6. Making Jesse Kill Gale
"You don't... You don't have to do this..." Jesse's own daddy issues make him a prime dupe for Walt throughout the series. The combination of being oddly loyal and somewhat naive leads Jesse to do plenty that he normally wouldn't. This situation is particularly dastardly on Walt's part since it involves having Jesse kill someone else who looks to Walt as a mentor. Gale Boetticher is an uber libertarian, genius-level organic chemist who, despite making his living as a meth cook, is an otherwise cultured and nice guy (who also makes great coffee). When Walt finds himself as being expendable to his employer Gus Fring, the only way to ensure his continued survival is to once again make himself the sole producer of the coveted "blue sky" meth. Before Gus' goons have the chance to put Walter down, Walt calls Jesse and explains that Jesse must kill Gale or else Jesse's life is at risk. Jesse, believing Walt's words to be true, goes to Gale's apartment and plants a bullet just below the mild-mannered chemist's left eye. Once again Walt gets himself out of a world of feces by manipulating Jesse and ending the life of someone who didn't deserve it. At this point, Walter has shown a pattern of behaviour and thinking that is in line with having a psychological disorder. As they say, the definition of insanity is "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome". As we know with Walter White though, the ends always justify...