Breaking Bad

[MarkGrace]

The finale was well done, but I have to agree with Gilligan that Ozymandias was the high watermark here. To me that episode felt like the natural climax and consequence of everything the show was leading to, with these last two episodes seeming like more of an epilogue to what happened there.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The finale was well done, but I have to agree with Gilligan that Ozymandias was the high watermark here. To me that episode felt like the natural climax and consequence of everything the show was leading to, with these last two episodes seeming like more of an epilogue to what happened there.

Yep. And that is totally fine.

[Commando]

I guess I should've known this, but I just learned that a show will submit one single episode for Emmy consideration for a given category. Guess that settles which one's sweeping next year's awards.

[woot]

The finale was well done, but I have to agree with Gilligan that Ozymandias was the high watermark here. To me that episode felt like the natural climax and consequence of everything the show was leading to, with these last two episodes seeming like more of an epilogue to what happened there.

Agreed. I loved this finale for how it wrapped everythiing up, while simultaneously feeling a little out of sorts about it because of how strangely tidy it was. That's what a finale is for, obviously. Other than the conduits for Flynn's money and the nazis' deaths, this episode was predictable, but intentionally so. Very cool to finally see all the little pieces fit together.

[The_Douger]

I can't add anything here that hasn't been said.

Super happy with how it ended. Thought it was appropriate, was glad Walt eliminated all ties to his product so that when he's gone, it's gone. Was glad to see Todd finally get his. Liked the ingenious way he set up the gun to mow them down. Liked how it was shot so that you didn't know Walt was there initially when Skyler was talking to Marie.

Best series ever.

[scottie]

Because of the flashback to episode 1 in the finale, I went back and watched the first 15 minutes of it. Episode 1 and the finale both were Walt's birthdays (#50 and #52). In the flashback Hank says, "It's easy money, til we catch ya!" Just before that, he was toasting his BIL Walt and said, "Walt... your heart's in the right place man, your heart's in the right place. We love you man, we love you."

[CardiacCoug]

Swish!

Yeah and you were also right about Walt and Skyler's house just being trashed by random kids, not the Nazis or Jesse.

Sort of implausible that Walt could have such a perfect setup for his machine gun plan, but that's OK.

[ERCougar]

Very satisfying finale, or felina. Among many highlights was Walt's conversation with Sky--as he started in with "I did this for...", she cut him off, essentially giving voice to the audience, with something like "Walt, if I have to hear one more time that you did this for the family...." , and he cuts her off and says, "I did it for me." A great moment of self-acknowledgment.

I also liked when Uncle Jack told Walt that if he shot him, Walt wouldn't know where the money was, and Walt shot him in the head without hesitation--some things are more important than money, as shown by Walt's final moments as he walked through the meth lab with a look of pride/satisfaction, perverse thought it was.

I loved Walt's statement that 'I was alive'. Almost Thoreau-like.

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[YOhio]

This may be the approach that gets Il Pad to join the Breaking Bad craze.

http://www.theonion.com/video/story-of-small-businessman-struggling-under-obama,34037/

[OhioBlue]

couple more things that stuck out to me about Jesse in particular...the dream scene where he's crafting the wood box provided a glimpse of something better for a character that probably most deserved 'something better.' I haven't looked it up yet, but wasn't he talking to either his therapy group or Jane at some point about what he would do with his life, and mentioned woodworking? Nice touch. Also, loved how he got to call Walt out on his one last attempt to get Jesse to do what he (Walt) wanted when Walt passed him the gun...a fitting final shift in their relationship. Kind of a "I'm not doing your bidding anymore."

So many satisfying details. You can do so much in an episode with even a couple lines of dialogue. Which is why I hate the excuse that's given for why a show doesn't revisit or tie up loose ends: "there just wasn't time." Wrong. You just weren't creative enough to figure out how in a way that does it justice. Breaking Bad should serve as one of those model shows from here on out.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I had meth-related dreams last night, a sure sign the show really affected me. Another satisfying but obvious point is that Walt took a bullet from his own gun and died by his own hand, at the end of a long path of self-destruction.

[scottie]

I had meth-related dreams last night, a sure sign the show really affected me. Another satisfying but obvious point is that Walt took a bullet from his own gun and died by his own hand, at the end of a long path of self-destruction.

Do you think Walt took a direct bullet or was it a ricochet?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Do you think Walt took a direct bullet or was it a ricochet?

What's the difference? By the time it got inside the room it had already gone through the trunk of car and the outside wall of the building.

[old_gregg]

Do you think Walt took a direct bullet or was it a ricochet?

i don't know if gilligan could tell you, but there's no way anyone would be walking after taking a direct 7.62 round there. probably a ricochet.

the most redemptive thing walt did was take responsibility. lesser shows would have had him do some chintzy monologue and beg for forgiveness. i liked that walt went out using skills he'd learned from heisenberg. he was as cold, calculating, and methodical in manipulating the schwartzes as he was in killing all of mike's guys in prison.

[jay santos]

Great ending.

I think they did a great job giving Walt (and his fans) a payoff, while still not making it a cheesy/perfect ending, which would have been incongruent.

the good: He got his money to his kids, which above everything else, was his primary goal before he died. He ended his life doing what he did best and loved most, using his brain to achieve his criminal mastermind purposes. He got to end things with Skylar better, at least being able to communicate his intentions. He freed Jesse.

the bad: he didn't get redeemed with his family in terms of them loving and accepting him completely before he died. He lost the other $70M. The unintended consequences were more than he wanted: Hank dying, Jesse's girl dying, Jesse's soul killed, his family situation, etc.

So maybe it's good for both sides. If you're a Walt fan, you say he won. He killed his enemies, got his money to his kids, found some redemption with freeing Jesse, and had a degree of reconciliation with his family. And if you want to see Walt go down, you can say Walt lost. His family hates him. He got Hank killed. Jesse dissed him one last time. He died alone.