Breaking Bad ends season three

     Tonight is Sunday.  I have become quite accustomed to watching AMC's Breaking Bad on Sundays, but unfortunately, season three ended last week with "Full Measure", so it won't be back tonight.  Two and a half months is not long enough.  The drama that started pretty good, and was something different, has become must-see.  The wait for season four will be a long one, especially because the cliffhanger was much more suspenseful than the show had done before.

     This season saw a couple of new regulars as Walter (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse's (Aaron Paul) meth business expanded.  Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) helped them launder their money, provided wonderful comic relief, and actually seemed to come through in a pinch.  Giancarlo Esposito delivered a much more nuanced performance as chilling new boss Gus, and both became essential to the series.

     I feel really bad for Walt and Jesse.  They keep getting themselves into the mess deeper and deeper.  Now that they work for a man who eliminated his competition south of the border, and controls a huge chunk of land, including several states, how much deeper can they get?  For the series to continue to up the stakes, the writers are going to have to get even more creative than they have been, and they've already been outstanding.  At this point, it seems doubtful a happy ending can be had by the two main characters, but they have to try, and audiences will continue to root for them.

     The cliffhanger, where Walt was being held at gunpoint, waiting for Jesse to kill Walt's replacement, so that Gus could eliminate Walt, was nail biting.  We heard a gun shot as the screen faded to black, but did Jesse do the deed?  He had to have, didn't he?  Yet, something tells me perhaps he didn't.  Can the brilliant people behind Breaking Bad write themselves out of this narrow of a corner?

     Walt's family drama has also gotten deeper.  Skyler (Anna Gunn) now knows Walt's secret, and after a whole season of knowing, is finally showing signs of not hating him.  While they still have a long road ahead before any type of reconciliation may be possible, it's added a new level of intrigue and pathos.  Also, if Dean Norris doesn't at least get nominated, if not win, an Emmy for portrayed brother-in-law Hank this year, justice will not be served.  What started as a two dimensional a**hole has become probably my favorite character, and after Hank barely escaping his own assassination, I look forward to every moment of screen time he gets.

     Breaking Bad will surely return to AMC next year.