The Choice

“The Choice” — Act II

(Dramatic strings build under a slow, menacing piano ostinato. Walt stands over Jane, watching.)

WALTER:

Look at her now, twisted in the sheets

Fentanyl dreams and a heartbeat that skips its feet

I came to talk money, came to draw a line

Now I’m standin’ in the doorway of the end of time

She’s chokin’, she’s chokin’, nobody else is home

Jesse’s out cold, and I’m standin’ here alone

One turn of her body, one hand on her side

That’s all it would take to save a life

(Beat drops out — just a low cello drone)

Who is Walter White? Ask me, I don’t know

Was a man who taught chemistry, kept his head down low

Cancer came a-knockin’, and I answered like a fool

Said I’d do it for my family — was that ever true?

WALTER (spoken-sung, building):

Emilio in the acid, that was self-defense

Krazy-8 in the basement, I could make the argument make sense

But this — this is different — this is just… watching

This is just standing still while the choice gets made for me

(Strings swell, minor key, ticking hi-hat like a clock)

She wants my money, wants to take my son

Jesse’s not my son, but — God — he’s the closest thing to one

She’ll ruin him, she’ll drain him, she’ll watch him waste away

And all I have to do is let this moment stay

WALTER:

Is this Heisenberg talkin’, or is this just a man

Who’s tired of the world takin’ more than it can stand?

I didn’t pour the needle, I didn’t light the spoon

I’m just a man in a doorway, watchin’ by the light of the moon

(Music drops to near silence — one heartbeat kick drum)

She turns — I could turn her —

My hand is on the sheet —

(long pause)

…I don’t.

WALTER (almost a whisper, orchestral hit on each phrase):

Say my name.

Say it back to me.

Say I did nothing —

Say I let her be —

(Full orchestra crashes in, dark and triumphant and horrible all at once)

WALTER:

I am the man who watches.

I am the man who waits.

I am the man who tells himself

It’s simply fate, it’s simply fate—

Not murder. Not a choice.

Just chemistry. Just time.

Just an old man in a doorway

Who crossed a quiet line—

(Music cuts to dead silence.)

WALTER (spoken, cold):

Goodnight, Jane.