way,way, WAY off topic. . . and not Bona-related - (sorry)

[ceharv]

Is anyone here a Breaking Bad fan? I started watching the originals about half-way through and loved it - one of the best things I've ever seen on TV. But I thus missed the first year or so, and also missed the first week of the BB binge now going on.

So I've always had this question - how is it that Walt, a high school teacher and thus assumedly a member of a powerful union, is without health insurance to cover his cancer treatment? And why does he have no life insurance? Were those questions ever answered/addressed?

If you know you can PM me or just email me at [e-mail]

Thanks in advance and sorry to anyone who read this thinking it was about SBU or who thinks the Board should not contain non-Bona-related matters - but hey, at least it was political!

[dadster81]

First of all, you have to see the first couple of episodes in season 1 - how he meets his partner, the RV, and the classic segment with Walter standing on the highway ready for a showdown with the police in his underwear.

But to your questions. My wife is a State employee, Union Member (not by her choice) and her life insurance is 1 times wages. Not enough to protect a family for a long period of time. Health insurance could be just basic coverage, and maybe be limited to half of his treatment costs after a period of time.  ANd experimental cancer drugs are not always covered. Plus (most importantly) no insurance makes it alot better plot.

[ceharv]

Dadster - thanks, I get the plot necessity of financial desperation - thus forcing us all to wonder if we'd do the same, a big point of the show.. But as much as I really love this show, the lack of any health insurance seems to be the kind of plot hole these guys don't usually leave in there and I wonder if it was ever addressed in what I missed and now apparently can't get to see. I can see that maybe it was declined as a pre-existing condition, but I have not seen that referenced.

[class70]

I have read so many good reviews of "Breaking Bad" that I know I need to see it. However, I will have to wait until the next time the entire series is offered so I can get in on the ground floor. Never having seen a single episode, I can only speculate how the main character (we can't call him a hero) got into this predicament. Where is the scene set? My daughter teaches in Denver public schools. She doesn't get the Cadillac health plan my niece gets from teaching in Albany. As a rule, teacher benefits are much different in the red states. And doesn't the main character have a terminal condition? Maybe he's trying to accumulate wealth to support his family after he passes on. I had better shut up now as I don't know the first thing about the show other than its good reputation for showing how evil can triumph over good in the fallen human nature.
I'm involved (in an amateur sort of way) in the writing crafts as a way to keep busy in retirement, so I have an artistic interest in this sort of thing, always paying attention to plausibility of plot.

[ceharv]

Class70 - if you'll email me, I can give you the key points so you can pick up starting with tomorrow's episodes. I started watching the original I think part-way through season 2 (where the binge is now), maybe even 3, and still found it compelling viewing even though I missed much at the start - it is easy to pick up and is very much worth watching. Alternatively, episode plot outlines are generally available on-line from several sources - that is what I used to catch-up. Also, I suspect it may be years before this binge is repeated, so now is the time my friend.
BTW, it takes places in Albuquerque New Mexico, which although isn't a big N.E. city, is still pretty sophisticated and would be expected to have it's teachers provided with health insurance coverage - but if it's the case that city did not do so, or that for some reason cancer treatment is excluded (very rare) I'd expect that would have been explained rather than just left for assumption or guessing, so I'm trying to find out.
And yes, Walt is diagnosed with terminal, inoperable lung cancer and yes he is also without life insurance and thus is also trying to build wealth given his dependent wife with an unplanned, surprise pregnancy, a teen son with CP - but again, Walt is portrayed as very much a realist and a family-man, so I'd like to hear if it was ever explained how he allowed himself to hit age 50 without even a term life policy.
One of the things I think you'll like about the writing on this show if you're interested in such things is how tight it is. Generally, no plot holes are left; nothing is left open to guesswork, thus me turning to this Board for help after I again missed the opening episodes as it turns out no one I know well enough to ask personally is a big enough fan to know.
Finally, you need to see to the end to see if evil really does triumph, and to see the absolute best matching of music to show-ending ever - if not the best series conclusion in TV history - IMO much more satisfying then another favorite show of mine - the Sopranos! No guessing what happens to the main character- I promise!

[class70]

Thanks, ceharv. I just sent you a PM.

[Hermit]

Aug 23, 2014 11:21:59 GMT -5 class70 said:

Thanks, ceharv. I just sent you a PM.

I believe Breaking Bad is on Netflix.....for a nominal subscription.....$8 a month?.....you can have the series.....

[az63]

Aug 23, 2014 12:03:14 GMT -5 Hermit said:

Aug 23, 2014 11:21:59 GMT -5 class70 said:

Thanks, ceharv. I just sent you a PM.

I believe Breaking Bad is on Netflix.....for a nominal subscription.....$8 a month?.....you can have the series.....

Indeed it is on NETFLIX.