Keji Goto said:
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN DEXTER SEASON FOUR AND ALL OF BREAKING BAD
Walter White is much scarier than Arthur Mitchell at the end of the day. While you may not run in the circles that Walt runs in that doesn't mean his damage stops at the edge of that circle. Walt bombed an old folks home to kill Gus, he was part of the group that killed a child who was just having a good time on his dirt bike when he happened across them, he's destroyed his family as he's become more power hungry, turned the cartel on his brother-in-law, nearly killed Brock in season four by poisoning him, and so much more.
Season one and two Walt would have stopped at the edge of that circle but the Walt we have now doesn't do that. If anything or anyone gets in his way of achieving his goals they are expendable and the collateral damage doesn't matter to him as long as he survives and his empire grows.
Yes Walt started off as the hero of the series but he became the villain over time. Breaking Bad shifted from following the underdog to following someone who continues to make the world a worse place around him. It's like the frog in a pot of water, if you put the frog into the water when it's already hot it will jump right out but if you put the frog in the pot and slowly bring it to a boil the frog will sit there and boil to death. We've been sitting in the pot of water since it was cold with Walt.
Arthur Mitchell on the other hand has always been a monster and a monster that fits a very specific role. He has an MO, there are boundaries he doesn't cross because it doesn't do anything for him. There is no power to be gained, money to be had, or anything like that for Arthur, he's killing because of a condition and just getting in his way during his day to day life isn't going to get you killed, injured, or anything like that. Not only that but his actions didn't have collateral damage in the same regard Walt's did.
Yes Arthur attacked his family and was cruel to them but (as horrible as it sounds) it stayed contained within his family. Outside of his killing ritual Arthur would seem like a normal and very nice person to anyone dealing with him. He was involved with his church, he did charity work, by all appearances he was a good person until the urge to kill struck. Even then the only people in danger were those he was targeting.
Rita was killed because of Dexter and his inability to act. Again this shows that your average person isn't in danger with Arthur because your average person isn't going to try to get close to a serial killer and meddle in their affairs unlike Dexter.
Walt is far scarier because his transformation was one that you didn't see coming and once he changed there was no bounds to the damage he'd do. Once his wife knew about his meth business it pretty much became a non-issue with covering it up. He flaunts his power and money, he lashes out when he's made to feel unimportant, and even children aren't outside of his scope. Arthur on the other hand did everything he could to bend in and not draw attention to himself.
LOUD SPOILING NOISES!!!
Walt is exactly the one I see coming, because when a man is placed against the Wall, he becomes more in tune with his animal nature. The man is dying, he has no hope, and I don't believe he has any type of religion or ideals to guide him. Life failed him, so he'll make it pay.
It hurts me to say this out loud, but someone very close to me was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer just a little while ago. It is one of the most aggressive, and fatal cancers out there. While she is fighting it, she is changing. She is getting more blunt, she's taking on people bigger and stronger than her (she wasn't meek before, but she had some self defense mechanisms), and she is not giving a fuck. A Puppy is meek when you scold him. Because he wants to get back into your normal loving graces. If you are there to kill that same puppy, it will attack. Even it has no hope. because all it knows is to lash out and try to survive.
There are no more loving graces for Walter White. If there was a way out, he would temper himself. Because if there was a good chance he could walk away from his woes unscathed and to lead a long life, he would not be able to look at himself in the mirror. There will be no more mirrors for White. so why should he care?
We're comparing an Animal with nothing to lose backed up against a wall to a Unchained Monster who has no reason for it. He just wants to. He's compelled. He's a free radical that exists to take life from this world. If White could do what he needed to without realistically going to murder, I think he'd do it. But he didn't enter a kind world. He entered a ruthless one, and realized "When in Rome...".
We're comparing ruthless, horrendous murders and not asking the biggest question: Who has more to lose? White has almost nothing. Just a little time left with his loved ones. And when he's gone, what will become of them? Mitchell has exactly what White wants, what most of us want, and people who will have to live with his actions. And Mitchell couldn't give a proper fuck. He has everything to lose, and his impulses always wins out. He didn't become this way because his life is over, Mitchell was this way because that's what his life is
about.
Rakschas said:
random as trinitys attacks may appear, his victims fit a profile, his killings a habitual. if i knew he was a killer but didnt know his victims profile i would be freaked out that no body of water between him and me would seem big enough.
I would go as far and say that that man would put you off if you would spend a day in close company.
That is not to say any dangerous psychopath would, it just that he is a little obvious for the sake of the series audience. He displays strong characteristics of a type 1 psychopath, so strong in fact that most people wouldnt feel right about him.
in the context of the series he uses societies picture of a conservative church christian family as his cover to oppress and control and that is, in my opionion, the most scary part of him, as he is brilliant and in no way eratic about it, very much in contrast to his killings. here i say he shines, not treating his family as equals or even human but as part of the convenient cover, pretty much a skin he can shed any time the urge rushes to him.
it is not only a brilliant performance. the character and the parts of the season which involve him were very well writen and are one of the strongest of the dexter series.
Possibly so. In fact, I agree with you. If I did spend time with Mitchell, I'd probably sense something was off. But he wouldn't tip his hat at that time. He'd probably gauge me to see if I could sate his need. I might write him off as 'a creepy old guy' and keep my distance... but I wouldn't fear him. I'm a 6'2 guy who works out. All of the social cues (albeit that he would come off as a wacko) would tell me if a situation would go down, I could probably take him.
And hell, even then, I would be wrong. Mitchell already beat a fit man to death. I'd take pity, I might think I read the situation wrong,
everything about Mitchell is built to make you either doubt yourself, restrain yourself, or underestimate him. That's his greatest strength.
We know better because it's fiction and we can see who he is. But, in real life, if you see someone like that and he says he has a flat tire, you might think of your professor or your father and you'd go and help.
Walter White deals Meth. There's nothing about that sentence that I could misread. The only time I'd really, really come in contact with him is if I was in a situation where drugs are a focus. I lived in bad places. Word gets around where you should avoid. Who lives where and what that person is involved with. That's how people survive in those bad places. I remember going out with my cousin who lived in Brooklyn. We had to get the daily update
everytime we left about who is where and what corners to avoid.
In short, while White is more deranged, I'm used to avoiding situations with people like him. I don't know where I'd go to avoid a murdering psychopath like Mitchell. Worse yet, I
legitimately do not know if there's a murdering psychopath like Mitchell in my life at this very moment because he blends in so well with his social cue camouflage
