Walt doesn't have to die for there to be justice. Based on the last episode, he's already lost his family and most of his money, and word's going to get out that he's Heisenberg. Everything he cares about is gone. Whether he comes back to save Jesse or not, he's paying for all his crimes even if he doesn't get killed. A long, miserable life is a more fitting punishment than a swift death, in any case.
Maybe, but Walt still owns Walt. He can go back to cooking. He can disappear. He can murder. He is by all accounts still Heisenberg, and can work that any way he wants This whole thing started not because Walt got cancer. But because getting cancer convinced him that it was now time to own himself like he never did before True justice takes that away from him, because he chose to go about it in such a dreadful way... by abusing people like Jesse I'm not saying it has to end that way, just that I'm still rooting for it. Some maniacs still root for Walt to win out. I'm rooting for him to be finally beaten, once and for all. He deserves it, and Jesse deserves to be the one responsible imho, or at least present
But he's lost everything he cares about. Why should he cook or do much of anything now that his wife and kids are gone forever? He doesn't have to die for me to be satisfied that he's paid for his crimes. Losing all that matters to him is sufficient, so by that token, he's all but already lost.
it stopped being about his wife and kids about 75 million dollars ago. He amassed more than they could ever spend. It's about him finally living up to his potential. Finally being the best at something.
And what's it gotten him? Now he's got $11 million in cash and nothing else. He has all this money but it can't buy what he wants the most: for his family to love, respect, and need him.
I have no idea where the show will go and don't really care to speculate. But to me what it's coming down to is: Does Walt take responsibility for the bad that's resulted from his actions, or does he continue to try and evade it? So far, Jesse is taking the brunt of Walt evading responsibility. Walt selling him out to the gangsters seemed to be misdirected rage, blaming Jesse for events that Walt himself set in motion. Not just being the best, but people knowing that he's the best, respecting him as the best. If it was just for self-fulfillment a good deal of bad stuff could have been avoided.
Even if Walt came back to rescue Jesse from the Neo-Nazis, Jesse is still presumably wanted for throwing all that unaccountable cash out of his car window earlier in the season. It's not as if he can just walk back into his life.
It would be the ultimate rub if Jesse had learned something about chemistry that he uses to kill Walt.
And he already burned his bridges with Disappear Guy. Although, what evidence do they really have if Jack gets to that confession tape he made? Without that they can't tie him to any serious charges. It's possible Marie gave it to the police the second that Amber alert went out, of course. He's got a ton of money but that's all the evidence that exists against him. It's at the very least not enough to have too many people looking for him if he just runs away and tries to start a new life somewhere.
You can't just have millions of dollars like that unaccounted for. Even if they can't link it to the drug trade, the IRS would be after Jesse like crazy.
I bet the ricin pill that Walt salvaged from his house is a just in case measure for Walt. He can never go back and see his family, he's somehow heard that Jessie is being held captive so that's the only thing in his power he can do to "make things right" but he knows the Nazis are....well... Nazis, so in case they capture him he'll take the pill instead of being tortured. Maybe. I dunno.
I tihnk Maureen Ryan nails Walt's character perfectly here: 'Breaking Bad' Reactions And Why Walt's No Hero Here's the pertinent quote for those too lazy to read the entire piece:
That sums up my thoughts well, too. It was Walt saying things he really felt, but for the purpose of protecting Skyler, but also to serve his own selfish need to control the situation and be the center of it. It was also a good example of the writers channeling the fandom. Almost everything that came out of Walt's mouth has been said about Skyler by Internet fans. It was simultaneously a validation and indictment of their perspective.
That's a summary that strips away all the nuance and subtext that actually makes the show interesting.
But ricin is a slow death, occurring a few days later. It's not like a cyanide pill where you take it and die. Rather ineffective to save oneself from torture with.
^ Yeah, I thought the whole point of the ricin was it would be metabolized and give the appearance of a natural death. It seems like there would be easier ways to come up with a suicide tablet.