Breaking Bad, the best TV drama EVER,
is coming to an end tonight. And I’m not sure what I’ll do without my regular
fix of Walter White, Jesse Pinkman and their crazy, brilliantly conceived,
roller-coaster ride of meth-cooking drama.
Thanks to Netflix, I was able to
binge-watch the first four seasons of BB as fast as the US Mail could deliver
the DVDs. Sometimes I’d get the shakes and the munchies waiting for that little
red envelop to arrive. Obviously, a show about a high school chemistry teacher
who turns into a meth kingpin is not the most wholesome of broadcasts.
Therefore, I usually followed a BB marathon with an episode or two of
Intervention. This is sort of like stopping at Pizza Hut after one of my boxing
workouts (which I’ve never done, yet). But seeing a drug addict find sobriety
after watching Walt cook meth somehow makes me feel better.
Not only is BB at the pinnacle of
the creativity scale, but the acting, writing, and whatever-you-call-cinematography
for TV is amazing. The story, in short, is about transformation – How Walt
morphs from a poor-salaried-Cliff Huxtable into Tony Soprano is completely
addicting. Jesse, always bruised and battered, starts out as a smart-assed
teen, struggles with the conflict between right and wrong, and ends up wallowing
in a pit of despair. Walt’s wife Skylar, Albuquerque’s own June Cleaver with an
accounting degree, experiences the full spectrum of emotions before becoming
Walt’s money laundering accomplice.
Other themes? Power. Greed. Love.
Revenge. Loyalty. BB has it all.
So, what is going to happen tonight?
From the flash-forwards, we’ve seen that Walt returns to his house to get a
hidden vial of poisonous ricin. He also has an M60 in his trunk. Walt could be
going after his former business partner and his wife who threw Walt under the
bus on TV at the end of last week’s episode. Also, he could be preparing to
take on “Uncle Jack” and his band of Neo-Nazis who have Jesse in captivity, control
of the meth enterprise, and the lion’s share of Walt’s cash.
Here’s what I want to happen: Walt
doesn’t know that Jesse is alive. So, I want Walt to discover Jesse when he
goes to Uncle Jack’s compound to try to get his money. Walt rescues Jesse and they
both make it out alive. But then, Jesse gets the final comeuppance and kills
Walt, the man who’s been manipulating him from the get-go. But, that’s all way too
tidy.
Here’s what might happen: I think
Jesse dies in a massive shootout at Uncle Jack’s, maybe even shot by Walt. I
think Walt has the ricin as a last resort in case he is captured by Uncle Jack.
But, I think in the end, Walt survives. He delivers his millions to Skylar. And
then he returns to his lonely cabin in the snowy mountains of New Hampshire. His
cancer wins out. And the final camera shot pulls back showing Walt dead on his
bed, the vial of ricin sitting atop the oil drum of cash.
Good-bye Breaking Bad. Thanks for
the ride. Respect the chemistry, yo!
