As many of us anticipate the finale to Breaking Bad, I'd like to add something to the discussion. My thoughts originate from a little-discussed fact within the show--for most of the show, Heisenberg has been an employee of a multi-national corporation (albeit, an off-the-books employee).
To me, this show is a metaphorical exploration of this era of corporate domination and the despicable choices individuals are driven to in the interest of their families' security. We've all seen it many times. For me, a radical, leftist friend tired of being broke, went to work for an international consultancy, only to find his first assignment was some union-busting activity. A meteorologist I know concerned with global climate change eagerly solicits oil companies for business. As public sector jobs get squeezed harder and harder, it's increasingly impossible for people of conscience to make a middle-class living doing work that does not violate their morals. In many ways, corporate America dangles the carrot of middle-class comfort in front of us in exchange for our fealty to their despicable enterprises.
Walter White did not create the immoral system in which he found himself. For the longest time he tried to make a living in one of the few remaining ethical lines of work, the thankless task of teaching. However, his second job at the car wash clearly illustrated the futility of that career track.
Walter White was aware of the landscape before him. When made desperate enough, he resorted to crime. There is nothing controversial about that choice. It's a given that, as societies become more desperate, crime increases. Yet rather than make himself of subject of this broken system, Walter White decides to dominate it. “I am the one who knocks.” His doing so is facilitated by his intelligence and creativity. Walter's choice reminds me of another famous cinematic quote from the The Usual Suspects: “Then he showed those men of will what will really was.”
For all of these reasons, I've always resisted the simplistic characterization that Walter White is a monster. As the final episode airs tonight, I hope that Vince Gilligan is able to honor the complexity of what he has created over these five seasons.