Breaking Bad’s Elite Eight

 

I am not in danger, Skyler - I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No - I am the one who knocks.

Here we are.

Here we go.

This Sunday marks the first of the final eight episodes of AMC’s brilliant Breaking Bad, a two-month black swan song for our favorite chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin. It’s been a long journey as we’ve witnessed in a mix of awe and horror the transformation of Walter White. I use the term ‘journey’ deliberately, since that’s exactly what it’s been – an exhilarating takeoff, an exceptionally bumpy ride, and now a final descent into whatever Walter’s fate may be. I offer no predictions or affirmations of rumors as to how these next several episodes may come to pass, just admiration and anticipation for the last chapter of what has been arguably the greatest TV drama of all time. This wasn’t some ‘caper of the week’ show shooting for ‘six seasons and a movie’. This wasn’t a strung-out series whose ending was dictated by the resignation of its actors, or the ratings of a network. From the very beginning, this was a tale with an ending, one told over the course of five excellent seasons at a pace and tone that accented the content of the storyboard. As we near the finale, the ballad of Walter White isn’t going quietly into the night; on the contrary, we’ve arrived at the crescendo to a fanfare. To morbidly quote the suicide note of a Mr. Kurt Cobain: It’s better to burn out than to fade away.

The partnership between Walter and Jesse began ominously, yet oftentimes comically, as the drug-slinging odd couple found their place in the world of methamphetamine production and sales. Jesse was rectifying Walter having been his straight-laced high school teacher, Walter was rectifying Jesse being a petty criminal with wasted potential, and we were rectifying Bryan Cranston having played the wacky father in Malcolm in the Middle. It was an adjustment period at first, the first few episodes with little action but immense character development. And then things changed, never to be the same.

Consider this description: a normal, upstanding parent in suburban America experiences a life-altering, health-related event which leads to an entry into the drug business to secure the family’s financial future. A generally good person does something bad to achieve something good for someone else. A little criminal, but also a little altruistic, right? This is the premise for Breaking Bad. This is also the exact same premise for Weeds. Our very first podcast went up on the site this week discussing the saturation of antiheroes in popular fiction on a variety of mediums, and took a look at the appeal of the type of character who is both dark and light, a yin and yang of moral complexity. Unlike Nancy Botwin, who fits this mold by straddling (maybe that’s the wrong word for her) the line between selfish attention whore and misguided mama bear, Walter White doesn’t appear to have a switch that flips on and off anymore. He is no longer a conflicted man acting out of desperation, a defeated soul trying to gain control. There is no longer a questionable moral gray area. He has fully evolved into a villain, whether it be through poisoning an innocent child to get his partner’s attention or flippantly ordering the prison shanking of ten men who pose a threat to his wellbeing. The show’s title indicates that its main character is actively in the process of moving towards a darker existence. At this point, it’s a misnomer; he’s already broken.

Prior to Hank sitting on the toilet and [we are made to assume] connecting the dots leading towards Walter’s culpability, the series very well could have ended with that [as of now] penultimate scene. The White family had been reunited, son caring for daughter, husband and wife casting mutual sidelong smiles, adults sharing drinks and conversation without a care in the world. Walter had secured his family’s financial future and stepped away from a life of crime. He was out.

Except, he wasn’t. He never will be. Once you get on this train, you ride it to the end. We already know Walter makes it to his 52nd birthday, evidenced by the opening sequence of the fifth season in which our antagonistic protagonist celebrated quietly in a diner with a full head of hair and a large rifle in his trunk. But after Hank’s [apparent] revelation, Walter will have to deal with the consequences of his actions in the past year of his life, whether it be sooner or later. I’m guessing sooner, as the loose ends that likely need to be tied up in these final eight episodes include but are not limited to: finding out for whom that aforementioned rifle is meant; learning the results of Walter’s most recent cancer scan; addressing he and Lydia’s Czech dealings; discovering if Jesse, Skyler, or Saul will be forced into a fight or flight response as well; seeing if Walter’s fortune will be depleted in a similar fashion to Mike’s; and figuring out what ever happened to that ricin cigarette. Not to mention – how will Hank even react when he finally gets up off that toilet? Maybe just knowing the truth is enough?

Obviously, it’s not. Whether the justice be of a legal nature or purely poetic, it’s coming.

All bad things must come to an end.

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