

So you missed the crutches, the motor control issues, and the speech difficulties? And that was probably after lots of therapies when he was younger.

I’m sure he would have had a lot of therapy when he was younger. Doesn’t change the fact that at the start of the show, he wasn’t requiring a full time caregiver. He could have bi weekly PT... skyler could still hold a job especially since it seems like they were pretty bad off financially to begin with