ABQ

Episode Summary & Review

Summary

In the Season 2 finale, Skyler’s frustration with Walt’s secrecy boils over; Jesse is dealt a devastating blow that leads him down a path of self-destruction, and only Walt is willing to help him; and a grief-stricken Donald experiences more tragedy.

Our Take

The cold opens converge: the teddy bear, the eyeball, the half-measures of a man named Donald — Jane’s father, an air-traffic controller who returns to work too soon. Over Albuquerque, two planes collide. The pink bear falls into the Whites’ pool while Walt, below, believes his choices are contained. The season finale is the show’s first structural masterstroke: the catastrophe was never the drugs — it was Walt’s decision, multiplied across strangers. Skyler walks out. Jesse goes to rehab. And Walt, sitting alone, finally admits what the season has been proving: “I did it for me. I liked it.” No — that line comes later. Here, he says nothing at all. The bear says it for him.