Bush and Obama, Wars and Economy: Power and People in an Age of Limits and Loss 589If Homer Simpson, Tony Soprano, and Don Draper were conflicted indi-
viduals who told us much about the nature of America in troubled times—
sometimes loveable, sometimes worth loathing, Walter White represented the
darkest side of American society and Capitalism. Through 62 episodes on the
AMC Network, which also showed Mad Men, White wreaked havoc on his
family, the community of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mexico, and other parts
of the American southwest. His “weapon” was crystal methamphetamine, a syn-
thesized “speed” drug popular among the poor because it was generally easy
to make and provided a quick high. But Walter White was not the typical
meth cook. He was a boring high school chemistry teacher with a pregnant
wife and a son living a modest suburban life. But he was diagnosed with lung
cancer and his entire life changed. Not having enough insurance to take care
of his family after his death, he needed cash quick and, along with former
student Jesse Pinkman, became the best-known meth cooks in New Mexico,
if not the world. White, played by Bryan Cranston, perfected a drug called
“the blue” because of the color and purity—close to 99 percent. While
Walter White had cooking skills like no one else, he did not have a distribu-
tion network to sell his drugs—and he needed money fast because lung can-
cer is rarely curable. So he made an alliance with a large-scale dealer, Gustavo
Fring, and got a state-of-the-art meth lab. Remarkably, White escaped suspi-
cion, though he sometimes left home for days, made up unbelievable stories
about the cash he accumulated, and even had a DEA agent at his house fre-
quently—his brother-in-law.
But Walter White and Jesse Pinkman survived it all, leaving a bloodbath in
their wake. They killed anyone who might have challenged their business or
turned them in, and the show often looked like a horror film version of
MacGyver, a 1980s thriller in which the hero uses everyday items to get out
of jams, as Walter and Jesse developed the most intricate, and often implau-
sible, ways of killing off their enemies, and even friends like Fring. Walter
White was not content to just cook, but wanted his own meth empire, and
accumulated about $100 million. One-by-one, however, other members of his
crime organization were getting caught and White knew the heat was on.
Still, he was able to escape trouble in the most extraordinary ways, including
setting up the murders of a dozen informants in various jails in a period of 2
minutes by Neo-Nazis. Eventually, despite all his brilliant escapes, his crimes
were uncovered in the most simple, if not stupid, of ways when his DEA-agent