So incredibly careless, plus there was a round in the chamber, a real cop would have known that is a huge safety risk and would have never done that. Even I know not to do that, if someone who maybe didn't know Hank thought that he was threatening them they could have had him arrested.
shareI think the point was to showcase that Hank was a morally grey character. On the surface he appeared virtuous, but he had his faults like many. I'm not comparing manufacturing meth to taking your gun out carelessly; however, Hank was the type to have his nose above everyone.
He was a stubborn and flawed character just like the bad guys.
Hank was a POS there's no denying that. I'm just surprised other people at the party who maybe didn't know him didn't freak out, Hank very easily could have had a negligent discharge, rule of thumb: Keep the gun holstered unless you need to use it. If you do that in public all it takes is one person going to the cops saying they felt threatened and you are going downtown in handcuffs.
If Walt or Walt Jr. wanted to see his gun he should have gone to a separate room, cleared it and then asked them to come in.
You're right. That scene was probably downplayed because their reaction wouldn't propel that plot point forward. In reality, I'm sure there would be stares or gasps with people at the party.
shareI think that might have been one of those scenes that they might have written differently if they tackled it later. Hank doesn't seem to be that irresponsible as the series goes on.
I agree with the other posters: one of the reasons was to show Hank's flaws: his over-macho, all-American thing. But it was also to contrast him with timid Walt. The pilot spends much of its time showing us the pathetic, half-man that Walter is, and one of the (many) ways it does that is to show him next to his "real man" brother in law Hank.
Alot of cops and military types actually behave in this manner though.
share