Breaking Bad Season 5 Preview: Wrath of Walter White

The wait is finally over. While it’s been months since we last touched base with the world’s best meth chef, there’s only one question on everyone’s mind:
What now?

Shocking as the finale was, it was tidy. It took every single loose string and tied it up into a neat little bow. And then blew the face off that bow. Well, half the face (too soon?).

Gus is gone. The lab is gone. Hector, the lingering invalid with the most terrifying bell I’ve ever heard, is gone. Hank’s investigation is all but dead in the water. The car wash is making money. Jesse is on the wagon. Even Walt’s cancer is in remission.

So, with all his adversaries dispatched, Walt is finally going to settle down into that nice quiet life that once he led. I mean, isn’t that what he always wanted? Isn’t that why he got into this business to begin with?

Not likely. Why not? Because THAT Walter White–the one we first met: unassuming high school teacher, butt of all jokes, hider of second cell phones–is gone.

We can’t pretend that Walt is a still a good guy. Sure, you still like him. I still like him too. After all, we’ve been through the ringer with Walter White. Remember the sting when he son renounced the name Walter Jr? Remember how we cheered when he blew up Tuco’s pad with a Mercury bomb (that was some bad-ass chemistry BITCH!)? Remember when he shaved his head? Oh man. Me too.

Even in his worst moments, I always identified with Walt. He was a breath of fresh air compared to volatile Jesse, slimy Saul, and Gus the sociopath. Even his bouts of rage could be understood in context with the complete indignity he’s subjected to on a daily basis. There was good guy in there. Getting gradually smaller, maybe, but distinct.

And then he turned a corner. Somewhere near the end of Season 3, when he ruthlessly directed Jesse to take Gale out of the equation, Walt’s resentment and self-righteousness took over. He stopped thinking of cooking as a means to an end. He started to realize what he was worth. Mild-mannered Walt was no longer shrinking, he was being actively annihilated.

The very last vestiges of him were wiped away in the final seconds of Season 4, in a slow pan around a suburban backyard to the poisonous flowers that nearly took the life of a 10 year old boy.

What we saw in the episodes leading up to the finale was Walt’s coming out party. He glided thrillingly close to the line at dinner with Hank, Skylar and Marie, all but announcing that Gale was only working for Heisenberg. His bald declaration to Skylar “I am the one who knocks” was more than a handy epithet, it’s a battle cry.

Walt’s done hiding. He’s sick of not getting the credit for his success. He’s got the most valuable asset, he wants the recognition. Need proof? Sunday’s season premiere is aptly titled “Live Free or Die.”

He’s the king now. No more pretending that he despises his crazy life – he loves it. He craves it.

So to answer our biggest question – What happens now?

Whatever Walt wants, that’s what.

Bitch.

Margaret McCloskey is playwright and television connoisseur living in Brooklyn.