How Walter White Manipulated Everyone (Breaking Bad)

if I asked you to describe breaking bads Walter White a whole host of words would spring to mind ambitious intelligent logical emotional selfish sick Brave ruthless relatable but if I had to sum up the essence of the character in one word it would be manipulative although we see his humanity and understand his rationale there's no one more dishonest desperate or despicable than Walter White there's almost no low he will not stoop to always putting his own Ambitions above everyone else writer Vince Gilligan was tasked with somehow keeping the audience on Walt's side as he transforms into the most effective but least moral version of himself realistically how could such a physically weak dying man credibly become the leader of a criminal underworld without being a master of manipulation knowing which emotional lever to pull and when with an intuitive grasp of how to play the opponent in front of him to get the result he wants so let's examine how Walter White Lies and manipulates everyone over the course of five seasons of Breaking [Music] Bad If we start with his home life there are several manipulative tools Walt uses to get what he wants the first is basic keeping secrets this is something we all do to some degree we all have secrets that we either keep entirely to ourselves or that we only share with those closest to us it's a defensive Instinct as on some level we understand that certain sensitive information can be weaponized against us information is a precious resource and by withholding it Walt always gives himself the upper hand the first person Walt starts keeping secrets from is his wife Skyler by not telling her that he's been diagnosed with lung lung cancer although you could say he keeps the secret so he has time to process this life-changing news the scene directly after his diagnosis highlights an ulterior motivation did you use the Master Card last month uh 1588 at Staples well the mastercard's the one we don't use the simple Act of nagging him for using the wrong credit card suggests that Skylar is locked into her way of doing things and subtly controls everyone in the house to obey her system of rules but by withholding information Walt is giving himself more freedom and space to figure out what he wants to do without anyone else's opinion influencing him then when he goes on a ride along with Hank he spots Jesse as the suspect they're looking for but chooses not to tell his brother-in-law as this opens up the opportunity to partner with Jesse so right from the beginning the writers established that every time Walt doesn't tell everyone the truth right away he only strengthens his position and becomes more empowered to make decisions for himself but of course with holding information can only get you so far sooner or later if you want to keep your secrets you're going to have to start making up lies which is the next step on the Sinister ladder of manipulation Walter White is an exceptional liar because he understands that the best lies are based on the truth if all the details of a story are questionable or unprovable then the LIE can easily fall apart but if large parts of it resemble provable reality then the missing link in the story is harder to disprove for instance in the second episode when Skyler suspiciously asks Waltz who Jesse Pikman is he's initially weak and starts trying to pretend he doesn't remember him then once she shows her hand that she already knows he called this morning and even labels him a druggy burnout he has to come up with a story on the spot now he could manufacture something from scratch but instead Walt uses the information she already has to piece together a simpler lie he sells me pot the reason the LIE works so well is that he's playing into Scholar's expectations she wants to scold him for something so he gives her what she desires by confessing to something much smaller than the actual crime being committed her negative reaction then justifies why he kept it a secret in the first place solidify ing the false narrative as the truth in Skylar's mind it's also drug related which is in line with the limited information she has of Jesse and can explain away any of Walt's future odd behavior now Skyler can think her husband is technically involved with drugs as a user of something as Petty as pot which keeps her mind far away from the idea that he's a manufacturer or dealer of something as ominous as meth to seal the deal he further cements the Lie by never retreating on the back foot but instead going on the offensive he geniusly closes this alleged confession by turning it back on Skyler will you please just once get off my ass you know by making it seem like she's the one in the wrong for even complaining about his minor infraction it makes his lie more believable and causes her to be less likely to complain the next time she's suspicious and Walt knows there will be an next time so once he's cornered and can't deny it he creates a lie that's based on the truth confesses to a lower level crime than he's guilty of and turns the tables on the interrogator so that they feel ashamed for even asking another example of Walt using the truth to bolster a lie is when he pretends to be going to see his mother for a weekend to tell her about his cancer diagnosis in person when in reality he's going to the desert to cook up a huge batch with Jesse in this situation the truth is he should be going to spend one-on-one time with his mother even though he isn't so he's sort of praying on Skylar's Humanity as there's no way she can possibly say no to a terminally ill man wanting to spend time with his mother so Walt identifies what the right thing to do is and uses it to Shield him from doing the wrong thing like how Walt tells Skyler that Gretchen and Elliot are the ones paying for his cancer treatment because she already knows they are offer to and if we're being honest he realistically should have let them show over he always keeps track of the information his opponent has so he can weaponize it against them then when he gets busted and has a bitter argument with Gretchen over involving her in his lie here's how Walt handles the Fallout Skyler tells him that Gretchen calls and he says nothing he withholds information as he's waiting to see what she knows he never shows his hand and he's lucky he didn't as it turns out Gretchen only only told Skylar they're no longer going to pay for his medical bills but she didn't rat him out and reveal they never had in the first place naturally Skyler is suspicious and asks what happened earlier so Waltz now has to come up with a reason that Gretchen is cutting off funding after their private conversation together rather than making it something personal that Skyler might want to follow up on Waltz claims that Gretchen and Elliot are secretly broke and that Gretchen simply had too much pride to admit it to Skyler's face that's a plausible lie as Walt knows that people do behave this way given he had too much pride to ever take their money in the first place so he transfers his truth onto someone else and stamps The Narrative another example is how Walt prays on his victim's fears to misdirect them when he accidentally lets it slip that he has a second cell phone he of course denies it assuming that's all the information that Skyler has but on the night he disappeared before his fug State she saw him look worried receive a call and leave the house when she checks his phone records he never received a call so that's enough to convince her that Walt is lying about his second cell phone so how does Walt try to manipulate her out of the clear evidence for her suspicions and I think what you heard was my cell phone alarm going off he continues to deny it constructing a plausible lie that his phone alarm that he's been using for his medication sends similar to his ringtone this is a smart initial strategy as if she's not that invested in her initial suspicions then he's offering her an easy excuse to believe but when she's still not buying it he then diverts her attention away from his deception by validating her earlier suggestion that he should go back to the cancer support group meetings you know for what it's worth I I was thinking about going back to those meetings the cancer support group H you were you were right on the money about that so he's using the truth to build a new narrative as these cancer support group meetings do exist but notice how he's manipulatively rewarding her for her recommendation so she can't say no when really he's just creating more opportunities to lie about where he's been as now he can always claim he was at one of her suggested support meetings when Skyler remains cold still not buying his lies he tries a new approach to emotionally unlock her a Showcase of vulnerability he apologized for being so private and unavailable saying what he thinks she wants to hear I love you and I love this family and although that successfully pulls Skyler in she's still not quite convinced so he turns the tables and plays the victim God how long are you going to do this do what this not not talking to me imagine being on the receiving end of this he's giving you so many social cues you would normally follow he's ticking the boxes of taking responsibility he's technically being vulnerable he's creating new narratives that you'd prefer to exist in and when you don't give it to him you begin to doubt if you're the bad guy this is all gaslighting he's making you doubt if you're the problem in a toxic scenario that he's actively creating when she still doesn't break he reaches even deeper finding a new fake narrative to lead her down the wrong path I I have no idea Skyler what that I'm I'm having an affair is that it is that what you think is that why you asked me about the some other phone there's a stroke of Genius to this manipulation as he's now putting the focus on a crime he's not guilty of that he knows he can disprove it's also the crime he's statistically most likely to be committing but when she refuses to play into his false reality and insists he tells her the truth no matter what it is he gaslights her again by holding the line tell you what this puts the pressure back on her if she has any lingering doubt whatsoever about her position then she's very likely to turn on herself everything Walt is doing here to his own wife is the most Sinister form of emotional abuse imaginable which leads directly onto the next step on the dark clad of manipulation close the loop a big part of Deceit is storytelling and Walt knows that a good story always needs a resolution when someone comes to him with a problem a concern that's flaring up in his face their mind is panicked and in need of certainty so Walt always make sure he creates a narrative that has a positive resolution so that way the loop in their mind can close for example when Hank shows Walt Gail's lab book in season 4 Hank identifies a clue the initials ww that could cause him to speculate whether it's wal or white so Walt closes the loop by finding a quote from Walt Whitman's poetry on another page and cementing the idea that he is the WWE in question Hank was living with this Burning question mark in his mind and Walt intelligently extinguished those questions with a solid answer that directs the attention away from him another example in season 4 is is when Skylar calls in to discuss the car wash Walt says he doesn't want to talk about it concealing his black eye once she sees it she naturally worries for his safety and wants to go to the authorities so Walt reassures her that he was just in a small bar fight with a coworker but that the fight was actually the best thing that could have happened may have been a good thing actually because we were able to clear the air and you know mutual respect so after reframing his black eye as a positive when Skyler asks him to promise that if things do get dangerous he will go to the authorities he agrees as a way to silence her concerns and then deflects back to her topic of choice so Car Wash so he ends the conversation on a high rewarding her for believing his story by giving her the car wash discussion he originally denied her like a magician he's putting her attention back where he wants it and now that she gets to discuss this topic at L she'll forget all about her original concerns as he closed that Loop and redirected her mind back onto her topic of preference all of these techniques allow Walt to be in complete control so that when the time does inevitably come that he has to tell the truth rather than giving the full story he can trade them an old piece of information to get them off his back hearing just part of the truth will feel like a revelation to the victim but unbeknownst to them it actually places them two step STS behind him they're always chasing to catch up with what's really going on as Walt is the only one with all the information let's take a look at some examples in season 1 when Walt Gets Busted by Skyler for lying about working late at the car wash when in reality he quit his job days ago and has been cooking meth and even killed a man that string of Lies has run out of space to maneuver he's going to have to tell her something to explain all of his Strang Behavior but because Walt has been withholding information he gets to choose what level of power she has in the dynamic by not giving her the full story so instead he tosses her some old news revealing that he has lung cancer as that information is big enough to distract away from everything else he even goes back to that well and pretends that he was in a Fugue state to explain his disappearance think of each lie like a credit card that's racking up debt and then once it maxes out he pays it off with a new line of credit that an old piece of Truth can pay for then in season 4 now that the money is rolling in Walt and Skyler have to come up with a compelling story to justify their new found Financial Security to Hank and Marie The Narrative is that Walt learned how to count cards and has made a huge amount of money from secretly gambling from Hank and Marie's perspective they now have two big pieces of information the cancer and the gambling problem which can explain away most of Walt's suspicious Behavior if he shows up with bruises he's back in trouble due to gambling and if he's acting strange it's the cancer Again by confessing to Sinister but legal ways of making money rather than selling a traditional clean success story The Listener is more likely to feel in the and appreciate being confided in we see this again in season 5 when Marie is demanding to know the full truth as to why Skyler is acting so erratic Walt could choose to continue the gambling narrative or the cancer narrative but both of those narratives place the blame on him where it realistically belongs so instead he selfishly trades some of Skylar's dirty secrets to undermine her reputation he explains that Ted beniki had an accident and may never walk again and Skyler must be upset because she had an affair with Ted yet again this slightly paints Walt as the victim of the situation and although Marie came in expecting him to be the bad guy he turns the tables and she's now hugging the perpetrator of her sister's abuse providing him the emotional support that Skyler desperately needs this is Walt's signature strategy always drop a bombshell of Juicy information to deflect away from any wrongdoing this way the victim of the LIE Marie now feels like she's been confided in and is up to date when in reality she's still two steps behind but these manipulative tactics are mostly what Walt employs in his home life when it comes to his work life where he faces hardened criminals and balances on the edge of life and death he plays it differently given Walt does not possess physical power or working knowledge of traditional weapons he initially needs to make people believe he's more dangerous than he really is which is highlighted by his joyful description of the Blowfish okay the Blowfish Puffs himself up four or five times larger than normal and why why does he do that so that the others scarier fish are scared off but you see it's just all an illusion you see it's it's nothing but air being a blowfish is essentially bluffing it's making others perceive you to have more in Your Arsenal than you really do so once Jesse is perceived to have squashed a man's head with an ATM Walt uses other criminals perception of Jesse to justify expanding into new territory when your opponent fears you and believes you're more more capable of Psychopathic Behavior than they are they're more likely to fold and give you what you want we see this again in the final episode where Walt manipulates Gretchen and Elliott into finding a legal way to give his drug money to his kids using nothing but laser pointers as at that stage the world's perception of Walt is that he's a hugely well-connected Kingpin when in reality he's acting alone and his cancer is back so this threat is completely Hollow but Walt isn't above using Force via threats and intimidation given he felt as if he's been scared and out of control of his whole life he now asserts control over everyone around him coercing them to do what he says or have their life or reputation ruined this happens in the very first episode despite how their relationship develops Jesse never chose to cook with Walt on his own vation either that or I turn you in Tuco only does a deal with Walt because he threatens to kill everyone in the building including himself Saul Goodman only becomes their lawyer because Walt and Jesse take him out to the desert at gunpoint when Saul wants to stop working with him because he poisoned Brock Walt intimidates him into continuing their relationship when Hank reveals he knows he's Heisenberg Walt tries to threaten him into submission may be your best course would be to tread lightly and when that fails he makes a fake confession video alleging that Hank is the real corrupt Mastermind behind his meth business as always this communicates do as I say or your life as you know it will be over there's no clearer form of manipulation than threats and intimidation and over the course of the series as his crimes grow in scale and viciousness his threats only become more credible if he if he can't have what he wants he'll take you down with him making complicity the safest option and the path of least resistance another manipulative tool Walt uses is to turn your weakness against you if he has something he knows about you or knows he can do to prevent you from getting to the truth or position you where he needs you to be he will always act on it we see this consistently with how he keeps Hank at Bay throughout the series always using his loyalty against him when Hank is watching the bench so that Badger can sail to the fake Heisenberg they need to block his vision so Walt uses himself as the perfect distraction by parking next to Hank and acting oblivious as to what's going on the reason this works is that Hank has always looked down on Walt and Views him as out of place in criminal situations so by playing it so dumb he feeds right into Hank's weakness and confirms his bias when Hank has Jesse and Walt locked on the RV with nowhere to hide Walt knows the one thing that will manipulate Hank away the one thing he values more than catching Jesse he has Saul's assistant call in a fake report from the hospital to inform him that his wife has been in a car accident and is in critical condition when he needs to bug Hank's office he uses his Macho bravado against him by breaking down emotionally trusting the Hank will be too uncomfortable at the sight of tears that he'll have to leave the room giving Walt his opportunity and when Hank asks Walt to drive him to the industrial laundry where his lab is hidden in order to buy time Walt uses Hank's trust against him and crashes the car putting him in the hospital knowing Hank will forgive him and dismiss this accident as a brain fart or suffer a concussion and forget what even happened in a way he's punishing Hank for underestimating him for thinking so little of him for p ping him he feeds into Hank's bias and exploits it time and time again for personal gain which leads On To The Next Step of Walter White's lad of manipulation leverage by identifying who has what level of power in any given situation based on both people's emotional needs and preferences he puts himself in a prime position to play Puppet Master we see examples of this peppered through at season 3 when he leverages Skyler at after she kicked him out of his own home he initially moves back in without her permission causing her to call the cops that's her big play hoping seeing the man in blue will scare him off but given the Deeds are in his name Walt legally can't be kicked out unless he's physically hurt her or is actively committing crimes so she technically could spill the beans and win if that's What mattered most to her but it isn't Walt knows that more than anything Skyler doesn't want their family's like life destroyed so once she starts being pressured by her own son naively turning against her she folds and Walt is allowed back in temporarily then later in the season she persuades Walt to buy the car wash to launder his money legally and hire her as his bookkeeper so that their story is consistent and inconspicuous but by pressing Waltz to do this she's yet again showing her hand he can see that Skyler is clearly willing to incriminate herself to keep the safe she's already lied to Hank and Marie about how Walt got the money in the first place so that she could pay for Hank's rehab so she's implicated no matter what therefore Walt now leverages her guiding motivation against her to negotiate his way back into the house 4 days a week as well as having his own key I am going to be a part of this family and that is how we'll sell your little fiction she now needs him just as much as he needs her so she's forced to negotiate when it comes to the criminal Underworld the stakes are higher but the same principles apply by making himself the most valuable asset in the game he's too necessary to lose which gives him the power to negotiate and keep himself and Jesse alive he needs me and if he doesn't go I don't go you kill me you have nothing you kill Jesse you don't have me Walt will do anything to hold on to his leverage even if that means killing someone else when it comes to Gus Fring Walt understands the pragmatism of the man in front of him so always plays to those needs whereas Jesse has an unspoken leverage over Walt without him he's alone in this game and can be easily manipulated so when Jesse wants to wage war with Gus's man knowing he risks getting killed Walt intervenes and does does it himself when Gus is furious about this decision Walt presents the only two options you can kill me right here right now with ease in the middle of nowhere and cease manufacturing or you can forgive this act and let me keep making you money again Walt uses the information he already has on Gus to manipulate him he previously praised Gus for cornering the market and wiping out his enemies but that means Gus needs to capitalize now everything he's worked for can be won or lost in these coming months so his choices are only to pragmatically keep Walt alive or squander everything out of Revenge once Gus tries to outmaneuver him by bringing Gail back Walt's Leverage is in Jeopardy in time Gail will be able to replace him and therefore Gus will have no need for him and kill him so Walt and Jesse plot to murder Gail so that now they're the only two cooks that can keep Gus's business running running Walt didn't just have this leverage he created it he forced it into being so that he can manipulate the only other person with more power than him Walt and Jesse have one of the most fascinating relationships in television history a fatherson teacher student dynamic in which they save each other's lives hate each other and get rich together while constantly flipping between Rivals and teammates but there is no greater victim of Walt's manipulation than Jesse Pinkman let's take a look at the different mind games emotional abuse and coercive control that Walt exercises over his Apprentice to keep him in line after learning from Gus that he can never trust a junkie Walt makes it his business to get Jesse clean so after their biggest payout date Walt refuses to give Jesse his cut until he stops using drugs as he believes believes that if he's in possession of this much money he would be dead by the end of the week but after Jane blackmails Walt he loses his leverage and is forced to give Jesse his money or risk being ratted out to the authorities this places Walt out of control of his own fate a position he cannot bear to be in so much so that when Walt sneaks into Jesse's home later that night to talk and accidentally tips Jane over causing her to choke on her own vomit he could have saved her he could have let Jesse choose whether he wanted to be with her or not whether he wanted to get clean or not whether he wanted to be partners or not but instead Walt strips Jesse of his agency by letting Jane die whether his intentions were good or not as you could argue Jane was leading Jesse down a destructive path too Walt is being manipulative as by not Saving Jane he's eliminating a personal threat to him and putting himself in in the strongest position to control Jesse after finding her body tragically Walt is the first person Jesse calls as he's the only person he can turn to for help and that sucks him right back into Walt's manipulative arms when Jesse wants to kill two of Gus's men for using kids Walt again tries to control him by asking Saul to get Jesse arrested for something Petty so that he can be off the streets for a few days until temper is cool and when that doesn't feel plausible he rats him out to Gus so that Jesse is forced into a situation where he has to either make peace or die this conveniently creates a situation where Walt simultaneously scores points with Gus and reinforces to Jesse that the only reason he's even alive is because of Walt's leverage if it wasn't for this man and the respect I have for him I would be dealing with this in a very different way Waltz then gets Jesse to kill Gail as a form of reciprocity for him killing two of Gus's men on his behalf Walt utilizes a fairness frame to guilt his Apprentice into compliance by saying I saved your life Jesse are you going to save mine Walt initially makes a deal with Jesse that all he needs to do is get him Gail's address and he'll do the rest but that's not how it plays out in the end he's forced to pretend he's about to give Jesse up to Mike so he can manipulate him into letting him make the call and then barks the order at Jesse to do it over and over leveraging Jesse's loyalty to him to make him commit murder on his behalf do it fast do it Jess do it this scene right here is one of the most manipulative moments in the entire series when Walt wants Jesse to help him kill Gus he initially doesn't seem interested as Gus has been Trea treating Jesse particularly well and even rewarded him with the compliment that he sees things in him realizing he's losing his leverage Walt begins a Relentless manipulative tie raade he starts off by increasing Jesse's doubt reminding him that a month ago Gus was trying to kill both of them he then quotes Jesse's words back to him he says he sees something in you what kind of game is he playing notice how he's framing everything Gus is doing as manipulative rather than him deflecting away from his game by phrasing everything through Gus's perspective the language of manipulation is so important if Walt had just said I think Gus is playing a game we shouldn't trust him after everything he's done he tried to kill us a month ago that would be honest and not manipulative as he would be sharing his view with Jesse and giving him the choice to respond but instead Walt spins it using antagonistic language does he really think you're that that naive this makes Jesse have to question if he's being played by Gus he then frames each sentence as if it's an attack on Jesse's intelligence for him to think any other way which also Taps into their teacher student Dynamic he can't truly think that you'd forget let alone Gail let alone Victor and all the horror that goes along with that so see how he's now upping the atie slithering in under Jesse's skin as he starts tapping on all the trauma Jesse has been through topics that are guaranteed to make him emotional he then takes it a step further twisting that trauma into anger reminding Jesse of all the other times he wanted to kill what about this girlfriend of yours and her little brother I mean the man looked you straight in the eye and told you no more children but that very night that little boy he winds up then he lets Jesse's mind fill in the blanks dead he whs up dead so he's reminding Jesse of Gus's broken promises then he continues berating Jesse's intelligence I mean Gus can't possibly think that you'll forget that all I'm saying is is it possible that he would think you're so weak willed drop the sales pitch I'll do it and then Jesse breaks he poked and prodded until he got what he wanted rather than saying remember what Gus did he frames it as just must think you're stupid for forgetting he did all of this which is really a way for Walt to call Jesse stupid if he doesn't go along with what he wants here's another prime example in season 5 when Jesse wants to sell his share of the business for 5 million and get out Walt throws every manipulative tactic at him to coers him to stay firstly he Taps into his lack of ambition trying to make him fearful by reminding him that being the best at something is a very rare thing you don't just toss something like that away this again feeds into the teacher student Dynamic framing it as if Jesse leaves he's squandering his potential Walt now shifts to to do what condescendingly suggesting Jesse will probably just play video games and go-karts as a way to demean any other choice Jesse might want to make for himself as a loser decision by mentioning video games and go-karts he's also tapping on Jesse's youth framing it as if he's being childish to not want to do what he wants that continuing their illegal work is the grown-up Choice as always he now goes on the offensive trying to wear Jesse down in the hopes that once his self-esteem is low enough he'll break and concede he reminds Jesse he has nothing and nobody in his life and then Stoops even lower if you don't keep working with me like I want you to how soon until you start using again this is outright mental Warfare now before he presented it as do you want to be a child or an adult now it's do you want to be a junkie then after stooping so low he takes a sharp surprising turn and tries to reclaim the moral High Ground he alleges he's just as upset as Jesse is about Todd killing that boy in the train Heist when Jesse questions that statement Walt turns the tables like he always does trying to to put him on the back foot how can you say that to me Jesus I'm the one who's the father here again using the truth to bolster his lie unlike Jesse he is a father but that doesn't necessarily mean he cares more he then subtly uses his defense as another way to attack Jesse for being weak what do I have to curl up in a ball and tears in front of you do I have to lock myself in a room and get high to prove it to you what happened to that boy is a tragedy and it tears me up inside notice how he's consistently attacking Jesse's character suggesting his way of responding to situations is wrong then he tries a new approach reminding Jesse of all the Terrible Things they've done together even mentioning Gail's name just to Twist the knife all of this is in service of undermining Jesse's desire to do the right thing making that instinct seem futile by reinforcing the idea that they're already going to any hell that exists but I'm not going to lie down until I get there this gets a reaction out of Jesse what just because I don't want to cook meth anymore I'm lying down how many more people are going to die because of us in this line Jesse has shown his hand maybe he just needs to hear that the future is bright so Walt ceases the opportunity to again gain the moral High ground and reframe him being in control as a positive to close the loop no one none now that we're in in control no one else gets hurt but Jesse sees through his lies he just wants his money and he's done you'd think that's it he fought hard but Walt has lost there's nowhere else to go but Walt then reaches for a new manipulative tool he turns the tables again and questions Jesse's moral Integrity for even wanting the money if he's truly so torn up inside about what they've done why does he still want the filthy Drug Money Walt won't allow Jesse this moral inconsistency this strategy is truly dark but admittedly kind of Genius because by taking this Sinister approach and essentially robbing Jesse he's activating the part of Jesse's brain that wants money that's thinking about all he went through to earn it this emotionally makes Jesse want to fight for the money internally coming up with Arguments for why he deserves it and then after lighting that fire Waltz like the Devil Himself turns around for one last attempt to seduce him back to the dark side you want it you want it just as much as I want it and it's not wrong to want it somehow Jesse holds strong and leaves but he's forced to leave empty-handed towards the end of the series after killing Mike and wiping out all his guys in prison Walt's words always have an undercurrent of intimidation how could they not he's proven he's willing to do anything he's not just a blowfish anymore when he calls into Jesse to change his mind about keeping the money Jesse bravely tells Waltz that he suspects he killed Mike otherwise he wouldn't ever feel safe after offing Mike's guys Walt of course flatly denies this and launches into storytelling mode about the last time he saw Mike and how he might come back one day but realizing Jesse won't look at him Walt stay repeatedly Jesse I need you to believe me this assertion is subtly coercive as what choice does Jesse really have if Walt is telling the truth then Jesse has nothing to fear in which case he can safely say he believes him but if Walt is lying which he is then by insisting he needs Jesse to believe this Jesse has little choice but to Parrot the words Walt wants to hear otherwise he risks crossing a Serial murderer and his life could be in danger so Walt is leveraging his reputation to intimidate Jesse into submission we see a similar undercurrent when Walt needs Jesse to leave town but rather than just telling him he needs his help because Hank wants Jesse to act as an informant Walt treats Jesse like a fool and starts the manipulation process to make him believe this decision is actually best for him regardless of Hank's actions Walt innocently proposes maybe it's time for for a change but he doesn't mean a personal change that he can make he means a fresh start for Jesse somewhere else suggesting he gets out of town and doesn't look back he starts painting a beautiful picture of a whole new life he could get a job something legitimate that he likes he could meet a girl and start a family because Walt knows Jesse wanted all these things long before he got his hooks in him he even tries to reframe Jesse having to abandon his hometown as an enviable position claiming he would happily trade places to have his whole life ahead of him and a reset button trying to present this as an enviable opportunity rather than a terrifying necessity but Jesse is wise to Walt's Mind Games he's seen him do this again and again and again always putting words in his mouth and although he will give him what he wants perhaps out of loyalty perhaps out of fear he calls out Walt's lies and coercive controlling Behavior it's either this or you'll kill me the same way you killed Mike I mean isn't that what this is all about us mean to wear the hell out here in case I say no but by far the most Sinister and layered Act of manipulation Walter White Ever commits is poisoning Brock with Nothing Left to Lose Walt has to turn Jesse back on side to team up to kill Gus so he has Saul's bodyguard steal the ryson cigarette from his pocket so that Jesse will suspect him as Walt is the only other person who knew the ryson even existed then when Jesse calls to his house to accuse him and perhaps even kill him Walt can turn the tables and make him think it was Gus how well as we've established the best lies are based on the truth unlike Walt Gus has killed killed a child before that's Al low only one of them has ever stooped to when Jesse arrives Walt appears paranoid and Powerless so he looks unsuspecting and vulnerable if he showed any line of defense it would make him look more suspicious but he intentionally makes it easy so he can put Jesse exactly where he wants him this manipulation is so high risk and layed because Walt essentially wants Jesse to suspect him he wants him to want revenge so that he can take that murderous Instinct and redirect it at Gus by creating a new false narrative for Jesse to live in a more familiar one he lays out the whole plan and acts like he's lost his mind at the Brilliance of gs's work which is really him openly complimenting himself which is something a liar would normally never do he then cements the idea in Jesse's head by taking his first narrative that he's paranoid and vulnerable waiting for Gus's men to come kill him and tying it to the current situation I've been waiting all day for Gus to send one of his men to kill me and it's you he twists Jesse's current feelings of wanting to kill him and acts like he's being engineered to feel that way by Gus not him as he already established in that earlier episode that Jesse has many reasons to distrust Gus he throws out abilities to get Jesse's mind turning maybe Gus's men lifted the riceon cigarette off him instead of Saul's bodyguard maybe Gus does know about the Ryon he controls everything and there's cameras everywhere he's using Jesse's weakness his self-doubt against him he then lays out all the true pieces of the puzzle that Gus did replace Walt with Jesse as his cook that Gus doesn't need him anymore that Gus wants Walt gone that Gus has been trying to break them both the part and uses all those truths to autofill the lie that Gus manipulated you into coming here to kill me yourself in essence Walt has somehow managed to weaponize his complete lack of Leverage in this situation by manipulating the one person he understands the most as Jesse never wants to kill anybody and won't pull the trigger if he has any doubts in his mind on top of that he intentionally didn't poison Brock with the right that only he could have made he used the lily of the valley plant so that he could muddy the waters and have plausible deniability no matter the outcome this allows him to turn the tables on Jesse all over again when Jesse is already at his lowest in terms of trusting his own instincts when they're searching for the missing ryon's cigarette at the start of season 5 notice how Waltz pretends to not even know what the dust collector even is despite clearly being the one to plant the rice in back inside of it when Jesse wasn't looking what the hell is that AR Roomba and once his manipulative plan succeeds Jesse breaks down in tears devastated and ashamed for ever doubting Walt his reaction is raw emotional and authentic he believes he's taking responsibility for what he's done wrong but in reality he's still the victim of a lie the victim of a man that would never take responsibility for for his actions so openly and to top it all off the Predator forgives the victim and soothes his aching cries with a shoulder rub to recapture the moral High ground and further punish Jesse for ever even suspecting he could do the exact thing he did this isn't just manipulation it's emotional abuse and after five seasons of watching Walter White Lie steal gas light exploit coers leverage and even kill I think it's safe to assume that he is television's darkest most despicable manipulator of all [Music] time well if you've made it this far firstly thank you for watching but if you could now give the video a like possibly even leave a comment and click on that subscribe button it will encourage that mysterious algorithm to do its thing

Channel: Just an Observation

Views: 1,616,146

Keywords: breaking bad walter white manipulation, how walt manipulated jesse, bryan cranston walter white, walter white explained, breaking bad explained, walter white lies, walter white manipulation, how walter white manipulates, how walter white lies, how walter white tricks, vince gilligan manipulation, jesse pinkman, walter white, aaron paul, manipulation, breaking bad psychology, vince gilligan, breaking bad, bryan cranston, how walt wins, Walter white evil, Breaking bad evil

Id: q1e4g81AVl0

Length: 45min 31sec (2731 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 17 2024