Breaking Bad, (Creative Commons)

Audiences were left agasp at the series finale as the final showdown between Walt (Brian Cranston) and Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) terminated in the demise of a long standing established crime boss's reign.

It was a showdown in the likes of the old classic spaghetti western "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly." Fittingly in both the television series and the classic film, the character named Tuco (Raymond Cruz) a crazed sociopath criminal, is an essential link to the protagonists victory.  But at what cost?  

All season long we have watched Walt struggle with Gus seemingly staying "10 steps ahead of me at every turn," as he relays to Jesse (Aaron Paul). Often times it seems that Walt gets in his own way with a seemingly unlimited ego to control destiny. As an audience it remains a struggle to have faith in Walt's intelligence or diagnose him as a protagonist that is way too smart and cunning for his own good and on the pathway of becoming a sociopath himself.   

Series creator Vince Gilligan is well on his way to delivering his Magnum Opus of deconstructing the mind set of a crime boss.  According to New York Magazine, Gilligan refers to the show as the journey of "Mr. Chips to Scarface."

The series playfully deconstructs the periodic table of elements throughout its opening and closing credits, suggesting the elements that make us human are not often elementary in theory. What are the elements that seperate an every-day Joe into a criminal mastermind?  

As the season finale concludes the audience starts to realize that perhaps Walt is orchestrating his rise to power more than he lets on.

Justifying a means to an end is always where morality takes a back seat. It is a brilliant progression of story line with only 16 more episodes left in the series. Once viewers felt a compassion and an eagerness to join in on Walt's cause as the terminal patient seeking a secure financial future for his family. Now, we question his original altruism. 

As we see in the season four finale, Walt has no limits to the means in which he will take to secure a future for his family.  Even if it means killing a child to get there.   

AMC wil air the final episodes divided over two more seasons.  If you haven't tuned in, the series is available on DVD and Netflix.  You will want to be caught up when this critically acclaimed series takes its final journey. 

Follow Sarah Ledesma on twitter.  Reach reporter Sarah Ledesma here.