3. Loose Ends
I think it's about time we get back to talking about the send-off of the supporting characters. Not too long ago we were introduced to Jesse Plemons', Todd. Todd started off as an odd duck kind of character, not really fitting in with the rest of the cast. That all changed with a simple pull of a trigger and the passage of time. Around the same time we are introduced to a businesswoman named Lydia. Lydia was very smart when it came to conducting her business, and knew how to get what she wanted. She possessed knowledge of people involved with Gus that could implicate her with his dealings. After killing the only other person with the knowledge of these people, Walt turns his sights on her to get that info. It's here that she realizes she is just another loose end, but gives the information up anyway. When Walt leaves his money with Elliot and Gretchen, it sets up the rest of the episode. The good guys need to win, the bad guys need to die. It was going to be about Walt tying up all of these loose ends. Unfortunately for Lydia, she was right, and as a result of some more inventive badassery, she was killed (Remember the ricin?). As for Todd, he went out with the rest of his Nazi friends. Granted, he thought that he survived Walt's attack for half a second. Walt quickly corrected that mistake. This made Jesse, the final loose end. By letting him go, it's telling us that Pinkman is a good guy. He wanted out and now he's getting that chance with a clean slate. Everything was tied up fairly nicely.