The end is near.
The question is, as far as “Breaking Bad” goes, for whom?
Unless you’ve been stuck under a tree for the last month — or worse, without cable — you’ve probably heard that the “Breaking Bad” series finale is this Sunday, Sept. 29. The final episode is one of the most anticipated television programs in recent history, as buzz and ratings for the show have been continuing to grow each week for the AMC series. But, with only one hour left in the story of Walter White, there are still a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up. Spoilers ahead.
Will Jesse ever escape Todd and his creepy uncle’s prison? How is Walt going to get his money to his family? And what’s in store for Skylar, Saul, Marie and all the other characters?
The stars of the show have all said repeatedly in interviews that fans will be satisfied with the finale, but I’m a little concerned. Can all the questions be answered and problems solved in just one more hour? Should they be?
Maybe I feel this way because I’m still a little bitter over Hank’s death in the “Ozymandias” episode. As one of the biggest characters in the series, I felt Hank deserved a better ending, especially after the first episode of the second half of season five really set up a Hank vs. Walt showdown that viewers sort of got cheated out of.
Still, “Ozymandias” was without question one of the best episodes of the series. What had been an inevitable outcome for the last five years of the series (less than two years in the show’s chronology) finally happened; Walt’s world crumbled. His family abandoned him after finding out the truth, and even when he stole baby Holly (who deserves an Emmy for her performance in that episode), he knew he could never keep her and left her in a fire truck. And with that, he left to start a new life, alone.
The last episode, “Granite State,” ended with Walt leaving his new life in New Hampshire as “Mr. Lambert” to get his money back to his family — perhaps one of his final acts, as his cancer seems to be worse than ever.
I’m thinking and hoping that Walt will go back to Albuquerque, N.M., and we’ll pick up from the first episode of the first half of the season, with Walt celebrating his birthday at a Denny’s and buying a gun in the shady hotel. Next, we’ll see him go back to the White family home, as he did in the first of these last eight episodes, to get the ricin from the outlet: but then what?
Will someone on this show actually die from ricin poisoning? Will Walt and Jesse rekindle their bromance to take down Todd and Uncle Jack together?
If the final shot was Walt and Jesse leaving the scene, without a scratch, and the barrels full of money, I would without question call this show one of the greatest television shows ever.
OK, I guess I could say that even with a different ending. But still, “Breaking Bad,” please don’t leave me hanging.
