15 replies to this topic

[elvisgrace]

Flynn comes in right before Hank, and right after Gale. in terms of characters I almost never have a problem with.

Skyler mentioned that WWJ was starting to learn how to change his sister's diapers. Wouldn't his crutches interfere with that?

[Robespierre]

He could do it while seated.

[SusannahDean]

What's the topic title mean? Is it a quote? I cant imagine anyone hating Walter Jr. that much, lol.

[Chained Melody]

Walt Jr. says that quote to Walt in season one when he thinks his father is too accepting of his terminal status.

[Spartan Girl]

I don't like Flynn/Walter Jr., particularly when he's constantly sticking up for his dad and dissing his "bitch mother," which Walt passive-aggressively encourages by constantly making Skyler out to be the bad guy (like when he moved himself back into the house and the whole car incident). God, if he only knew what was REALLY going on...

Having celebral palsy or any kind of disability doesn't give you the excuse to act like a jerk. That's all I'm saying.

[SusannahDean]

Walt Jr. says that quote to Walt in season one when he thinks his father is too accepting of his terminal status.

Oh! Yes, of course I remember that. Thanks.

Spartan Girl, he can be a smartmouth little punk but I cant really blame him for the way he was acting with Skyler simply because he didnt know what was going on. Thats on his parents.

[shriekingeel]

It's interesting that the actor playing WWJr doesn't look at all like either Bryan or Anna but he looks exactly like he could be Betsy Brandt's son.

[Lollia Pollina]

I noticed in the sneak preview that Marie still calls him Flynn instead of Junior. A bit of solidarity with her sister against Walt, the supposedly faultless husband?

[Crabby]

he can be a smartmouth little punk but I cant really blame him for the way he was acting with Skyler simply because he didnt know what was going on. Thats on his parents.

Absofrakkin'lutely.

I love the title of this thread. It perfectly encapsulates why Walt decided to go against his initial reason to reject treatment for the cancer; he didn't want to look like a coward to his son.

My heart sank a little when Flynn created that PayPal website for the lobectomy because it nudges up against Walt's (at the time) emerging fatal flaw of wanting to take credit for providing for his family (which he can't, especially not with Junior). It's the perfect setup; Saul launders the money and sends it to the account from everywhere around the world, but Flynn takes the credit for it having a place to land.

One of the things that made me uneasy (but is very brave and genius in the TV writing sense) was showing how cancer can be exploited for the amount of sympathy it can get from a community. Every time Flynn whooped about more cash coming into the account was a stab to Walt's pride because even if his son never intended to take credit, that's how it feels to Walt.

[thatguy01]

I noticed in the sneak preview that Marie still calls him Flynn instead of Junior. A bit of solidarity with her sister against Walt, the supposedly faultless husband?

I would guess that Junior has asked to be called Flynn again, because he's mad at his parents.

[Toaster Strudel]

What an insufferable, boring teenager Walt Jr is! Loved it when Hank called him off at the hospital, when he got all sanctimonious about his being in crutches and not needing a hospital.

Shut up, Flynn!

[hotpeppers]

WWJ plays a useless role 99% of the time IMO. That 1%? He's a tool you pull out once a year for that odd job, you could use something else that would do the job but the tool is slightly more efficient so you use it. Dispensable really, I was hoping he'd total the hot car Walter bought him, that'd give Skyler another reason to hate him and we'd be done with the little twerp to boot.

[Frelling Tralk]

I really wanted to like Walt Junior as he was portrayed pretty sympathetically in the first couple of seasons, and I liked that they hired an actor with the actual disability for the role. But as time goes on I find him more and more obnoxious with the way that he lashes out at the people around him, whether it was Walt early on for not getting treatment for cancer, Hank for not trying harder with rehab when he had his accident, and of course Skyler for pretty much everything. There's ways of calling people out, and then there's just being downright rude and snotty about it. Sanctimonious is definitely the word

Maybe it is an accurate portrayal of most teenagers, but I especially cannot stomach the way that he blames his mother for everything. Even at the end of season 4 when the story they get told is that Walt chooses to stay with the car-wash, he still sits there glaring at his mother and saying that she doesn't care and didn't try hard enough to convince his father to join them. Wtf? Talk about making Skyler the scapegoat for everything, even Hank is having to pull him up on the way he speaks to his mother

[Myndela]

Some kids are just like that. My wife's brother, for example, blames the vicious beatings her father bestowed upon mom on her, saying she must have done something to provoke it. Its the same with Junior. At first, we see Junior hero-worship Hank, but now he thinks his father defecates strawberry ice cream. Also , with the separation they had for awhile, it is not uncommon to choose sides and blame one parent for the whole debacle while basically canonizing the other.

Edited by Myndela, May 27, 2013 @ 11:34 AM.

[thatguy01]

Also, both parents are lying to Junior.  He would have to be psychic to know who is at fault in their home.

[JOnanGoopta]

Walt Jr. has been kept almost completely in the dark about what is going on in his own life.  While it is transparent to us that Walt is a dick and is abusing Skyler, what Walt Jr. sees is Skyler being a bitch for no reason she will explain and Walt doing stuff like buying him a new car.  The previous time he bought Junior a car, Skyler made him give it back.

 

Obviously, the car-buying without any input from Skyler on both occasions was a total dick move, but Walt has allowed Skyler to cover for him and she has basically adopted the role of the "bad guy."  This is a mega-dick move on Walt's part because he is not only the true asshole, but the only reason Skyler is covering for him at all is because she wants to protect Walt Jr. from the monster Walt has become.

 

Walt Jr. would be devastated to find out what Walt actually is and does.  Skyler is the only one who cares about that, for Walt Jr.'s sake.

 

It doesn't make Walt Jr. very sympathetic, because you suspect at least some of his blindness is willful, but I'd like to see what he does when he inevitably does find out what "dear old Dad" really is.

 

I actually really like the portrayal of the character, because you have a character with a serious neurological problem who is not portrayed as that classic TV sterotype, the "sainted cripple."  He has a condition, but isn't defined by it.  In this case, he's also basically a normal teenager, capable of being a complete jerk.  I'm not really disagreeing with you, in that I occasionally want to slap "Flynn" in the chops and tell him what's up as well, and I'd like the character a lot more if he eventually gives a serious apology to his mom for how he treated her.

 

But I think his behavior is completely comprehensible, given the information he has, and the state of his knowledge isn't entirely his fault.  Walt and, to a lesser extent, Skyler, are responsible for that.  Even Hank and Marie aren't really letting him in on why his life has been turned upside-down recently.  He has every right to be bitter right now, even if he's chosen the wrong target for his rage.

Edited by JOnanGoopta, May 28, 2013 @ 8:43 AM.