re: Is Skylar from Breaking Bad the biggest douche in a TV series?

I had my thoughts on this very subject, as I'm doing a rewatch currently, but I can't very well start a thread on it like I had planned to because it would look like a spinoff and it's essentially the same topic, so I guess I'll just include them here.


-Walt works long hours at a car wash and often stays late. Nothing wrong with this, but it can be tough on a pregnant spouse. Speaking of, they're both aging and didn't plan on this new one so emotions are already on edge from the outset.
-Skyler realizes walt is somehow, someway involved with a druggie loser although she doesn't know how. She (reasonably, in this scenario) assumes he sells walt pot. For a guy that has never touched a drug, I can see how this would be alarming and she honestly doesn't really act out as much as one might expect.
-Walt is extremely devious. He is out late, and upon telling her another lie about why he is coming home late from working, she tells him she knows he was fired 2 weeks ago. At this point, skyler knows that walt is not working but is out late and not being forthright, and is also involved with a drug dealer. She has every single right to be upset.
-Walt hid the fact that he has cancer from her for some time, I believe it was a few weeks. How would a spouse not be pissed about this?
-When he finally does tell her about the cancer she is supportive and finds great medical care. Problem is that walt now has to empty his pension (to her knowledge of course) to pay for it, leaving them basically dead broke. Every one in this situation would be reasonable frazzled.
-grey matter offers him a position to work, which he turns down. They go a step furhter and simply offer to pay for the treatment outright, he turns that down too. Why in God's name shouldn't skyler be pissed about this?
-they have a baby shower where she gets the stolen jewelry from marie. She isn't happy with it so returns it to the store where she is held by authorities for theft bc of her bitch sister's actions.
-walt continues to be aloof and nearly rapes skyler in the kitchen before she has to make him stop (somewhere late season 1 early season 2 this was)
-after tuco kidnaps walt and jesse, he is missing and nobody knows where he is. It's around 2 days or so and they have literally no clue where he is, he simply vanished without a word. Good reason for a spouse to be at their wit's end yeah?
-hank tells skyler that the phone company looked at the records and walt did not receive a phone call when skyler knew he did, thereby informing her he has a 2nd cell phone. One more lie on top of lies on top of lies.
-Eventually when the lies are so numerous they can't be kept straight anymore walt does come clean. He tells his wife that he is a manufacturer of methamphetamine. Hello, this is enough to make anyone angry.
-When their relationship can't continue as normal she wants to separate which they do. Walt then ignores this agreement and breaks into the home (locks were changed) and won't leave. She calls the PD and they basically say "look lady, if you can tell me ANYTHING whatsoever that would make me need to remove him I will. Anything at all" but she keeps quiet and didn't give him up.
-She decides to pull up her boostraps and go back to work to support her family. When she sees Ted is cooking their books does she turn him in? No, actually she gives advice on how the books need to look in order to keep suspicion off of him. She easily could have sent the dude to jail that afternoon but she helped him out as well.
-When they started paying for hank's treatment and realized they needed to come up with a story on how they have this money, she's the one that actually came up with the pretty legit plausible story of gambling winnings. Nice and easy cover that is easily belivable.
-When Saul wanted to buy friggin laser tag or a nail salon, she again is the one that had the good idea to buy the car wash since walt had a history there and it makes far more sense. She's also the one that did the reserach on the numbers to come up with a viable offer, and went by herself to do the deal.
-When that was rejected, she's the one talking to Saul's dude in the ear piece giving the laws and regulations that were being violated. Once again another way in which she helped out majorly but doesn't get any credit.
-When they have the car wash she actually works there and helps do the laundering.
-Even when walt did sign the divorce papers, which is what she origianlly wanted, since she at this point knew about the meth she intentionally didn't sign the papers becuase of some legal thing about husabnds and wives or something. Can't remember exactly but again it was to help protect walt.
-When hank's family comes over to dinner on the night they tell about the gambling, hank shares that they got this guy gail beddeker that is heisenberg and the case is over. Walt drunkenly says nah the real guy is still out there. The Whites were essentially home free and in the clear and walt blew that too.
-towards the end walt kidnaps baby holly and runs away with her before eventually abandoning her



People essentially hate on skyler for 3 main reasons:

1) She fricked ted
2) She gave ted walt's money
3) She's a speed bump in the way of the protagonist that we pull for


Some of those are understandable reasons to dislike her but people act like she's satan incarnate. She wasn't NEARLY as bad as people remember her to be, at this point it's like some kind of message board trope to just hate on skyler just because. She actually acted FAR more reasonable than most IRL wives would, and she's not nearly teh most hatable person on the show.


ETA: I just remembered now why she gave walt's money to ted in the first place. Ted was under major heat from the IRS for ~600K in unpaid taxes and fines. Skyler is the accountant of record on his cooked books, so if they were to do any more serious investigating and digging they (according to her) could look into everyone. That means looking at the White family's bank accounts, phone records, etc. The only reason she gave Ted that money was to pay off his debt to the IRS to keep any unwanted heat off the Whites. Soooo basically the 2nd biggest (or 1B in some people's opinion) reason people hate on her was yet again only done to help and protect the family.