What We've Learned About 'Breaking Bad's Premiere

The end is near. There's just 13 days until the premiere of the second half of the fifth and — noooooooooooo! — final season of AMC's acclaimed drama Breaking Bad , and everyone's got their own theories about it should all come together (or fall apart) for Walter White. He gets busted by his brother-in-law Hank and goes to jail? No! Jesse snaps and kills him? No, bitch! He gets away with everything, continues his meth empire and then dies of the thing that was supposed to kill him in the first place, his cancer? Maybe?

Now, when we left off back in September, Walter ended Mike (and killed off all of his guys in prison), Skyler begrudgingly stood by her man, and a still-reeling Jesse once again hoped to escape Walter White's grip to start a normal life. Oh, and Hank, at long last, put two and two together about the identity of Heisenberg. From those oh-so-short teaser trailers it looks as though Hank is pretty pissed (and rightfully so), while Jesse appears to be in a backslide. (Poor Jesse)!

While no one knows for sure how Vince Gilligan's addictive series will end, some television critics have been lucky enough to watch the first few episode titled "Blood Money" and the reviews are in. (Only eight brand new episodes remain.) Now, while they're lucky, they're not Walter White-esque monsters, so don't worry too much about spoilers here. Heck, we don't want to know them either. Here's what we know, so far, about the season premiere of Breaking Bad thanks to early reviews.

It's Good. Really Good.

The Hollywood Reporter : "Written by Peter Gould (who also wrote the penultimate episode), the return episode is riveting from start to finish – with the use of another flash-forward that also kicked off this final season – and it concludes with an extended scene that is written, acted and shot with the kind of magnificence that is at the heart of why the series is so exalted."

It Picks Up Right Where We Left Off

Also via The Hollywood Reporter: "After the flash-forward, the episode picks up immediately where the first half left off, with Hank having just had a staggering jolt to his system while in the bathroom – as his face showed at the end of the first half, he now knows that Heisenberg is Walt."

There Is No Big Bad... Beyond Walt

New York Daily News : "The biggest plot development won’t surprise viewers. Its speed and ferocity might. If this first episode foreshadows the other seven, much of the drama will be psychological. While Bryan Cranston’s Walter White tries to ignore the toll of his chosen course on those around him, the wreckage has begun piling up"..."Jesse can't shake the murder of a 12-year-old on a dirt bike. Walter's wife Skyler is just trying to buy time"... "The final episodes don’t start with another uber-bad guy like Gus Fring. They zoom right in on the core characters, the ones we’ve followed on Walt’s march toward purgatory."

You'll Still Care About Jesse

Variety : "Indeed, to the show’s credit, the Jesse arc might be every bit as fascinating as Walt’s is — or, for that matter, Hank’s appears destined to be. And while Gilligan and company have occasionally taken their time to meander on oddities, betraying the showrunner’s quirky sensibilities, this tautly paced episode suggests it’s going to be more of a sprint toward the finish line, with barely an ounce of fat on it."

You Won't Want It To End

Variety continues, "Wherever and however Walt ultimately meets his maker, it’s going to be awfully hard to say goodbye to our little friend." The Wrap mimics the sentiment: "I'm not going to spoil anything about the return of Breaking Bad, except this: It's as good as it's ever been. As good as any TV show has ever been."

(See? No big spoilers! Though, if you're curious to know who will be making a cameo in the penultimate episode, you can click here).

To sum it all up we're going to flash-forward again like we did with "Live Free Or Die" (perhaps back to that Denny's where Walt spent his bleak 52nd birthday clearly on the run?), Jesse is still a mess, Skyler is still waiting, and Hank is back in business. So, here's our biggest looming question: Is it Aug. 11 yet?

Image: AMC