ABSTRACT: From Kira to Heisenberg and Beyond

I. The World of Vince Gilligan:

-        Breaking Bad: Consequentialism via Justice.

o  Tragic Hero turns into a Villain.

o  Villain is punished.

o  Dichotomy: Hero/Villain.

§  Hero: Noble Ends, Dubious Means.

§  Villain: Evil Ends, Evil Means.

§  Tragic Flaw: as Means depreciate, Villain overcomes Hero, so the Ends are transformed as well.

o  Justice comes in the form of Physical Consequences for lapses in reasoning.

§  Godlike hubris versus Human Fallibility.

§  “It HAS to work”: the felt sense that man must transcend his own limits. (Ubermensch.)

o  Physical Limitations, including Other People, push the Hero into the use of Evil Means, by force of inertia and necessity, but also deep-seated and repressed Shadow Drives. (Heisenberg’s explosive appearances, represented also by Cancer and the Birth of Holly.)

o  Consequentialism in the Modern World: a Crisis.

§  Beneficent ends become corrupted by the UNPRED!CTABLE necessity for Evil Means.

§  Consequences imply that characters “make their own luck”. We are therefore to ally ourselves at once with Sartre and with Job’s Critics whenever we encounter suffering, as does the Vacuum Cleaner Salesman in El Camino.

·     PROBLEM: This implies that all of Heisenberg’s victims “had it coming.”

1. Jesse: Dealer.

2. Jane: User.

3. Gale: Producer.

4. Victor/Mike: Enforcers.

5. Gus:

§  Distributor.

§  Angel of Vengeance, much like Gilligan Himself.

6. Skyler: Enabler; “mob wife”.

7. Hank: Loose Cannon.

·     PROBLEM: This rewards criminals such as the Vacuum Cleaner Salesman for their vices (Greed) so long as they are practical in their hypocrisy. There is no Cosmic Justice for men like Polonius. Villains are thereby incentivized to repeat the Tragic Cycle by Breaking Bad, as in the case of the McGill Brothers.

1. Jimmy: Consequentialist, on the side of Ethical Egoism. (“Let’s Make a Deal.”)

2. Charles: Deontologist, on the side of Justice. (“See, that's your problem, Jimmy. Thinking that the ends justify the means. And you're forever shocked when it all blows up in your face.”)

-        Better Call Saul: Moderation versus Extremes.

o  Jimmy:

§  James McGill, Esq. Good Ends, Moderate Means.

§  Slipping Jimmy: Moderate Ends, Dubious Means.

§  Saul Goodman: Amoral Ends, Evil Means. (The Joker.)

o  Charles:

§  Good Means.

§  Good Ends.

§  Excellent Virtues.

§  Dubious auxiliary motives.

o  Conflict:

§  Step One: Consequentialism/Deontology. Jimmy’s Ethical Egoism cannot coexist with Chuck’s Deontology. (Cutting corners/by the Book.)

§  Step Two: Moderation/Extremism. Chuck’s “bullsh*t vendetta” upsets Jimmy’s attempts at worldly happiness.

§  Step Three: Pride/Humility.

·     Chuck’s hubris seals his fate, though not without some measure of extreme and uncharacteristic openness.

·     Dramatic Irony:

1. Chuck’s observations are legitimate, though his audience (on the stage side of the Fourth Wall) has no way of knowing this, and he becomes painfully aware of his triggered loss of public discretion.

2. What appears to be the unmasking of an upstanding citizen is in fact the failure to expose a criminal mastermind.

§  Step Four: Justice/Forgiveness.

·     Chuck forgives Jimmy by assuring him that remorse is meaningless.

·     Jimmy chooses to avenge himself by pulling a prank on Chuck, which leads to Chuck’s suicide.

·     This critical turning point, presented right in the middle of the Series, (at the end of Season Three) represents the switch in roles.

1. Chuck McGill: Villain to Victim.

2. Jimmy McGill: Hero/victim to Villain.

§  Step Five: Consequentialism/Deontology.

·     In the absence of Charles McGill, Jimmy has the opportunity to turn his own life around. Instead, he fulfills Chuck’s prophecies willfully. His ethical egoism, already pushed into morally reprehensible territory and criminal secrecy, transforms gradually but markedly into Machiavellian pragmatism.

§  Step Six: Moderation/Extremism. Jimmy goes to greater and greater lengths to preserve his enterprise as Saul Goodman.

§  Step Seven: Pride/Humility. When Jimmy is denied return to his old career as a lawyer, he tosses his briefcase across the staircase, representing his permanent transformation into Saul Goodman.

o  Improvement in Writing:

§  Gilligan begins to temper the extremism of vengeance by telling a story of forgiveness.

§  Consequentialism still acts as a punisher, but it punishes most the following errors:

·     The failure to forgive,

·     Pride,

·     Extremism, and

·     Consequentialism Itself.

§  This last detail creates a Paradox, implying that we OUGHT to be held responsible for the CONSEQUENCES of our actions, compelling us to manipulate events to produce Preferable Consequences, though those consequences can never justify the means.

·     While Chuck’s Deontological Extremism dooms him to a grisly fate, self-inflicted to the last moment, the aftermath of his death and the choices Jimmy makes in Chuck’s absence vindicate Chuck.

·     While one might imagine a world wherein only those who employ Noble Means will be met with Good Ends, this is pathologically naïve in a Universe wherein children and their parents are murdered by mobsters. It follows logically that:

1.  We cannot fairly blame Jesse Pinkman for creating his “own luck”, since he consistently navigates the Criminal World by abstaining from cruelty.

§  He murders Gale only when his hand is forced.

§  He only tries to avenge the deaths of innocent children who had no means to defend themselves.

2.  Since we are judged by the Consequences of Our Own Actions, and since we cannot guarantee that Good Means will produce Preferable Ends, we are pressured to pursue Preferable Ends by Any Means Necessary, and our attempts to save ourselves by Noble Means might become corrupted by Impersonal Forces.

·     The only means by which anyone can live a Good Life would be if everyone within one’s network of influence were forgiving. This represents a transformation on the part of Gilligan: as his characters fall into despair, the writer ascends, where previously his privileged posture compels him to condemn them, presuming upon his own good fortune as proof of virtue.

II. Why Kira’s Critics are more Disturbing than his Supporters:

-        Critique of Postmodern “morality”.

o  Near’s autistic absolutism.

o  Separation of Conscience from Teleology.

§  Near: Clean conscience.

§  Light: Teleological Progress; theory in Action.

o  Presumption on the Law.

§  Hypocrisy of Capital Punishment.

§  Murder only as Deviance.

§  Conformism. (Level Four Morality.)

-        The Players, in Alphabetical Order:

o  K(ira): Justice via Unlawful Order.

§  Noble Ends: a Better World.

§  Discerning Means: the efficient execution of dangerous criminals.

§  Tragic flaws:

·     Hubris.

·     God Complex.

·     Shadow Projection.

·     Machiavellian ruthlessness.

·     Mania.

o  L: Justice via Lawful Chaos.

§  Autotelic Personality: Ends vanish from conscious consideration, except when they are observed in others.

§  Diversified Means, ranging from kidnapping and prolonged imprisonment to absolute transparency.

o  M(ello): Self-interest via Unlawful Chaos.

§  Selfish Ends: to outwit Near.

§  Vicious, criminal Means.

§  Redeemed posthumously by recognizing Near as an Equal and demonstrating their Equality through Solidarity. Dies a martyr.

o  N(ear): Justice via Lawful Order.

§  Autistic Personality: Ends are considered only as strategies, irrespective of Teleology.

§  Means are Consistent.

·     Childlike Innocence.

·     Scientific Method:

1. Constant: Values, virtues and methods.

2. Variable: Unexpected permutations within definite moral confines.

-        Kira as Hero:

o  Kira avenges Misa.

o  Kira strives for a Better World.

o  Kira’s New World attains Pacifist ends via Justice.

-        Near as Villain:

o  Motivated by the Preservation of a Status Quo which is tolerable only to ambivalent moderates, (such as L,) narcissistic criminals, (such as most of Kira’s victims, esp. Higuchi and Demegawa,) and those innocent people that happen to avoid tragedy by chance.

o  Narcissistic fixation upon Pacifist means despite the preservation of a world which is generally more docile and pacifist.

-        Postmodern Problem:

o  Anyone can believe himself to be the Hero, while acting as another’s Villain, but who is to decide the Absolute Nature of Anyone?

o  Solution(s):

§  Redeem Vigilantes such as Light Yagami while learning from their mistakes.

§  Contextualize Justice outside of mere vengeance.

·     Justice is more forgiving than complacency and forcing moral people into helplessness.

·     Ground the Pursuit of Justice in the context of a post-conventional Teleology, including both criminal and lawful methods, embracing both chaos and order, and recognizing that either law OR crime can be either ordered OR chaotic.

·     Avoid Authoritarian Appeals.

1.  Near’s Narcissism.

2.  The Vacuum Cleaner’s Twofaced “Principles”.

3.  Blaming the victims by exposing their vices.

4.  Shadow projection and cruelty.

[({Dm.A.A.)}]