Heisenberg's Uncertainty

With Breaking Bad's fourth season debuting to its highest numbers yet, a fifth season seems guaranteed.  Some fans are hoping for six seasons, but creator Vince Gilligan has hinted it'll be five and out.  (Of course, a lot of executive producers find it hard to let go--of the show and the money.) Personally, I can barely see how it'll last through the fourth season.

The central story of Breaking Bad has always been Walter's descent.  There have been certain milestones along the way, but by now, it's gotten into such dark territory I'm not sure how much longer it can continue.  And it's not just the moral spiral.  In the past, Walt and Jesse have been in tough spots, but it was generally in dealing with people they didn't like or didn't want anything to do with.  Now they're at the top, working with the guy they wished they could hook up with in season 2, and it's a disaster.  They know as soon as they're expendable, they'll be killed.  As Jesse put it, they're all on the same page now.  Everything is out in the open--where can they go from there? (I guess there's the cartel--still gotta hide from them.)

So the question becomes as Walter rises in the meth world (and that is his arc as well), who will fall off along the way?  The show has had plenty of deaths, but never a regular.  But that gets easier as you get nearer to the end.  By now it would seem anyone outside Walt could go any episode.  Certainly Gus is in danger.  But perhaps there'll be a shock kill.  Saul?  Mike?  Hank?  Marie?  Walt, Jr.?  Jesse?  Skyler?  The baby?  The point is, it could be anyone, and before we're done, it could be several.

There are a few things that probably have to happen, aside from Walt rising and finally dying (violently or not).  It looks like Skyler has to get more involved.  It looks like Gus has to get out of the way.  It looks like Mike may have to switch allegiance.  It looks like Hank--whether or not in a wheelchair--has to start investigating again (based on Gale's lab notes?).  And eventually Hank, and perhaps the rest of Walt's family, has to find out what's going on.

No matter what else happens, it's hard to imagine things ending well.