With only one episode left to go, there’s a lot of speculation about what’s in store for the characters of Breaking Bad. At the end of this week’s “Granite State,†Matt Zoller Seitz wondered: “Could it be that Team Walt’s fantasies of Walt ‘rescuing’ Jesse from the Nazis are as absurd as they always sounded? I guess we’ll find out, but in this episode I don’t believe Walter mentions Jesse, or that his mind is on him; why would it be, as according to Walter, Jesse is a betrayer, a rat? No, I think that huge machine gun we glimpsed in the trunk of his car in ‘Live Free or Die’ is a tool to get his money back from Jack and Todd and company.†As you brace yourself for the finale, here’s our recap of your comments:
You reacted to the murder of Andrea …
“I had some vague hope that Todd was just trotting out Andrea as a threat to Jesse and he wasn’t actually going to hurt her, and I literally froze when he shot her. I didn’t have a huge attachment to Andrea or anything, but she’s probably the first completely innocent character that’s been murdered. This episode as a whole was a welcome break from the nonstop tension of last week, but that shot was just as rough as anything BB’s ever done.†–somenights
“Andrea being executed was probably the darkest thing I’ve seen on this show, even darker than when Todd shot Drew Sharp, which is saying something. But I’m not entirely convinced that we should be laying all of the blame at Walt’s feet. One of the main themes of the show has always been that there are consequences to your actions, that you reap what you sow. Jesse may be hapless, but he isn’t blameless, even if we feel bad for the guy.†–Classicist
“I agree that Jesse is certainly not “blameless†in all of these effects caused by his choosing to cook meth with Walter White. And he has been paying for the decision to go into the meth business. However, I think the assassination of Andrea was a bit too heavy handed on the part of the writers. It is beginning to feel like the “torture Jesse†show … It has been six seasons of killing everyone Jesse cared about … beating him up … taking everything from him. Unlike Walt, who just this season is suffering the consequences of his actions …Jesse has been paying for his “sins†since just about the beginning of the series. Just seems a little over the top in terms of making Jesse “suffer†and “payâ€. And please don’t tell me that Walt hasn’t suffered. I am talking about the seemingly piling on ways Jesse keeps paying outwardly and inwardly for so long.†–JustAnIdea
“By far the cheapest, least earned shot in the show’s history. It makes no sense on any level and is actually the first thing on the show that felt like it was purely for shock value. I mean what did it accomplish? I don’t mean in terms of the Nazi’s ‘goals’ though even there the value there is questionable, I mean in terms of the show’s moral universe. All the other shocking things we’ve seen are organically connected to the story in a way that actually tell us something about the character. But here, we don’t learn a thing we didn’t already know about the characters. It was all shock, no substance.†–poster99000
… and lamented about what’s going to happen to Brock.
“Not predicting it, per say, but it would be fitting if the show ends in a way where the audience is left to assume that Jesse will raise Brock. I keep thinking about the red-haired boy that Jesse tended to in that awful meth-den of a house. I think that was a turning moment for many audience members and their opinion of Jesse. Jesse’s lost everything at this point, but the one thing he does have to live for is Brock. I think raising him would give Jesse some sense of purpose and fulfillment that nothing else will ever be able to do.†–Hendoism
“I couldn’t believe it when Andrea opened the door and then STEPPED OUTSIDE!!! I was screaming at the television. Knowing that Brock would most likely find her was a heartbreaking scene to imagine.†–im10ashus
The ricin is for Lydia who Walt gives it to right after she tells him where Jack and Todd’s compound is. Walt goes in blasting and wastes them all getting fatally wounded himself. But he’s alive long enough to see that Jesse has survived. After a final scene between the two, Jesse takes the money, picks up Brock and calls the vac salesman. He and Brock disappear.†–Jdunc
You speculated about what the finale has in store for Walt and Jesse …
“Walt is going to save Jesse and take his own life, therefore finishing the only job he failed to accomplish in the first episode. It’s a logical conclusion to make given last week’s revelation about the money being buried in the same location where Walt and Jesse were successful with their first cook (AND surviving as a team), plus the DEA story arc ending with Hank finally having closure and dying a noble death. My guess is Walt will take his own life in the car wash (even though the Whites no longer own it), as this is where we are given a glimpse of the cancer that literally and metaphorically was at the crux of every single character’s tragic demise.†–BrynneAshole
“I, for one, would like Walt to rescue Jesse because I’m Team Jesse. And because Walt has a big gun. If Jesse then watches Walt choke on his own vomit, I’d be OK with that. Recap writers want Walt to face some sort of justice. So do I. But simply seeing Walt behind bars in an orange jumpsuit (orange is the new bland suburban dad outfit!) isn’t a satisfying enough ending for me. Too anticlimactic. Of course he deserves prison time, but surely there’s some more fitting fate in store.â€Â –enteravalue
“Prediction: Walt goes back to ‘save’ Jesse, consciously or subconsciously, because Jesse is one of the only remaining characters who believes Walt’s BS. Jesse believes Walt is powerful, brilliant, lucky, god-like. He doesn’t respect Walt anymore, but he fears him and what he represents. Walt wants to destroy the Nazis and in the process free his ‘disciple’ Jesse, who can attest to Walt’s grandeur after Walt is dead and gone, even in a negative light.†–MeMikeM
“Somewhere in the midst of all the chaos Jessie escapes, gets a gun and in the final moments he will be the one to take Walt’s life. You see, as a viewer, I can only accept Walt’s death at the hands of Jessie … not his cancer, not the DEA and certainly not by Todd. Jessie’s entire existence after teaming with Walt has been a series of slow deaths for him … he’s endured the most painful losses out of any other character. Justice will be granted for him — I just know it.â€Â –Lynnae84
“I don’t think Walt’s coming back for Jesse, in fact I think he might be returning to ABQ to KILL Jesse here’s why: Although you’re right, he doesn’t mention him in the episode once, he seemed to be giving himself up to the DEA (leaves the pay phone off the hook then returns to the bar, looking defeated), BUT when he hears on the Charlie Rose interview that HIS blue meth is still circulating, he seems to get incensed. And we KNOW he knows that Todd & Neo-Nazi Co., can’t reproduce his stuff - so it stands to reason that he realizes that Todd hasn’t killed Jesse, and that he’s alive and cooking.†–FisherandSonsÂ
“Perhaps he’s down in his underground cell, and Walt never even knows he’s there. Walt wipes out the Nazis, leaves Jesse behind, and WE’RE left to wonder if he ever escapes. We know he’s capable of escaping, but ONLY if the Nazis are dumb enough to leave him with the necessary equipment (paper clips, bucket, mattress) to do so. Jesse hears the gunshots, hears Walt leaving, and is left sobbing on the floor of his cell. Could happen.†–seanmurd
… and explained why, despite everything, you’re still on Team Walt.
“And people say, ‘how can you still root for Walt?’ This is how. Someone needs to kill every single one of those effin hicks. He has no idea they went to his house … touched his wife … Plus, those idiots with that kind of money is just dangerous. MAKE THEM PAY WALT!! Don’t do a Mike, and discriminate- get that Lydia too. She deserves itâ€. –Bookles
“In spite of all and everything, I find myself sympathetic to the Walter White character. He got into a huge mess and has been doing damage control ever since. I’m still not clear on whether or not he was actually signing off on Jesse’s death warrant. Through the entire run of the show, he was always trying to save Jesse. I know I’m up for attack here, my only excuse is that I’ve watched all five seasons in one week’s time.†–Christicritters
“If it’s Walt versus Nazis, I’m ‘cheering’ for Walt. In an unexpected twist after all this, they’ll have the audience back on Walt’s side, in a manner of speaking. I certainly don’t want Walt to win anything, but I hope he destroys them.†–rcln
And, of course, you made plenty of predictions for whom the gun and ricin are ultimately intended.
“I have this unshakable feeling that Walt has been hoarding that ricin for himself. Hopefully, after he achieves whatever he needs to achieve with that shotgun, he turns himself in, or performs any act or gesture acknowledging his fault, his blame, right after ingesting the poisoning. Not only would the ricin greatly reduce his time in whatever purgatory of pain he creates, and help to end the cancer he both has and has created, but he would, in theory, be ‘applying himself’ to the last test of his life — releasing his family. We have seen multiple members of his beloved family basically beg for it. Skylar has been waiting for it, then we witnessed Marie’s magical ‘you should just kill yourself’ guacamole-at your table moment, and then finally Jr’s/Flynn’s Carmen’s office phone breakdown. It is clear that the family he has always claimed to serve and protect would now only feel real protection after he is gone.â€Â –GingerKyD
“A prediction: Walt is going to put the ricin in Lydia’s Stevia. And to gain trust with Lydia, Walt drinks it too. How’s that for a ‘bittersweet’ ending?†–JayArAr
“I think the machine gun could be a ruse to get us to think that he’s going all fire and brimstone and going to shoot up all the whitepower nazis. It’s very possible at this point that Walt’s ability to carry out Heisenberg’s machinations are exhausted. He gets the gun, thinking he’s going to do something, but he’s frail and exhausted and emotionally dead and it’s all for nothing. Also thinking that Walt got the ricin for himself. His family is gone, his money is useless, he has nothing left but to succumb to his fate, though I think he’s still too proud for prison or cancer to deal him that fate. He goes out just like everything else in this series, on his own terms.†–faber
“After Walt Jr’s ‘Why do you die already?’ declarations, I’m going to put my bet that the ricin is for Walt himself. That it is last piece of business after he’s taken care of the Nazis, etc.†–mllehaha
“I suspect Gilligan might be planning the ol’ switcheroo for next week’s episode … Walt poisons the Nazis by putting ricin in their water supply (a play on Gus Fring’s poison trick) rather than machine gun them all to death. I predict the ‘Scarface’ scene we’re all expecting will never come to pass. Gretchen and Eliot, meanwhile, will receive merely a dose of Heisenberg intimidation.†–Dantestraw
“Walt kills everybody with that machine gun then moves to a remote Greek village where he begins to eat yogurt and takes a teaspoon of honey every morning, and has to walk everywhere in the hilly village and forms close relationships with his fellow villagers and cultivates a sense of belonging and a renewed sense of purpose, and grows a garden and eats fresh vegetables everyday and eliminates animal products from his diet and naps in the afternoons, and drinks a homemade herbal tea daily with and ultimately lives to 100 and the cancer just disappears entirely.†–starryfuckinghope