8. Poisoning Brock
"Who do you know who is okay with using children? Jesse, who has allowed children to be murdered?" For Walt, the ends always seem to justify the means. This, in and of itself, shows a tendency toward clinical psychopathology but in this instance, the means includes poisoning a young boy to manipulate Jesse for Walt's own self-preservation. As if the poisoning itself wasn't bad enough, the elaborate ruse Walt employs to fool Jesse is nothing short of sociopathic. Walt uses some classic manipulation techniques to secure Jesse's loyalty, including striking at his weak spot (Brock), convincing him he is being manipulated by someone else to keep the spotlight off of Walt, making himself seem powerless and making Jesse seem powerful in the situation and offering very plausible deniability when Jesse was emotionally fragile. It's reasonable to believe that someone would do all of this for the sake of self-preservation. In Walt's case, he seems to give equal regard to survival and the excitement of plotting it all out and pulling it off, even if it is at the expense of someone close to him.