!SPOILERS to follow!

I’m not quite sure. What. To do. With that.

The components of this series are superb: acting, writing, direction; execution and variation from episode to episode. I’ve been slowly and steadily hooked over the past several weeks, and much of that had to do with its ability to keep me off-balance and subvert expectations.

For instance, I was expecting fire and rage from Jane’s Dad this week, which is the direction most stories would go. But the quiet dignity of John de Lancie’s performance was so much more heartbreaking than if he’d really tried to [i]Emmy[/i] it out of the park, if you know what I mean. And that’s how life is. Tragedies happen, and those close to them try to gather themselves up and summon the will to go on after a part of their soul has been ripped out.  Moments of emotional release and clarity are few and far between, because people aren’t hanging on every word waiting for you to pour your guts out. They just want to know if you’re okay, pay their respects and look the other way, that sort of thing. So while Jesse’s grief for Jane was affecting in an I’ve seen this play out a thousand times before and it’s how he’s supposed to react way, her father’s numbness and disconnection were the real gut punch. Donald didn’t even have a Walt to lean on, just obligations to satisfy. This is another example of the writers and performers tossing aside cliche and dealing in unconventional emotional honesty.

But I’ve still been trying to get my bearings about where the show is going thematically. It seems to be primarily about a man in crises desperately trying to retain control and compartmentalize his life, but discovering that consequences quickly spiral beyond his means to manage them. About the ripple effect of a man with ‘a simple plan’ being forced to confront the results of his actions. I get that, it’s a great subject. But I guess I expected something tighter in terms of story construction after the season-long tease from this bunch, and not, well, this:

Series creator Vince Gillian: “In simple terms, we just wanted a giant moment of showmanship to end the season. And what better way than to have a rain of fire coming down around our protagonist’s ears, sort of like the judgment of God? It seemed like a big showmanship moment, and to visualize, in one fell swoop, all the terrible grief that Walt has wrought upon his loved ones, and the community at large.”

What better? How about something that doesn’t feel like a fantastical ‘gotcha’ move. Something that keeps the theme of consequences and responsibility grounded and credible. I get now that they have big ideas about interconnectedness. But this didn’t work for me because it felt more like a stunt and narrative shortcut than a moment of ripe symbolism or poetic justice.

I’ll still be watching, both going back to the first season to see how groundwork was laid and going forward because of the considerable talent involved. But where it does go from here in a larger sense, I’m skeptical of. As soon as you crash two jets together and suggest that it’s on Walt because you see he did this, and it led to this, and that led to this — well, you’ve both irrationally inflated your protagonist’s importance and rendered him completely insignificant based on the scope of what has occurred. I guess I just don’t buy into or relate to this increasingly popular theme of the world being both cruelly random and yet profoundly meaningful in its cruel randomness. Because of the intensity of the writing and acting – the show cuts deep – I’d rather they keep it more grounded. The confrontation with Skyler was very effective, but then bowled over and buried by this gimmick.

That may sound like a pan, but anything that provokes me that much is worthwhile, and any show that takes chances is going to fall short from time to time.