3. How Did Walt Manage To Poison Lydia? - "Felina" (5.12)
The final episode of Breaking Bad, perhaps in its attempts to tie up as many loose ends as possible and imbue ever character with the fate they deserved, felt a little heavy handed, despite its achievements. Whilst some nagging details were padded out, others were left unexplained, leaving viewers to imagine and surmise how certain things went down. In some cases, this worked. In others, it felt a little bit like lazy storytelling. Which brings us to Walt and Lydia. Walt poisons Lydia, of course, using the ricin that had been floating around in the show's background ever since season 4. He slips it into her tea-sweetening pack, which - as a creature of habit - she unknowingly adds to her drink during their final meeting. Later, she dies. But how did Walt pull off such a deceivingly complicated task? If Lydia brought her own sweetener, how did he get it into the sealed pack? If she used a packet provided at the diner, how did he ensure that she picked up the right one? Lydia wasn't even sitting in her regular, habitual seat, after all. There are tons of variables involved, and no solid answers.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
