6. Why Doesn't The DEA Pay For Hank's Therapy? - "Kafkaesque" (3.9)
After Hank Schrader - Walt's DEA officer brother-in-law - finds himself severely wounded in the aftermath of a battle against two Mexican cartel member assassins, he's desperately in need of therapy in order to get himself back into shape. As a well-respected and incredibly high-ranking DEA officer with tons of friends and colleagues around him, you'd expect that the DEA - and their insurance policies - would fund Hank's intricate recovery. Nope: due to a plot contrivance, Breaking Bad ensures that Walt ends up paying for Hank's therapy as both an admission of guilt and as way to move the story forwards as a result of the show's "gambling winnings" plot. But it doesn't seem all that realistic that the DEA refuse to help Hank out in all the ways necessary; the fact that there's a fundraiser held as a means of celebrating Hank's parking lot heroics should have guaranteed all the required money for his therapy was acquired. And surely such an influential member of the DEA - working on such a high-profile case - would have found himself at the tail end of endless charitable gestures or a special arrangement courtesy of his employers?
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
