Flirting with disaster on 'Breaking Bad'

In response to Everything Wrong with Breaking Bad’s Finale-Ep. 1: ‘Blood Money’:

That’s a pretty short list of nitpicks.  If you want to irritate “Breaking Bad” fans, you’ll have to gadfly harder than that.  (On the other hand, if you want to irritate Walter White, just finger somebody else as the true perpetrator of the Heisenberg crimes.  That really drives him off the rails.)

I must admit the “I don’t know who you are anymore” line sounded a bit cliche by the normal standards of this show.  But it’s such a well-worn cliche that I think real people actually use it now, precisely because they’ve heard it so often in the movies.  I’ve personally heard it used without irony or humor at least twice that I can remember.

I think the “Leaves of Grass” thing was Walt’s way of flirting with disaster and expressing his arrogance, or maybe his vestigial conscience calling out for help.  It’s also possible he kept the book out of lingering guilt over Gale’s death.  The great mystery for these last few episodes to unravel, and which the spoilery flash-forwards to the future have spoiled nothing of, is what sort of monster Walt has become.  He seemed quite fiendish when he was lying to Jesse about Mike, but also seemed sincere when inadvertently calling Jesse “son.”