As is the fashion for serious dramas these days (see: “Mad Men,” “Game of Thrones”), the “Breaking Bad” finale was not nearly as amped up or grueling as the penultimate episode, in which Walt killed the loveable, phlegmatic Mike. Walt’s transformation into a horrible, amoral man is now so complete that the aftermath of Mike’s death— what to do with Mike’s car, Mike’s body, and Mike’s 10 chatty associates— could be dealt with quickly and calmly, no fuss, no emotion. Walt has broken so bad his decision to hire some neo-Nazis to mastermind the grisly, simultaneous deaths of 10 imprisoned men took up less than five minutes of last night’s episode. The murders went down to the jarringly smooth sound of “Pick Yourself Up,” a song with lyrics about getting to “start all over again,” because that is exactly what the murders were for Walt: a smooth way to begin anew, stabbings and burnings having become as breezy a thing to Walt as Frank Sinatra's crooning.

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