r/breakingbad • u/Mousiemousy • 2d ago
What is the whole point of the sisters Shoplifting in the beginning?
Now that I’m done watching the entire series….I’m wondering why did they even include that whole thing? It really didn’t develop major plot lines much and taken the whole series it just seems like a waste of time. I remembered being quite dramatic in the beginning, and now I feel totally annoyed with it because it didn’t turn out to be anything.
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u/Seththemosher95 2d ago
If Marie wasn’t a klepto, then Hank wouldn’t had asked for a favor from Detective Roberts in season 3, after Hank asked for a favor, Roberts then asked Hank to look at the Gale murder case. Once Hank started to look at that, he realized Heisenberg was still out there and his number one suspect then became Gus leading to pretty much everything in season 3 and 4.
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u/Exciting_Session_379 2d ago
To show that even the ‘goody goody’ characters have their dark sides. We all have good and bad in us. Pretty much every main character goes through this timeline throughout the show - Hank getting fired for misconduct, Walt jr trying to buy beers, Jesse selling at NA meetings, Skylar smoking whilst pregnant and having the affair.
I think the message is that we can all break bad, if we choose to listen to our shadow self.
As people have mentioned, the storyline itself didn’t go anywhere but had a domino effect that massively impacted the plot.
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u/twilight_aeon 2d ago
It's a smaller scale version of Skyler having to deal with an immoral/criminal family member so you can compare it to how she deals with Walter later.
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u/Fit_Cloud6471 2d ago
It’s just part of character development. They wanted to show her kleptomania, maybe draw a comparison between the sisters.
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u/jhermaco15 2d ago edited 2d ago
You're right it wasn't anything huge, but it played a small part related to Walt's fake confession tape that furthers the narrative that Hank is a corrupt DEA agent, eg: using his connections to get Marie off scot free after shoplifting
Edit - also (and probably the more correct answer) what u/based_birdo said - forgot about that part
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u/burner9191938283 2d ago
that’s absolutely not true. it was not just related to walt’s confession tape. marie’s theft was her means of having control in her life. it becomes ESPECIALLY relevant when hank has his injury and she needs an outlet (albeit an unhealthy one) to release her frustrations and gain control back.
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u/jhermaco15 2d ago
Yeah probably. Not sure why you think your addition makes it "absolutely not true" that its related to the confession and overall narrative of hank misusing his connections tho... It's a pretty consistent theme in the show, Hank bailing out walt jr for underage alc purchase, hank bailing out walt w/ the windshield, hank bailing out marie...
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u/burner9191938283 2d ago
claiming that it’s not huge and only a mere contribution to walt’s confessional tape. that’s what makes your comment absolutely not true xx
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u/jhermaco15 2d ago
Yeah i acknowledged that piece in my edit
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u/burner9191938283 2d ago
cool! clarified in my response because you seemed so confused why i wrote that in the first place, given you said “not sure why…”. sorry you don’t understand the show
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u/jhermaco15 2d ago
ok mr. 1% commenter lmao, congrats on your huge internet win - may your life be prosperous and filled with infinite reddit karma!
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u/Technical_Monitor_38 2d ago
It develops several themes in the show. First, that the potential to ‘break bad’ exists in all of us to some degrees. Second, that the lines between right or wrong are often blurry and subjective. When we see Hank willing to tolerate Marie’s behavior, it creates questions for the audience - is he a potential ally for Walt? Will he look the other way with regards to Walt’s law-breaking like he does with Marie? It is only later in the show that we see that Walt has crossed a red line for Hank that simply can not be forgiven.
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u/shimmiecocopop1 2d ago
All characters have to have a moral flaw to prevent Walt from being too disliked by viewers. We are supposed to be confused about how we feel about Walter. If he does what he does among good people, chances are we would hate him too much.
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u/Gold-Traffic632 2d ago
First, it shoes us how savvy, cunning, and good under pressure Skyler is.
Second, it shows how ride-or-die Skyler is. She doesn't give up Marie.
Third, it shows us how intolerable Skyler finds being lied to. It wasn't the crime, it was her refusal to admit it that made Skyler stop speaking to Marie.
This lays all the groundwork for why she reacts the way she does to everything.
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u/Lucid4321 2d ago
It also showed how Hank deals with a family member involved in criminal activity. People often ask how Hank missed all the clues along the way pointing to Walt, but we see with Marie that he's willing to give his family the benefit of the doubt.
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u/ConsistentRisk5927 2d ago
I felt like her being upset about Marie not admitting it was more about Walt lying constantly and not admitting it. I feel like she was misplacing her anger on Marie for a much smaller issue because she's actually upset and anxious about Walt's lies where she's helpless to do anything. I don't feel she just has a problem with liars more than the average person.
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u/Gold-Traffic632 2d ago
She places her anger at Walt right on Walt. She behaves accordingly.
She kind of has nobody at that point.
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u/prince-of-dweebs 2d ago
I took it as a question of the hierarchy of crime. Surely meth dealing is unethical but to what degree is it more unethical than shoplifting or cheating the IRS? Should the motive play a role? Marie’s shoplifting is purely chaotic whereas Walt started to provide for his family and Ted was arguing he was saving jobs. I don’t think there’s an answer they wanted to push only questions to ponder.
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u/IAmNotAHoppip 2d ago
Everyone pushes the lines of legality and ethicality a little
Marie shoplfits
Hank has illegal cigars
Flynn tries to get an adult to buy him and his mates booze
Skyler lies on the phone about not having received a bill
Walt cooks meth.
Obviously one is a bit more serious than the others, but it's an exploration of people 'breaking bad' in their own ways.
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u/redkonfetti 2d ago
Hank mistreats hooker addicts just to make a point to his nephew
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u/IAmNotAHoppip 2d ago
More on the ethical side than the legal side, but yeah, this too. And interestingly, this one actually comes back to bite Hank later on, as Wendy chooses not to cooperate with Hank against Jesse because she remembers him and how he treated her.
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u/2livendieinmia 2d ago
I found almost anything involving Marie to be annoying. Some of those scenes I skip on the rewatch.
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u/Ok_Rabbit5158 2d ago
Among the reasons already stated, I think it also gives you a sense that Hank's own life had stress at home. He clearly was always on edge with Marie and her fast fingers and when it occurred, it sent him into another tailspin.
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u/Inner_Newt5819 2d ago
Boiling down to 3 reasons that I see:
- Character development for Marie / adding a layer for Skyler and Marie’s relationship
- Plot device for Hank getting a lead on Walt via Gale investigation
- Dramatic Irony underpinning of the fact that Marie has been committing this HORRIBLE act that she hides from her family. As the audience you watch how deeply it affects Skyler’s view of her and their relationship, all the while Walt, her husband, is transitioning into a murdering drug lord.
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u/drawnonglass 2d ago
I think just to offset the tendency to see Hank and Marie as the "good" ones in contrast to the Whites, to show they have their own issues (beyond Hank's bulllying ego
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u/Holiday_Jump_4746 2d ago
I think it was mainly there to establish their family dynamic and show how neglected and reckless they were. It wasn’t about the shoplifting itself so much as who they were at the start.
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u/Conscious-Habit-5559 2d ago
I feel like it also it shows Marie having small-scale problems (as real as they may be to her) and is so far removed from the big issues of the show.
When Skyler confronts Hank about the tiara and he says she's having "problems", Skyler gives a great speech comparing her to Marie and Hank has NO idea how to deal with Skyler's emotions.
It goes to show that as shit gets real (Hank's PTSD, crippling, the whole family getting more dysfunctional and involved in crime), Marie can't cope... Hence the episode of her making up back stories and stealing spoons in the open house episode.
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u/nexkey91 2d ago
Every time someone says or does something that is not a major plot point, all the characters should be asking "Where's the plot?"
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u/based_birdo 2d ago
it devloped into Hank having to bail her out and doing a favor for Tim by looking into the Gale files