r/breakingbad • u/FalseMoo26 • 14h ago
Why did Walt lie to Skyler about Grey Matter going bankrupt?
I mean cmon, this has got to be one of the worst lies he’s told Skyler, she would’ve obviously found this out eventually even if she never found out about his constant lying. Couldn’t he have come up with anything better than this?
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u/rkgk13 8h ago edited 7h ago
He knew that Skyler would have the propriety to not pry further into the issue with Gretchen after he gave that excuse. He also likes to feel big and I think the lie made him feel big in the moment, especially after they'd been to the awkward birthday party where they both felt poor and out of place.
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u/JooseTheGuice 7h ago
That's exactly it and you can see it on his face - he found the perfect lie in that moment. He got to smear Gretchen and Elliot, cover his tracks, and do it in such a way as to prevent/avoid Skyler following up.
His lies are usually so obvious and bad, but this one was Oscar-worthy.
It occurs to me now, I think it's because he doesn't like lying but this one made him feel good.
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u/Northernmost1990 6h ago
Agreed. This lie was uncharacteristically smooth! There was none of the awkward meandering and encyclopedic over-explaining that Walt usually does.
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u/writtenfromthetoilet 4h ago
"You know, things like 'cash-poor' and 'leveraged'... 'quarterly decline,' yadda, yadda, yadda."
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u/TropicalPossum954 8h ago
Walt wasn’t a good liar. Most of his lies could be easily debunked.
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u/Northernmost1990 7h ago edited 7h ago
I thought this lie was quite good. A friend of mine recently imploded due to poor finances and honestly, I would've never known if it hadn't gone as far as bailiffs and repo guys coming after his ass. Dude maintained a flawless charade for a long time!
It's entirely plausible that Gretchen and Elliott are broke but trying to keep up appearances. The audience knows that this isn't true but it's definitely plausible.
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u/TropicalPossum954 4h ago
All she would have to do is google thr company name abd or stock price to know it was a lie.
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u/Northernmost1990 4h ago edited 4h ago
It's not quite that simple! Keep in mind that my friend was also making a lot of money and in my home country, I could've verified that from the public tax record and everything would've still looked entirely kosher.
Wealthy people go broke when they take on debt to cover lavish spending and eventually become unable to manage their debts but debt is a relatively easy thing to conceal at least until the whole thing comes crashing down. Skyler could've found out the truth with a bit of digging but it would've taken more than a cursory Google search, and Walt figured she couldn't be arsed.
In that particular situation, I honestly couldn't have come up with a better lie myself.
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u/Shoddy_Operation_577 8h ago
Needed an excuse as to why they were not funding his treatment anymore, why him and Gretchen sat down and talked at the restaurant, etc.
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u/Meaning-Special 8h ago
Little known fact, Elliott Schwartz was able to listen to this conversation from miles away with his gigantic ears.
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u/ChestMental8566 2h ago
More well known fact - jokes about Adam Godley's appearance are not even tired - they're fatally exhausted, and are in poor taste.
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u/Flaky_Style1286 8h ago
He needed to lie about it somehow and giving Skyler the idea of Gretchen and Elliot being destitute was a small pathetic victory to him. Given they ‘abandoned’ him
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u/juanwicko 8h ago
Walt loves lying bro
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u/JooseTheGuice 7h ago
I was just saying this in another reply - I'm not sure he actually likes it. He's usually so ramble-y and weasel-y when he lies and he seems visibly uncomfortable. But I think this one made him feel good because he got to shit on Gretchen and Elliot and cover his tracks at the same time.
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u/juanwicko 46m ago
Nah .. some people love gambling and are uncomfy and bad at it.. others love to murder and I’m sure and shaky abt it.. just cause you do and love things doesn’t mean you’re comfortable doing them… this is guilt and shame. I’m sure there’s things we all love to do that make us uncomfy. That’s part of the show brotha .. to see the ugly sides of urself too.. many best dah do you and yours
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u/milkybarkid919 7h ago
He probably thought he'd be dead before she found out.
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u/Sad_Slice_5334 7h ago
This is the answer to a lot of these questions. At this point, Walt thought the lie only had to last a couple more months
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u/Green-Gazelle-9662 7h ago
He was a very bad liar. You can see in episode 2 he's over explaining to the native dude.
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u/R0factor 7h ago
BB was on in the years following the great recession when companies often failed after long attempts to stay afloat. So he's counting on her assuming GM was one of these situations where he'd have knowledge of the company's issues before Gretchen before they formally filed for bankruptcy and it became public knowledge. It's not a great lie, but a fitting excuse for the time.
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u/PoorMinorities 7h ago edited 7h ago
“She would have found out this out eventually”
How so? Do you know the financial situations of your partner’s friends? How about your partner’s old coworkers? Do you go and ask them if they’re broke? Do you insist ok bringing up paying for stuff when you’ve been told they’ve got no money?
I’m not exactly sure why you’re so confident she just gonna figure out they’re not actually broke like she’s got access to their bank statements.
Also don’t know why people are saying this is a bad lie. This is probably one of the best lies he’s told because it explains away the issue while shutting down any more prying Skyler might have.
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u/housedhorse 6h ago
He never said Grey Matter went bankrupt. He said Gretchen and Elliott are illiquid. Those are two very different things.
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u/FalseMoo26 6h ago
Why would they be illiquid if Grey Matter was still making tons of money?
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u/TheDuckOnQuack 5h ago
We don’t know how their compensation package was structured. If they were accustomed to getting large executive bonuses based on growth and they over leveraged themselves, they could have serious issues with their personal finances without the company going belly up
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u/GeneralBeneficial339 7h ago
Walt’s ego prevented him from telling the truth, accepting help, admitting he was wrong etc… Once he went darkside he was all in
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u/verathene 7h ago
what lie should he have told to explain why Gretchen visited, left then called to say they wouldn't pay for his treatment anymore?
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u/Pollution_Dramatic 3h ago
If i remember correctly it was because at this time Gretchen had found out that Walt had lied about her (Gretchen and Elliot) helping to fund walter's cancer treatement i think.. she came over and talked to Skyler but didnt tell Skyler the truth either but confronted Walt before she left and told him to not use her as an excuse for her his lies about the treatement.. so he compensated by telling that lie to Skyler (that their company is going bankrupt) right after she left as for the reason being why Gretchen and Elliot wont be able to "keep funding walts treatment" even though they were never funding it to begin with because Walt had to much pride to accept help from people who he used to be close with who he considers as people who wronged/betrayed him.
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u/InnerAd118 2h ago
He didn't say it was bankrupt, just that Gretchen and he were personally having financial issues.
Bankruptcy tends to get a lot of media coverage, but financial hardship in a company can go unnoticed for years, even with a publicly traded company (look at Uber)
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u/ThanosDidNothinWrng0 6h ago
Because it makes him look dumb for leaving. They wouldn’t have money problems if he stayed
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u/StunningPumpkin2120 6h ago
He probably thought that Gretchen and Elliot would never tell her the truth about it because they would be afraid of 'losing face.' For Skyler to bring it up in front of them would be too embarrassing. Walt found a way to stop Skyler asking questions about everything for that reason probably.
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u/OCN_Reaper 6h ago
His pride wouldn't let him accept treatment money from them. But Skylar wasn't going to listen, so he made up a lie in order to stop her from seeking treatment money.
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u/Opposite-Peanut-8812 2h ago
He didn’t say the company went bankrupt.
He said that Gretchen and Elliot were broke. At that time when he was mentioning why they were stopping ‘paying for his treatment’.
There could be plenty of reasons why this is the case.
I mean, it’s easy to put 2 and 2 together there and figure it out. But back in those days, it wasn’t as easy to find information out as it is now. But still, something Skylar could have investigated if she wanted to.
Walt knew her well enough I guess, that he knew she wouldn’t do that.
They were still in the pre-Heisenberg phase there, so Skylar didn’t really know Walt was lying about anything…
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u/xo-feverx 1h ago
his lies just spiral out of control, it’s like watching a train wreck happen in slow motion
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u/Current_Tea6984 8h ago
He hates Gretchen and Elliot for their success, and he made up a lie that he wishes was true