The End of 'Breaking Bad' Begins

AMC has announced that the final eight episodes of its highly lauded, cultishly followed moral disaster series Breaking Bad will begin airing on August 11. Meaning you have just under four months to lock in your theories about what will happen to meth-makin' Walter White and all those caught in his web of horror. Will he get away with it? Let's discuss.

AMC has announced that the final eight episodes of its highly lauded, cultishly followed moral disaster series Breaking Bad will begin airing on August 11. Meaning you have just under four months to lock in your theories about what will happen to meth-makin' Walter White and all those caught in his web of horror.

Will he get away with it? Will he die? Will he and Skyler make it work? And, most urgently, what's Hank gonna do now that [SPOILER ALERT] he knows what's been going on this whole time? Chances are none of our theories will be correct, Vince Gilligan and his writers are wily and unpredictable, but it's still fun to play the guessing game. I think the ending is going to be bleaker than bleak.

The network also announced that each episode will indeed be followed by Talking Bad, a wrap-up show done in the style of Talking Dead, the inexplicably popular Walking Dead post-mortem hosted by Chris Hardwick. A host for Talking Bad hasn't been announced, so maybe it's not too late to suggest that it be Mark Margolis angrily ringing a bell for half an hour? I would watch that! But realistically it'll be someone like Hardwick, nerdy but telegenic, and not too embarrassed to be hosting a live recap.

So, the beginning of the end. We'll miss Breaking Bad, of course, but it's always nice to see a show go out on its own terms. Some people had complaints about the first half of the fifth and final season, which aired last year, but all told the show has been nothing but a grim and mesmerizing success. A series that's always been terrific at endings, Breaking Bad's big finale should be truly something.