This episode is really an extension of the last one, as Walt (Bryan Cranston) powers through the endgame of his conflict with Gus (Giancarlo Esposito). The two could have easily been combined into one long finale, as the show seems to be meanly toying with us by keeping them separate (though with the whole season at your disposal on streaming or video, you don’t have to wait between the two). But the final payoff is quite satisfying.
After a whole season of the story moving slowly, things finally speed up, as Walt is now in frantic mode. Gus’ explosive death is an imaginatively rendered plot turn I did not see coming, and his gruesome final seconds of life (still walking with half his head blown off) gets points for creative and amusing gore, even if it’s a little unrealistic. I also liked the touch of Western-style music as Gus enters the retirement home to face Tio Salamanca (Mark Margolis), like the two are gunfighters in one final standoff (such hints at much more history between the two than we’ve seen, which could be good material for that possible Gus Fring prequel I mentioned earlier). Gus’s death offers more a sense relief from the relentless tension than catharsis, though Walt and Jesse (Aaron Paul) burning down the superlab allows us to revel a bit in their victory.
That feeling of revelry is short-lived, however, when the final shot reveals just what Walt has done. There’s still a sense of ease that the tension is finally lifted, but just as much lament that Walt had to break so bad to win this battle (the scene is scored to “Black” by Danger Mouse, Daniele Luppi, and Norah Jones, which perfectly captures these conflicting feelings). Watching this episode again with the knowledge of what he did (and especially after the charade he put on for Jesse last episode), I honestly found it harder to root for Walt this time. It even had me wondering whether or not Jesse would have been better off to trust Gus and let Walt go (I tell myself no, that Gus would have eventually killed Jesse, too, but I’m not sure).
This season really began last season, as the ball got rolling when Jesse defied Gus. But season parameters aside, this overreaching storyline was beyond great. I may have overused the word “tension” a bit during this re-watch, but there’s really no other word for it. The slow, methodical way the plot unfolded put me more on edge than I thought was possible for television. Yeah, other shows have left me clamoring for the next episode, but the most eager I’ve ever felt about another show, I felt after about the fourth episode this season. And it just went up from there. At the same time, no other show explored and depicted the metamorphosis of every aspect of a character—his relationships, motivations, morality, demeanor—like Walter White this season. And Jesse’s arc was pretty damn good, too.
The show was already very good, but this narrative arc puts it in the conversation of the greatest dramas ever made. And notice I didn’t say “TV dramas” there.
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