Breaking Bad - "End Times"

Season 4, Episode 12

Redefining everything, once again

“Everything is coming to an end.”

-Walt

It can be hard to remember that Walter White was once a (mostly) good guy, someone who entered the meth trade with fairly pure intentions. Of course, both Vince Gilligan and Bryan Cranston have spent most of the show’s run trying to convince that Walt is just a good guy stuck in a bad situation, but it’s always been that not-so-hidden secret among that show’s fans that at some point along the way, Walt just became pure anti-hero. It was something that season four has even seemed to double down on, as we continuously saw Walt act like a petty, petulant child, much to his detriment.

But somehow, the show managed to change that around at the top of “End Times” turning him back into a good man. I say “somehow”, but I know it was due to the skills of both Cranston and the writing staff. The show has always made it clear that whatever lines Walt crosses, the one he would never cross would be the one that would put his family in pain. (Physical pain, anyway. Emotional pain? That’s a different story.) And so when Walt made the selfless gesture of staying behind in the house so that Skyler et. al. would be safe, it may have seemed like a weird turn for the show to take – especially given his breakdown into maniacal laughter at the end of last week’s episode – but it was an important shift for the episode to make so that everything that followed would work as well as it did.

That might be a weird statement to make considering the obvious narrative center of tonight’s episode was instead focused on Jesse, but hear me out. This season, the show has been slowly building to the biggest break in Walt and Jesse’s relationship so far*, and then spent a few episodes with them on the outs, but it had to inevitably swing bsck around to the two of them getting together again. It may be an ineffable relationship – even Jesse, who admits that Walt’s a dick, isn’t quite sure why he can’t live with Gus killing him – but it’s a bedrock of the show, and their relationship can’t fully break until sometime next year, when the show’s into its last season.

*(Man, how many times have those guys broken up? They’re just like [insert celebrity couple here].)

Yet the show has also set up something of a trap for itself, as it made the break between Walt and Jesse pretty definite, given that Jesse no longer trust Walt, and that Walt well, got the shit beaten out of him by Jesse. So what does the show do? It changes up the game. By positioning Walt as the good guy to Gus’ bad guy, at least in Jesse’s world view, it not only becomes logical that Jesse would pair up with Walt, but it become easy – or easier than it’s been in quite a while – to root for Walt and Jesse to succeed in talking down Gus.

And how does it do that? Five hundred words in, and I have yet to talk about the twisty-turny set piece that helps to set all of this in motion. Brock, the son of Jesse’s girlfriend Andrea, falls ill in the hospital, and when Jesse goes outside to grab a stress smoke, he realizes that Chekhov’s Ricin Cigarette is not to be found. He goes over to Walt’s and stick a gun in his face**, and blames him for Brock’s condition, convinced Walt did it to get back at him. But just as quickly, Walt talks him down, and the two of them realize that it must have been Gus who poisoned them, Gus who set Walt up so that Jesse could both rid him of Walt and be okay with it. It’s a brilliant example of domino-tipping, like a miniature version of last week’s episode. It’s also a series of tension-filled moments, as it seems every breath means a new person is in danger of being killed.

**(Actually, it was Walt’s 38 snub, which is technically the true Chekhov's Gun of the season, considering it has yet to go off.)

At lot happens in the span of a few minutes, as the show quickly has us go from blaming Jesse to blaming Walt to blaming Gus for Brock’s hospitalization/future death, and it’s an emotional roller coaster for us at home. It’s a testament to the way that the show has played Walt that we can both suspect him of actually poisoning Brock (the man has done some awful things, and he was off screen for the episode’s middle section doing godknowswhat) and believe him when he says that he would never hurt a child. It was also a chance for Walt to redefine another aspect of his personality; by bringing the gun to his head in order to make a point, by daring Jesse to shoot him, Walt stopped being the pitiful excuse for a criminal he was all season, and started being the badass we fell in love with in season two.

But the character twists, as well as the tension, don’t stop there, as Jesse and Walt embark on a new plan, a plan to take down Gus, and he also shifts his narrative role based on their decision. Much like how Walt and Jesse have become someone to root for again, Gus in no longer the calm, cool and collected business man that’s being pressured from all sides, but rather the Big Bad that’s standing between Walt and Jesse and their freedom (with justice a close second). All of this could seem a bit contrived or artificial, but it’s a testament to how the show has evolved that it makes sense. Not only are all of these aspects things that we have seen before in the characters, but it feels as if the show has reached the apex of its perspective with the Mexican cartel, and it’s now purposefully bringing that perspective slowly inward, so that the focus will once again be on Walt by the time the show ends next year.

Of course this wouldn’t be a penultimate season episode of Breaking Bad without ending on yet another tense scene, and we got one as we watch Gus enter the parking lot, and notice…something, something that tells him not all was right, and he walked away before Walt could get him with a remote-denoted car bomb. We leave Walt alone on top of the roof, dismayed that he lost an easy chance to rid himself of Gus. Now things are only going to get harder, and though Walt once again has Jesse on his side, things have never looked grimmer. Having everyone back in clearly defined roles might make his interpersonal relationships easier to manage, but expect everyone to dig their heels in and fight to the last.

Quotes and Other Thoughts

I couldn’t fit it in above, but I enjoyed watching Hank’s ongoing investigation playing out on the side, even knowing that it’s probably caused Walt as much trouble as it can for this season. Bonus points for bringing back Steve Gomez in style, considering he didn’t get a lot to do this season up until now.

You, I feel like every season the show finds a new way to rub in our face just how awesome Hank and Marie’s House is. This season, it’s clearly the porch and the accompanying view that’s doing it.

I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time we’ve heard Holly cry, at least in an upset manner. There goes the World’s Best Behaved Baby award. Also, I’m pretty sure they brought in a new baby to play her. Coincidence?

“Why didn’t use and Steve just put him in the car?” “Umm, because it’s not Nazi Germany?”

“We’re going to find heroin here like we’re going to find Jimmy Hoffa.”

“I don’t know if I’m speaking English here…”

“‘Honey Tits.’ I say it’s endearing.”