"All I can say is... if I ever get anal polyps, I'll know what to name them."
Wow. That's how you do a finale. This is the perfect showdown- tense, clever, beautifully shot (with Vince Gilligan himself writing and directing)- and with a magnificent climax.
This whole season has been Walt vs Gus, life or death. Here we reach resolution, helped my absolutely superlative performances from Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Giancarlo Esposito and Mark Margolis, who utters not a word, as ever, but conveys so much.
The various twists and turns of the plot are a delight, but ultimately Walt succeeds in having Gus killed... and the scene of his calm, collected, horrific death is extraordinary. So, of course, is the final revelation that little Brock was poisoned, not with ricin, but by Walt. Like Gus, Walt is now not above risking the life of a child. How far he has fallen.
This is not a Skyler episode, but her hands, too, are dipped inexorably in the blood. At the end, on hearing of Gus' death, she asks "Was it you?" and is told that "I won". She gets the rather obvious subtext loud and clear.
Ultimately, though, this is a big step, but one that makes sense, in the extraordinary evolution of Walt from mild-mannered, dorky chemistry teacher to a kind of drug Corleone. Simply sublime.
And the title? Nice pun, but my God, that's dark.
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