Was Walt already dead? Another popular theory and one first circulated by the New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum. Following the Breaking Bad finale, Nussbaum wrote, "what we were watching must be a dying fantasy on the part of Walter White, not something that was actually happening-at least not in the 'real world' of the previous seasons."

Breaking Bad FelinaThe Finale Episode of 'Breaking Bad'

The critic's justification for the theory is that the finale was so discordant with other developments in the storyline - which is sort of right. Walt is a wanted man yet somehow drives all the way back to Albuquerque, walks around his neighborhood, manages to get into Skylar's flat despite police presence.

"No one notices when Walt goes to see his son for the last time, even though you'd imagine that area would be flooded with surveillance. Walt is not noticed even when he steps inside a brightly lit, crowded Albuquerque restaurant, where he sits down with Lydia and Todd," writes Nussbaum.

Much of the theory rests on Walt starting the engine in his snow-covered car. It seems as though he breaks the ignition lock when trying to start the car with a screw driver, though it's difficult to tell what actually happens. Either way, Walt looks in a bad way as the police lights illuminate the car and he whispers "just get me home" as if in prayer. The keys magically fall into his lap.

The theory matches up nicely with Zoller Seitz's recap in which he reads Walter's "Hello Carol" to his once next-door neighbor as a reference to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol with Walt as Jacob Marley, "materializing in people's homes to scare the hell out of them by pointing an accusing finger or moaning in misery while clanking his pitiful irons."

Next page: The Jesus theory.