When I think about Breaking Bad coming to an end, I feel excited about what's to come, angry that it will be over, scared it will disappoint me, and even more scared that whatever happens in the finale will be so emotionally devastating that I'll be freaked out forever. It's one of the best television shows of all-time, and our screens will miss it. The final eight episodes — the second half of Season 5 — begin on AMC Sunday, Aug. 11.
The first eight episodes of the fifth season will be released on Blu-Ray and DVD Tuesday. I could complain here about how the two half-seasons should have just been one epic run. But instead I'll write about how great Season 5.1 was. There were some classic moments (the instant Jesse meme, "Yeah, bitch! Magnets!" ), and some terrific new characters (Jesse Plemmons as the creepy Todd; Laura Fraser as the hilarious lunatic Lydia Rodarte-Quayle). And there were some turning points that brought us closer to the end — particularly the last twist in the eighth episode (which I won't spoil).
If Breaking Bad has been Walter White's (Bryan Cranston) journey into darkness, we are now in deep charcoal gray and everything ahead is black. No one knows that better than his wife who hates him, Skyler (Anna Gunn). Skyler has had her own swaying morality — laundering Walt's drug money, her crazy relationship with poor Ted — but now she sees Walt for who he is: a psycho.
Both of these videos are from the episode "Fifty-One," which aired on Aug. 5, 2012, and was the fourth episode of the season. The first video, a clip of Skyler telling Walt how frightening he is, is one of the moments I remember most from the season. (The very end, that is.) And the second is the elaborate behind-the-scenes machinations that went into the beautiful, tragic scene during which Gunn/Skyler walked into the pool, refusing to participate in the farce of normalcy anymore.
Please enjoy. Or whatever the word is for what one does with Breaking Bad.