I don't think they show it on screen, the actual gifting of the book, but Walt can be seen reading Leaves of Grass at the model condo in the 3rd season episode Sunset. Its the scene Hank calls Walt asking if he knew about Pinkman's RV. Walt is only a few pages into it implying he's just recieved it (or had just started reading it). This is after Gale recites "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" to Walt at the superlab. I literally just rewatched the episode tonight. It also briefly makes an apperanace in Hazard Pay.
Also, for some reason I had mistakenly thought that it was Gus that gave Walt the book of poetry.
Also, something else that I noticed, when Gale recites "..the Learn'd Astronomer," he looks directly at the camera when he gets to the line "With great applause in the lecture room." Weird, he looks directly at the camera. The camera itself is placed behind some shiny-metal lab equipment, and my guess is that the actors didn't actually see where the camera was (is that even a thing? are actors sometimes kept in the dark about where cameras are in a shot?). Actor just noticing the camera accidentally, or a clear nod of some sort?
Another side note: I think that Hank started having suspisions about Walt being Heisenberg as early as Sunset. Specifically because of the whole "Marie's been in an auto accident" scene. Who else would have the information to even set up a trick like that. I don't think Hank is just upset about being duped, I think that he's pissed that he is starting to have suspisions about Walt...Just look at the fire in his eyes at the end of that scene (its right before the end where Gus meets with the cousins). Vormov (talk) 10:51, December 4, 2015 (UTC)
I don't think he had any suspicions of walt until he read the book note on the john. Thats why hes so embarrassed about telling the dea. Hard to believe though that he didn't piece together the evidence on jesse after sunset.
All I'm saying is that I think its more than coincidence that Hank had his run-in with the Cousins and landed in the hospital shortly after that. I See You demonstrates that Gus had known about Hank prior to Walt's employment (at least he says). It seems very viable to me that he could have wanted to "silence" Hank for good or perhaps he knew that Hank would survive (or rather he knew how the Cousins did business). Perhaps Gus knew that Hank had started to figure it out, and tried to off him, but we never see him visibly upset that Hank survives (classic "friends close, enemies closer"). Its even demonstrated that Mike had the access to finish the suriving Cousin basically in front of a lobby-full of cops, but left Hank (who in that episode was inaccessable for even the family, possibly even easier to do the same thing to...) to survive. When Gus and Walt meet in Kafkaesque, literally the first thing Gus asks is "how's Hank?" Walt even figures out that Gus protected him by sending them to Hank as a diversion. Walt figures out Gus' whole gameplan in that scene and essencially ups the ante (indirectly asking for a raise when all he wanted protection) then attemps to kill himself on the way back from the meeting with Gus (presumably because he's realized how this isn't going to end well). If anything, I think walt realizes in that scene that if Hank ever truely figures it out, he and his whole family is as good as dead, he's made a deal with the devil. Gus is hoping that this "dose of reality" will get Hank to start doubting himself (somewhat successfully). There's even a bit of forshadowing in I See You when Marie tries to blame Walt for Pinkman even being involved, albeit she's got the wrong reason. Basically what I'm saying is that Hank could still have suspisions and dismiss them because of that very human impluse to keep family "impervious" to suspision. They've demonstrated that this denial is something that occurs over and over with the family matters (The Fugue state, the Gambling story, Skyler's affair with Ted, when Walter Jr. learns the truth about his father....) I think that he knows, even if he isn't conscious of it. It literally is killing him in a way and it takes him to the brink of sanity to confront it, but yes, all the tumblers fall into place with the Bathroom epiphany scene--irrefutable evidence. I don't think that episode is called Kafkaesque because of Walt's realization of danger, its because Hank is so close to the truth that it's literally killing him.
Long story short, I think some of the things that we dismiss in this series as coincidence, is anything but coincidence. Watch the series again (specifically Season 3) and you'll start noticing things.
But then again, I'm an X-files fan who has an affinity for trying to see things that aren't there. That doesn't mean its not out there, though.
Vormov...there's another scene where someone looks right into the camera. Ckeck out S2E4 - Down. Just after the opening credits, Jesse gets off his bike to go in the store. As he heads towards the camera he looks directly up into it before turning the corner to head into the store. Not sure if this is accidental or not...
I'm not sure, myself, but I'll assume accident.
Before he goes into the store, he looks at the camera. After he enters, in the initial sweep of his eyes, he purposely avoids the camera, even though Walt is almost directly behind it from his point of view.
At the same time, the cop (which was a little late to pass by Jesse, due to the camera man presumably being in the way) passes by Jesse -- perhaps Jesse was eyeing the cop, or that's what it was supposed to represent?
Thought about his looking into the camera representing him looking at the cop car, but think he would need to be looking a couple feet lower, plus like you said , when they cut back to the next shot with the car driving by, he already turned to walk towards the door. Just an odd thing to see...
It is certainly not an accident. I have done some film work and the actors always know where the camera is and what is being shot. Also, looking at the camera breaks the "fourth wall," and there are dozens of takes of every shot, so if it was accidental it would've been edited out in post production.
i think Vormov is onto something, and i've probably stated as such in previous posts on this site. Hank's first (albeit joking) suspicion of Walt came in season 1 when he's rummaging through the HS chem lab inventory and says "we don't people to get the wrong impression of you" to Walt (or something to that effect). then of course there's the infamous WW/"You got me" scene when Hank and Walt are reading Gale's lab notes. the panic attacks Hank started getting were probably his subconcious trying to tell him that the answer he seeks is so close to home that he gets physically ill even considering it. that came to fruition after the bathroom scene as Hank suffers another panic attack and drives off the road.
It's pretty straight up, Gale lent him a copy, in his most nerdy way, must have had with him in the lab or his car. He definitely got it after that one cook with him. There's the scene where, ironically, Hank says "come on Pinkman, get off your lazy ass and go break the law" when we see him having about 6-7 takeouts of burgers and fries and Jesse is actually working, not exactly breaking the law, when they outlaw math you know America has gone bonkers. When the always-so-annoying but plot moving Marie with her big mouth almost always causing something that puts Walt through something, good or bad, it's funny how that goes. Anyway, it was Gale's copy and right after the call, you can see him, well actually you only see the book, then you see Walt.
What actually bugs me here is that we never got the whole phone call between Walt and Hank. So when Hank asks Marie later "Marie...who?" when leaving the DEA office then it cuts to Skyler just on her way to commit adultery again in her car. So..I guess Walt said that Skyler went to Jesse's house to scold him over him selling weed to Walt, which is a classic hilarious scene to me. Season 1 Skyler is so, so naive. Anyway, Walt said maybe Skyler said something about an RV but he wasn't sure. That's one of the things that annoy me yet nobody ever talks about that.
To Vormov, re actors looking at the camera. While it's possible that Bryan Cranston looked down the barrel by accident and they decided to make that take the keeper, it's far more likely that it was a directorial choice. Most actors like to know the size of the frame they're in, as it informs them with regard to their physicality, gestures etc. For example, there's no point going 'big' in a close up of your face. Stillness is required in order to stay in the frame.