By Taylor Nigrelli
Sports Editor
There’s something intrinsically painful about endings. They tend to leave one wistful, longing for bygone days.
While waiting for the final episode of “Breaking Bad” (Sunday 9 p.m., AMC), it is nearly impossible not to long for Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) pre-cancer days. It was a time when he and his family weren’t in constant peril and when we, the viewers, weren’t aware of what a monster he truly is.
But this show has always been about the end. Not just the end of White’s life, but by association, many others’ lives as well.
The latter half of season five has featured the end of many characters. Hank Schrader’s (Dean Norris) stubborn independence finally caught up with him. His partner, Steve Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada), unexpectedly found himself in the crosshairs of a family duel far beyond his understanding. Last Sunday, Andrea (Emily Rios) was gunned down in the most emotionally-draining scene since…well, the previous episode.
So where could the final episode, “FeLiNa,” (named for the chemical elements iron, lithium and sodium – or blood, meth and tears) possibly take the audience? What will the end look like for everyone else?
Saul’s (Bob Odenkirk) end was likely the most painless we’ll see. He did what nearly every other character has failed to do – he told Walt “no” and walked away from money.
The others may not be so lucky. Skyler (Anna Gunn) and Walter Jr. (R.J. Mitte) will have to live the rest of their lives knowing a member of their immediate family was a meth-slinging sociopath. Marie (Betsy Brandt) is now a widower and will have to live out her days with the knowledge that her beloved husband was murdered by her brother-in-law. Todd (Jesse Plemons) and his gang of neo-Nazis will no doubt become the victims of Walt’s latest elaborate mass-murder plot.
Yet the amount of buzz surrounding the fates of these characters pales in comparison to that of Walter and Jesse (Aaron Paul). It seems we’ll discover the pair’s destiny after everyone else’s fates have been decided.
A duel between the two seems inevitable; it’s been building since Walter first made eye contact with an escaping Jesse during his famous Drug Enforcement Administration ride-along in the show’s pilot.
Considering how heavy and heart-wrenching this season has been so far, it seems safe to assume any showdown between Jesse and Walt will be difficult to watch.
In fact, any scene featuring Jesse will undoubtedly be emotionally-draining. Season five has been nothing but emptiness for someone who’s been through more hell than any of the other characters. As Walter’s primary victim, Jesse has lost everything. He’s lost any ally he had, he’s long-since lost his humanity and now, with Andrea’s death, he’s lost nearly everyone he cares about.
Nearly, for we’re still unsure of the fate of Andrea’s star-crossed young son, Brock. Brock could play a major role in deciding when or how Jesse gets away from the neo-Nazis. Or perhaps not. Perhaps he’s already dead.
Perhaps Walter will make use of the machine gun shown in the flash-forward to save Jesse from his captors.
All that’s clear about this final episode is that nothing is clear. “Breaking Bad” has built its reputation on shocking and horrifying its audience. If there’s anything to know about show-runner Vince Gilligan, it’s that he’s unpredictable. Each episode’s climax is more brilliantly twisted than the last.
The show has already given us countless cold-blooded murders, dead children, asphyxiation by vomit, the world’s most unlikely plane crash, an exploding elderly man and more than one person chemically dissolved in a barrel.
The end will be bitter. It will be the culmination of Walter’s descent from the run-of-the-mill chemistry teacher to a ruthless, murderous monster and will very likely be the final chapter of Jesse’s tragic life.
These endings will leave the audience yearning for the somewhat recent past. A time when Jesse was just your average junkie and Walter was an unaccomplished, boring family man.
But these days cannot be had; a trip to the past is not in the cards. Too many mistakes have been made by both Walter and Jesse. Gilligan is intent on using one of the show’s other themes, morality, to illustrate the consequences of breaking bad.
The end will come for Jesse Pinkman and Walter White, and it will be painful.
