'Stay a little longer?'
In the opening, we finally caught a glimpse of the tentatively titled 'Saul's guy', who just so happens to be casually portrayed by Robert Forster (see Heroes, Olympus Has Fallen). It's clear from the offset that he's placing Saul Goodman into hiding.
In the meantime, we see Skyler in 'terrible trouble' for her suspected involvement with Walt's business. The following scene in which she sits on the sofa, drinking and smoking, while watching the patrol car on the street ouside, gave a great reflection of her disenfranchised state in the wake of the preceding episodes events. The moment in which she steps into baby Holly's bedroom to find Todd and the gang, clad in balaclavas, was a moment so unexpected that it verged on horror-movie-quality, and by that I'm referring to a good horror movie.
Following this, Walt is shown going into hiding in a remote cabin with the assistance of Ed, and seemingly deliberating as to whether or not he should leave his safe zone of exile. His longer-haired, dishevelled appearance is explained by the passage of time, leaving us to presume that he has spent at least a month living in the cabin. On a similar note, there was a moment of real poignancy with regards to Walt's character, during the scene in which he receives his cancer treatment from Ed. He requests that Ed 'stay a little longer', in return for $10,000 of his money. These days just about everybody no doubt finds it easy to hate Walt because of everything he's done, but this moment gave a real reflection of the loneliness that he's feeling as a human being. It was an amazingly simple and yet fantastically executed line that illustrated his existence as a person, rather than a singularly evil force, which initially suggested that the old Walt is still alive somewhere. However, a moment occurring later perhaps suggested otherwise, which I'll come to shortly.
If this was Walt's most heartbreaking moment in the episode, it was topped by the moment in which Jesse hits his head against the car window after watching Todd effectively execute Andrea, brought on as a threat by his escape attempt. The image of Jesse's face filling up the entire screen, his own blood on the car window because he'd hit his head that hard in desparation, was, in my opinion, one of the most disturbing and affecting moments the show has had in terms of shear pity, to the point that it was becoming difficult to watch. This was one of the moments in which Breaking Bad succeeds at becoming truly convincing, as if we're watching real events rather than those that are fictional.
Walt's phone conversation with Walter Jr conveyed a sense of finality with regards to his relationship with his family, as if it has now come to an end, no doubt implied by the events of the preceding episodes excellent depiction of the crumbling of the family. One of the things I found to be most fulfilling about this episode was the closing scene, in which we see Walt sat at the bar, having just called the Alberqueque police department to tip them off about his whereabouts, when all of a sudden Gretchen and Elliot Schwartz appear on the television above the bar. I was very much wondering if and when Gretchen alone would make an appearance, never mind the two of them. There interview with Charlie Rose (played by hismelf) makes two central points. The first is the delcaration that Walt had nothing to do with starting the company other than the name, when we know that he supplied a large amount of the research early on, which feeds his anger to no end as he clenches a napkin into his fist. The other returns to the previous point I made about whether Walt is still inside somewhere, as Gretchen states that 'the sweet, kind, brilliant man we once know is long gone.'
The final moments, as the armed police force enter the bar, only to find an unfinished glass of whisky, a napkin folded into the shape of a swan, and what is likely to be a hundred dollar bill, all shown with the opening credit music overlaying, felt like a nod to the show itself and to the fans that have stuck with it over the years, as if to say that the final episode is going to be a great one. Vince Gilligan himself has returned to write and direct, so there can be little doubt about how great an ending this is going to be. Predictions? I'd love for Walt to get the money to the people who deserve it, for him to raid Uncle Jack's compound and save Jesse in a Django-esque shootout (who'll then go on to start a new life somewhere else) and for Walt to die of his injuries, having redeemed himself and his actions. But, like I said - it's Vince Gilligan.
Here's to the final episode. It's going to be a good one.
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