Live Free Or Die: Walter White Is Back!

SPOILERS: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS WEEK’S NEW EPISODE OF AMC’S BREAKING BAD TITLED “LIVE FREE OR DIE”

The previous season of ‘Breaking Bad’ literally ended with a bang, namely the one that took half of Gus’ face and left Walter standing the victor. We learned in the finale what Walter was truly capable of, how far he was willing to break bad in order to protect himself and his children. During the course of the opening episode to the fifth and final season of Breaking Bad, we learn that Walter is actually capable of going much further as he opens the season with a scene that exposes his darker side as well as what’s left of his gentle nature all within the span of a few minutes.

The episode (and season) opens with Walter, with a full head of hair sitting down for breakfast and celebrating a birthday alone. We learn that he’s been travelling around the country as the driver’s license he shows the waitress is from Massachusetts, but he’s back in New Mexico for a while. When meeting with an old friend in the bathroom (the same guy who sold him the .38 last season) Walter must be doing well business wise as he hands the gun dealer a big sack of cash, and the dealer gives him a set of car keys and they part ways. Before leaving the bathroom, Walter starts to cough and take a pill (has the cancer returned?) before leaving to grab his new ride. In the trunk of that car is an M-60 that looks menacing and gives us all the impression that Walter is not back in town to exchange pleasantries.

After the opening credits, we return to where Season Four left off. Walter is about to have his celebratory drink of scotch when he finally realizes that he hasn’t cleaned up his entire mess. He runs out back and grabs the only incriminating plant in the backyard that might upset Jesse should he ever discover that Walter had the same plant that poisoned the kid that Walter tried to frame Gus for. Now that the plant is tossed out, Jesse will have to find out what Walter did from some other source rather than a random plant in the backyard.

Walt Jr. comes home, singing the prises of his Uncle in the DEA who it appears is going to get even more credit for a lot of stuff Walter has been doing. While Walter seems a little unnerved that his son is looking up to his Uncle more than himself, it’s also clear that if his son is distracted he won’t meddle in any of his business and that’s probably for the best right now anyway.

Skylar is clearly terrified of her husband now to the point where she is afraid to run away, out of fear that she might join Gus in the ground. Despite the fact that she is scared of Walter, she even showed a little darkness of her own when she went to visit Ted who is alive but suffering from some major neck issues. When he declared that he would never tell a sole of what really happened, Skylar response of ‘good’ showed a little of her own darkness creeping in. Perhaps by the end of season five, she’ll be channelling Eddie Falco.

One thing I had been thinking to myself ever since season four ended was how Mike was going to respond when he caught wind of Gus’ death. Despite still not being fully recovered from his wounds, Mike did what I expected and gunned for the border eager to put Walter into the ground. Turns out Walter and Jesse were on their way to see Mike and bumped into each other while trying to cross the border. Mike was eager to shoot Walter on sight, but Jesse convinced them to hear him out. Turns out there happened to be just one small thing Walter forgot to consider when taking out Gus: the cameras.

On Gus’ computer, which was now in evidence with the police, was footage of Walter and Jesse making hundreds of pounds of meth in Gus’ lab. Mike soon realized that it would also have footage of him talking them as well, meaning his ass was on the line as well. As much as Mike wanted to take Walter out, he soon realized they had to work together if they wanted to not become the next people on the DEA’s most wanted list.

The magnet caper was almost as brilliant and funny as the time when Jesse and Walter stole those chemical drums in season two. Using the massive magnet was brilliant to wipe out all the memory on Gus’ computer, thus clearing any evidence of they making the meth. While there were a few inaccuracies in the scene (such as the metal shelves either bending or flying onto the wall or the cops guns flying off their hip or hands) it was a very enjoyable scene, which was surprisingly Jesse’s idea in the first place!

My favourite part of the entire episode was when Walter went to visit Saul, and the lawyer tried his best to explain why he let Walter’s wife take over six hundred thousand dollars of his money to pay off Skylar’s lover to avoid being audited by the IRS. While Walter understood this was all done to protect him, he was still a little upset that he wasn’t consulted or let in on what was going on. Saul tried to respond by saying he was through representing him as a lawyer, which caused Walter to walk over and tell Saul, “We’re through when I say we’re through.” Saul looked like he crapped his pants as he’s just as scared of Walter now as Skylar is because he’s aware of what happened to the boy in season four.

Despite the fact that Walter is slowly turning to the dark side, there were some small moments of humanity that leave us with hope that Walter isn’t going completely Sith on us. Leaving the $100 tip for the waitress who was nice to him was one sign, as was the moment when he was being gentle and very father like to his daughter. Walter has done some very, very bad things… but in the end he is still the caring school teacher that just wants to do right despite the fact that he is likely going to take over New Mexico’s meth ring from here out.

I loved this opening salvo from Vince Gilligan and cannot wait to see more! This episode was more than worth the year long wait to see and if the opening scene was any indication, season five is going to go out with a bang as well. I can’t wait to see what happens. Looking at that M-60 in the back of his car leaves me wondering whether or not Walter is going to leave the show like Al Pacino did in Scarface with all guns blazing or will Gilligan choose to leave the show on a more softern, positive note. We’ll have to tune in to find out!

Peter