Mike's complaint about Walt in "Say My Name" doesn't make sense

Re-read my post where it says to the effect : Walt's big mouth going to Gus ratting on Jesse (re Jesse's plan) started the spiral down....

I have no intention of spoon feeding it to you in any simpler terms.

You choose to see a condensed version starting at the point of Walt running down the dealers - that is one eyed (blindered).


Matrixflower :)

Walt had no 'distribution' strategy in place when he embarked on the Meth business road. Jesse was his distribution plan. But when it came to it Walt interferred (as usual, control freak he is) and shamed Jesse into expanding into others' territories - with no clue as to possible repercusssions.

Walt was a terrible startup business entrepeneur. The distribution was as major a part of the business as the production. Eventually he was lucky that Saul knew a guy who knew Gus Fring ...... otherwise Walt was screwed..... with all that Meth and nowhere to go.

Walt's interferring ineptitude got Combo killed, and his ratting Jesse out to Gus almost got Jesse killed as well. Walt always thought he knew what was best, the best way to go..... but the whole series is a demonstration of the exact opposite. Walt was an immature screw-up in a mature teachers body. He should have stuck to what he did best - taken the job with Elliott.... and let others make the corporate/business decisions leaving him free to do his amazing Chemistry.

Bottom line - it was basically Walt's lack of forethought/forsight and lousy hubris ridden planning and knee-jerk reactions which basically got everyone throughout killed.


Matrixflower :)

he happily and quietly cooked for Declan

Except Walt didn't cook "for" Declan. His first tactic was to intimidate Declan by making him aware he killed Gus Fring and that he's the notorious Heisenberg, the ruthless genius. The central point of the "Say My Name" confrontation was that Walt was not intending to work "for" anyone.

Walt's grandiosity was not a one-off thing, as flashbacks and events over the seasons leading to Skyler's intervention make clear. This is obviously due to the fact that not only did his fatal flaw remain intact, it had only been reinforced. It was an addiction. So it's quite reasonable for DeusExKatrina to say that "His ego, his inability to be subordinate, and his desire to rise to the top are his driving attributes. He's a loose cannon that will stop at nothing to reign."

Given this, Walt's boundless need to feed his ego by acquiring ever more external power would have made for an uneasy retirement. As he said, this was what he was good at. That ego would have continued to bristle at the fact that Gretchen and Elliott's "little empire," to borrow Walt's words, was still worth much more and was publicly celebrated. Out of the limelight even among criminals, still frustrated at not being able to boast of his accomplishments, twiddling his thumbs... sooner than later Walt's insatiable ego would have dominated him again and he'd have been compelled to satisfy it.

The point of a character study/cautionary tale like BB is that as long as the character's fatal flaw isn't dealt with, no other conditions could ever be achieved whereby life could turn out all right. Lacking the courage and strength to confront and mitigate his internal flaw, one way or another Walt would always end up bringing disaster on himself and his family.

I agree, I'm just referring to at that time. However, I do think if Gus had said Jesse absolutely had to go, Mike still would have been willing to kill him. I only see Walt as willing to defy Gus, kill others or even be killed himself to protect Jesse.

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I think you've answered your own question. At this point Mike has grown fond of Jesse and so he has his little rant at Walter instead and conveniently puts all the blame on him.
For me the problem with this scene is not so much Mike's words but Walt's reaction. Walt reacts as if Mike has hit upon a truth and that out of visceral bitterness and an inability to face the said truth, he murders him. Because of what you've pointed out, I don't buy this reaction.
A calm calculated murder based on wanting to whack Mike's guys at a later date would make more sense.

Against the faint background of reality imagination spins out and weaves new patterns

Mike was a criminal enforcer and killer who's respect to a dead Gus and loyalty to the remaining Gus henchmen was perceived as a barrier for Walt, but to be fair the use of kids as cannon fodder on the streets was down to the criminal gang that Gus subcontracted and out of Mike's direct control, even if he indirectly colluding with the it (it's a different a story to Mike watching Todd kill a child in front of him). Mike at the end had genuine affection for Jesse, but most people often forget that was after the Gale/Vincent fiasco.