9. Turning Down Elliott's Offer
"I need to understand your thought process, because clearly I don't" -Skyler White This season one moment may not be widely considered to be one of Walt's most "psychotic" per se, but it begins to lift back the veil of Walt's atypical (if not psychotic) thought processes. After hearing of Walt's cancer diagnosis, former co-worker Elliott Schwartz offers Walt a job. When Walt refuses, Elliott flat out offers to pay for Walt's cancer treatments. Not only does Walt turn this down as well, but his conversation with Skyler afterward shows us an early peak of his transition into Heisenberg. This early into season one, Walt's decision could be written off as simple pride. Looking back, we can see that Walt's diagnosis didn't change him, it just gave him self-imposed "permission" to become the person that was likely always lying just beneath the surface of his "nice guy" demeanour. Turning down Elliott's offer allowed Walt to continue with his fantasy to become what would eventually be Heisenberg. His harsh tone toward Skyler supports the idea that Walt was acting out a self-fulfilled prophecy that he wouldn't allow anyone to interfere with, including his own wife. This decision to choose a dangerous and criminal solution over a safe, legal one shows a maladaptive cognitive process that only gets deeper as the show progresses.