Was I the only person who was all depressed at the start of this week's episode, when he visits his (now ruined) home? Maybe I'm just sentimental that way, but holy shit it was agonizing to see him walk through what was once the base of everything good in his life, and is now utterly alien and left to decay.

then he gets the ricin like whaaaaa

As for the way the series ends, it can only end in tragedy. I mean, in the intro for this episode, it's like 6 months in the future. He has legit artillery in his trunk, and a bunch of poison... the only reason I can think of for him to have such deadly and ostentatious weaponry, is because he's going to murder a whole lot of people and not expect to get out of it.

The only reason I can think of for him to do something like that, is because his family is now dead.

I don't like Lydia, she's a loose cannon. My bet is that she'll get his family killed - well I mean he gets his family killed on account of the fact that he's a drug kingpin, but you know what I mean. I don't know about Hank, though. I found it really interesting that in season 4, Walt is shitting his pants on account of Gus having his number; all trying to get his family to disappear etc. Hank has his number now and Walt's all like "come at me bro", it doesn't seem like he has any interest in disappearing his family now (even though now is a really good time to get out of Dodge, what with all that money and shit).

There's the "yellow" subtext - the filter and the colour of people's clothes indicating their involvement/relationship to criminal/drug related activities. Marie is seen in a bright yellow cardigan recently, and I don't think it had anything to do with her kleptomania.

Also I heard Walter is supposed to take on characteristics of the people he kills - after Tuco, he starts cutting the crusts off his sandwiches, there was something to do with him kneeling on a towel to be sick as Gus did when he was purging after the cartel poisoning, I'm sure there were more explicit ones. But in the cold opening for season 5 he's seen on his 52nd birthday arranging bacon on his plate into his age as Skyler had done for him previously, and (don't quote me) there's his new identity on an ID card, supposedly with Skyler's maiden name? I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one who destroyed his family. It feels like the logical trajectory.

The show lost a lot of steam since the mid-season premier. I'm definitely still interested but my level of enthusiasm is significantly less. Without the scenes of cooking meth, my voyeuristic involvement as a viewer is reduced. There was a genuine interest and amazement on my part watching those scenes. Like chemistry pornography. Also, the stunning visuals from the first episode (skateboarders in the pool, the shot outside when Walter realizes his car is bugged) are gone. Luckily, we still get plenty of shots of the expansive southwest landscape.

We finally get to see some screen time from Walter Jr. (aka Flynn lol). Best scene from tonight was easily Walter's confession tape. Walt always seems one step ahead of Hank. On a side note, I doubt we will see Hank smile this season.

There have been a lot of predictions online and honestly, I have no idea where things are gonna go. I have a bad feeling about Jessie and Skylar however. Next week is the halfway point so I am expecting shit to go down.

Really? I thought it was (quietly) off the fuckin' hook in the last few weeks. Like, in this past episode:

at 30 minutes in, Marie is telling Walt to kill himself.
At 40 minutes in, Hank's career is over.
At 50 minutes in, Jesse was out.
At 55 minutes in, Jessie was pulled back in. Also, about to Heisenberg the fuck out of Walt's house.

I have a few theories, but my bet is that the body count's gonna start rising next Sunday.

People saying above, and even interviews with Vince Gilligan, how you get drawn into rooting for Walt even after what he's become. I don't, not so much. I am massively intrigued as to how things will play out for him for sure, but the person I really root for and feel for is Jesse. They're polar opposites. Walt is respectable teacher turned arrogant, cutthroat, basically a sociopath. Jesse was a petty criminal but he's tortured by the world he's got drawn into, he feels everything. And the way Walt uses him, time and time again, and won't even admit it! Like their convo at the end of episode 3. I realise things don't look good for him though...