Breaking bad thoughts

- by New Deal democrat

Fans all know that we are down to the final three episodes of "Breaking Bad."

I'm not the biggest fan in the world, but here's my two cents on things to watch for, and one whiny but substantial criticism.

1. Marie is in great danger. I've watched to see if anyone has picked up on this in the past week, but I haen't seen anything. Assuming Hank is killed or gravely wounded in the firefight, one of the natural things for the gang to do is check his cellphone to find out if anybody else knew where he was, and of their involvement in his death. Such a check would show exactly one phone call, made moments before the firefight. That person is the only one who may be able to place Hank, and them, at the scene. That leads directly to Marie.

2. Walt Jr. almost has to die. This show believes in Karma, and there is an innocent dead boy in the desert who must be atoned for. The innocence of Walt Jr. has been scrupulously maintained during the series. Exactly what purpose has that character served in the series if not ultimately to be sacrificed as a holocaust?

The innocent dead boy in the desert leads me to my criticism. In real life such a disappearance would be a top priority for law enforcement, and if there was any sense of them slacking off, the parents would be all over the local media to make sure the story stayed in the limelight. That investigation, which would pull out all the stops, would inevitably lead to the realization that crew members on the train that passes by the area might have information. And when contacted, they would almost certainly remember the odd occurrence of the pick-up truck stopped on the railroad tracks in the exact area where the boy went missing. Law enforcement might go very public with trying to locate that driver. If they operated on the idea that the two unusual occurences didn't just happen by chance, they might also check to see if there were any issues with anything shipped on that train.

In this drama, aside from Jesse's guilty conscience, there's been barely a peep. Even after Jesse's confession, there's no indication that the boy's grieving parents were contacted. Just once I'd like to see the death of a tangential innocent character develop into a major plot line in a drama.

3. The final episode is supposedly titled "Granite State." Given the established pun of "Face Off," this might be a reference to Walt's ultimate fate: not dead, not just in a prison, but like Hector Salamanca, doomed to spend the rest of his life atoning for his sins in helpless and hopeless immobility, in a "granite state."

We'll see soon enough.