Well Breaking Bad fans, as you may have already heard, there’s some good news and some bad news regarding the show’s final season. Let’s start with the bad: Bryan Cranston told EW that AMC will break what’s sure to be an exhilarating final season into two separate runs, meaning you probably won’t get that Walt-Jesse final showdown until 2013.
But this does mean that we’ll have a lot more time to spend with the crazy wheelers and dealers of Albuquerque, and an equally split season will most likely bring two distinct arcs that could satisfy starving Bad fans for years to come. AMC is aiming for two strong summer airings and two award-winning seasons, meaning there is added pressure to make each episode in the respective short runs as good as, say, “Crawl Space.
We’re still months away from Bad‘s unofficially accepted July return (According to the actors), giving us plenty of time to speculate on what should be addressed during this season’s run. Bryan Cranston has said that season five will pick up right where they left off (Remember? Ding ding ding — BOOM!), eliminating the possibility of a neat time-jump cleanup.
1. A resolution with Hank
As I mentioned before, I think Breaking Bad’s final episodes will deal with the final showdowns of Walt vs. Jesse, and Walt vs. himself. After the death of Gus Fring, these are arguably the two central conflicts on the show — and it’s only a matter of time before Jesse learns that it was Walt who poisoned Brock. Still, there is another impending explosion lurking in the shadows: Hank must find out about Walt’s “Heisenberg” alter ego.
Why? Because he’s smart, and he’s always so damn close. Say what you will about his marital woes or his extracurricular activities (They’re gems, okay? Gems!), this clean conscience everyman was slick enough to suspect Gus Fring based on a freaking napkin. And even though Walt and Jesse blew the lab to smithereens at the end of next season, something tells me that the inevitable resurgence of Blue Sky will have him back on the case. An ending to the slow burning ethical conflict between the Whites and the Schraders that would inevitably lead to one family’s moral and/or physical destruction would make a great finale for part one, no? (Team Hank!)
2. Where in the world is Mike Ehrmantraut?
In case you had forgotten, Jesse Pinkman had quite a memorable vacation south of the border. After Gus effectively eliminated Don Eladio’s cartel, hit man and family man Mike’s life was left in the balance in Gus’ makeshift Mexican emergency room. And given Mike’s proven loyalty to the chicken king, something tells me he won’t be happy when he returns to New Mexico and learns the details of Gus’ demise — that is if he returns. Will Gus’ south of the border henchmen see to his healing and border-crossing after their boss’ death? If they do, will Mike be hellbent on murdering Walt? Will he still try to mentor the wavering Jesse? Hopefully, time will tell.
3. Can they still call Saul?
Mike wasn’t the only dynamic supporting character with a questionable location at the end of the season. A panicked Saul went into hiding at the end of “Crawl Space”, only to briefly re-emerge to provide some key information in the season finale. His law practice is in shambles, and he’s always minutes away from being discovered by the IRS and/or one of the various groups currently gunning to kill Walt. So even though Gus has been blown to smithereens, it will be interesting to see if Saul can still offer his services to Walt and Jesse — and I’d put my money on Saul figuring out the logistics of Brock’s fake poisoning. If he’s resourceful enough to avoid arrest and/or murder, then he’s crafty enough to figure out that Walt would probably know a lot more about various New Mexico poisons than businessman Gus.
4. What’s the deal with all that purple?
This one is less important, but wouldn’t it be nice to finally get to the bottom of Marie’s absolutely maddening color obsession? Your turn, viewers — what do you want to see on the first half of season five? Should Jesse find out about Brock before the break? Let us know in the comments!
Follow Shaunna on Twitter @HWShaunna
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