Breaking Bad/WMG

Someday, somehow, Mike and Hank are going to fight each other. == ==
 * Somebody tell me this isn't totally inevitable. Also, odds are pretty good that at least one of them isn't walking away.

Walt ceases to even be the protagonist, and just becomes a straight up card carrying villain, or worse == ==
 * Walt will gradually become more and more out of focus until he doesn't even appear much in the Series Finale
 * Hank becomes the new protagonist
 * This could lead to several endings that function as powerful Aesops
 * Walt Jr and Skylar go into witness protection. The last moments of the finale focus on their new lives while Walt presumably continues to be "Scarface"
 * Walt Jr's name in witness protection will be "Flynn"
 * Hank finally takes down Heisenberg in a heroic ending, with very little to hint that Walt was originally the protagonist.
 * In either of the above endings, Walt is Reformed but Rejected.
 * EVIDENCE:
 * The last 2 episodes of season 4 are the first time we don't see everything that Walt is up to, and it's used for a twist ending.
 * The final scene of the episode before that, "Crawl Space", shows Walt lying with his eyes shut in a space resembling a coffin, suggesting the death of Walt the protagonist.
 * In season 2's "Down" Skylar takes and we never see where she goes. In season 4's "Cornered" we see a single scene of where she took off to. There'll be a moment in season 5 where we see skylar taking off entirely from
 * Hank started off as a generic cop, but has shown much more depth as the series goes on, no doubt setting him up to be some kind of multifaceted protagonist
 * The character of Marie doesn't seem to be very relevant to the story. It makes much more sense having her as a main character from the start if she'll eventually function as the Protagonist's wife.

Walt will kill someone with Ricin in the Series Finale == ==
 * Ricin has been brought up in seasons 2, 3 and 4 without ever actually being used. That's one hell of a Chekhov's Gun.

Skylar will kill Walt == ==
 * As we've seen, Walt has been spiraling faster and faster into villainy, more for his own sake than for his family's safety at this point. There's bound to be a breaking point where Walt himself becomes the danger, and someone has to protect the family from the man who's trying to protect this family. In the end, it won't be cancer or his high-risk criminal activities that do him in, but the very person who he's been trying to protect from the beginning. No justice like poetic justice.
 * If we're talking poetic justice here Walt. Jr. should be the one to do the deed. Walt craves his son's respect, to have Jr. do that would be excruciating.

Walt won't be "Scarface" until the final episode. == == Showrunner Vince Gilligan describes the premise as "taking Mr. Chips and turning him into Scarface." Walt was only Mr. Chips for the first half of the first episode, and with no lab, no product, no real power, and a brand new DEA investigation on the way, he still has a ways to go until he's a bonafide drug lord.

Hank won't make it to the series finale.
He's pretty damn close to unmasking Heisenberg, and Walt isn't in a position to let anyone else get in his way. If he wants to keep his operation going, he needs to get rid of his most persistent rival. Also, the series has a very clear running theme of masculinity. Hank has been emasculating Walt at every turn for who knows how long. Hank dying by Walt's hand would fit in with Walt's "who wears the pants now?" subplot. Plus, killing off one of the main characters right before the climax is expected to happen just seems like a very Breaking-Badly thing to do.

Gus' Car == ==
 * There are some shots that make it look as if Walt and Jesse are being watched during their conversation, and breathing can be faintly heard over one of those shots near the end of the Season 4 Finale.
 * There are some shots that make it look as if Walt and Jesse are being watched during their conversation, and breathing can be faintly heard over one of those shots near the end of the Season 4 Finale.
 * There are some shots that make it look as if Walt and Jesse are being watched during their conversation, and breathing can be faintly heard over one of those shots near the end of the Season 4 Finale.

Gus poisoned Brock == ==
 * Gus poisoned Brock to make it look like Walt poisoned Brock to make it look like Gus poisoned Brock. Gus knew Walt owned a Lily of the Valley plant through his extensive surveillance of the White household. Gus had the medical connections to tamper with the toxicology report and make it come back as a very specific source of poisoning. Gus wanted to stage an incident that made it look like Walt exaggerates how evil Gus actually is so Jesse would think Walt had completely gone off the deep end and would cut him off for good. Gus planned on putting this plan into full motion once the Tio/DEA situation cooled off, but Walt managed to get one tiny step ahead of him. Gus is dead, but his legacy will live on and cause a great schism between Walt and Jesse in season 5. Prove me wrong.
 * Seems feasible, given that Walt wouldn't have gone to all that trouble to poison Brock only to leave the evidence in plain sight in his back yard.
 * Walt? In this season? Just remind yourself of his pathetic plans to kill Gus in the beginning or how he treats Jesse. Also, Gilligan basically confirmed in an interview it's Walt.
 * So much poor planning on Walt's part just goes to show how hard it is to believe he was the one to pull of a Gambit Roulette with a couple hours of planning and the least likely resources available (Saul's two bumbling security guards).
 * That a simple chemistry teacher can be broken so hard to turn into a cold-hearted killer is also kinda hard to believe. Walt was only in actual, active danger since Crawl Space. He's proven multiple times that he's really dangerous when his back is against the wall and he has to go all in to survive. Like in the pilot episode.

The plane crash was masterminded by |Lots-o-Huggin' Bear == ==
 * He seems to be the sole survivor in the season 2 Cold Opens, anyway...

Walt will eventually kill and replace Gus as the crime lord of New Mexico == ==
 * I feel like the whole show will be a character study detailing Walt's rise to power from the most unlikely origins possible.
 * It certainly seems that way. Considering the show has been full of foreshadowing, Walter's conversation with Gus where he tells him that he would have done the same (referring to Gus forcing a bloody confrontation between the then current cartel leader and the DEA), could be a foreshadowing of Walter betraying Gus in exchange for the cartel's support, after all, by the end of season 3, the cartel is probably much more angry at Gus than at Heisenberg.
 * The series has from the outset been described as being a character study of Mr Chips (a dedicated, knowledgeable but harmless teacher) transforming into Scarface. Given where Walt is, the only way 'up' is via replacing Gus so yes, I think that will be the main plot of season 4 with season 5 being Walt's downfall (possibly at the hands of Hank). The synopsis for the second episode of S4 talks of Walt 'reaching out to an unlikely ally'. It stands to reason that will either be a local ally (Mike, possibly shaken by how readily Gus killed Victor) or the Juarez Cartel. It seems pretty likely that Walt's best hope for getting rid of Gus would be to turn the Cartel, the DEA or both onto him.
 * Then again, Walt could already be Scarface, making Gus Sosa.

Ted Beneke will become Walter's associate == ==
 * They spent a lot of the last episodes trying to figure out what money laundering scheme would work better while also including Skyler. Well, it's been staring them on the face the whole time, Ted Beneke's company. He's trying to keep it alive, he's suffering greatly because of the economy, and is already breaking the law. Eventually Skyler will propose they use Ted's company for the money laundering, while keeping her job there, Ted fits what they need in terms of a desperate businessman who would look the other way when the dirty money begins coming in. That of course will cause a lot of tension between Skyler, Walter and Ted. Alternatively, Skyler may blackmail Ted into selling his company to them. This of course has a lot of potential for It Got Worse.
 * That would make a lot of sense, but Christopher Cousins (the actor who plays Ted) doesn't have any imdb credits for the first handful of S4 episodes which, it stands to reason, he ought to have (especially episode three given the synopsis states that it involves a Skylar/Saul plot, presumably money laundering themed then). I think the writers have just kind of forgotten about him, much like Gretchen and Grey Matter.
 * As of Season 4, Episode 9, integrating Ted Beneke into the Whites' money laundering scheme is becoming more plausible. Though Skyler may just use the money to pay off his back taxes and leave it at that.
 * Unfortunately Jossed, due to

How it will end == ==
 * Jesse will kill Walter after finding out the details of Jane's death.
 * Alternatively, Jesse will get the chance, but will let Walt suffer in his own inflicted hell while Jesse seeks his own actual redemption

How the Season 4 premier will play out == ==
 * Walt is in it deep. He's being held hostage at the laundromat, and lets face it, Gus will never let Walt out of sight; all the cards are on the table, Gus knows that Walt knows that he's only alive to pass on cooking talent. Mike is left alone with Walt to keep him there while Jesse is being pursued. At the end of Season 3, there was time spent on a side-story reintroducing Mike's granddaughter, who Mike consistently spoils. An episode earlier (Half Measures), when Mike arrives at Walt's house to sit Walt down to tell him the facts of his business (in so doing revealing that he works for Gus), he is enamored for a moment staring at Holly, and gets grandpa-like and warmheartedly tells Walt of his granddaughter before Walt gets defensive and they talk shop. This is important. Walt got 10/10 points for hardboiled line delivery for Gale's address, shook up Mike, and got Victor to take off. If he can do this again, threatening Mike's granddaughter, he might get beat up real bad, but Mike will realize that Jesse is on the loose, and word will get in that he's killed Gale. Walt might just be able to bluff Mike off, buy himself some time.
 * Jossed

Gus is going to die by the end of the fourth season == ==
 * During Salud, we see Gus bring an expensive tequila to the cartel. Don Eladio and his capos all partake. Eladio offers some to both Jesse and Gus. Gus says Jesse cannot drink, but doesn't seem to refuse himself. Later on, Gus leaves to the washroom During this time, Ergo, he dies.
 * As it turns out  However, it's still very likely that Gus will die

Walt is a realistic take on the archetype comic book supervillain.

 * Walt uses inventive weaponry utilized from his area of expertise (the poisonous gas in the pilot, the crystal bombs in Tuco's office), he feels his life's work was stolen and he was cheated out of success by Elliot, and hangs out with a mentally inferior lackey. He even has an alliterative name.
 * In the Season 4 finale

Walt will have (or already has had) a relapse.

 * We only have his word that he is still in remission and we know how it took nearly a month to confess his initial diagnosis. In season 4, episode 11, his familiar "cancer cough" seems to have made a comeback.
 * Also, Gus didn't threaten Walter's life in their confrontation, he threatened his wife and children. It's been established that Gus has the medical information of his most important employees, so Gus would know if Walter's cancer has returned. Gus knows Walter is a dead man and threatening to kill him is absurd, so threatening his family is the only way to go.
 * Brain Metastases (secondary cancer spreading from the lungs) could explain his increasingly impulsive and erratic behaviour throughout season 4.

Ted was not trying to run away.

 * He actually just really wanted an orange and got a little too excited.

Brock wasn't poisoned.

 * He has an unrelated illness and Jesse simply lost the ricin cigarette. Gus the chestmaster wouldn't have relied on such a poorly thought out plan. Walt is simply so paranoid that he invented the whole scenario which Jessie immediately believed due his feelings of guilt.

Albuquerque is actually Hell.

 * " Breaking Bad" is some sort of modern counterpart to "Paradise Lost" and each main character represents a deadly sin.
 * Walter = Pride
 * Gus = Anger
 * Alternatively, Tuco = Anger. Gus rarely acts out whereas anger is basically Tuco's defining character trait.
 * Skyler = Lust
 * Ted = Greed
 * Jesse = Sloth
 * Marie = Envy
 * Saul = Gluttony (?)
 * Two of his employees are overweight and Saul ain't exactly thin. So if he's not Gluttony, he's at least an enabler.
 * I'd say Jesse is a candidate for Gluttony. Gluttony is indulgence, so his drug binges could definitely count.

Walt and Jesse are playing idiot catch, Mike will be back:
To top it all off, Walt doesn't even realize he's got the idiot ball glued to his hand when he comes to the realization that Gus has always been one step ahead of him because he's smart (and has microphones), and SAYS IT OUT LOUD TO JESSE. Is it any wonder Gus didn't get in the car? He knows everything Walt knows. Gus has to know that Jesse is no longer reliable, and is just playing along long enough to get back for harming Brock. Its going to end up being revealed that he's had their houses bugged the entire time.
 * Its been established that Mike has no qualms wiring houses for sound, and this was for Saul. Gus is paranoid enough ("he's like a scared rabbit") to want to be able to know everything that goes on with his high-risk employees. Walt was well aware of this at the end of Season 3 in "Fly", thinking the lab was wired for sound, and in "Full Measures", going so far to believe that even Saul's car was bugged, so they had to play like nothing was going on until they got to a secure place to discuss business. This season, its suddenly no longer an issue, and not because the danger has leveled out, but because they magically forgot about the whole paranoia. It gets worse: They've discussed EVERYTHING in either Walt or Jesse's house. This includes:
 * Conspiring to kill Gus with the snub nose
 * Their relationship issues and trust
 * The risin cigarette
 * Walt (off-screen) explaining to Jesse the plan in "End-Times" to kill Gus
 * Walt practicing the bomb detonation
 * Also Mike's been written out to conveniently, he's going to come back up, perhaps even upset that he was forgotten (there was a really poetic shot with Jesse slipping on the Mikes blood since he was the only one trying to help him out). He has a granddaughter (see my WMG above about that), and Gus has been critically harming children to manipulate the only man who saved him, who be befriended before. The previews have historically been full of lies, but there was a "we've been caught" situation, as if someone came forward with info. My guess is Mike.

How Brock was poisoned:

 * Okay, so the "Lily of the Valley" twist was brilliant, but how the hell did Walt plan this borderline Gambit Roulette? He had to tip Jesse off to suspect the ricin, which (presumably) only he and Walt knew about. When did he get the ricin cigarette off Jesse? When Saul Goodman randomly called Jesse into his office to collect his cash, and Huell patted him down (where he never had before) and proceeded to very subtly pocket something. Walt probably asked Saul to do this one last thing before he vanished like a fart in the wind (not knowing he would need him again and have to shell out $25,000 to his assistant for it). All that was left was for Walt to plant the poison. The man planted a bomb on Gus's car on a high floor of a parking garage and made it to the rooftop of another building with a view (and put down a blanket for his bad knees, ha!) within the short time frame Gus was inside the hospital. It's not implausible Walt could have laced something the boy ate with the toxic plant.

The conglomerate that owns Pollos Hermanos is owned by Gus's father or grandfather, an escaped Nazi war criminal == == Madrigal Electromotive may have been founded in Germany before or even during the Reich, with its owner being a Nazi official or sympathizer. If his progenitor brought a significant amount of wealth with him during his flight, that wealth has had 60 years to accumulate and be invested in a number of legal businesses, comprised of several industries (manufacturing, R&D, medicine, industrial, maybe even military, hence the sort-of-not-really-nickname of 'Generalissimo'). He's about the right age to be the son of such a person. A relative who runs a company of M.E.'s size would also explain his keen business acumen at such a young age. This conglomerate funded the ENTIRETY of Gus's operations, and yet, as Hank discovered, nothing appears to have been paid for in any way. Whoever was backing Gus's operation was doing so either without compensation, or was taking a cut of the presumably sizable profits from all of his ventures and laundering the rest. Now that their cash cow is gone, this sleeping (and so far silent) giant will be looking a reckoning that not even Walter White's giant, increasingly-evil brain will be able to get him out of. Best of luck to you, Heisenberg.
 * Consider what we know of Gustavo Fring. He's a native of South America, he's presumably around the same age as his actor, Giancarlo Esposito (53 as of 2011), and at least a few of the higher-ups in the Mexican Cartel are unable to do much more than try to scare him into subordination, unable or unwilling to kill him because of "who he is" (perhaps fearing retaliation that their association with the cartel cannot protect them from). His businesses, both legal and illegal, are owned and funded by an enormous German conglomerate called Madrigal Electromotive. He had more than enough wealth to fund Maximino's entire education, start a successful Pollos Hermanos chain, and begin producing a quantity of meth in Mexico, all prior to their fateful meeting with the cartel. And finally - no one, not even his closest and most trusted associates, can find any information on him at all. Max and Hank both did a thorough background investigation using Chile's records and came up with, for lack of a better term, diddly squat. What if Gus wasn't originally FROM Chile? What if he merely settled there after moving from his home country of neighboring Argentina, where it's long been rumored several high-ranking Nazi officials escaped to after the fall of the Third Reich?

Seasons 1-2 Walt turns Gus's 3 mil down and just tries to win back his family == == But the show had to go on so Walt was changed. And so was the tone of the show. At about this time two Mexican hitmen kill 10 ppl because they forgot to get shoes. Much less gravitas and consequence is given to this incident than any previous death in the show.

Tuco doesn't like people talking for him...
...Because Hector and his cousins used to do it all the time when he was younger.

Walter White suffers from a Self-Defeating Personality Disorder == == Take a look at the diagnostic criteria here

The basic gist of it is that Walter White unconsciously does things that make him and the people around him feel worse. He makes excessive self-sacrifices for his family that they do not want, he associates with people who are unreliable and lead to disappointment (Jesse, mainly in seasons 1 and 2), he refuses help when it's offered to him, he incites angry responses from Jesse and then feels hurt and apologetic afterwards, he, etc. Even in his past, he apparently turned down a lucrative business opportunity with his friends Eliot and Gretchen Schwartz over a seemingly minor disagreement, and ultimately ended up working as a high school teacher.

Perhaps the strongest evidence comes from episode episode 10 of season 2, titled "Over". In it, things are suddenly going very well for Walt - He and Jesse have produced a massive amount of meth that is ready to sell, his cancer is in remission, and his friends and family throw him a party. However, instead of being happy he seems depressed and angry. He ends up getting drunk and sabotaging the entire event, as I'm sure you all remember. He even has one quote during this party that I think sums up his entire outlook on life: "It's kind of funny. When I got my diagnosis - cancer - I said to myself 'why me?'. And then, the other day when I got the good news, I said the same thing."