Breaking Bad – Does Skyler realize Walt purposely saved her ass?

As the “Ozymandias” episode of Breaking Bad came to an intense close, we saw a side of Walter I think none of us wanted to see. He became irrational; manic. He completely snapped, became the subject of an Amber Alert, and then made a phone call to Skyler that shone a completely different light on Walt. To everyone in that room during that phone call to Skyler, Walt was a complete monster. This was a man who was resorting to kidnapping and murder threats, all while resounding his own praises. Everyone in the room, that is, unless Skyler was smart enough to realize Walt just completely removed all guilt from her in the eyes of the law, and that he acted completely alone.

Junior and Holly would not be completely parentless because of Walter’s phone call. Walt was no dummy — he knew others were on that call, and he knew what he was doing every step of the way. Kidnapping Holly and making that phone call saved Skyler.

I will admit that I did not at first figure out that this had to be Walt’s plan. I thought we’d seen the very last of a redeemable Walt, and that there was simply no way for us to hope for this man anymore. When Walt’s tears showed up — and then he left Holly in the trusting hands of a Fire Department — it made complete sense that the Walt we saw during that tirade was a show for the people in the room listening in. Walt made that mistake once with Jesse, and if there’s one thing we’ve come to know about Walt: he doesn’t tend to make the same mistake more than once.

The question now is: is Skyler smart enough to know what Walt did for them? The thing is, it probably doesn’t matter. Now Walt’s own son considers him a complete monster, and no doubt Holly will be raised to never know him. Does Walt necessarily care about what Skyler thinks at this point? Does he love his family so much that just knowing their well-being is being taken care of is enough for him so he can let his cancer take him away?

And, seeing some of the flash-forwards of what’s to come, what’s Walt left to resort to to make sure the sacrifices he’s made for his family were worthwhile?