By M. WILLIAM SMITH
Staff Writer
(DISCLAIMER: This article will contain several major SPOILERS for Breaking Bad, through the halfway point of Season 5. Nothing from the final eight episodes is spoiled, but if you’re making your way through the show now or plan to soon, don’t continue reading this page.)
“The moral of the story is I chose a half-measure when I should have gone all the way. I’ll never make that mistake again. No more half-measures, Walter.”
At the time of this writing, there are four episodes left in the final season of AMC’s acclaimed drama series Breaking Bad. What that means for me, and for a great deal of others, is four more hours of nail-biting tension, bitingly funny dark humor, countless heart attacks at every commercial break, and probably more than a few beloved characters dying horrible deaths (that last bit is, of course, pure speculation, but it’s hard to imagine a positive outcome for most of these people at this point).
Breaking Bad is a series that, from the beginning, has never held back. The kinds of things other shows may take an entire season, or even multiple seasons, to accomplish, Breaking Bad can do with ease, sometimes within a single episode.
Breaking Bad is a remarkable show for many reasons, and I couldn’t possibly list them all here. Visually, there’s nothing else like it on TV. The show’s use of color, unique camerawork, and the vast New Mexico landscape create a world that at once seems real and fantastical. Though it takes place in contemporary America, the world of Breaking Bad is one that wouldn’t feel out of place in a spaghetti western or a Coen Brothers film. The cast is typically and reliably brilliant, with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul delivering some of the finest performances the medium of television has ever seen, and creating a strong team of supporting players with Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Bob Odenkirk, Giancarlo Esposito, and Jonathan Banks, among others.
But putting all that aside, Breaking Bad is Breaking Bad because of Vince Gilligan and his writing team. For five seasons, they’ve shaped the way this story has played out, they’ve brought their characters to the brink of self-destruction several times over, they’ve been constantly aware of the audience’s expectations and have consistently subverted them – and they’ve done so in a fairly unconventional way.
Gilligan and his team have consistently said that they generally don’t plan ahead when writing Breaking Bad. In an age when many shows have several seasons planned in advance, this gives the show an immediacy that makes every episode feel like it has a purpose.
There’s never been a “filler” episode of Breaking Bad. Even an episode like “Fly,” the tenth episode of the third season, in which Walt is obsessed with catching a fly that has made its way into his lab, is an important character piece. It allows the audience to see the mindsets of Walt and Jesse at that point in the story, arguably justifying their actions that follow in the next few episodes.
There’s never a wasted moment in Breaking Bad, and the idea that Gilligan barely gives a thought to where the show is going in the future is, frankly, kind of amazing.
When the second half of season five began this summer, it began with a flash-forward, building off of a scene we saw last year, showing Walt months removed from the current events in the show, possibly on the run and clearly out to kill someone. Gilligan and his team seem to write themselves into corners frequently; the fun is seeing how they get themselves out of it.
When Jesse killed Gale at the end of season three, where could the story have gone from there? When Walt took down Gus Fring at the end of season four, how could they possibly build off of that? Yet, they found a way each time, always subverting expectations, always following these events up with things the audience might not see coming.
So when Hank discovered Walt’s secret at the end of last year’s mid-season finale, the year-long wait for the next episode was agonizing. This was the event that had to happen, but the way it transpired came out of nowhere, it was a perfect cliffhanger, and I was desperate to see what happened next.
Naturally, the show hasn’t disappointed, and the season thus far has been as tense as ever. But there’s a consistent sense of anxiousness surrounding it; with only four episodes left, how can Gilligan and Co. even attempt to tie together every story thread in a satisfying, coherent narrative? It doesn’t seem possible, but if there’s one writing team in television that can, it’s likely them.
One of Breaking Bad’s greatest strengths has been its ability to take relatively smaller events of their world and weaving them into the larger narrative of the show. Combo’s death in season two seemed like a minor setback, but it became a driving force in the narrative of the latter half of season three. Walt and Jesse’s encounter with Hector Salamanca early in season two pays off in a big way by the fourth season finale.
Gale’s personalized copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass from season three resurfaces to reveal Walt’s true identity in the fifth season. Gilligan believes in leaving no stone unturned; everything that happens in the show happens for a reason, even if he doesn’t quite know what the reason is yet.
The quote at the top of this article is from the end of Mike Ehrmantraut’s monologue from my favorite episode of Breaking Bad, “Half Measures,” the penultimate episode of season three.
In it, Mike describes his previous life as a police officer, and the death of an innocent woman, that resulted from his action, something he refers to as a “half measure.” The next episode of the show, the season three finale, is entitled “Full Measure,” in which Jesse knocks on Gale’s door and kills him at his doorstep.
In essence, this is a perfect metaphor for the show in its final weeks. Gilligan and his team are Jesse, pointing their gun directly at the audience, preparing to pull the trigger.
Breaking Bad has never backed down with half measures, but now, with four episodes left (three by the time you’ll be reading this), it’s more important than ever for the show to follow through on its goals, for Gilligan to end the show on his terms, to really go out with something great. A final full measure for a show filled with full measures. An ending befitting the great, “Classic Coke” Heisenberg.
Look upon his works, ye Mighty, and despair.
