Editor’s Note: It should go without saying, but there are MAJOR spoilers ahead for the fifth-season episode of Breaking Bad, “Ozymandias.”
Walter White has completely lost control. The empire he’s worked so hard to build has fractured and crumbled and, just as in the poem that inspired the episode’s title, nothing beside remains. Well, save for $11 million in a barrel.
We saw glimpses Walt losing control last week when he was speeding through Albuquerque en route to his an $80-million cash pile he thought was in jeopardy. He admitted every one of his crimes to Jesse over the phone as he wove through traffic. He sped through nearly every red light on the way there.
Just as an emotional reaction to the thought of Hector Salamanca talking to the DEA led Gus Fring to his demise, so did a fervent response to the threat of losing his hard-earned cash lead Walt to give up all of his secrets, the requisite cash pile included.
So it’s fitting that by the end of this week’s episode of Breaking Bad that Walt, like Gus, lost everything — figuratively speaking of course. Sure, he’s got that $11 million, but his wife, his son, his infant daughter: all gone (again, figuratively.)
The people Walt used as a crutch to justify every horrible thing he’s done have left his side. But first let’s figure out how we got to the end, with Walt riding off into the sunset in a red minivan, Skyler, Marie and Walt Jr. in tears at the White residence and Holly strapped to the passenger seat of a fire engine.
The two Whites and Marie know that Hank’s gone. What they don’t know is the circumstances. And you you’ve got to wonder what’s worse: What they think happened or the truth? Of course, the details Walt omits make it seem like he did Hank in himself, but I’d venture to say what actually transpired in the desert is much worse.
Hank Schrader’s death is when Walt abandoned the family line. Until now, he went to incredible lengths to keep his family safe, but as soon as that bullet hits its mark, all bets are off. Immediately afterward, he’s calling for Jesse’s death, and this time he’s not even asking for a humane execution.
The events that follow are heartbreaking in every sense of the phrase. Jesse is chained up and forced to cook for the Nazis — his only motivation is the fact that they know who Andrea and Brock are and, if I know Uncle Jack — and I think I do — the minute Jesse stops cooking, those two are in grave danger.
All of the lies and deception are completely unraveled in the most tense dialogue exchange in the series (I know, it seems to happen with every new episode this season.) This ultimately ends with Walt and Skyler fighting over a knife, with Junior ending everything by calling the police. And that’s the moment when Walt feels really defeated.
He’s finally lost his family.
After a quick trip to a public restroom to clean up his daughter before leaving her in a fire station, Walt’s finally called Saul’s guy so he can disappear. Now Walt’s headed to New Hampshire (probably) and he says he’s got unfinished business. And with two episodes to go, you’ve got to wonder: What’s left?
Stray observations:
-That opening. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen the humble beginnings of the man named Heisenberg. Tighty whities. Playing with sticks in the wild as if they were swords. Such a simpler time.
-“My name is ASAC Schrader. And you can go fuck yourself.” Hank knew the name of the game as soon as that Nazi took his gun. RIP, Mr. Schrader.
-“You’re the smartest guy I ever met and you’re too stupid to see.” One of Hank’s last lines is similar to one of the first we hear him speak in the pilot.
-“I saw Jane die.” The last secret Walt hid from Jesse might have hit Pinkman the hardest. With this small admission, Jesse is fully and totally justified in calling his former teacher the devil.
-The Nazis didn’t have to leave Walt that $11 million. Maybe Uncle Jack isn’t so bad after all. (He is.)
-“Let’s cook.” When Walt says it to Jesse for the first time, it sounds serious, but there’s a fatherly tone to it. But when Todd says it? It’s so nonchalant. There’s such a casual tone to his voice, yet the circumstances under which we hear those two words couldn’t be more different. Here’s Jesse, chained to a rail and forced to make meth with the threat of losing the only two people he cares about.
– Walt Jr.’s life has come crashing down. At least once per season, Walt stresses how much he wants Junior’s memory of his father to remain untarnished.
-My money’s on Marie being the one who defiles the White house and sprays “Heisenberg” on the living room wall. Stranger things have happened.