over the course of the last 8 weeks, we witnessed the death of walter white.

no, you didn’t just receive a giant spoiler. walter white didn’t physically die. he’s still alive and well. but walter white left us throughout the course of this 5th season. we were left only with heisenberg. there was only a sociopathic, murderous meth manufacturer and newly crowed drug kingpin.

this sunday night (july 15 at 9 p.m.), breaking bad fans will finally get the fix we’ve all been waiting for since last year’s stunning season 4 finale. with great anticipation, we’ve counted down the days to see what walt—the newly crowned king—will do now that he’s free from the grip of gus fring.

[if you'd like a recap of season 4's finale—along with some video—go here to see my post from last october.]

prior to the start of the 4th (and now completed, as of last night) season of breaking bad, writer and producer vince gilligan talked candidly about how this was the season that walter white would finally (and completely) turn the corner from a heroic father to a self-focused monster. this evolution has been relatively slow. in fact, i spent the majority of this season believing that gilligan overstated their intentions for this character. walt had his moments of monstrous power, but had just as many weak moments spent living in fear and paranoia.

and then the final episode occurred.

in the end, mr. chips became scarface.

or maybe i should say gustavo fring.

because that’s precisely who he became.

ok, so i’m sorta into breaking bad…

yes, long-time (or even short-time) blog readers (as well as my twitter followers) know that i’ve got what doctors call an “obsession”. in all seriousness, week in and week out, breaking bad is a show that continues to compel me and draw me into this incredible story of walter white and the spiraling world around him.

prior to the start of this season (season 4), writer and producer vince gilligan talked candidly about how this was the season that walt would finally (completely) turn the corner from a heroic father to a self-focused monster. certainly, we’ve slowly seen that unfold in the first half of the season. as walt’s paranoia toward kingpin gus grew, we saw him begin to embrace violent and illegal means to his ever-growing power hungry ends.

ward cleaver has become scarface.

dr. jekyll has said farewell to mr. hyde.

i like a lot of shows. i like to have conversations about a handful of those shows. and, weekly, i anticipate new episodes of some of said shows. but none of those shows have had such a drug-like effect on me—no pun intended—as amc’s award-winning breaking bad.

it’s a sickness.

i consider myself a particularly patient person. i really do. but when season 3 of my favorite show on television—amc’s award winning breaking bad—held its finale on june 13, 2010, the legions of fans who follow the complex life of chemist walter white never anticipated that nearly a year later, we’d still be waiting on the follow-up season.

the wait is almost over.

yesterday, amc announced that season 4′s premiere episode would air on sunday, july 17 at 9 pm.