In ‘Breaking Bad’, Walter White encouraged his son to drink, specifically because Hank was trying to stop him.
Mr Hank in ‘Breaking Bad’ was a boisterous man who dominated every room while Walter was just the opposite. He was a role model to Walt Jr. and a fatherly figure making Walter feed ignored. Was Mr Hank the reason why Walter made his son drink tequila? Let revisit ‘Breaking Bad’ and find out.
The tequila scene in Breaking Bad: scroll down to know why Walter white gave his son tequila
Highlights —
- The loud and boisterous Mr Hank made Walter feel ignored
- Walter feels brushed aside from his own place
- He made his son drink tequila just because Mr Hank was stopping him
The loud and boisterous Mr Hank made Walter jealous
To understand Mr Hank, let’s go back to the first scene, Walt’s 50th birthday party. We saw Walter meekly standing off in the corner while Hank is the man of the moment. He was busy dominating the party with his exciting anecdotes. He is surrounded by everyone, whereas Walter is feeling isolated in his own party.
He did acknowledge that it was Walt’s celebration and gave him enough compliments to indicate that Walter is the man of the ceremony. Then, he turned the attention to TV, because he was being interviewed on the news.
He wasn’t a bad man with malicious intentions. He was just a self-asserting figure because of whom Walter was always swept to the side.
Walter feels brushed aside from his own place
It is clear in every scene on ‘Breaking Bad’ that Walter Jr. respected Mr Hank more than his own father. He considered him his role model. Moreover, Marie informed Mr Hank and took advice from him when she thought Walter Jr. was smoking pot. She asked him to intervene.
When Walter Jr. was busted for buying beer, he immediately called Hank to get him out of the ugly situation he was in. It made sense as Hank was a part of the law enforcement. Mr Hank almost played the role of a father for Walt Jr. lecturing him about his life decisions. He was also cutting him a break and promised to keep it between them.
The scenario involving Mr Hank, Walt Jr., and Walter is very similar to Walter’s relationship with the whole world.
He feels brushed aside and unimportant. The feeling is a lot worse than any malice. The world considers him weak and just kind of ignores him. And he’s always been too meek and shy to dominate the scene and attract attention towards him.
Walter made his son drink tequila just because Mr Hank was stopping him
Walter found out later that his cancer is getting better. He knew that he wasn’t dying immediately. It was time to accept the bad things he’d done. He had to realize that he’s going to live long enough to face consequences. He kind of started to assert himself in a much more aggressive way.
The pool scene drama reflects that shift. Hank was in charge and was running the situation like he always did, but this time Walt felt the resentment loudly. Walt seizes control of the scene to make things get done his way.
He encouraged his under-aged son to drink and ended up making him sick. He just didn’t care that he made his son sick. It was important that he got to call the shots. He didn’t stop when Hank tried to knuckle him down.
This was that particular scene when Walter consciously decided to seize control, even if that meant doing destructive things. There was a significant shift in his character. This particular incident told the audience that Walter has changed and drove the ‘Breaking Bad’ story forward.
