Breaking Bad: ABQ

 "He's just decent. And he always does the right thing."

Here we go, then: the finale. There's tension throughout, a sense of foreboding. It's not necessatily because of what's happening, but the fact that the storytelling, in terms both of script and framing of shots, is full of awkward juxtapositions between the domesticity of Walt, decent family man, and the death and misery caused by Walt, drug lord. Scenes of Jane's dad being quietly devastated by something which is ultimately Walt's fault are juxtaposed with Walt holding his baby girl. Scenes of Jesse being "fixed" by a new character who reminds me of Harvey Keitel's character from Pulp Fiction are juxtaposed with a cosy breakfast scene chez White. The very structure of the episode is foregrounding how Walt's double life is not sustainable. It can't continue.

And it doesn't.

Walt is no longer a decent man. As Hank has worked out, his blue meth is now spreading well beyond New Mexico, causing exponential misery. He's killed Jane, and destroyed her father. He's ruined Jesse's life, however much he may now be cared for. And the ultimate expression of this, the huge metaphor, is how Jane's grieving dad, an air traffic controller, causes two planes to crash into each other right above Walt.This is the meaning of those arty monochrome openings- the pool, the eye, the teddy bear. Destroyed innocence. Hundreds dead before their time. All cleverly foreshadowed.

Walt has one and truly crossed the moral threshold. Heisenberg is now the real Walt. Jekyll has become Hyde. And Heisenberg does not deserve his family. Walt's lies were never sustainable, and so just two words "Which one?" cause the whole thread to unravel. Suddenly, Skyler (with some superb acting from both Anna Gunn and Bryan Cranston) is dangerously close to knowing all. And Walt is alone, and separated from his baby. Take it from a father; being separated from your baby for more than a few days does not leave yiou in a good place.

This is a magnificent bit of telly. 

What next?