Breaking Bad has always been a dark, dark show, but in the earlier seasons it had comic undertones, which I think distinguished it from its peers. This season has been almost completely bereft of those moments.
Even Saul has seemingly lost his sense of humor.
I mean, I give Vince Gilligan and the writers credit. They must have said something like "Some of you freaks out there are still rooting for Walt? Have you really considered the devastation his choices are going to visit on everyone in his orbit? Think we've shown even a little of that by now? No, we really haven't--try THIS on for size." They've pulled the string pretty effectively on those of us who were finding this sordid creep's saga "entertaining." That was one punishing hour of filmed narrative.
It was either Dean Norris or Bill Hader that made almost this exact same point during tonight's after-show. I think that's exactly what Vince Gilligan was aiming for, to completely eliminate whatever was left of Walt's pathos. After this episode, I think everyone now sees him for what he is, a deceitful, conniving, and irredeemably evil megalomaniac. If there are still people out there "rooting" for Walt, it's because they themselves are sick.
But as punishing and harrowing as tonight's episode was, it still ranks as perhaps the best single hour of television I've ever watched. The only thing that may come close, in my mind, is the second to last episode of The Sopranos.
