Among the most common sources of discussion when it comes to Breaking Bad is the topic
of when Heisenberg “took over” Walter White.
People tend to cite Walt poisoning Brock, or choosing not to save Jane’s life, or
the stay out of my territory scene, or the Tuco confrontation, or even in some cases
as far back as him killing Domingo or merely learning about his diagnosis as the quote
unquote moment where Walter White stopped being the scared, submissive and bitter but
model family man and started being the unrelenting kingpin.
And the variety when it comes to peoples’ perceptions of when Heisenberg overtook Walt
is understandable given how careful and gradual the evolution is - personally I think you
can argue a large number of those moments as being THE moment, if that’s a discussion
that you’re interested in.
But something that I find strange about those topics is that often, though not always of
course, the complexion of that debate revolves around the idea that Walter White and Heisenberg
are two fundamentally different people.
That there is a moment where Walter White became no more and Heisenberg was all that
was left.
And while I don’t one hundred percent disagree with that sentiment, for me it only works
on the basis of the idea that Heisenberg represents the power hungry, darker side of Walt’s
personality and not a completely different personality - though certainly not in a situation
where Walter White became no more.
Because in my opinion, the original Walter White never disappeared throughout the entirety
of the story and the idea that Heisenberg is a separate entity is fundamentally flawed.
Because Heisenberg is the reaction - the response to a death sentence and the subsequent grasp
of power and call to action to start living his life in what he views as the proper way.
He wouldn’t have started acting this way if he didn’t hold that ambition in the first
place, and he wouldn’t have continued to act that way if he wasn’t feeding the ego
that had been starving for ages.
From the very beginning, Walt was full of ambition.
It’s only when life began taking its toll that he withered into this husk, but the key
components of Heisenberg were there years and years before that cancer diagnosis.
In searching for the ideal house for their family, Walt shows enormous ambition and confidence,
viewing the place that ended up being their home for more than 16 years as a starter house.
Them growing to accept the house as their long-term one is an indicator of Walt possibly
growing to love it.. but it’s also symbolic of his ambition being overburdened by reality.
Here he’s bright, idealistic, enthusiastic and hopeful about the future - a far cry from
what we see of him later on, in a time before he was burned and found himself dwindling
into a run down life that he never felt in control of.
It’s pretty sad to see the contrast.
He didn’t want to settle and he didn’t initially like this house because in different
words, he viewed it as a half measure.
And yet he went with it.
As such, this house can be viewed as representation of a life that never really fulfilled him
or gave him holistic joy.
But a shift in mentality can be such an enabler.
After he learns about his cancer, he starts choosing full measures, completely in control
of who he is.
And though he occasionally despairs at the person he is turning into, he actively makes
very Walter-White-esque decisions to suit his Walter-White-esque needs every step of
the way as he fills the shoes of Heisenberg.
They aren’t decisions he would have made before, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t
decisions that he wouldn’t have made at all.
While Walter was feeble, Heisenberg is strong.
Walter would stumble, run away and lose heart, and Heisenberg is decisive.
Walter had no control over anything, and Heisenberg embodies control.
And Walter describes himself as trapped, while Heisenberg is liberated.
Nearly everything Heisenberg is is the exact opposite of Walter White pre-diagnosis, with
the core similarity being that key desire to have power and prove himself.
The main difference between them is that Walter never reached out and grabbed any opportunity
to take control of his life, while Heisenberg is a Walter hooked on authority and control.
And with the two being so diametrically opposite, how can you not say that they are the same
person?
That may seem like a strange thing for me to say, but in this case that contrast is
very telling.
Oftentimes, people find themselves too scared to become the person they really want to be.
But given the stimulus, human beings will often act in the way they desire if they are
able and fulfill dreams they always wanted to fulfill.
And those dreams can very often manifest in ways that seem to contradict our current position
in one way or another.
We are often one step away from becoming very different people - whether that be a good
or bad thing.
And all it takes sometimes is to abandon that hesitation and leap forward.
As I discussed in my previous video about the infamous “I am the one who Knocks”
speech where I touched on this same idea, throughout the series, he always had that
ambition, he was always petty and always wanted to prove himself.
He does at the beginning, and he still does very close to the end.
The reason that Heisenberg continues to go full throttle far past the point of no return
is NOT because of the absense of Walter White within him.
It is because of the presence of Walter White within him.
Walt and Heisenberg are built upon the same foundation.
They act very differently but they are indistinguishable in terms of identity and formed from the same
motives and ideals.
Of course, the sociopathic and dark side of Heisenberg is very different from what those
who knew Walt had come to expect, and that aspect of him did completely change.
But that prideful core, that part of himself that only he was really aware of at first,
gave rise to both a trapped, scared and submissive man resentful of the fact that he couldn’t
take control who only came to fester even more pride as a result, and a dominant, fearful
and insatiable drug lord consistently gratified yes unsatisfied with his ramping success.
Heisenberg is essentially just the symbolic persona of a Walter White who has taken control
and is living out his power fantasy to sort of make up and compensate for the doldrums
of his former life, and I think that the idea that he just faded away and ceased to exist
is a pretty big misinterpretation of exactly who and what this monster really is.
He’s a manifestation of all of the pent up feelings and resentment that had been building
over 50 years let loose, with Walter White being the progenitor and Heisenberg being
the end result, but with no separation between them at heart.
And unfortunately for all of those around him, he was also the perfect storm to derail
absolutely everything he held dear.
Many thanks for watching.