Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) in...

Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) in " Breaking Bad," Season 3 Episode 12:"Half Measures." Credit: AMC Photo

THE SHOW "Breaking Bad"

CATCHING UP Walter (Bryan Cranston) has killed the two dealers - also in the employ of his drug kingpin boss, Gus Frings (Giancarlo Esposito) - who were about to gun down Jesse (Aaron Paul). He then tells Jesse in no uncertain terms to "run."

WHAT HAPPENS SUNDAY So as not to give anything away, let's pose the key questions here. How will Gus react when he finds out what Walter did? Will cold-blooded fixer Mike (Jonathan Banks) have something to say, too? Where has Jesse "run" to? Will Walter continue cooking, and, if so, who will be his lab partner, if obviously not Jesse, and does that pose certain risks?

MY SAY With Sunday's nail-devouring closer, "Breaking Bad" wraps one of the most satisfying seasons of any major series - "Lost" and "The Sopranos" included - over the past 10 years. So where's the buzz, the clamor for a best drama Emmy, the recognition? (At least, Cranston has won two best actor Emmys.)

The problem for "Breaking Bad" is one of tone. Like Walter White, or (for that matter) like water in a cave, "Bad" percolates far below the surface. A recent episode, for example, revolved entirely around Walter's furious pursuit of a housefly. Would Tony have chased a housefly? And yet this was "Breaking Bad's" very own "Pine Barrens" episode - bleak, hilarious and almost unbearably sad. Time to take a bow, "Breaking Bad." Time for that Emmy.

GRADE A+

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