Mid-season, Walt was firmly stuck under Gus’s thumb when he yelled at Skyler, “I am not in danger, Skyler, I am the danger … A guy opens his door and gets shot, you think that of me? No, I am the one who knocks.†That was a little much. Even after that episode, Walt was the one who kept getting knocked around by Gus — and it must have burned him up that Skyler’s worries were all reasonable: All season, Walt did seem in over his head. Gus had the upper hand and it burned Walt up that Gus was “ten steps ahead of me at every turn,†as he bemoaned to Jesse. Only we now know that at the very end, Walt wasn’t the bumbling, desperate victim he so convincingly pretended to be. In a spectacular capper to the best season of one of television’s best shows, Walt won.
Obviously, this leaves us in a crazy position for season five, with a massive power vacuum opened wide. The collateral damage is spreading, with innocents dying or endangered. Will Saul’s secretary get her job back? What about Skyler’s tax problem? Hank’s investigation? And what the hell will Mike think of all of this when he returns? If Walt will nearly kill a child, will next season end with him killing his partner and maybe his brother-in-law too? Is anything off limits anymore? Vince Gilligan keeps calling this show the journey of “Mr. Chips to Scarface,†and Scarface went power mad and sociopathic. Is Walt almost there? How much uglier can it get?