'Breaking Bad' Finale: Walt Finally Rings Gus's Bells

The "Breaking Bad" finale was preordained well before it closed Season 4 out on Oct. 9. It had to bring an end to the war between Walt and Gus - and even though Gus has become TV's greatest villain, he had to go since "Breaking Bad" is Walt's show. It was just a matter of how Gus would go out, but the clues were all laid out well before the finale - although it took two already iconic moments to make viewers realize it.

Warning: Spoilers follow

Although Gus has cameras, a brilliant criminal mind and a spidey-sense that can detect when his car has been rigged to explode, there is one part of him that is still vulnerable. His desire for vengeance against wheelchair bound cartel leader Hector had brought Gus success for much of Season 4 - but when Walt figured it out, it was used to bring his ultimate downfall.

When Gus was manipulated by Walt into entering Hector's room one last time, it was almost easy to forget that there was still a car bomb that hadn't gone off yet. What's more, it was easy to forget that the finale had a title called "Face Off" that could be taken at more than one meaning. But before long, viewers realized that the double meaning was the darkest "Breaking Bad" joke to date, as Gus's end became more memorable than anyone could have imagined even after 13 weeks of speculation.

Yet the greatest trick that was played out in front of everyone's unsuspecting eyes came at the very end, when it was finally revealed how young Brock was hospitalized - and by whom. Once again, the clues were laid out right in front of everyone well before the final revelation was unveiled.

But it was only afterwards that fans saw Walter's backyard gun-spinning at the start of last week's episode in a new light - as well as Jesse's pat down in Saul's office, Jesse's initial theory about how Brock was poisoned, and how Walt put a neighbor at risk in order to scope out his house in the early part of the finale.

It was all there to see, yet most couldn't either because Vince Gilligan is so good at throwing people off track, or because people still didn't want to believe that Walt could fall even further into darkness. However, "Breaking Bad" somehow keeps shocking viewers whenever Walt reaches a new despicable low to protect himself or manipulate Jesse.

Yet after killing Gus, destroying his super lab and almost killing a young boy to get the ball rolling, it doesn't seem like there is much left for Walt to do. With few cliffhangers left after the Season 4 finale, what could be left - and what psychotic actions could be left to take - that would fill up the final 16 episodes of the series?

Whatever brings the show to an end, it is probably in front of us already. But just as Hank Schrader is always so close and so far away from figuring everything out - especially this season - viewers are destined to keep getting thrown for a loop on "Breaking Bad" no matter how much they think they are ready for anything.

Sources

The Daily Beast- "Breaking Bad Season Finale: Gus Fring and Walter White's Final Battle"