Ted Beneke
Vital statistics
Portrayed By	Christopher Cousins
Age	Late 40's
Alias(es)	"Mr. Grabby-Hands"
Occupation(s)	Former President of Beneke Fabricators, currently unemployed
Status	Alive, Severely injured and disabled
Episode Count	12
First Appearance	"Negro y Azul"
Last Seen	"Live Free or Die"
Images of Ted Beneke

Theodore "Ted" Beneke is Skyler's former boss and former President/Owner of Beneke Fabricators, a company he inherited from his father.

Character history

Ted is a divorcee with children of his own. He took over his family's business at some point during his adult years and developed a close bond with his employees. Ted harbored feelings for Skyler during her brief stint at the company when she was young, and eventually made a drunken pass at her, to which she gave in to. Despite Skyler's protests that it was a one-time thing, Ted's feelings for her remained intact for years.

As Beneke Fabricators began a financial downward decline, Ted resorted to committing major fraud in order to keep the company alive, by cooking the books.

Season 2

Ted gave Skyler her old job back as their primary bookkeeper after she burst into his office against the wishes of his secretary. ("Negro y Azul").

Working late one night, a teary-eyed Skyler confesses to Ted that she feels guilty for not being more upbeat after receiving the good news about Walt's cancer remission. "Being that rock" for one's family "takes everything you've got," Ted tells her, putting his hand on hers ("Over").

A few days later at his birthday party, Ted requests that Skyler perform her sultry rendition of Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" in front of their co-workers. Though reluctant at first, Skyler relents, finishing the ditty by kissing Ted on the cheek.

After Skyler discovers some accounting irregularities, she consults Ted, who admits to committing major fraud to keep the company alive. She says she won't turn him in, but adds, "I can't be a part of it." Despite her disavowal, she returns to work the next day. When she goes into labor and Walt doesn't respond to her calls and texts, Ted accompanies her to the hospital and witnesses the birth of her daughter, Holly.

Season 3

Ted continued for days to have Skyler's assistance in cooking the books. When she attempts to make a move on him in the break room, following her meltdown with Walt, he acts on his feelings for her, which then leads to an ongoing affair. His attempts in convincing her to move in with him ultimately prove successful.

After Skyler comes clean to Walt concerning her current relationship to Ted, Walt becomes enraged and unsuccessfully attempts to confront Ted at Beneke Fabricators ("I.F.T.")  ("Green Light"). Their affair comes to an abrupt end when Skyler spends most of her time supporting Marie in the hospital following Hank's shooting ("Kafkaesque"). She never returns to work for Beneke Fabricators.

Season 4

The IRS catches up with the irregularities in the Beneke books, which not only threatens to bankrupt Ted but could also send him to prison. He tries to get help from Skyler, who now runs the car wash, but she refuses. When Ted meets with the IRS, Skyler unexpectedly shows up to make the IRS think that Ted's bookkeeping problems are due to her ignorance. This saves him from jail assuming he pays $600,000 in back taxes and fines, which is more money than he has ("Bug").

Miraculously, Ted is called to Saul Goodman's office to receive $600,000 from the estate of his "Great-Aunt Birgit" who lived in Luxembourg. Ted doesn't recognize the name, but takes the money and immediately leases a new, expensive Mercedes and makes preparations to reopen Beneke Fabricators. Unknown to him, the money is actually from Skyler and is supposed to pay his IRS debt ("Salud").

When Skyler tells him where the money really came from, Ted tries to return the money supposedly because it's the right thing to do, but possibly because he's blackmailing Skyler for an even greater sum. Skyler contacts Saul for help, who sends his "A-Team", Huell and Kuby, to Ted's home to force him to sign the check for the IRS and then keep him company at home for a few days until the check clears. Panicked, Ted runs past Huell in an effort to escape from the house, but trips on an area rug, crashing headfirst into a piece of furniture. It appears that he may have broken his neck, but as of the end of the episode, his status is unconfirmed. Later in the episode Walter returns to Saul Goodman's office, where Huell and Kuby are already present. Upon seeing Walter, Saul exclaims "How the hell did you find out so quickly?" implying that Ted may be dead or severely injured ("Crawl Space").

Season 5

Saul stops by the Car Wash to tell Skyler that there's something wrong with Ted. Skyler - who doesn't know about his earlier accident - first assumes that he has died, upon which Saul explains that Ted has actually woken up from his coma. Skyler visits Ted at the hospital and finds him in very poor health due to his severe neck injury. He promises her that he will not say a word of what has happened to him to anybody which makes Skyler realize that Ted's accident was perhaps not an accident. ("Live Free or Die")

Trivia

• The oranges that fell on Ted after he trips in "Crawl Space" might be a reference to The Godfather, where oranges are symbolic of violence and death. In particular the scene seems reminiscent of Don Corleone's failed attempt to flee from two gunmen.
• It has been largely speculated lately that Ted may be the father of Jr. because of a line he said in Negro y Azul that made Skyler nervous on the subject of Jr. and his father.
• Ted Beneke's name could be based off of Tex Beneke, the late American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader.