September 27, 2013, - 1:00 pm
Figures: “Breaking Bad” Mafia Meth Cook is Huge Ron Paul Fan
Even the writers of “Breaking Bad” get that Ron Paul followers are nuts. That’s why they made a meth cook a Ron Paul fanatic. But you probably missed it.
As anyone who follows pop culture–or television’s supposed “Golden Age” on cable (that’s what the conventional wisdom people in the mainstream entertainment media keep telling us)–knows, Sunday Night is the night that the very last episode of AMC’s “Breaking Bad” airs. The series finale will probably go nuclear–one way or another–with Walter White dying of cancer or in the violence of the meth business that harms so many lives. (I don’t have cable or Netflix, so I’ll have to wait for the DVD to find out.) As I’ve noted on this site, I was hooked on the show–even though it is incredibly violent and the protagonist (Walter White) is really the villain–because of its tight writing and thrilling plot twists and turns. But the writers are also clever in other ways.
Reader Craig must have bionic vision because he spotted something that neither I nor most “Breaking Bad” viewers saw: that scientist and meth cook (and vegan) Gale Boetticher (actor David Costabile) is (or was) a huge Ron Paul fan, so much so that he put a Ron Paul for President sticker in his meth recipe notebook. It’s very quick and happens in the episode in which DEA Hank jokes with brother-in-law Walter White that White is the W.W., which are the initials of the real name of drug kingpin “Heisenberg.” Craig sent me the screen capture of the quick shot of Boetticher’s notebook, when Craig paused the video while watching it on Netflix. The picture is posted above. Writes Craig:
As for the Ron Paul thing… remember that flashback in that same scene where Hank sarcastically suggests (and quite rightly) that “W.W.” stood for Walter White, and Walt jokingly replies “You got me”? Earlier in that same scene (but not repeated in a later flashback), Walt goes flipping through Gale’s notebook after Hank shows it to him. Pay attention, and you’ll see the Ron Paul bumper sticker. Earlier in that in the series, back when Gale was still alive, he told Walt that he was a libertarian and believed in letting consenting adults make their own choices.
Of course, now every time I hear the word “libertarian”, I think of those anarcho-fantasy kooks, the Ron Paul fanatics and Jew-haters (and Islamopanderers!), as well as the conspiracy theory types like the “Truther” movement whose credo is basically “Blame it on anyone except the Muslim terrorists who actually did it.” A fair assessment?
Yup, definitely a fair assessment in most case. Sadly.
In any event, the writers of “Breaking Bad” were insightful enough to make the meth cook one of these crazy Ron Paulistinians who has no conscience about producing illegal, highly addictive substances that ruin people’s lives and harm families (and reader Craig was super-observant enough to notice it).
Are they clever enough to end the series, “Breaking Bad,” with a suitable bang?
How will it end? Post your predictions on the comments section (and don’t worry about spoiling it for me, as I haven’t seen the second half of the season).
Tags: Breaking Bad, Breaking Bad Ron Paul, David Costabile, Gale Boetticher, libertarians, Ron Paul, Ron Paulistinians, vegans
“Pop” culture extends to breaking bad. All the more so since it’s a good show apparently. Meth for the masses. Maybe one day I’ll watch it to see if I’m right but maybe not.
Ron Paul fans may be nuts but they aren’t usually meth cooks I suspect. No the real meth cooks are the breaking bad script writers. That’s a meth-aphor (sorry)
Frankz on September 27, 2013 at 2:48 pm