Episode 5-16
Written and directed by series creator Vince Gilligan
Part 1 - Redemptions
The previous seven episodes have been a rapidly rising action to the show's ultimate climax and resolution, a literal rush with fast moving cars, big guns firing and lots of yelling. "Felina" chronicles the deliberate movements of Walt to settle all family business, as befitting a series finale.
Walt's at his lowest in Granite State, living in a cabin apart from society which he dare not contact for fear of being arrested. His life as Heisenberg is completely exposed and his wife and son reject him for it. His partner ratted him out to the law, and his brother-in-law, whom Hank cares for despite being arrested by him, is killed as an indirect result of Walt's activities. All this so Walt could earn $80 million. Except most of that $80 million is out of Walt's reach. And the (relatively) little money he does have left, he cannot get to due to the above mentioned law or the above mentioned rejection by his wife and son. Even after getting out of the game and bumbling around as car wash Joe for a few months, Walt can't shake what he has wrought. If anything, getting out of the game only dulled his senses, making him less sharp than when he was Heisenberg, and unable to wriggle out of his final debacle. Reflecting on this, and finally reaching out to his son, this very smart many finally realizes all this. Walt is in disbelief that it's all for nothing, that all his efforts for his family tore his family apart and can do nothing to repair them.
Soooooooooo.....
He knows he has little time left. So he has three objectives.
- get the money to his family, like he planned
- make peace with his family
- get revenge
Maybe Walt has the epiphany of realizing his own faults as he watches Charlie Rose. Maybe Charlie Rose is only the inspiration for how to accomplish Goal 1. Either way, it sets him on the final journey. Walt is starting from the lowest point possible, both in terms of disadvantage and in terms of what his character has become, so he can only gain/redeem from here.
When Walt becomes conscious of what he is, a man who wanted to be a drug kingpin for his own sense of accomplishment, and not to benefit his family as he kept telling himself, he almost ascends to a higher plane of existence. Walt had put the Heisenberg hat on to hopefully experience that persona one last time. But by the time he's back to Albuquerque, he's not wearing the hat. To say he is a man with nothing to lose is too simplistic. He still has goals he wants to accomplish. And now, armed with finally being sentient about what he is, he has become some sort of uber-Heisenberg.
Uber-Heisenberg is incredibly soft spoken. He does not raise his voice, instead speaking softly, but even more intimidatingly. UH is willing to let his enemies think less of him, in order to gain more later on (allowing opinions Heisenberg would never have tolerated). And he's able to connect with his wife again by not lying for what may be the second time in the entire show. And he's able to not lie to her because he's no longer lying to himself about his motives.
UH waltzes into Elliot and Gretchen's house without the slightest bit of sweat or even urgency. He disarms Elliot with a word. UH does these things without a weapon in hand and wholly on his reputation. Knowing that Grey Matter has much to lose, including their lives, UH extorts them into getting the cash to Junior, bluffing his way through the threat of a hit if they do not comply (Regular Heisenberg could lie but not bluff). UH is able to do this because 1) the vehicle for delivery is plausible but only because 2) UH has reached the conclusion that if he is truly going to do anything for his family (which he has not yet) he needs to be far removed from any credit. Remember back when Junior set up the Web site and Saul laundered the money through there, Walt was still upset because he wasn't getting credit for earning the money. UH is finally at peace regarding credit, so he can deliver the money via Grey Matter. And maybe there is some bonus in there for Walt knowing it's getting to Junior because of his complete and utter domination of the Schwartzes. They may be rich but they have to do what he says. Turns out, he was the brains of the operation.
Goal 1 accomplished.
Skyler and Walt were at their lowest when the lies were at their worst and most obvious. That's when she went to Ted and that's when she kicked a recovering Walt out of the house. As she became more complicit in the meth business, their relationship actually started to recover and was practically normal by the time Walt got out of the game (on her advice). The point is it wasn't the meth but the lying that drove them apart.
Because UH is finally aware of his motivations, he can admit them to Skyler and they reconcile as much as can be expected, with Walt providing Hank and Gomie's resting place as penance.
Finally, Walt needs revenge. It may or may not be more satisfactory than Goals 1 and 2, but is a different kind of satisfaction, and maybe one felt more viscerally by the viewers.
Not long ago, Walt sat in a dingy hotel room engineering prison hits and a hit on his former partner with a group of Nazis. And you had to think, how did we get here, where a high school chemistry teacher is working hand in hand with the worst of the worst to do the worst things.
Having taken out his opposition, some worthier than others, at every level of the meth game, then conquering the international market, and currently on the run from the law (who, in reality, are the good guys) the only group left opposing Walt are Lydia and Uncle Jack & Co. who, since Todd's introduction last year, have been exactly what they seem to be, psychos with no redeeming qualities.
On Lydia: Walt feigned a much more severe illness than he had to make Lydia and Todd drop their guards. Being UH allowed him to let someone think less of him, whereas Heisenberg would do everything he could to make his opposition think he is at his strongest. The ploy is the opening salvo in UH's final Batman Gambit*.
* Another one was guessing Gus would go see Tio
Walt, I think, placed the ricin at the table he knew Lydia would sit at. He doesn't appear to switch it after sitting. Notably, there is only one bag of Stevia at the table she sits at and Walt notes her being a creature of habit. He admitted how he got the date and time but did not share that he got the meeting all the way down to the table she's select.
On Jack: Walt required the utility they possessed but viewers attained no empathy for these characters. They then enslaved Jesse, the character everyone was still rooting for, too boot. So putting Walt in opposition to these guys give the viewers a reason to hope he succeeds. Walt knows they're going to kill him and manages to set his car up with the gun and the Tinker Toys, positioning the trunk so it aims at the blockhouse. While Walt didn't initially intend to save Jesse, he ultimately did after seeing what Jack and Todd had done to him.
And with a gutshot, UH is able to simultaneously beat the law and the cancer.
Was Walt redeemed? I would say Walt was redeemed to the maximum extent possible.
Coming later, random episode observations and comparisons to the most recent biggest television finale event.
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