You can stop biting your cuticles now, Gainesvillians. Part two has arrived! With no time to spare between now and the twenty-eight hours, twelve minutes and fifty-two seconds until the premier of Episode 13 (but who’s counting), let’s dive right into the show’s major, ever dynamic supporting roles.
Jackson: Now, it’s time to delve into the most divisive character in the show. You know who I’m talking about. Skyler White, otherwise known by the male species as “that bitch Skyler.” I have to admit, although I recognize that Vince Gilligan has purposefully made Walt less and less sympathetic as the series has gone on, I still find myself rooting for Walt at times. Despite all of the evil that resides within him, a little piece of me wants to see him walk off in the sunset, cancer-free and victorious. None of that applies to Skyler. I hate her. Maybe it’s because I’m a man. Maybe it’s because I can’t relate to her on any level whatsoever. Maybe it’s because I find her as attractive as Sarah Jessica Parker after a bad bout with poison ivy. But I honestly can’t stand her. She willingly goes back to work for Ted Beneke (a former lover), leads him on, covers up his financial mis-dealings, HAS SEX WITH HIM WHILE HER HUSBAND IS DYING OF CANCER, covers up his financial mis-dealings again, uses her husband’s drug money to pay his IRS debt, then paralyzes the man when he doesn’t use her money to pay his debt. I hate her.
Fair enough, she is juggling the stress of a newborn baby, a disabled son, a husband dying of cancer, and the revelation that said husband is an increasingly powerful drug lord who has put her and her family in mortal danger countless times. However, that doesn’t excuse her reprehensible behavior, the nadir of which is her demand of Walt that Jesse be put to death. I’ll be honest, Morgan, if Skyler survives these next four episodes, not only will I be surprised, I’ll be pissed off beyond belief. I hate her.
Morgan: It’s interesting. A few seasons back and I would have agreed with most of your viewpoints on Skyler. She was the fraudulent, bothersome character who I loved to hate. Now, however, I can’t help but consider the series of events that have shaped her dispirited personality and grieve for her. While her melodramatic attempt to drown herself at a family dinner party undoubtedly brought my blood to a boil, I find myself sympathizing with her as well. Skyler is trapped. Trapped like a graying blonde, awkwardly tall, perpetually shocked looking rat. After being coerced into Walt’s constantly advancing meth business and now losing her brother in law and sister to the bold, unabashed truth of Walt’s character, she has absolutely no out. It is amazing to me that, even though she is attempting to save her own skin from a painful prison sentence, she refuses to expose Walt to Hank. Part of me feels as though she holds on to a glimmer of hope that there can be a happy ending for her family.
All else aside, I agree that Skyler cannot possibly removed herself from the deterioration of Walt’s despicable enterprise unscathed. I have my predictions about who will lead to her demise and when, but I absolutely do believe that she too will be, as her brother in law might say “burned to the ground.”
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Speaking of everyone’s favorite potbellied, bald-headed DEA agent, what fate lies in store for Hank Schrader? It’s safe to say that after Walt releases a maniacally devised “confessional” tape to his newly vengeful in-law, the Schrader couple will undoubtedly have to tread lightly. After uncovering the truth about Walt’s double life via discovery of a foolishly placed book containing Pollos Hermanos-era information, Hank converts from jolly, somewhat crude family man to vindictive enemy. Much like Skyler, Hank and Marie are hoodwinked by the ingenious Walt and cannot simply expose him to the New Mexico’s justice system without also appearing guilty as hell. Enter Jesse Pinkman. As Hank grows aware of Jesse’s newfound hatred toward Mr. White, he is able to stop a tweeked-out attempt at arson and form a pact with the crazed former apprentice. In my opinion, the coalition is a shaky one. While Hank is undoubtedly out for retribution, his good cop, hero complex is only going to serve as a deterrent in destroying his opponent. Hank is too well respected and socially upstanding (not to mention blackmailed) to kill his brother in law. My guess is that he will fall victim to yet another of his characteristic anxiety attacks, fall short to whatever bloody fate Jesse has in store for Walt, or fall behind a quickly approaching, cancer-driven death of his foe before getting the revenge that he so desires.
Jackson: At the heart of this show is chemistry, a science, which in essence studies the nature of change. More than anyone else in the series, even more than Walt, Hank has changed. Gone is the happy-go-lucky, charming, brash comic relief who served as a foil to the browbeaten, pre-Heisenberg Walt. His brother-in-law’s antics, not to mention two attempted murders by the Salamanca drug cartel, have left Hank empty of the joie de vivre which previously defined him. Instead, the relentless pursuit of vengeance defines his every move.
Every scene with Hank in this season has been a blockbuster. The restaurant meeting, the blackmail video, the Mexican standoff with Jesse – it’s been some fantastic television. If this was an ordinary TV show, playing primetime on TNT, there is no doubt that Hank would arrest Walt, testify at his trial, send the bastard away for life and still be able to keep his job and the respect of his peers. But this is no ordinary show. This is “Breaking Bad.” Walt and Jesse are the main men here. Hank, despite his lust for revenge, is not on their level. He’s cannon fodder.
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Now, before we say goodbye until the day before the series finale, Morgan and I are going to share extremely premature predictions of how everything is going to end up. I’ve shared my theory with everyone who’ll listen – family, friends, the Vice President of Equity Sales for Morgan Stanley – and I’ve been laughed out of the room as though I’d arrived for a business meeting wearing a blue shirt with blue tie, drenched in sweat, and singing the praises of President Obama’s foreign policy. Despite all of the haters, I still think my theory holds water.
I think everyone is going to die. Everyone, except for Saul (ready to jump into his spin-off series, only on AMC!). Walt is going to die. Jesse is going to die. Skyler is going to die, thank Christ. Walter Jr. is going to die in a breakfast-related incident. Hank is going to die. Marie is going to die, but she’ll be wearing purple so…silver lining. Everyone is going to die. After Walt’s phone-call last week, it’s impossible to think that Todd, Lydia, and that reckless gang of neo-Nazi murderers won’t be involved somehow. I think they’ll die.
The most puzzling aria is the flash-forward scenes. Walt has a full head of hair, a beard, a new name, a New Hampshire driver’s license, an M-60, and a ricin cigarette. Who are they meant for? I have no idea, none whatsoever, but the bridge between the present and the future is sure to be littered with corpses. The question is whose.
Even though I believe Walt will die, I think he will be the last to do so. I envision a beautiful tracking shot of the New Mexico desert, ending with Walt lying on the sand at the exact co-ordinates of his buried treasure. He breathes raggedly, slowly in and out, his eyes half-closed to hide the glare of the sun. He smiles, just a little, knowing that he won. A fade to black. “Breaking Bad” ends with Walt on top.
Morgan: The way I see it, it all boils down to Walt and Jesse. There is far too high a level of rage in this relationship for reconciliation and for lack of a better term, shit is about to hit the fan. I think it is inevitable that Skyler will also end up in the ground, but I don’t think that it will be at the hand of Walt, Jesse, or any other major characters. I think her death will, in true Gilligan fashion, throw viewers for a loop, but not in any way that we expect. In regards to the imminent White v. Pinkman, Western-style showdown, I think outside parties such as the neurotic Lydia and naive yet ruthless Todd will only play small parts. While they may end up influencing Heisenberg’s undoubtedly calculated plot to kill Jesse, the entire plot line revolves too heavily upon the meth duo’s profound partnership to be quickly terminated by outside parties.
My belief is that the rabid dog that is Jesse Pinkman will have his day and Walter White will end up getting exactly what he so stealthily avoided for five, long seasons of trickery and deception. My best guess is that it will involve a brilliantly chemically conceived scheme on Pinkman’s part, giving Heisenberg a taste of his own intellectual medicine once in for all; a little “student beats teacher at his own game” scenario. I see him using either ricin or lily of the valley in some fashion. Of course, I love any story where good triumphs over evil, so my thinking is certainly wishful.
Only one thing in absolutely certain: Breaking Bad fanatics will not see any of it coming, which is exactly the premise of the series steadfast addiction and exactly why we put ourselves through emotional lunacy every Sunday at 9.
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