Yep...these last few episodes are intense as any TV shows in the history of TV shows. I told my wife last night that I think the last two shows, and probably the last two, are meant to get the remaining Walt fans to realize just how far gone he really is. I was in the Walt fan club until he did what he did to Jesse, and told Jesse what he did (that's as best as I can do without completely spoiling it). Anyway, these last two episodes are going to be intense and fun to watch. That and the last episode of Dexter will leave me feeling exhausted next Sunday night.
I'll be honest: last night's episode has been haunting me all day (sad, I know). I have a lot of thoughts. So screw it- I'm going full spoiler. If you haven't seen it yet, STOP READING NOW.
I have a slight disagreement with you- I think the end of the show last night began Walt's redemption arc. No, he obviously can't make up for EVERYTHING he's done, but it's nice to know that there's still a human in there. The phone conversation with Skylar was clearly meant to absolve her of any guilt, and pin everything on himself. Walt's too smart to have not known that the cops would be listening in. And that's why he left Holly at the fire station. When he was changing her diaper, and she said "mama", I think that was Walt's "What have I become?" moment. I think Heisenberg died right there in that bathroom.
When Hank was shot, and Walt collapsed to the ground, the look on his face was exactly the same as that of Gus when his partner was killed in the flashback. If you think about it, Walt's story arc parallel's Gus almost exactly. Both had humble beginnings, both built an empire, and both reached their downfall by associating with the wrong people. Remember, Gus was reluctant to go into business with Walt in the first place. His BIL was a DEA agent, and his partner Jessie was an impulsive junkie (though in retrospect, Hank and Jessie weren't the ones Gus should've been worried about). But Walt was the world's best meth cook, and Gus only saw the $$$, so he took him on anyway. Big mistake. And as for Walt himself, you can point to dozens of instances and say "here's where it all went wrong", but the countdown clock for his endgame clearly started when he went into business with Todd and his uncle. And speaking of Todd...
Mike. Wise old Mike, who was NEVER wrong about ANYTHING. Except...Mike's the one who advised Walt to keep Todd close after the shooting following the train robbery. He had vetted Todd and his uncle Jack, and determined that they weren't that big of a threat. What a huge oversight on Mike's part- or not. I like to think that Mike KNEW how going into business with that crew would turn out, and this was his last "F you" to Walt. Did Mike reach out from the grave and take his revenge last night?
Finally, the thing I see a lot of people asking today is, "How can the last two episodes possibly top this?". My guess? They can't. Because for all intents and purposes, last night WAS the series finale, and the next two weeks are just epilogue (not that they can't be wildly entertaining). Walt has lost. He's lost most of his money (and here's guessing he'll lose the rest before the end), he's lost his empire, and he's lost his family. And even if he comes back and pulls a Kill Bill on the entire Aryan Brotherhood, none of that is going to change. The only loose end to tie up is Jessie's fate, and I'm guessing that he'll feature prominently in the last two.
