Was Gale Signaling Walt, and Did Walt Kill Him Anyway?

In Breaking Bad Season 3, Episode 13 "Full Measure", Walter White has to meet with Gustavo Fring to explain himself for killing Gus's street enforcers. Walt did this to save Jesse from getting himself killed. Walt was gambling that Gus would not be able to afford to kill him for it. With Jesse out of the picture, and Gus being pragmatic, Walt thinks it will eventually blow over. Walt mistakenly thinks at first it all worked out. Walt miscalculated how little tolerance Gus has for endangering the Superlab, breaches of hierarchy, and having uncontrolled elements in his machine being reckless. To say nothing Walt's presumption, ego, and entitlement. Almost immediately, Gus is pressing Gale Boetticher to be ready to take over the lab, implying Walt could succumb to cancer at any moment. Gale gets weirded out by this, along with Victor menacingly looming over the lab. Gale does not realize Victor is observing the cook to step in as Gale's assistant when they kill Walt. Nor does he realize Victor is there to prevent Walt from killing him. Gus is taking a big risk just putting Gale near Walt, and he needs to minimize the amount of time Gale is exposed to Walt. But he needs Gale to take over with no interruption to production. Things are heating up with the Cartel and the border being shut down. The Superlab is replacing the Cartel's distribution at a critical moment. When Gale tries to broach the subject to Walt, he gets spooked as Victor sidles up to them. Gale stops himself and asks a trivial question about "purging the catalyst bed". Walt is visibly confused, and replies that it is "pretty straight forward." Victor walks off. The exchange having gone over his head. Whether or not Gale is pumping Walt for information, Walt sees that is what Gale is supposed to be doing, which for Walt amounts to the same thing. Walt realizes that Gus is going to kill him, and goes to meet Jesse at the Lazer Tag. Walt convinced Jesse to help him kill Gale, then later that night Jesse has to do it himself to save Walt. In this video we look at what Gale was actually asking Walt. Why it is the case that Walt recognizes it as a fake question. Then whether that was a coded signal between Walt and Gale, in terms of chemistry jargon that they knew would go over Victor's head. But then the question is, "Did Walt misinterpret him, or did Walt misrepresent it to Jesse, manipulating him to help kill Gale anyway?" --------------- Related Videos:    • What Mistake Really Got Gale Fired?      • Was Walter White's Rant At Victor Nonsense?      • Breaking Bad Superlab - Episode 1: What's ...   (Superlab Series) --------------- Table of Contents 00:00 Trailer 00:45 Recap 03:18 The Incident 05:33 Walt Tells Jesse 06:27 Is Walt Lying? 07:53 Gale Signals Walt 10:35 Walt Kills Gale Anyway 13:00 Interpretation 14:08 Conclusion 15:07 Outro --------------- Other Information: Something I forgot to point out in this video is that Gale bought and set up all the lab equipment. He is the one that would have studied all the manufacturer documentation and established procedures. Gale would have been the one who showed Walt how to purge the catalyst bad in the first place. (In terms of the mechanical operations of actually doing it.) So Gale asking him for tips on doing this would come off as very weird, and obviously fake, and has nothing to do with the nuances of Walt's method. It's analogous to what they are doing at that moment, which is cleaning equipment, which is why it is not a random question. It's just a deliberately out of order question. --------------- Disclaimers: These videos are for educational and entertainment purposes only, in the context of analysis of a fictional setting. They are not intended for misuse in the illicit manufacture, distribution, or possession of controlled substances. This is highly dangerous and illegal. This analysis is not a sound basis for performing the synthesis. Attempting to do so is likely to result in serious injury or death. Excerpts from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, owned by Sony Pictures Television, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Miscellaneous clips from other properties. Trailer music is "Dark Mystery Chase" by Gummy MusicLab. Catalyst Bed illustrations around 8 minutes 30 seconds were A.I. generated by Gemini. They are approximate visualizations to illustrate the general idea and not intended as 100% literal flow paths. (No, I am not AI. That is my own actual voice.) ----------------- Support me on Patreon:   / renaissancestem   Ko-fi Donate: https://ko-fi.com/renaissancestem PayPal Tip Jar: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/XS... Instagram:   / renaissancestem   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/renaissances... Twitter: https://x.com/STEMRenaissance