i do agree it was a little less action packed, but theres not much more that walt can do- i think that first 8 episodes was showing how heisenberg has taken over..even though he did everything for his family, he drove them away- he has become consumed by his other life, but completely flipped- looking at who he was in the beginning of the show to who he is now, its like walt is a new person- i also loved the conversations he had with hank in the end- the last drink in hanks house, walt was one in control. at the beginning of the show hank was the one controlling walt; he had no spine. hank talks about his old job tagging trees, and how much he hated it, but "tagging trees is better than chasing monsters...all walt says back is "i used to love to go camping". walt is a new man, and the first 8 episodes proved it...the last 8 will be him dealing with the consequences of being that new man...its gonna be one hell of a finale