About a............0 because of

A. Walt really didn't need/should have done it in the first place, it was a stupid decision

B. Even if he made that decision, he should have realized he was way over his head after the first time he almost got killed and been done with it then.

Good question. I'd say about 5.

Sometimes they have good ideas, like making the 3 stooges move their product for them. Sometimes they come up with some very bad ideas, like expanding their territory without any muscle. Messing with the cartels is a very, very bad idea. Before Walt and Jesse know it, they're going to have a blood bath on their hands.

But getting a lawyer to handle the DEA is a step in the right direction. Now Walt and Jesse just need to stick to their own territory, and get some hired guns to keep the cartels off of their backs and out of their newly-claimed territory.

Walt keeps using business analogies with Jesse like they're operating in a regular business setting/realm and death isn't part of the standard operating procedure. I don't know if Walt or Jesse even get it sometimes.

It's a TV show, not real life. There are a lot of holes in the story line IMO, but the show is entertaining as hell and that's why I watch it. Naivety can be a blessing sometrimes and Walt is truly blessed with a large helping of it.

On the other hand, Walt has terminal cancer. The prospect of prison or an untimely death probably doesn't concern him much and Jesse is just a tool to him. He wants to provide security for his family and no risk is too great. However, expanding without having the framework in place is pretty reckless.

I'd give them a 2 so far, and one of those points is for being able to squirm out of the jams they've already been in.

They deserve no more than a "2". Greed is making them both blind to the fact that you go into somebody else's territory that has been doing business there for a certain period of time, and go sell a better version of the same thing they are trying to sell to a limited group of clientele (Especially if it's big money illegal drugs), and you are asking for HUGE trouble. All of the pep talks and "blowfish" bullshit in the world will not prepare or protect a person (especially relative novices like Walt, Jesse, and his boys) from the great consequences that will be awaiting them. I find it hard to believe they are all so naive that they absolutely have no idea what is going to happen once they start expanding their horizons. One would think the brush with Tuco would've made them see the light?

As jimanaz says, that's what makes viewing this entertaining and just a freakout every week. It is like they (Walt, Jesse) both get amnesia over what they've experienced to some degree, and just forge ahead. I think time and greed is what keeps pushing Walt to act so aggressively/recklessly, and Jesse, I guess, is the follower. He complains, but Walt does keep reeling him back in. It would be interesting to know how much time has elapsed since the pilot. How long does a round of chemotherapy usually last for? I'm guessing the timeframe since the series started is only a month and a half, maybe 2 months at most. Skyler's going to be pregnant for a long time, I think (Anna Gunn deserves a medal for wearing the pregnant belly prosethetic all this time - that's got to be uncomfortable).

2, huh? If it's a shorter timeframe than I think, that seems fair. If it's longer, than I don't think they're at that level. They do seem to get out of their scrapes, tho.......lucky bastards is what I'd say.

Walt is used to thinking in ways where the variables don't change. When you're dealing with people and drug users in particular, however, their behavior doesn't always follow a pattern. So it's not like Walt and Jesse get amnesia from week to week. There is just always some little twist that forces them to abandon their previous plan. They are almost better off not having a plan and yet Walt especially can't seem to operate without one.

Sometimes, it's helpful for them to think things through...like in the case where they had to steal the p2p. But most of the time, it's almost detrimental to the cause because of the human factor.

Not being terribly familiar with the drug trade, I'm just guessing that there is a lot of blundering...particularly when those who manufacture are also users. But it is a demand-driven field, so where there's a will, there's a way and sometimes it just works out.

I would rate Walt's business smarts at a one and Jesse's at a five.

DRKellogg Thanks for reminding me of how Walt's thought processes really influence their business direction. I hadn't really looked at it that way. He is, because of his science background, a linear thinker; i.e. Point A to Point B to Point C, etc. Jesse does have more experience with the street, to say the least.

Overall, I do think they've both been really, really lucky in a number of incidences.

Everyone's luck is bound to run out eventually......

6 1/2 For business ethic. Rule #1 if your business is making profit your ok regardless of bumps. Screw getting killed n all that junk, its a part of the profession walt now HAS. Walt became a drug dealer when he met the three stooges (dumbass move) Walt is thinking like a business man, but when the time comes to cross the line from businessman to drug dealer when jesse isnt there to send off, will he man up?