For a show that underwhelmed me with its pilot, Breaking Bad sure has my full attention now.

I've mentioned before about how I'm now hooked on this show, but each week's episode somehow manages to be even better than the last. Throughout the first season, one of my main questions was that I didn't understand why Walt,  this sweet husband and father, was choosing to deal meth when he actually had his rich friends offer to pay for his treatment; to Breaking Bad's credit, they've answered that easily in Season 2. Because so much of Walt's life has not gone the way he wanted it to, and for once, he wants to be in charge. And while things frequently (...always) go wrong, it's become clear this season that it's not about making enough money to support his family anymore - Walt likes the man he's become, because for the first time in a long time, he feels like a man. And he doesn't care what it takes to feel that way, or what it means for him as a human being.

But the great thing about Breaking Bad - and Bryan Cranston's performance - is that while we understand that about Walt, it's clear that Walt himself doesn't fully understand it. Despite all evidence to the contrary he still believes that, at his core, he is a good person. Case in point: last night's episode. After making a huge deal with a local distributor, Walt tells Jesse that he's holding onto his half of the money ($480,000) until Jesse gets clean and stops screwing up their business because of his addictions. Of course, once Jesse's girlfriend, Jane, learns about the money, she blackmails Walt into giving it to them, which he grudgingly does. But after a chance encounter with Jane's dad at a bar (though neither of them realizes the connection), in which they talk about supporting your family no matter what, Walt realizes that Jesse is something of a surrogate son and that he can't just let him self-destruct. Heading back to Jesse's place, Walt enters the bedroom to see Jesse and Jane passed out on heroin; Walt tries to wake Jesse up, shaking Jane onto her back, but Jesse doesn't wake up.

And then. Oh, then. Jane begins to vomit and choke. And because Walt sees her as a problem - as an obstacle for Jesse, whom Walt realizes he should now protect - he does nothing. He stands there and watches her die because he truly believes that, in the long run, it's the right thing to do. He sits and stares, filled with sadness, self-pity and determination (and, it cannot be said enough, Bryan Cranston plays this scene perfectly). And we the audience, of course, realizes that good people don't stand idly by and let someone die when they could easily be saved - but, simultaneously, we see that's not who Walt is. Not anymore.

Next week is the season finale, when we'll finally (I hope) find out what the deal is with the burnt teddy bear and the two body bags in front of Walt's house - and, after this week, I think it's pretty clear that Breaking Bad isn't going to pull any punches.