Breaking Bad returns tonight, and I’m very excited. I can’t wait to see how everything concludes. The series has been excellent; hopefully the ending can live up to it. While I’ve seen no signs that the conclusion will be anything less than amazing, on-going stories and endings are very different. Many great stories have ended terribly, and it would be a shame if that happened with Breaking Bad.

There are a few possible endings I’d like to see. In every situation, I’d like Jesse to get away. One ending that seems plausible is that Hank gathers enough evidence and information to move against Walt. Perhaps Jesse could even act as informant. Walt could be imprisoned, but I’d like it more if he was killed and Skyler imprisoned, with the kids ending with Hank and Marie. This seems most likely to me.

The opposite would be interesting as well. Hank moves against Walt, and Walt manages to kill him. Skyler would know it was his doing. Breaking Bad is already about slippery slopes when it comes to “breaking bad;” after he kills family member, it wouldn’t be so far-fetched to see him kill Skyler as well. Perhaps he’d even kill Jesse, realizing that he’s a loose-end that’s gone free far too long. The series would end with Walt as the kingpin of crime.

Of course, the series has shown us time and again that Walt gets ahead by killing who has to move up and guarantee his own survival. An interesting conclusion that doesn’t get much discussion would appear to be the same as I just described: Walt kills his family and Jesse to be the meth kingpin. And then Todd, who has been cooking with Walt, shoots him, having learned from the best.