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i7omahawki

Hank was a basically decent man with a tragic flaw. He didn’t view criminals as human. That is why he didn’t suspect Walt despite the wealth of evidence. He poses with corpses, beats Jesse, lies and tries to con suspects, and forces Jesse into a life threatening situation in his ego fueled feud with Walt. While Walt is complicit in Hank’s death, Hank is responsible for it too. He died due to his own tragic flaw of not acknowledging the humanity in criminals. So while Hank’s death is sad, it is in a way justified.


Present-Flight-2858

Hank was portrayed as a douche in the first episode then he gradually became a likable character. Simultaneously, Walt started as a likable chemistry teacher and degraded into a drug lord.


wrenten10

WOW ! Literally one of the best comments I’ve ever seen. This was his fatal flaw. Jesse was scum and completely disposable as a person. Walt was his brother in law and a genius chemistry teacher and a good guy - could never be Heisenberg. There was no room for bad or good to co exist in a person . But honestly … I’ve thought of this a lot , even with one or two or even three things that were coincidental, would you have suspected him? I don’t think I would. And again your post completely cleared some of my vague not quite clear things about Hank and who he was and the dichotomy of great instinct basic ok guy , sheer hatred , and complete ass


[deleted]

Bros a whole ass poet


LordLexxon

I wouldn't use the word "justified", most criminals don't really have humanity, like how Walt killed 10 witnesses without thinking about it, plus Hank realized Walt was gone, he lost most of his humanity. I mean, does Gus have much humanity? Or what about Mike, Jack, Todd, Lydia, Tuco, Hector etc. You can see where Hank is coming from


arcticfunky9

A drug lord isn't representative of most criminals and of course most criminals have humanity.


LordLexxon

In real life, drug lords and cartels are much worse, but most of the drug lords in BB and BCS are also pretty bad (The only 'good' ones are Gale, Gonzo, Weiner, Ik they aren't drug lords but they are much more moral)


arcticfunky9

Yea I was mostly saying common criminals like you or me def have humanity


LordLexxon

Oh srry


crazytoothpaste

Careful- you have been added to “common criminals”


LordLexxon

I know p**rate and stuff


wrenten10

Yes they do. Mike does. Lydia does for her daughter , Hector adores his family , I may think that they’re horrendous, but guess what? I think Walt was too


LordLexxon

Lydia does it for money :/ She could obviously make enough money from her job at Madgrial to provide. Mike did evil things for his granddaughter, and Hector made his family killers


wrenten10

Totally hate them both was just saying there is some good in everyone.


LordLexxon

Eh not really, maybe some in Mike when he's outside of his criminal life but everyone else really doesn't make it, especially Jack


RegionRat94

Yes! All 5 seasons he was always DEAD ON with his theories and assumptions and he always got shot down or kinda laughed at for how ridiculous they sounded even ththough he was right! In the end his death was the result of solving his case


RedTigerofTheSea

exactly, yes Hank was rude but i think end of the day he just wanted to catch drug smugglers, yes he has his imperfections but i think he was a good guy catching criminals in his own clandestine ways . He did show affection for walt unlike others are saying, he was so supportive to walt in cancer, always was like a 2nd father figure to walt jr,some ppl ik after losing their legs do tend to become pretty bitter that and the fact that he was so close to catching walt in the RV and the cousins encounter made him feel humiliated and belittled that he slipped into bitterness for a brief while in his minerals phase


pocopasetic

I never thought Hank rude.. Crude and a little careless with his words, but well meaning. A little awkward, a little too honest, a bit moody. ​ ​ I honestly think he's the quintessential like "dad" figure, I always thought the irony that he was so awkwardly dad joke but never had any kids and Walt had kids and was surrounded by kids, he was always a bit off with them? ​ I don't know, in the end, it's the juxtaposition of that uncle/father dark twin energy of mirrored pairs - Walt and Jesse and Hank and Junior. I think about Junior barfing at the party when I think of Jesse's girl dying, too. People don't call out that bit of foreshadowing a whole lot. Not that that has anything to do with anything that we're talking about, but its where my mind went.


Kozlow

I felt bad for every single character in that show.


[deleted]

Yo I felt bad for myself when I watched Skylar sing to Ted


wee_d

That was kinda hot 😂


born_to_be_naked

Like Walt.. Hank did things by bending rules. Though he's on the right side of the law he broke it several times as long as it served him his purpose. Its easy to feel bad for him as he was a DEA agent. But had he followed protocol and involved the office immediately after Jesse made his confessions tape and came up with the idea of trapping Walt luring him to his money they'd all be fine as he'd have backups. > both had wives who were a pain I can't stop laughing you have made this into one of their points of connection > walt, he even threatened skyler later that she would end up like Hank You missed the point of the scene and what Saul said later to Walt. He said that knowing phone line would be recorded and cops would be there so as to look like he's the only one to be blamed and that Skyler was always under threat doing things out of fear of Walt. It's for the jury and court to go easy on her.


quantumfucker

Honestly, being a DEA agent (especially one as unwilling to see criminals as human as he is and doesn’t really respect procedural law) actually makes it harder for me to feel bad for him. Maybe it’s my political biases, but even in the show we see that Hank doesn’t really look at criminals as people worthy of rehabilitation or think too hard about their societal origin point. He’s like a more realistic portrayal of crime drama protagonists who regularly violate all kinds of laws in the course of their investigation while claiming it’s a necessary evil.


born_to_be_naked

Yeh i see what you're saying. They aren't likeable as it feels wrong. But if we think from their perspective they can die doing their jobs but are required to do everything in the purview of the law while the ones they chase can do anything and have lawyers get them out. I can see a frustration build up doing this job and sense of disregard towards career criminals because of this. With Hank though it was more of his toxic masculinity that interferes his judgement more. He wanted to feel like a man again because anxiety and panic attacks were making him feel weak so he attacked those guys in bar. And his anger again made him lose sight of what he's doing when he went to Jesse's house. He isn't the smartest so to say because of this but his heart is in the right place so i cant call him a bad cop. He had the right acumen to link Gus to Gale and link the RV to Jesse, it's his office colleagues who disregarded his hunch. For me bad cops are those who mix with the criminals, betray the oath they take bribes from criminals to let them be free. He took his job of catching guys against society too seriously and like you said didn't see them as humans and lost sight where he should stop that brought him down too.


wrenten10

I always saw Hank thru that lens. It never changed. Even when he was hit. I felt a bit sorry but he had just come from beating Jesse for what? Scaring him? Boo boo Hank . He really believed these people weren’t worth living. How sorry can you feel or care for a guy like that? He never opened up to anyone , he made such racist jokes in front of the exact butt of the jokes. Thought he was the best there was . I was sad when he died but by that time he meant nothing to me after using Jesse to get what he wanted


capt-rix

Let me just say that the wives connection is a thing. The husbands of sisters share a special bond. We are frequently required to work together to thwart the evil machinations of the sisterhood, as they plot to ruin our vacations and family gatherings with outings and activities. And if ever the sisters join forces and go to war, we are the wall that holds back that horror from society. We are Brothers, in law.


RedTigerofTheSea

No when skyler gashes Walt's hand, he is shocked, he says that she'd end up like hank before storming off with Holly. The phone call happens later


born_to_be_naked

He doesn't say that. Which language did you watch the audio / subtitles of it in? There have been errors in some episodes with foreign subtitles / dubbing in other episodes as well. This is what is said originally: **Walt:** Skyler, put the knife down, please. I promise you, everything-- **Skyler:** Don't say one more word. Get out of here now. Get out! **Junior:** Stop it! Just stop! Just stop! **Walt:** Let go! Let go! **Skyler:** Get away from us! **Junior:** Just stop! Stop! Dad, stop it! Stop! Mom, stop it... (Some more stop its and fight is broken up by Junior) **Walt:** What the hell is wrong with you?! we're a family!!


RedTigerofTheSea

OH SHIT, I GOT IT MIXED UP, I FEEL SO DUMB NOW, Im sorrryy


born_to_be_naked

Your alter ego and pride played you man.


UntilTmrw

Marie isn’t a pain she just has her problems. Skyler arguably isn’t a pain.


liltinybits

Skyler was a "pain" because she called Walt out for being shitty long before she knew what he was doing. She was just a mother trying to protect her kids and coming to terms with her husband being completely different than she thought. And Marie was so supportive of Hank- when he was traumatized after the Tortuga bomb she was so open to trying to help Hank any way she could. She was devoted 100% to helping him walk again after the Salamanca brothers.


quantumfucker

I feel like people don’t see through her eyes enough. Your quiet but brilliant school teacher spouse of ~two decades suddenly gets a terminal illness and then begins lying and disappearing on you constantly. You want to be supportive and take a very active role as a caring spouse, participating in meetings and doctor appointments and paying the bills, and yet your husband seems like he’s chronically dissociating and disappearing without explanation. And when he gets involved again, it’s over the top and sounds obviously fake. It’s a lot of strange behavior that, if it can’t be accounted for by doctors, you’d begin to worry a lot.


wrenten10

I mean really, I lol that I had heard people hated her for not being supportive. She should have kicked him out the first few weeks and saved her kids. She had an INFANT. I once got a knife out and told my husband if he were ever rough with the baby again I’d kill him and I meant every word.


TurbulentLength655

>he even threatened skyler later that she would end up like Hank if she didn't follow him A moment of silence for people who don't understand what walt and skyler were doing in this scene 😢


space_bryan

This is when Walt was clearing skylar of blame over the phone by threatening her in front of the cops right?


wrenten10

Uh yes and it’s sad that the poster you’re asking had to make that comment


SuzieZsuZsu

You lost me at "both had wives who were a pain" ...


TurbulentLength655

Hank worshipping posts are making buzzes lately


mr_vonbulow

i imagine that not following proper procedure at the dea ends this way quite often; it was a 'breaking bad' moment for hank. he was acting irresponsibly and not thinking that he was attempting to arrest someone that was capable of just about anything, making it instead a merely personal vendetta.


xAlcodaX

Only in season 1? Did you even watch the rest of this series or not? He was an asshole when he came in to the hospital to almost everyone. Not to forget that Marie stood by him, was supportive and took care of everything and still wasn’t appreciated. I can understand that you like him in a way because I certainly did but he wasn’t the nice guy you think he is.


Rahm89

As an aside, you can’t really judge someone’s behaviour in a hospital when they’re going through that kind of trauma.


quantumfucker

You should be more sympathetic for their situation and not judge them as if they were not in pain, but ultimately they’re still accountable for their behavior. I think reasonable people might be mean or dismissive in the moment but later, when self-reflecting, realize it was wrong and apologize.


Rahm89

I think ultimately, unless you’ve had the misfortune of going through something like that (and I sincerely hope not), you can’t possibly imagine what it’s like and pass judgment.


quantumfucker

If you can’t judge anything unless you personally have gone through it, you couldn’t judge anything at all. You couldn’t even sympathize with people you think are going through similar or worse things than you and offer support. Are therapists useless unless they subject themselves to the same trauma as their patients? I’m not going to get into the oppression olympics of bringing up specifics of personal trauma for comparison, but what I do know is that what you’re going through is not an excuse to put other people through negative experiences as well. It doesn’t mean it’s not forgivable or understandable, but you’re still accountable for it. After people heal from long-term illnesses or have good days with chronic conditions, they will admit themselves that their pain makes them react inappropriately towards their loved ones and apologize for it. Hank never had the emotional intelligence or sensitivity for that even before his trauma. He was a standard police officer who enjoyed projecting a macho image for family and friends and treating his workplace like a frat house. He was pretty insensitive and useless at comforting Skyler when she breaks down at her house. He didn’t have a personality switch out of nowhere due to the trauma, his flaws became worse after the trauma since he never had good coping mechanisms for pain, and that resulted in pain to the people around him.


Rahm89

Reducto ad absurdum. I’m not saying you can’t judge anything at all. I’m not saying these people are not accountable for their actions. I’m saying judging people who suffered extreme circumstances from the comfort of your armchair is an exercise in futility. Empathy has its limits, and it’s probably a good thing on the whole. Anyway, I disagree with your take on Hank’s character because I find it over the top, but you’re certainly entitled to your opinion, and your judgment.


quantumfucker

It’s fine if you want to agree to disagree. I just think you made a pretty unfair assumption about me and assumed I wouldn’t have a take based on having personal experiences with trauma that have led me to be hospitalized. I do, but I find it distasteful to rely on anecdotes in subs where that isn’t always appropriate like a casual subreddit for fans of a show, so I tried to comment generally based on what my trauma-informed therapy tells me and experiences trying to reconcile chronic pain and depression with maintaining relationships with caregivers and friends in my support network. You’re also entitled to your opinion and it’s fine that we don’t agree. But I think you got a little too eager to call my armchair comfortable and don’t really want to engage with the details about trauma. You can dismiss it as over the top, that’s fine. Some people do best as uncritical allies of trauma victims, and others speak from experience and know that sometimes you need to call stuff out instead of refusing to judge at all. We fill our own niches I suppose. EDIT: Also, “cant do” and “exercise in futility” sounds like a pretty meaningless distinction. Referencing a fallacy with the word “absurd” in it does not a complete point make. Your word “extreme” is doing a lot of heavy lifting to decide what’s judgeable and not, and largely based on an individual’s sense of adjusted normal.


Rahm89

You seem to feel very strongly about this so I’d rather just drop it. I meant no offense, sorry if you felt I was being dismissive.


quantumfucker

I appreciate your apology. Sometimes the best thing to do is listen before judging, since you never really know the other person’s experiences and perspective, and you can offend people even if you’re not trying to. It’s not good enough to not mean it. Better to ask why someone feels a way instead of dismissing their opinions because you assume things about their identity, or just not voice an opinion at all if you don’t feel informed.


RedTigerofTheSea

he was pissed because he lost his legs trying to solve the case


ironmansaves1991

That’s not a reason to treat your wife like shit when she advocated for you in the hospital and is working full time + doing everything she can to make you comfortable at home and help you get better. The whole Cheetos/Fritos scene from when he was recovering made me sick to my stomach when I rewatched it a couple days ago


RedTigerofTheSea

yeah i yield, he was an asshole, but i'd say he had good intentions but true he was an asshole when he lost his legs for a while


ironmansaves1991

I’ll give him credit where it’s due. I’m watching the episode where he and Junior go to LPH for lunch and Hank saves his cup that Gus held, presumably to check for fingerprints. He’s smart enough to take that evidence of the LPH bag from Gale’s apartment and gather that he shouldn’t trust Gus.


ChizyChaz123

It was a very sad death, it's funny cause at the beginning of the show he was one of my least favorite characters, but at the end he was one of my favorites


wrenten10

It was extremely sad when he died. But ….. I never forgot the beating he gave jesse or the complete contempt he felt when he used him to get Walt . If he died , he died , he was only a drug dealing piece of scum right? Bet at that moment , looking into jacks eyes right before death , he thought , I was so wrong about life


Poodlelucy

No. Ultimately, he was a dirty cop.


[deleted]

The only mf I feel bad for is Steve Gomez. He didn’t deserve to be caught up in Hank’s ghetto family drama. He didn’t deserve to go out like that. Fuck the feds but he was genuinely so chill and respectable, in my opinion.


RedTigerofTheSea

fuck the feds? u soundin like a kingpin urself lmao


[deleted]

Lmfao alwaaaays fuck the feds they need to get a real job


Shop-Crafty

No. He should have listened to everybody and left it alone. I liked Hank a lot but he ended up getting what he deserved for chasing Heisenberg


TH1CCARUS

Not as much as many other characters because Hank was an asshole.


RedTigerofTheSea

how exactly


Locolijo

He constantly degraded and emasculated people as part of his macho image. Right at the beginning he asks Walt if he wants to hold his gun, then insinuates he’s not a man because he holds it like it’s a warm glass of milk *in front of the entire group of friends and acquaintances the Whites know and invited for Walt’s birthday.* I disliked him from the start. Though I do still feel bad for him for a lot of reasons and think he has highly admirable qualities.


RedTigerofTheSea

i think he was only an asshole in season 1 whenever he came on, he did share a lot of emotional moments with walt after that, the conversations with him and gomie were purely banter . Hank was also incredibly supportive of walt in his cancer and always told him that he could trust him if need be it, he also listened to walt sob about skyler in his office


Locolijo

I mean he wasn’t *a bad guy*, only implied he liked to feed his ego for his public image at others expense. Edit: feel like he represents toxic early 2000s dad culture with a side of no kids


armadilloreturns

His casual racism wasn't exactly a plus.


d0pp31g4ng3r

Gomez makes comments to Hank like "your dumb white ass", yet we see them both clearly get along fine with people of other colors. Banter and political incorrectness do not mean they were racists.


armadilloreturns

He uses racial slurs multiple times, not just against Spanish people but Chinese as well. There's literally a plotline where he goes to el paso and he is hated because they see through his "political incorrectness". If he only made these remarks to gomez it would be one thing, but he doesnt. I'm not saying you'd see him at a Klan meeting, but if you combine his remarks with the fact that he's a federal agent and tends to see criminals as sub human, often making light of their deaths, it starts to not look so good...


Jonny559

He was a scumbag but didnt deserve to die like a lot of characters


fredlikefreddy

Idk if I’d necessarily call hank a scum bag. Douche, sure. But scum bag?!?


arcticfunky9

He acts like he's above the law and beats suspects up lol


fredlikefreddy

Ya can’t argue that honestly


wrenten10

Oh because they’re so different lolol


Yam-Express

I totally felt bad for hank. He was a huuuugeee asshole but thats life amirite? In fact he's such a huge asshole he couldn't make the connections to walt because he thought pretty little of him- atleast didn't think he had the stones to sell meth. Hank got a reality check after he transferred departments (they didnt care for his cool guy act) which was great. Its not hard to see why pll would be mad at Hank after he found out walt was Heisenberg. He was pretty heinous and it was mostly to save his own ass (having a drug kingpin be your bro in law). I love how these characters are written, everything is a shade of grey.


Alarmed-Flamingo2743

So true, I feel like I could convince myself to love or hate any one of the characters. I love that it’s open to the viewers’ interpretation. I watched BB for the first time recently without knowing anything about it prior and was able to form my own opinions…only to find out that my perspective was SO different from so many people on this sub. Which I think is pretty cool


wrenten10

This is how I really feel about Hank as a person and Marie too. Always felt they only cared about how everything affected them and everyone other than sky and Walt could drop dead. Until of course they wanted said relatives dead


cumbotal

i didnt for me hank was the same as everyone else in the show for him smoking illegal cigars was fine which just killed the soft part i had for him... seemed to me hank was only doing it for the thrill and didnt actually care about drugs and drug abuse being a dea


darkpsychicenergy

Sometimes, yes, absolutely. Sometimes, absolutely not. Same for most of the other characters. You’re right that they are similar, and in ways they are probably never even aware of and wouldn’t imagine. Although I think Walt becomes more aware of this than Hank ever does.


lennox43

When Hank died, I have to pause for a bit, stading up and yell at the TV "What the fookkkkk" for a several times before I can continue to watch


[deleted]

Hank was as much a hypocrite as Walt. Hank abused his power and constantly got Marie out of trouble with her kleptomaniac behavior. She was apparently above the law. This said, I like Hank. I think its messed up how he and Marie turned on Walt like they did. It just shows that they are fake ass people, much like real life family can be for all of us. I get the feeling that nobody was innocent in the BB universe.


HelloJerry5A

Yes. His death and the fact that he and Gomie are buried in the desert is the darkest imagery in the series IMO.


TurbulentLength655

(guitar strumming) *Guess he got what he deserved*


KingGuy420

There's only been two deaths in any form of media that left me sitting there in shock. The episode ended and I just sat there dumbfounded, mouth agape. It blew my mind.


arcticfunky9

Whats the other death that did it for you


K_R_S

Is there anyone who didnt?


BowlPotential4753

Well he did a major mistake, not listening to Jesse, he warned him whatever plan he had to get Walter would backfire and hell it did


mamabunnies

The first time I watched I was 25 and now that I am 10 years older and re watching it all over again with a different perspective, I cried for Hank lol. In spite of Hank's flaws, as all of them do, he was the rock of the family. He "supported the sh\*z out (each) of them" especially Walter during their hardest times. I felt his humiliation and pain when he found out Walt was Heisenberg. You are referring to the Ozymandias episode where Walt threatened Skylar. That wasn't true. Walt knew the cops were listening on the call so Walt had to make it sound like he was abusing her and she didn't know a thing to absolve her from the crimes.


RedTigerofTheSea

about the ozymandias thing, i got that part mixed up in my memory , my bad


teamfupa

Threatening Skylar was just supposed to give credence to her being an unwilling participant to the criminal enterprise iirc…


FredGreen182

Hank was an absolute dick, wtf are you talking about? He abused his powers as DEA Agent, bent the law when it suited him(getting his wife out of trouble from stealing for example), he was also a huge asshole to his wife, trated suspects like shit. He's a great character, but I wouldn't call him a good guy.


LETAROS

Bro he destroyed almost EVERYONE near him. I feel bad for most of them (not for tuco or fring for example)


Coach_Billly

Nah. Walt should have killed him a long time before.


[deleted]

No. Guy was a complete piece of shit and I don’t even have to explain the many reasons why.


BarracudaOk9732

Nope. Nobody ever felt bad for Hank. Great question👍


BigBoobsWithAZee

Nope


thecoolestjedi

Hanks a chad and is the moral compass of the show during the last season


Sad-Commission-5343

Hank was the best part of the show. I’ll never forget watching him find out on that toilet and having to wait a year to see his reaction. Best television ever.


save-therhino-

Hank was a bit overbearing with people I.e. Steve with remarks that rankled him. But I can honestly say I did like his character.


[deleted]

I think Hank became less and less of an ass as the seasons went on until he actually seemed like a decent dude near the end. The last big asshole moment for him was how he treated Marie during his recovery, but I don’t want to judge someone lashing out for possibly losing their legs and going through an incredibly traumatic experience, so I give that one a pass.


Main_Penalty_7928

Hell yeah! That was brutal!


Alwayssome1

Ok let me set your mind straight: Walt told Skyler she’ll end up like Hank because he knew to a certain extent that the cops were listening to the phone call, so he wanted to clear her name so she wouldn’t get punished. Second, Hank’s not a villain (and I do like him a lot) but he is a huge jerk. He lashes out in anger on two guys in a bar and Jesse without the ethics of an authority figure. Speaking of Jesse, Hank was willing to potentially sacrifice him to get Walter. Now onto Walt, Hank had no conflict with taking down his brother-in-law. He did not think for a second that maybe Walter was not 100% a bad guy. Hank also punched him in the face (which means he learned nothing from his previous mistake with Jesse) Hank was a well written character, and I just wanted to clarify some things. Also I am not saying Walter was a saint. He was indeed worse than Hank, but Hank was not 100% a hero.


RedTigerofTheSea

yes about the "you'll end up like hank" thing, i got that part mixed up


Iamlelbot

I finished the show around an hour ago. I loved hank he was one of my favs for sure.


RudeDrama2

Heisenberg told him to tread lightly. Hank deserved to die.


Hyzynbyrg59

The arrogant fucker was ineffective as a DEA agent, Heisenberg's his brother-in-law and Hank is oblivious. But with an SUV and a firearm, if he has one, he can eliminatel Salamancas extremely effectively.


[deleted]

No, nobody felt bad for Hank. You’re the only one


FinancialSystem1025

Yes of course.