We've all been
Walter White.

Walter White isn't a monster from the start. That's the problem.

He's a provider. A family man. A bloke who got dealt a bad hand and decided to do something about it. The first few episodes, most men are on his side. Because the logic makes sense — I'll do this one thing, for my family, and then I'll stop.

But he doesn't stop. And the reason he doesn't stop has nothing to do with the money.

It's ego. It's the feeling of being seen. Of being powerful after a lifetime of being overlooked. He tells himself it's for Skyler, for the kids, for the treatment. But watch his face when someone says his name. That's not a father providing. That's a man who finally feels like he matters — and will burn everything down to keep that feeling.

Most men won't cook meth. But most men have told themselves a story about why they're doing what they're doing — working late, chasing the next thing, keeping control — and deep down known it wasn't really about the family at all.

• The most dangerous lie isn't the one you tell other people.
• It's the one you tell yourself.

The tragedy of Walter White isn't that he became someone else.

It's that he was always him. He just finally had permission.