While not the finale, this episode had a lot of hype behind it. I've read some argue that the episode is so good that there was no way that the finale could live up, some say it's the best episode of the show, and (as I noted in the last episode) some even call it one of the greatest episodes in television history. The latter I think is the easiest to argue against. It's far too subjective a title and there have been so many episodes of television produced over the decades that there's no way a person could effectively determine that without the assistance of a Lazarus pit.
The flashback to the early days was a nice touch. It was a good way to show how far both Jesse and Walt have come (or fallen) since they first started on this little venture. It also sets up some symbolic foreshadowing for things that occur in this episode.
Where the last episode made it seem like the Nazis had terrible aim, we see here that Gomez was gunned down and Hank took a bullet to the leg. Considering how many shots were fired, you could still argue it's a bit of a stretch, but it is a lot more believable than the impression the last episode gave.
It looks like Hank is boned, but that doesn't mean that Walt won't try to save him. He even goes so far as to offer them his entire fortune to just walk away and pretend that the whole thing never happened. It doesn't work and Hank is killed. To add insult to injury, they go ahead and take Walt's money anyway, even though that wasn't part of the deal.
Actually, all things considered, they were pretty reasonable. They leave Walt one barrel of cash (amounting to about $10 million) and Jack is even insistent that they part on somewhat pleasant terms, lest they have to do the same thing to Walt.
Ah, but there's still the matter of Pinkman. After all, Walt did call the Nazis out to kill him, so it's only fair that they settle this. They just have to find him.
Yeah, it isn't hard and Walt gives him up. As if handing the guy over to Nazis to be tortured and killed (or press-ganged into cooking again) isn't enough, Walt decides to finally let Jesse know about the circumstances with Jane's death. It seems like a plot point left behind, but it comes up one last time to emotionally punch Jesse in the stomach. He takes it well, all things considered. His eyes tear up and he slumps a bit, but there wasn't the sort of outrage that you'd expect. Maybe at this point, he wasn't surprised. Still, some sort of violent reaction would have been appropriate. The goons had his arms, but Walt was within leg's reach. A solid kick to the crotch would have given him at least some justice.
While Jesse wasn't present for it, he'll have to settle for Walt's car running out of gas, forcing him to push a barrel for miles until he comes across the home of an elderly Native American man. This scene is probably the closest the episode comes to offering comic relief as Walt buys the man's truck. He initially protests, saying it isn't for sale, but a fat wad of cash manages to persuade him into making the sale.
Things don't go so smoothly for Walt on the home front either. In his absence, Marie and Skyler let Junior know about Walt's activities. Ever the loyal son, he gives his dad the benefit of the doubt and chastises Skyler for lying to him about it. Not gonna lie, the kid has some warped priorities.
His eyes do start to open, though, when his dad arrives home. This development comes out of left field for Skyler as, last she heard, Walt was in cuffs about to be arrested. This just begs the question...where's Hank?
I wouldn't be surprised if most of the praise for this episode centered around this scene as it was executed perfectly. Walt insists that everything will work out and that they just need to pack their things and go. He doesn't really want to go into details, but it'll be fine. Skyler, by this point, can see through Walt's pretense and keeps pressing the question. It starts building up tension with a nice slow burn that increases in intensity when Skyler grabs a knife.
The resulting standoff just escalates things and it isn't long before the two are physically fighting. It's pretty jaw dropping to see the two come to this. It makes for a decent action scene, but the ramifications are somewhat lacking. I was honestly expecting either Skyler or Walt Jr. to get wounded as a result of it. Both Walt and Skyler slam into a couple of walls, but as far as knife fights go, they should both count themselves lucky.
Credit to Junior, though. When it looks like Walt is getting the upper hand, he immediately tosses aside his crutches and jumps into the fray, pulling the larger man backward. He even uses himself to shield Skyler and calls the cops.
Walt takes the Kenny Rogers song to heart and knows that it's time to fold em and walk away. Of course, before he goes, he takes a parting gift, Holly.
This scene was odd. It's an effective "oh crap" moment and Skyler's reaction is perfectly understandable. At the same time though, you know the kid's not in danger. Walt wouldn't hurt her. He has no reason to. As bad as he's gotten, Heisenburg still values family and Holly obviously falls into that category.
Odd as it may sound, it ends up working in everyone's favor as Holly's calls for her mother lead to Walt having a change of heart. He drops Holly off at a firestation with a note containing their address pinned to her clothes. According to producers, Holly's "line" was unscripted, but I'm skeptical. It plays such a pivotal role that it's hard to believe that they altered the entire narrative. Maybe just looking at her face was supposed to achieve the goal and the actual words just made it more effective?
In any event, Walt then calls Skyler to "rip into her". It sounds harsh at first, but it's clear that he's trying to give her a way out. Even Skyler catches on fairly quick, though her stunned silence leads her to contribute little to the facade. It's also made clear that Walt hates doing it. It's an interesting contrast to his scene with Jesse, where he was more than happy to kick the guy while he was down without feeling any remorse. It really does illustrate the dichotomy between Walt and Heisenburg. It was a standout moment for Cranston as his performance was top notch here.
Under the pretense of "having other business to tend to" Walt has himself disappear. It's surprising as he already called the guy and Saul made a point to say that the guy doesn't come back when people bow out. It does however lead us into the flash forwards that we saw earlier in the season.
I think hype backlash came into effect here. Don't get me wrong, the episode really is quite good. However, I'm not sure it lives up to the hype. I wouldn't call it the greatest hour of television and, honestly, there are stronger episodes even within the confines of this show. I thought the last episode was a stronger outing. It is, by no means, a dud. Far from it, it's jaw dropping at points. There are highlights, no doubt. It's what you come to expect from this show. However, I think some people set the bar a bit too high and it didn't really clear said bar. It may work in my favor, though, as I can still hold out hope that the last two episodes will bring the saga to an appropriate end.
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