Why Is The Actress Who Plays Skyler White On

Breaking Bad (TV series): Why is Skyler White so irritating?

Spoiler AlertI blame poor writing and the lack of female writers on the Breaking Bad staff. Skyler White's character is making decisions which are so annoying and so unconvincingly stupid that it seems that the writers simply don't know what to do with her. Among them are: Engaging in an open affair while she knows (or she suspects) that her husband is becoming a dangerous drug criminal.Threatening this man (who, BTW, has cancer as well as is becoming the sociopath he likely always was) with the loss of his family.Attempting to injure herself (her plan being to...have herself committed to a mental health facility?)Involving herself into the drug trade , a realm where she has no experience, nor talents.Stealing from this same manMaking herself less appealing, both emotionally and sexually to a man who is growing more dangerous and more wealthy by the episode. Why Walter hasn't replaced Skyler emotionally or sexually with another female companion (or companions) seems to be more a conceit of the writers, than an actual and logically progression of the narrative.I suspect that if there were more female writers on the BB staff that Skyler's actions would become more nuanced and would reflect her position as a woman in danger who needs to protect herself and her family

Why do Breaking Bad fans hate Skyler?

I think there are two ways to look at this — Skyler the character and Anna Gunn the actress.The Skyler character doesn't come off as loving or particularly loyal. We find her at the beginning of the series not working and selling junk on eBay while poor Walt is working two soul-crushing jobs.She is nice enough, making him pancakes with a bacon “50” on them for his birthday, but otherwise is mailing it in relationship wise, checking her eBay account while gratifying him later that night.Now, one can say many of the female characters in “Breaking Bad” are unlikeable, true, but then comes in the acting. Characters like Jane Margolis and Lydia have issues but are so well played that we kind of like them.On the “Sopranos,” wife Carmela, played by Edie Falco, is universally beloved. She also had transgressions, but the acting portrayal was so authentic that we believed in what choices the character made.For me, the issue with Gunn is that Skyler was not only wishy-washy with Walt but also Gunn the actress didn't really pull off the role. I rarely bought her presence in scenes.Now, some say that Gunn was supposed to play an unlikeable character and thus she was successful. Not quite.Gunn did little before or after “Breaking Bad” as an actress. The show certainly would have been better with someone more accomplished.Like Lydia or Jane or even Marie, we can kind of dislike the character but respect the performance.Skyler, as portrayed, just doesn't “ring true” enough.