I agree. So much was wrong with that sequence with the Wolf.

Rick very often makes poor choices - as Zack pointed out in this review - and he's still alive.

Did Drew Sharp do anything to deserve dying?  Because the unexpected consequences of Walt's actions resulted in his murder.

The DVD set is advertised to include a "3 minute alternate ending."  I'd assumed that it would be a serious ending, with some different take on the last scene between Walt and Jesse - Jesse does shoot Walt? - but a joke ending sort of makes more sense.

"I'd say they'd just have a less "happy" ending, with Walt's family not getting any money."I think that I would have preferred that ending, where Walt doesn't accomplish his original goal of leaving money for his family.  Yes, I know there are all sorts of caveats like it wasn't worth the price etc., but I would have…

I agree, and Walt's situation in "Granite State" was sort of a glimpse of that ending.

See, I would say a bit of the same about execution but also include some of the writing and story.

Those are good points, which I had forgotten. I suppose that there are some ideas that merge elements of the 2 explanations, that Walt essentially decided that if he wasn't going to run his department at Sandia - which wasn't possible due to the hours and travel required conflicting with his need to be home to help…

No, not at all.  I agree with the other commenters.

"His plans always work, he's that smart and lucky."
Umm, you mean like how his plan to have the Aryan Brotherhood kill Jesse resulted in Hank's death and the loss of most of his money?  Or how his poisoning of Brock initially worked but ultimately led to Jesse teaming up with Hank?  Or how robbing the train worked…

I agree with Max regarding the confession.

I think it's made pretty clear why Walt is a high school chemistry teacher.  (Nothing against being a high school teacher, but Walt's past in research demonstrates that he is dramatically overqualified for the job.)  He's a guy with the genius to have contributed to Nobel-prize winning research, but he also has an ego…

Walt was not, on balance, a good man, but calling him the devil is a big overreach by Todd VanDerWerff.   For all Walt's faults, he didn't order a hit on Hank even when that was the coldly logical move to make.

I could see the idea of full-on madness, but I was expecting more unintended consequences of Walt's actions.  To me the chickening out a bit was in how well Walt's plans worked in the last episode - apparently found a way to get the money to his family, killed the Aryan Brotherhood and Lydia, neither Skyler nor Flynn…

It is hinted at in the show but never explicitly stated.  The actress who played Gretchen provided a full explanation in an interview around the time of Season 2.

"but after the second season the show actually faced cancellation"

I agree, and I'll add a couple of additional problems for Jesse.

I respectfully disagree.  Skyler, Flynn, Holly, Jesse, and Marie are all long-established characters who survived the series.  They all appeared in the pilot (with an asterisk in Holly's case, since Skyler was pregnant with her at the time).

You mean Jesse's confession video to Hank in which he admits to a host of crimes, including the first degree murder of Gale?

I agree with you. The series is still an A/A+ series to me, but I thought that this episode was B/B+ Not enough twists, and too "happy".