'Breaking Bad': 4 Bold Predictions for the Season 4 Finale

We're almost at the end of season four, the second-to-last season, of one of the best TV dramas in recent history: "Breaking Bad" will end its 2011 season this Sunday. While the events of season four have slowly built up pressure to this boiling point, there are still many ways that this finale episode could go.

Everybody has their theories as to who will make it out alive and who won't. Here are four of my predictions for the season 4 finale; if you agree, disagree, or think I'm completely off my rocker, leave a comment with your predictions!

And of course, major SPOILERS and complete conjecture follow.

1. Gus won't die just yet

This is more wishful thinking than a thought-out prediction, but I have some reasons to back it up. "Breaking Bad" has a real gift in Giancarlo Esposito. His performances this season have been nothing short of mesmerizing, whether its the controlled fury of "Box Cutter" or the quiet panic of "Hermanos." To kill him off would be a real shame.

Of course, it seems that somebody has to go, and it's certainly not going to be Walt. Should Gus stick around, we would be looking at a final season that still has Walt attempting to break free from Gus' hold. Things would be a little different this time around, though, as Walt would no longer be working for him, so that's still a possibility.

The other possibility is that Gus does die, and Walt and Jesse move up to full-on drug lord status. That would make for an interesting final season, but things always seem to work better on this show when Walt and Jesse are underdogs. Would we want to see them on top?

I will say this: if Gus does die, I don't think it will be at the hands of Walt. Someone else, be it Jesse, Hank or maybe even Gomez, will end up doing the dirty work. Of course, there is one more legitimate choice of assassin, and that leads us to...

2. Mike will have a change of heart

Brilliant move, having Mike get injured right before Jesse and Walt decide to stage their counter-attack. Had Mike still been around, there would be practically no chance of either Walt or Jesse getting anywhere near Gus. He's just too good.

But we've seen moments of doubt from Mike. There was that big confrontation in the bar... sure, Walt ended up with a black eye, but for a second it seemed that he was connecting to Mike when he asked him if he had doubts about working for Gus. After the events of "Box Cutter," we saw Mike eyeing an exacto knife in Gus' office. Plus, there's that whole thing where Mike took a bullet for Gus, and Gus (and his doctors) basically left him to bleed out. Had it not been for Jesse, Mike might not be alive.

And it's that connection (not the one to Walt) that might turn Mike over to the "other" side. I'd say the "good guys," but at this point Walt and Jesse really aren't so "good," are they? Speaking of which...

3. One of the "good guys" will bite the bullet

There are a few characters on this show that have been nothing (or mostly nothing) but good this entire time. Now that Skyler has broken bad, that pretty much just leaves Hank, Walter Jr. and Gomez as our pure, lawful characters. And I think one of them is going to die.

To see Walter Jr. go would be pretty intense. As of yet we've seen some people we liked die on this show, but most of them at least had it coming a little bit (Combo and Gale were making meth, and Jane was doing some serious drugs). Walter Jr. hasn't done anything wrong, so it would take a serious twist for anything to happen there. I can't see the writers going that far.

Hank and Gomez, on the other hand, are fair game. The thing about Hank, though, is he's still on the case to find Heisenberg, and that's too good a storyline to let go for season five. Can you imagine the mayhem if Hank finally discovers Walt's secret?

So that leaves Gomez, who was recently snooping around the laundry. He gave a long look at that last washing machine... is he getting too close?

4. Walt poisoned Brock

This theory has been floating around, and there are good arguments on both sides. Certainly, the way the show presented it seems to make sense (Gus had Brock poisoned so that Jesse would assume Walt did it and turn on him) but there are two interesting points: one, Gus seemed genuinely surprised at the news of the poison and changed his tune quickly, and two, why would Gus risk losing his only remaining chemist by doing the one thing he knows would alienate him entirely?

There's also that eerie scene with Walt by the pool that had him spinning the gun on the table. After it landed on him twice, he spun it again and it landed on a nearby plant, which gave him an idea. Was that idea for his chemistry bomb that he made later? Possibly, but not probably, as that plan only came into being after Jesse threatened Walt with the gun. What immediately followed that was the poisoning.

We're still at a point where it seems unthinkable for Walt to poison a child. But Walt is backed further into a corner than he has ever been, and when one's life is on the line one does desperate things. Are we finally seeing the "Mr. Chips to Scarface" transformation that we've been promised? Was it just going to take all season before Walt finally became "the danger?"

I think so. And I'll go one further: if Walt truly did poison Brock, there's no way he's going to survive season five.