‘Breaking Bad’ Finale: Character of Walter White and His Possible End
On Sunday night, "Breaking Bad" will end. Vince Gilligan, creator of "Breaking Bad," had warned that the ending is going to "polarise" everyone. Gilligan created a milquetoast "Mr Chips" as a lead character and transformed him into a sinister "Scarface." Walter White (Bryan Cranston) did not take long to metamorphose into the dreaded drug-lord, Heisenberg. Once Walt started cooking crystal meth, he took to the world of crime like the proverbial duck to the water.
The diagnosis of terminal lung cancer is what made Walt take the road of crystal meth cooking. But, the fiend in him loved the thrill of the power and the money and he went deeper into his new profession and became more sinister. The good and evil both reside in a man and what he wants to become is what he becomes. If cancer was the trigger that drove Walt to become Heisenberg, Walt was the person who killed his mild-mannered chemistry teacher avatar and did not regret that. Heisenberg gave him a brand, new exciting life and a reason to get-up the next morning. Walt's excuse was that he is doing it for his family, keeping the best interest of his wife and children in the mind. He may have started it for the family but it soon became all about him.
The killing of Hank (Dean Norris) loosened the grip of Heisenberg. The family standing against Walt and not beside him made Heisenberg experience defeat, probably for the first time. The cancer killed Heisenberg. Saul (Bob Odenkirk) said to Walt in the bunker "it's over." Walt could not complete his warning to Saul in his sinister, threatening, Heisenberg voice because of the coughing-attack. The words of his son "just die" interred Heisenberg.
Walt will not be able to resurrect Heisenberg, again but something has trigged again because of the T.V interview of his former friends and business partners, Elliot (Adam Godley) and Gretchen (Jessica Hecht). They downplayed Walt's contribution to their flourishing business and the man they knew, the mild-mannered Walt, is no longer there.
Heisenberg destroyed lives and was evil personified. But, the viewers never loathed the character, while curses were heaped upon his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) when she had decided to not be on his side. The miserable sight of Walter White dying all alone in the collage in New Hampshire was a painful watch despite knowing that his character deserved a cruel death.
In "Breaking Bad," Walter White as Heisenberg worked because he was smart and was a step ahead of everyone. It was exciting to speculate and watch his next move to emerge victorious from a sticky situation. And, he dying alone without rising to make his next move would have been a disappointing end to one of the most intelligently written shows in recent times.
Heisenberg may have been interred but the mind that raised and nourished him is still ticking. "Breaking Bad" cannot end without that mind working again and attacking for the final time. What is there to gain for the dying Walter White? The original motive that he did everything for his family and setting a few things right -- like that his name Walter White was not the only contribution he made to the business that he founded with Elliot and Gretchen. Once that misconception is corrected, his family gains out of that, legally and would not need the blood money to have a comfortable future.
The character of Walter White is probably staring at three possible ends. The original "plot engine" cancer kills him, finally -- a lame end. Walt kills Jack (Michael Bowen) and his men and Jesse (Aaron Paul) kills him -- it will be poetic justice. Or, Walt disappears without any definite end and the screen blacks-out - the viewers may want to kill Vince Gilligan.