Aaron Paul – Looking to God

Every TV show has their haters. Every TV show has characters viewers love to hate. Skyler White of Breaking Bad is no exception. If there ever was a character a fan base poured their vitriol on, Skyler White is it. Even with the show’s final episodes of the series, fans didn’t surrender their rage over this woman.

And what better character to pick for this week’s Women Who Wow Wednesday than the complicated Skyler White?

If you haven’t seen Breaking Bad and would like to, suffice it to say this post will contain spoilers. Be warned.

Walter White (Bryan Cranston) just found out he’s dying of lung cancer. It’s aggressive. Apparently it’s Stage IV, but hasn’t metastasized to any other part of his body. The news of his pending demise is the catalyst for his journey into the dark world of drugs. He wants to secure his family’s future with the proceeds from the sale of methamphetamines. Joining him is former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) who takes care of the business end—sometimes with unexpected results.

What first starts out as a small-scale operation on the streets of New Mexico, expands to include cross-border and overseas sales. Additionally, like all fledgling drug empires, any business conducted will include coercion, blackmail and murder.

Married to the wannabe drug kingpin is the oftentimes-confused Skyler White (Anna Gunn). She drifts from being a mother, an accountant, a mistress and a cashier, to Walter’s conscience. She is the proverbial voice of reason to Walter’s manic appetite for money and power.

Breaking Bad's Skyler White — Breaking Bad’s Skyler White

Without giving any details to the online stories of disgust directed toward this character, it’s safe to say fans of the show could do without this woman. Despite her ability to maintain a household, cook the books for a multi-million dollar enterprise, and standing up for what she believes is right, fans still despise her.

Her sin? She has more than a professional relationship with her boss, lies about it to her husband, and kicks him out for being a drug dealer.

What could possibly redeem this woman of her sin with the audience after having sunk so low as to betray her husband with her lies?

She has one quality no one can deny. How does that saying go? Oh, yes. Of course. “It takes one to know one.” Skyler has the uncanny ability to spot when Walter lies. Call it a sixth sense, but no matter what it is, she knows perfectly well when her husband lies to her. That makes someone like her extremely dangerous. Even though she may appear fragile, vulnerable, and at times, weak, she can spot a liar. She knows what the truth sounds like. That ability is enough to make her a larger-than-life hero.

Now, if only the show’s fan base could see that. Then, instead of hating, they’d admire her.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.

Have you seen Breaking Bad? What are your thoughts about Skyler White?

Imogen Poots—how’s that for a cool name? Exotic, yet refined. Full of mystery. Imogen Poots is the British actress who plays the female lead in the road-blazing film Need for Speed. Her character? Julia Maddon, the money behind the movie’s most notable acquisition.

Welcome to Women Who Wow Wednesday, the series dedicated to strong women in entertainment.

If you haven’t seen the film, take note, I may have some spoilers. Jump to the last paragraph if you don’t want to know anything about this incredible character. She is worth every penny one would pay to see her on the big screen.

I’ll start with the film’s premise. Fresh from his stint on Breaking Bad, Aaron Paul plays Tobey Marshall, a mechanic whose business is floundering in a sea of debt. His only chance for redemption is for him and his crew to rebuild a very rare car and sell it to the highest bidder. The cash would clear his debt and would give his shop a brand new lifeline to carry on his late father’s legacy.

Eventually, the car he and his crew restores becomes the desire of the wanton eyes of the beautiful Julia Maddon, fast car auction purveyor who will stop at nothing to purchase the mint-condition vehicle. As the events of the film unfold however, Tobey sells the car to her without the knowledge of Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper), the one who approached him to commission the rebuild in the first place. A wager ensues and Tobey loses more than the money on the table.

Two years later, Julia receives a call from Tobey for help. She hears of his desperate willingness to do anything in order to settle things with Dino, and readily offers the car he had completed for her employer as collateral. Her end? He is to promise to win a big race featuring Dino himself as one of the participants. What’s so enticing though is the winner gets to take home all the cars from the race—including a high-performance Lamborghini.

What makes Need for Speed so powerful is the portrayal of Julia Maddon as the all-you-can-be go-getter. She dishes the sarcastic jabs as much as she takes them, but more importantly, she can play with the boys without the need to feel they’re out of her league. If anything, she’s out of their league.

The best part of Julia’s character is that one scene where she’s the one driving and taking control of the situation under Tobey’s guidance. The scene features her as the leader while everyone else, including the audience, is trying to catch up with her fast and aggressive style. She’s a powerhouse of a woman, and there’s no denying she can give it as much as she can take it.

If you haven’t seen the character Julia Maddon in the film Need for Speed, I suggest you do. The film is definitely one of the best empowering stories I’ve seen in a long time. And I watch a lot of movies.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.

If you’ve seen Need for Speed, what do you like most of Julia Maddon?

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