So season 5 starts and Walt needs to find a lab setup and they decide to set up a mobile lab that goes between houses being fumigated. That makes sense but they make a big deal in the show about having a front so they don't get caught. Also makes sense. But Jack has a super lab set up in the middle of bumfuck nowhere just open to the world and didn't caught for the over a year that it was set up? Was he just careless or couldn't they have just set up there from the beginning? I know they didn't know Jack but they had a connection to him through Todd and it's kinda weird that Todd wouldn't suggest something like that. They could have given him a kick back. Or why didn't they just buy a plot of land and make a similar set up?
Why didn't Walt and his crew just set up shop in Jack's compound from the beginning?
But there is a difference in that Gus' superlab had to be dug out of the ground as opposed to Jack's which was a standing building
Yeah, I also don’t trust a bunch of Nazis with standards like Todd’s and Jack’s to successfully run a meth lab. I think Walt would agree.
Honestly morals aside, they do seem quite competent
I feel like none of them really cared about the meth once they had the money, but kept it going as a favour to Todd (so he could keep his crush going, plus money ain't bad).
They also enjoyed having a reason to imprison and torment Jesse. That’s how Nazis work.
Todd was the one who wanted Jesse to cook for him. Jack would have just killed him
and Todd is still a Nazi, proving my point correct?
Is Todd a nazi though lol, he’s clearly a sociopath that will murder without any second thoughts and stands by and supports his Uncle Jack. But does he really have any nazi tendencies or is he just around Jack cause he’s family?
Considering that Nazis have no respect for human life, I’d say that “murdering a child in cold blood on a total whim” means that he’s picked up the general ideology, yeah
I mean, Jack literally said "who cares about cooking meth? We won the lottery here".
Jack can’t even keep Todd under his thumb 100% of the time. There’s no way I would trust a meth lab run by Jack lol. Jesse was the safest cook they ever had.
(I also have a family member in prison after his meth lab exploded, so maybe I am just hyper aware of the risks here, but yeah…I’d never trust these guys to run a meth lab. And neither would Walt.)
You can’t give info without further explanation! What are the dangers of those labs?
Standard disclaimer that I am not a meth user or producer, nor have I ever been close to my cousin.
From what I gathered about the debacle while it was happening, the explosion risk mainly comes from two ingredients: hypophosphorous acid, which is very easy to overheat, and lithium metal, which reacts violently to water. There’s also an explosion and fire risk if the cook is a slob who leaves traces of ingredients everywhere—think of gunpowder and a cigarette butt.
I have no idea which mistake my cousin made. Probably all three at the same time, if I’m being honest. But because my cousin has enormous Todd energy, it seems quite clear to me how uneducated and untrained reactionaries could be prone to careless mistakes like miscalculating temperature/time, spilling water, or cutting corners during clean-up.
It’s also worth noting that labs are frequently created and used by meth users, and we know that risk aversion isn’t their style. Hanging out near one is just an all-around bad idea. 0/10 do not recommend.
Todd started a fire.
FIRE GUY
Todd has a LoJack stuck attached car and doesn’t even know. Cooking there would lead t his inevitable arrest.
What are you talking about, Walt replaced Jessie with Todd and had no issues working with Jack. They probably never set up a lab with Jack because they already had a better idea before Nazis came along.
The one thing Walt never fucked around about was his lab, dude.
That's why he and Todd never cooked together right? Oh wait, they did. You are not making sense mate.
In WALT’s lab. That HE ran and managed and trusted.
So you are saying Walter needs his own lab otherwise he won't be cooking? Explain why he had no issues working in a lab that was property of Gus Fring? You are assuming that Jack would boss Walter around instead of just taking loads of money from renting his compound to him. You know like other guys from places that Saul showed them.
Do you not understand what lab management is?
Walt managed all lab processes in every lab he cooked in. That was part of the fucking deal with Gus—Walt would be wholly trusted with his expertise and deciding who was allowed to work in Gus’s lab with him. This was undoubtedly to mitigate risk and promote safety, because we’d seen Jesse make so many careless mistakes while cooking and it scared Walt to death.
Walt would not have this power or authority in Jack’s lab. I don’t think I’m assuming anything when I say that Jack was resistant to passing off power and resources to other people. He is reactionary as a rule, down to his politics, and he would have taken Walt’s suggestions for a safer or better lab as a threat to his authority. Walt would not be able to manage the lab or the operations under Jack. It’s actually okay and quite commendable to see a Nazi and trust that they’re going to behave like a Nazi—a short-fused, reactionary, selfish control freak on a power trip.
So no, I don’t believe Walt would have ever cooked in Jack’s lab. Fucking sue me for having a different opinion.
If you now need me to explain that employees don’t always own their workplaces, but still have authority over operations inside their workplaces, I can…but it may be more helpful for you to get a job or some real world experience or something.
Gus was also hiding it from eladio while jack was the cartel at that point having taken over from walt
Wasn’t jacks set up underground?
No, it was just in a long storage type of building. Jesse’s cage was underground.
You might be thinking of Declan’s underground lab, that produced sub par meth and ended up being raided by Jack’s crew.
Oh right. That’s what I was thinking of
I’ve actually seen someone “living” in a bus that’s buried under the ground.
Funny enough we bought meth at that location. Art imitates life, etc.
I say living but now that I think about it, they could’ve been cooking.
Jack is not the type to invite in guests, like most compound owners.
You know, I never noticed it before, but most people who own compounds are fairly antisocial.
I don’t think the Vamanos Pest crew is affiliated with Jacks crew other than the fact that Todd works for both at some point
They aren't, Todd just mentions his uncle could be helpful to Walt but Ezra is never seen or mentioned with Jack's crew.
Plus Todd was just doing his job. It wasn’t until later that he even felt comfortable talking to Walt
Maybe not. Burglars and Nazi armies probably don't have a lot of overlap in their interests. But then, how did Todd just happen to be connected to two unrelated criminal enterprises, neither of which was founded by him? Seems like a big coincidence if that's the case. They'd have to be connected some way, I think. Then Jack sees Todd, while being an excellent sociopath, isn't really hard enough to be a soldier, so pawns him off on an associate in a different line.
I don't think the nephew of a gang leader going into a different sort of crime is much of a coincidence, nor is him having the personality he has given that Jack is as cold but just better at seeming friendly. It's him happening to be in Walt's operation that's the coincidence, but BrB is kinda a story about Walt having too many strokes of good luck and the damage that causes.
Him going into a different sort of crime is fine, but how did he get into Ira's circle? Easiest answer is Ira was connected to Jack, however insubstantially. Maybe they did time together? I forget whether Ira's crew has clean records.
This actually explains it really well
Jack’s compound looks exactly like the kind of place you would find a meth lab. Which makes it a terrible place to setup a meth lab.
I wouldn’t be surprised if local authorities or even the DEA were keeping tabs on them at that point at the end of the show and would’ve probably busted them not long after if Walt hadn’t showed up.
Years ago I went on a ride along with a friend in FWPD, and he showed me a house in a rough neighborhood. We were on a hill looking down on it, and he told me it was a drug house. He told me any car leaving that house was going to have drugs in it.
I asked him why they didn’t raid it, close it down and arrest everyone.
He told me those investigating it weren’t interested in that house or the people coming and going. If they just got that house, a new one would open up, with plenty of customers and drugs coming and going.
They instead watched it, looking for bigger fish, for the sources.
I think you would be right, the feds were probably watching Jack, he wasn’t careful. Like at all.
It wasn't set up until after the raid on Declan where they got all of his equipment.
This is the correct answer
True, but walt did build a lab for the vamanos pest setup. Todd just never pitched the compound. Walt might’ve been opposed anyway. They had a system.
Honestly yeah most likely would have declined bc Walt strikes me as needing all the credit, he just has to be big man.
Because a building belonging to merc nazis is likely to attract law enforcement attention at some point or another and when planning a long term business that's an issue.
Todd's not exactly the sharpest tool. Also, Todd was instructed to literally only just say "yes, sir" and "no, sir" to Walt and Jesse. He only eventually ever breaks that barrier when he finds the nanny-cam, after they've already been at it with the tented houses. Doesn't seem like "by the way, you could always cook at my house" would have made any plausible sense before that.
At that point I don’t think Todd had enough influence to even suggest it. Maybe at some point after the Nazis killed Mike’s men they could have.
First off, Jack only set up the lab because Todd was sweet on Lydia. He had $millions of barrel cash. He didn’t need the meth money.
They weren't working with the Nazis, they were working with Todd who they assumed was just another conman at the fumigating business, Walt doesn't even get introduced to them til after they stopped cooking in the fumigated houses.
Todd mentions em a little earlier but I don't think Walt even meets them til after it all.
And Im pretty sure they get their lab equipment from that wolverine guys underground bus lab they raided which is also after the fumigating business, so it's possible the Nazis didn't even have a lab prior to that even if Walt knew them from the start.
And on top of that I don't believe Todd was as affiliated at the top with the Nazis at that point he's just the nephew that happens to work for em sometimes, and he's not that smart to even mention it to begin with even if the Nazis had a lab at the start which I don't think they did.
That basically covers everything.
Can you picture Mike giving Jack the Yes Sir No Sir speech?
The lab wasn’t set up until Todd was cooking … and probably not right away .
And no way Mike would get into partnership with right wing Nazi thugs .
Why wouldn't he?
They were reckless and stupid
He background checks everyone he works with . Don’t think Jack and gang would meet his requirements.
Nazis are not known for trustworthiness.
Because they didn’t know any of them when they set up the Vamanos operation, plus it was probably not offered at the time he did get to know them.
And also…..Walt was all about his Empire. These guys were “useful fools” to him for the needs he used them for, but he wasn’t going to do such a setup that could be beholden to someone dangerous again.
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Because they didn’t know about the opportunity to begin with, but also keep in mind Walt said he didn’t want drive 50 miles out into the middle of nowhere anymore.
They didn't know Jack until they met Todd and already had a system is place (fumigation) Walter wasn't a trusting person. Jessie definitely didn't trust Todd. Jack wasn't really interested in methamphetamines.
Because Walt and Saul aren't stupid.
The lab may have been built after the fumigated mobile labs. Remember that Jack got most of Walt’s millions so would be more accessible. I’d have rewatch to see if this timeline matches up to my response, but that’s my two cents.
The Nazis can’t be trusted.
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Todd isn’t good at planning or people.
Jack is not the type to invite in guests, like most compound owners.
There is good business sense in not working with Nazis, which is kind of why everything goes off the rails when Walt starts working with Jack.
Better Call Saul reveals how much time, money, and work it took for Gus and Mike to set up their lab, so I understand why Mike wouldn’t be interested in doing it again.