2. What Happened With Gray Matter?
This is a question I have longed to know since it was mentioned in Season Two. When Walter met with Gretchen in that season's episode 'Peekaboo', he let loose a lot of resentment withheld towards her and Elliot, her husband and his former partner, for allegedly stealing his research and cutting him out of the business. Gretchen also appears to be a former girlfriend of Walter's when they were young and tries to tell him he has it all backwards, mentioning how he abruptly left her parents' house and the business with little to no explanation. Later in Season 5's episode 'Buyout', Walter explains a bit more of what happened. He doesn't go into detail over the falling out he had with them, but explains he opted for a buyout of his shares for $5000 when the company is now worth over $2 billion. He's always regretted this decision, as it robbed his children of their "birthright" and believes Elliot and Gretchen made their wealth off his research. Whatever happened with Gray Matter Technologies is largely the reason Walter became Heisenberg. He views himself as a spurned partner who settled for a lowly high school teaching job when he could have been so much more. He said as much to Jesse in 'Buyout', that he would not settle again when they could continue earning much more. He got into the meth business to provide for his family after his death, but kept on making meth because of his desire for wealth and power. What led to this is one of the lingering mysteries the show has not been keen to answer until, hopefully, next week.