Breaking Bad...The premise makes no sense

drebo

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2006
7,034
1
81
So I just started watching Breaking Bad last night, and I don't understand. The guy is 50 and he's a teacher. That implies he's been teaching for 20+ years. A highschool chemistry teacher is almost always going to have a masters, and with a masters and 20+ years of teaching, he'll be pulling $80k easy.

But the premise of the show is that he's poor and has to work two jobs to make ends meet. (Also, his wife and her sister are complete cunts. Can she not get a job?)

It doesn't jive. $80k in Arizona should be upper middle class. Their house certainly shows that they are.

Also, why is the wife such a huge bitch?

Just seems a little thin. Once you look at this, there's no reason what so ever for him to be needing quick money...and the rest of the story falls apart pretty quickly.

So, why all the hype?
 

Platypus

Lifer
Apr 26, 2001
31,046
321
136
all the hospital bills cost money, a lot more than 80k I would imagine can support, he originally wasn't given very long to live iirc and needed a huge amount of cash to help them out.


also it's a fictional TV show.
 

amdhunter

Lifer
May 19, 2003
23,332
249
106
Have you seen his house? Can you imagine what the mortgage payment on it will be? Also, if he is like any typical Libtard, he is probably on his 3rd or 4th mortgage.

Guy needs money just for that alone, not including some dirty ass baby on the way and one that wobbles all the time.
 

SP33Demon

Lifer
Jun 22, 2001
27,928
143
106
It was explained that he makes 45K/yr and is grossly underpaid and that his wife helped them pay for their house when she was a successful accountant. Now she's not working anymore and 45K + savings only goes so far, especially when you know you have cancer and your kids won't have shit after you die. It's actually a pretty easy moral dilemma to follow.
 
Apr 17, 2003
37,622
0
76
according to this site, top pay in Phoenix is 68k

http://teacherssalary.net/AZ/Phoenix/salary/Teachers-Salary

He also has a kid with a disability to worry about. He is thinking about what will happen to the family when they are left with little or no income when he ties. Even if mortgage + college dues for the kid + any special medical care the kid is getting isn't a fortune per se, it's still requires a nice chunk of change.

I don't see anything spectacular about the house...it looks pretty old and not well furnished.
 

PottedMeat

Lifer
Apr 17, 2002
12,363
475
126
You're trying too hard, man.

lol this.

if not...

he acted like a little bitch to his rich girlfriend one time so she hooked up with his business partner and started a billion dollar business. he wanted out so he sold his stake in the company early and became a teacher.
 

OverVolt

Lifer
Aug 31, 2002
14,278
89
91
So I just started watching Breaking Bad last night, and I don't understand. The guy is 50 and he's a teacher. That implies he's been teaching for 20+ years. A highschool chemistry teacher is almost always going to have a masters, and with a masters and 20+ years of teaching, he'll be pulling $80k easy.

But the premise of the show is that he's poor and has to work two jobs to make ends meet. (Also, his wife and her sister are complete cunts. Can she not get a job?)

It doesn't jive. $80k in Arizona should be upper middle class. Their house certainly shows that they are.

Also, why is the wife such a huge bitch?

Just seems a little thin. Once you look at this, there's no reason what so ever for him to be needing quick money...and the rest of the story falls apart pretty quickly.

So, why all the hype?

Then Gen Y expectations of everyone making 80-100k are strong with this one you see?
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,634
6,508
126
my step father has been teaching for over 20 years at the same school and i can guarantee you he doesn't make $80k, probably not even close to it. and he lives right in the dc metro area in md, so this ain't in bum fuck middle of nowhere.

op sounds pretty ignorant.
 

dud

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2001
7,635
73
91
OP, when does ANYTHING on mainstream TV make sense these days and anymore?

All you have to do is look to the "Discovery" channel with their "reality" shows like "Gold Rush Alaska". Just accept the fact that Hollywood thinks you are stupid and cannot think for yourself. Accept assimilation ...
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
dude makes ~50k a year
has 2 kids
1 newborn (unplanned)
has cancer
has shit for health insureance

how is this hard to figure out?
 

CRXican

Diamond Member
Jun 9, 2004
9,062
1
0
keep watching dammit

I got caught up on Netflix over the last three weekends

intense
 

gothamhunter

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2010
4,464
6
81
Have you seen his house? Can you imagine what the mortgage payment on it will be? Also, if he is like any typical Libtard, he is probably on his 3rd or 4th mortgage.

Guy needs money just for that alone, not including some dirty ass baby on the way and one that wobbles all the time.

This isn't P&N, keep this crap to yourself.
 

drebo

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2006
7,034
1
81
LOL, seriously... my dad is a HS teacher with a master's and has been teaching for 30 years and is just under $60K.

I call bullshit.

My wife's school's payscale tops out at nearly $90k for certificated teachers with a masters (I believe it's 20 years,) and that's at a fairly small school district in Central California. Her health insurance is also very good (though it is expensive.)

Also, none of this stuff is made evident in the first 3 episodes of the show.

It's extremely unbelievable, to the point where willful suspension of disbelief is pretty tough.

I will keep watching because the characters are pretty interesting (with the exception of the wife and her sister, who make me want to stab them through the TV.)