That final scene’s been sticking in my mind. Discussion all over, including this thread and even Vince Gilligan on Talking Bad, have said that Walt’s approving inspection of the meth lab indicates that Walt’s true love was the meth lab itself. I saw this much differently. This wasn’t Walt’s lab; he never had, and never would cook in this lab, and it’s sole function had been to infringe on his crystal blue process. So why would he approve of it, particularly with his last few breaths? When I watched Walt inspect this lab, I saw a teacher proudly regarding the work of his best student. I felt that Walt was thinking that despite everything else that had happened, Jesse had learned all he needed to be able to set up and operate a first class lab.
I think it does for a moment, but when it comes to rest it looks like he’s in the center of a crosshairs.
“Mr. White, he’s the devil.”
The beam might have cut him in two for a moment, but what actually happens is that he was ‘boxed in’ at first. It was a deliberate recreation - completion, really - of the last shot of “Crawl Space.”
And after the hell Jesse had just been through, I think his top priority would be getting out of there.
I don’t think it was the meth lab, but the equipment itself he loved. And I don’t think he was thinking about Jesse in the final moments of his life.
Infinge on the process? He sold them the process. Walt doesn’t care that the blue meth is being made, he cares that Jesse is making it. He also cares that the Nazis stole most of his money. the other thing is, I think he assumed that after the Nazis took his money they wouldn’t be in the business anymore, so he was kind of shocked just to here there was still local supply going on.
It’s not just that Jesse is making it. It’s that Jesse is doing so well that people think Heisenberg is still making it. Charlie Rose talked about Walter White’s meth still appearing in the Southwest and Europe, and Badger and Skinny Peter were surprised he wasn’t still manufacturing it because it was “better than ever!”
I’d like to stress that I’m equating Charlie Rose with Badger and Skinny Pete.
Yes that too.
I need to go back and re-watch because I am trying to put a timeline on Walt’s own thought process. He originally was not going to go back at all, he was going to send some money to Flynn’s friend, but then Flynn told him to die…ouch. So he goes and has a drink at the bar where he sees the Schwartz’s discuss him and his meth. He leaves with the idea to have the Schwartz’s pay Walt’s money to Flynn. What else has he decided at this point? He gets in the snow-coverd car (truck?) and says “Just get me home and I’ll take care of the rest” (or something like that). Does “home” literally mean home? Or just Albuequerque?
Besides the Schwartz’s there are two other things he takes care of…Skyler and the Nazis/Jesse. When he decide to do these things as well, because I do not think it was necessarily when he was trying to start that truck? At that moment all he was thinking about was getting Jr the money.
Now I believe he wasn’t going to go after the Nazis until he heard from Badger and Skinny Pete that Jesse was still making blue meth for them. They promised to kill him and they didn’t, so he is pissed because they took his money, they lied, they are using his name, and they took his money. However, I may be completely wrong and will need to re-watch the episode.
As for going to see Skyler, he probably thought of that on the drive down to ABQ. I guess.
Wow. Wow. Heart of Darkness? Walt is fucking Kurtz?! Does that work?
And regarding the timeline, after stealing the Volvo, he returned to the cabin for long enough to dump the contents of the barrel into the trunk. I think Ed told him that the bar was eight miles from the cabin, so perhaps there was little risk of the sheriff finding him that early.
The closest the sheriff came was must missing spotting Walt in the car. If the sheriff was really saavy and right on top of things and used footprints in the snow, the cabin would take several hours at a minimum unless Walt left an unbroken trail, which he wasn’t going to do before the phone call with Flynn. Possibly days before they found the cabin. Road blocks would need to be set up, but on just a phone tip, would they?
That really does work. Major difference is that Kurtz wasn’t already dying.
I think we agree on the sequence. When he leaves the bar he’s had the idea to use the Schwartzes to get the money to his family. So he goes home, finds Badger and Skinny Pete, and makes that happen. He confirms that the blue meth is still out there and highly pure and realizes, angrily, that Jesse is alive. Perhaps he spends that night plotting and contacts Lawson. He goes to the family home for the ricin, goes to Denny’s and gets the M60 and the new car. He meets Todd and Lydia to get the AB’s attention and poisons Lydia. He builds his gun/garage door opener device and puts it in the trunk of his car, then goes to see Skyler. That night be goes to the compound, waiting for a chance to wipe out Jesse and the AB. He learns that Jesse is being held captive and decides to protect him. Bang bang bang bang bang, STRANGLE, g’bye, “Baby Blue.”
You know, for whatever reason I had thought Walt poisoned Lydia a day and a half before he died. I think that would have left her more screwed. I guess it was actually only 8 to 12 hours earlier, but if she was already looking that bad I suppose it was a lot of ricin. I prefer to think she might stay conscious long enough to call for help, but the the time they get there it’s too late.
Good question, we’ll never know. But I don’t think Jesse wanted to kill Mr. White, when he saw he was mortally wounded, he knew he was free from his spell.
OK then, so if someone asks how the show ended, this should sum it up: Walt retires to live happily not-so-ever after as a dying schlub running a carwash. Only he is thwarted by Hank having an “oh shit”-moment while taking a shit on his shitter. Hank then wins, only to get screwed by a bunch of Nazis Ex Machina. Walt escapes to New Hampshire, but unfortunately it turns out that it’s actually purgatory. He then dies alone as a broken man, but his ghost returns to ass-pull a (more or less) happy ending.
Plus, there was some business with a rabid dog.
There, that should do it. 
Anybody else still have that Badfinger song stuck in their head?
Well, I *had *just managed to exorcise it after having it running for three solid days. Thanks for that. 
It’s been alternating between “El Paso” and “Baby Blue” for me. When one finally stops being stuck in my head, the other starts.
I’ve got the CD, and I’ve been playing it over and over for a few days now. It is even better than Crystal Blue Persuasion.
Yep, those two have been in my head since Sunday, with the usual intrusions by “Funkytown” and Bo Diddley.
Oh, and I’m starting to think that if BB fits any standard dramatic form, it’s a film noir.