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| “ | With your knowledge of how the books got the way they are, maybe there’s some way you could undo what’s in there. | „ |
| ~ Ted talking to Skyler; quote from Breaking Bad season 4 episode 9: "Bug" |
Theodore "Ted" Beneke is a supporting character of the television series Breaking Bad.
He inherited Beneke Fabricators from his father, Mr. Beneke, is the former owner and CEO of the business. In the television series Breaking Bad, he was Skyler White's former boss and lover. The actor who portrayed Ted was Christopher Cousins.
In the show, Ted returns Skyler to her previous position as his accountant. Despite his long-standing attraction to Skyler, Ted doesn't approach her again following her return. When Skyler notices discrepancies in the company's finances, Ted confesses to her that he has been committing tax fraud in an effort to save his business. In order to get revenge on her husband Walter, Skyler starts an affair with Ted in season three. However, she declines Ted's offer to leave some of her belongings at his place. Ted hides in Skyler's office after his spouse, Walter White, tries to approach him violently after learning about their romance. This gets to the point where security guards are calling Walt to leave, and employees of the corporation find out that Skyler and Ted have been dating for some time. Later, when Ted visits her home to inquire about their relationship, Skyler becomes enraged with him and severs her personal and business contact with him as a result.
Ted later meets with Skyler again, who is now involved in a money laundering scam and operates her own car wash. He tells her that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is still looking into the taxes that his firms have to pay. Skyler takes the whole situation seriously, acting as though she was an incompetent bookkeeper hired solely for her provocative looks at Ted's IRS meeting. Skyler knows that if she is found to be connected to Ted's tax fraud, her entire family will probably be under surveillance. As long as Ted pays the overdue taxes and any penalties, her alleged incompetence encourages a more thorough probe.
By exploiting Walt's meth profits to persuade Saul that Ted has an inheritance from a distant relative in Luxembourg, Skyler makes arrangements to give Ted the money. Saul learns the heartbreaking truth: Ted leased a new, pricey car and is attempting to revive his firm with the money instead of paying the IRS. Ted flatly rejects Skyler's advice to pay the IRS first, and Skyler has to acknowledge that she was the source of the funds. Ted continues to threaten Skyler into paying his tax debt and the expenses required to reestablish his firm, even after she informed him that he still refuses to pay the IRS. Skyler orders Saul to dispatch two of his men, Huell and Kuby, in a final effort to make Beneke write the IRS check. Ted gets a panic episode and tries to run away when they succeed, tripping over a loose rug and colliding head-first with a counter.
Afterwards, Skyler concludes that Ted has passed away after hearing from Saul that something occurred involving Ted. Then Saul tells her that Ted is still alive and receiving a lot of treatment at the hospital. When Skyler pays him a visit, she finds Ted to be incapacitated; he is seated straight and sporting a brace. Ted informs Skyler that he lied to the police and medical staff, saying he had broken his neck in an unintentional fall. He also says that he will never openly discuss the injury's source because he is so traumatized and severely damaged. Skyler agrees with Ted's perspective by icily responding "good" to his pledge of total silence, realizing that Ted has been coerced into remaining silent regarding the source of his wealth.
History[]
Background information[]
Ted is a father with two daughters who is divorced. At some point in his adult life, he took over his family's business and forged close relationships with his staff. Ted developed strong romantic affections for Skyler White during her brief tenure at the company while she was fairly young. He finally tried to repent for an inappropriate advance he made on her while intoxicated, earning him the nickname Mr. Grabby-Hands. Ted was drawn to Skyler even after she abruptly left the company, and this attraction persisted for a long time.
His business advertised early on that it was hiring unemployed civilians.
As Beneke Fabricators began a downward financial decline, Ted resorted to engaging in major fraud as a last resort to keep the company alive, doing so by "cooking the books.".
Breaking Bad[]
Season 2[]
When Skyler stormed into Ted's office, against his secretary's orders, he offered her her former position back as the lead bookkeeper.
One evening, Skyler tells Ted, through tears in her eyes, that she feels bad for not being joyful when she learns that Walter White's lung cancer has been remitted. Ted reminds her that "being that rock" for one's own family "takes everything you've got," as he places his hand on hers.
Ted asks Skyler to perform her rendition of Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" for their coworkers a few days later at his birthday celebration. Even though she is initially hesitant, Skyler performs the song in an unsettling manner and ends the request by kissing Ted on the cheek. When Skyler notices a discrepancy in the accounting, she speaks with Ted, who acknowledges that he has been evading taxes in order to maintain his business. She declares that she won't report him to the police but that "I can't be a part of it." She goes back to work the following day gladly, in spite of her response.
Ted goes with her to the hospital and witnesses the birth of her daughter, Holly White, after she goes into labor, and Walt doesn't answer her calls or texts.
Season 3[]
Ted kept using Skyler as an add-on to cook the books for several days. Following the revelation that Walter is a meth manufacturer, she unexpectedly tries to make a move on him in the break room. As a result, he acts on his affections for her and they have an affair. All of his efforts to persuade her to move in with him were ultimately fruitless.
Following Skyler's admission to Walter White that she had done the dirty act with Ted under the covers, Walt is furious and makes an ineffective attempt to confront Ted at his company, Beneke Fabricators.
Due to significant personal events, their affair ends abruptly, as Skyler spends the majority of her time helping Marie get through a trying period in the hospital after her husband, Hank Schrader, is shot by the Salamanca Twins. After that, she leaves her position with Beneke Fabricators.
Season 4[]
When the IRS discovers irregularities in the Beneke Fabricators' books, Ted faces the possibility of being imprisoned in addition to going bankrupt. Skyler, who is now in charge of the car wash, attempts to help him, but she refuses. Skyler unexpectedly appears for Ted's IRS meeting wearing cleavage-exposing clothing. She pulls off a devious ruse that convinces the IRS agent that Ted's bookkeeping issues are the result of her low intelligence. Assuming Ted pays $617,000 in taxes and fines—more money than he now has—he is released from jail.
Ted is called, miraculously, to Saul Goodman's office and given a windfall from his alleged "Great Aunt Birgid's" estate in Luxembourg, of which Mr. Beneke is the only surviving heir. Although Ted is unfamiliar with the name, he enjoys the idea of receiving amazing news for once; he exclaims, "Wow!" when Saul shows him the amount—more than $620,000. Ted then goes ahead and keeps the money, leasing a brand-new, pricey Mercedes car right away and starting the process of getting Beneke Fabricators back up and running. He was unaware that the money he possessed was really Skyler's and was meant to settle the IRS bill.
Ted tries to return the money from the bet earnings when Skyler tells him that she gave him the money (using the made-up Walt gambling story). He does this because it's the right thing to do and because he's blackmailing Skyler for even more money, since he freely admits that paying off the debt won't keep him from going bankrupt. After Skyler offers Saul assistance, Saul dispatches Huell Babineaux and Patrick Kuby to Ted's residence in an attempt to get him to write a check to the IRS and then stay with him there for a few days while the check clears. Terrified, Ted tries to flee the house by racing past Huell but trips over a carpet, falls, and hits an island counter with his head first. He became paralyzed as a result of breaking his neck. When Walter goes to Saul Goodman's office later in the episode, Huell and Kuby are already there. Saul asks, "How the hell did you find out so quickly?" upon seeing Walter, suggesting that he believes Walter is aware that Ted might not be alive or may be seriously hurt.
Season 5[]
Saul Goodman stops by the A1A Car Wash to let Skyler White know that Ted isn't quite right. Unaware of his prior accident, Skyler initially assumes that Ted has passed away. Saul corrects her, saying that Ted has only awakened from a coma. When Skyler visits Ted in the hospital, the severe injuries to his head and neck leave him in a crippled state. He swears to her that he won't discuss what truly occurred to him with anyone who inquires.
Ted fractured many vertebrae and suffered a concussion; doctors believed he would never walk again.
Personality[]
Ted is a laid-back individual who seemed to have protected his father's business above all else without intending to commit any crimes. He doesn't realize the whole extent of the problem, and he thinks that if others realized how incompetent he is, they would graciously turn away. Ted is unlikeable, but he nevertheless shows Skyler a lot of support; when he learned that she and Walt were having marital problems, he was understanding and nonjudgmental.
When he tried to restart his firm and leased a new Mercedes automobile, it was evident that all he had told Skyler during the IRS tax fraud episode was a lie intended to get her to stop bugging him. He had also promised to repay the money as soon as he got back on it. Ted remained obstinate and refused to pay despite Skyler's best efforts to assist him in paying off his debt because he believed that having the debt would not stop him from experiencing financial hardship. Ted even attempted to move forward with his plan to extort Skyler for even more money in order to solve all of his problems. He eventually became permanently disabled as a result of his arrogance, greed, and selfishness.
Quotes[]
| “ | Paying my debt with illicit gambling winnings, I don’t know. It feels wrong.Ted Beneke talking to Skyler. | „ |
Appearances[]
Breaking Bad[]
Ted after his traumatic injury.
First appearance: Season 2, episode 7, "Negro y Azul"
Last appearance: Season 5, episode 1, "Live Free or Die."
Trivia[]
- The oranges that fell on Ted when he trips might be a reference to the classic film The Godfather, where oranges have a symbolic meaning violence and death. In particular, the scene seems to be based on Don Corleone's failed attempt to get away from two gunmen.
- Ted Beneke drives three different cars at different points in the show.
External Links[]
- Ted Beneke on the Breaking Bad Wiki
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