Tread Lightly

I don't think I took a breath in this week's much anticipated premiere of Breaking Bad's triumphant final season. From the achingly slow push on the bathroom door before Hank emerges to the final "Tread lightly" warning Walt bestows at the end, the moments in between are incredibly difficult to ingest.

Walt's house has been boarded up, skateboarders have taken over his pool and his poor neighbor Carol is frightened to death at the mere sight of him. After you realize that all hell has broken loose and the inevitable ending that you feared/hoped had happened has actually happened, you wonder how they're going to treat it.

For a moment I thought, no, they can't possibly back track and tell the story again - we know it! But as you see Hank's face become redder and redder and feel the rage building inside of him, you think - YES! This is exactly what I had been hoping for. I've been audibly plotting how I think Walt should die for months now. I've toyed with the idea of a slow, drawn out torture or the return, (surprise!) of his cancer. Even if it doesn't end the way I have a feeling it will, I am enjoying every last minute of the absolute torment that's happening on screen.

And, wow, Hank. The minute he clicked the garage door closed trapping Walt inside with him, I braced myself. His absolute rage, his firey eyes - my God. Walt has been had and Hank knows every turn he's made to get there. It's an amazing fight that ends just as eerily as it began.

"I don't know who I'm talking to," Hank muses. "Then tread lightly."