Let me just preface this by saying that, though there are a few critics who have expressed annoyance with the Internet’s obsession with “solving” Breaking Bad before the end, I love the theorizing. Part of the reason I love it so much is that the show is so unpredictable, that unless you’re some crazy savant who predicted the events of this last week’s episode, the theorizing is just guesswork, hopefully based on compelling evidence within the show. The fact that Vince Gilligan has provided foreshadowing clues in the past that only made sense after the events, only makes it more fun because we know that Gilligan may be laying down clues that will come into focus after the series has ended. But it’s so hard to pin down because just when it appears that the show is headed one direction (Hank nabbing Heisenberg), it flips in unpredictable ways (Heisenberg outwits Hank). Many thought Jesse Pinkman’s depression would sink him, that maybe he was headed for an early exit via suicide, but then Vince Gilligan threw another curve ball, and now Pinkman is suddenly the wild card.
The point is, theories are fun, and the show is so unpredictable that the certainty I felt last week in the ricin being intended for Skyler feels incredibly shaky now (although, I still give her the slight edge as the ricin recipient. I think Pinkman peaked too soon, while Skyler is riding out her catatonia, waiting to erupt).
Of course, there are also those insanely crackpot theories, like this one — suggested by a reader — that suddenly feels slightly less crackpot.
It started with a tweet from Damon Lindeloff.
The very first response was a link to this Uproxx article.
Personally, I think Gilligan is f**cking with us, BUT, this is Saul’s license plate.
It’s blocked in such a way in the scene above to transform “Lawyer Up” to “Wire Up.” Why? It’s probably purely coincidence, BUT if Gilligan is trying to drop a hint, then the fact that the wire that is obviously under Walt’s jacket in the flashforward may actually mean something (rather than simply being an actor’s mic).
This one is from this season’s flash forward.
The earlier theory suggested that Walt had turned into an informant, which at this point, seems completely implausible. Walt is the target, so why would he turn on someone else, UNLESS — go with me here — Jesse Pinkman killed Holly out of revenge for the fact that Walt nearly killed Brock. In that event, maybe Hank and Walt bond over the loss of Holly and come together to take down Pinkman.
It is also possible that Gilligan has been using license plates all season long to drop hints. Perhaps you remember these two from this year’s premiere.
He has used episode titles, after all, to foreshadow cataclysmic events (“Seven Thirty-Seven”, “Down”, “Over” and “ABQ”) and there has been plenty of subtle suggestions that tragedy could befall Holly (i.e., the pink teddy bear imagery), so it’s not entirely out of the question that the license plate is foreshadowing a wire. I’m not saying that this theory is not insane, I’m just saying that it’s slightly less insane than it was before.
Of course, there could be an entirely different explanation for the wire. As a reader, Matt F., emailed:
The “wire” underneath future Walt’s shirt can be seen later in the episode when Walt goes to find the tracking device on his car. It’s a port for cancer treatments. Cancer patients often get them so that they don’t have to be given an IV every time they get chemo.
That makes sense, too, except that in the flash forwards, Walt has hair again, suggesting he’s not on chemo.
