Breaking Bad

Brandon Rice said:
Though I knew they had to do certain things, the ending felt flat to me. I think that the villains in this case were so underdeveloped and boring that I wasn't as satisfied... I don't know. I need to watch the entire series again.
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For me what you describe as "flat" was not flat, but the somber tone of leading to the inevitable conclusion of all that is Walt. Which I thought mixed beautifully with the usual tension and ratcheting to a breaking point that so many episodes in the series have had. I think everyone knew how it would end in the general sense (just not the how). And, if you still weren't sure Walt would meet his end in the end, you had to be after Hank's death and the fallout of that culminating in the complete loss of any lingering hope of the family somehow pulling through it all. The "villains" weren't "the" villains at all. Walt was the villain. (to me) They were little more than an extension of that. They were a representation of the byproduct of what Walt had created, what he had become, and what was left in his wake. They, as characters were relatively unimportant. It was what they represented that was important. So, I didn't feel like I needed to know them more. They were just opportunists as far as their characters are concerned. Their death was the burial of Heisenberg.

It was pretty much the "best" possible outcome that Walt could accomplish to the whole deal. He saw his family. He was finally honest with himself, and his wife about why he did it all. He provided for his son anonymously (something that he was not fond of in the early series), and he brought down what he had created. The final nail in the coffin of Heisenberg.

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I agree about the not checking the trunk (or him not accounting for it). I guess they weren't too terribly worried as they were likely under the impression that he looked like s*%t, was clearly dying or in a rough state, and was desperate. It would have been nice to even just have seen Walt account for it by showing how it sowed under the baseboard in the spare tire wheel well or something. But, for a show that has generally had such attention to small details in a fantastical world, it was a little thing. (i.e. When Walt looked at a little strip of paper before dialing Jesse's new Hello Kitty number that he wouldn't have had. They never had to show that two seconds, and we could have just assumed he had already gotten the number from Saul during an off-screen moment. But, the fact that they did... One of the things I really appreciated about this show was the attention to detail)
 
The thing is the actual climax of the series was a few episodes back. This is the denouement, the goodbyes and wrapping up of loose ends. This episode was almost just a formality. I imagine if you watched it all at once, instead of weekly, you'd feel that more. I didn't care if the Nazis were a little underdeveloped. Todd wasn't, and seeing him get his just desserts at Jesse's hands was immensely satisfying, as was Walt's cold sendoff of Lydia and his dealings with the Schwartzes. Someone pointed out the 5 seasons of Breaking Bad (5 and a half if you're being a stickler) conforms almost perfectly to Shakepseare's template for a 5 act tragedy, a rise and fall which climaxes in the middle rather than the end. I thought it ended perfectly.
 
The Trunk -

The Nazi's thought he was coming crawling back to them, hat in hand. Not out for revenge. Todd would have reported back to them about how desperate he looked.
And it's not like these guys were masterminds. Hank was the real obstacle Walt needed to overcome this season. Once that was done with, the rest was just clean up.

Had Walt managed to hide the M.60 in his car somehow, I would have found that far more unrealistic.

This played out as it should have. Walt was a brilliant man, but far from perfect.
Despite his genius, he had to hand over the money to his son in a way he wouldn't have accepted himself, as charity.

Walt left the earth knowing that Walt Jr. just wanted him to die. He knew that he would never see Holly grow up, and that Skyler could never forgive him for what happened to Hank. All his plans and talk of providing for his family, gone. That was his intention starting out, until he became Heisenberg.

It's clear that he still wanted to provide for them and went to great lengths in the end to do just that.

Ah, had Jesse not turned into a rat things would have been very different. ;)
 
Critic Matt Zoller Seitz called these last two episodes the most spectacular postscript ever, saying that Ozymandias was the spiritual finale.

A couple things I've noticed or read elsewere:

- Walt dying in the Nazi's lab will have police thinking he's been cooking the blue this whole time. His last gift to Jesse will be getting him off the hook for good. And it'll look like he was the only one capable, making his legacy even more legendary.
- Jesse is brought to the clubhouse in the middle of a cook. When Walt goes out there he checks out the work (taps the needle, etc) and makes no adjustments, seemingly indicating that Jesse has finally applied himself (reinforced by the flashback scene of the other time Jesse applied himself).
- Was Hank's fascination with minerals some insane foreshadowing that he would be returning to mineral form himself?
- Walt killing Jack like Jack killed Hank was sweet. I love that Jack was the one who begged for his life while Hank went out with his dignity in tact.
- In S01E04, Walt Jr disingenuously tells his dad to 'give up and die already' since he won't commit to treatment. In S05E15, he tells him the same thing and means it.
- This was the 3rd time Jesse pointed a gun at Walt and Walt encouraged him to "do it". I loved how Jesse wouldn't do one more favor or follow one more order.
- Badger and Skinny Pete summarize the show in 20 seconds:
Badger: You know, I don't exactly know how to feel about all this.
Skinny Pete: For real, yo. Whole thing felt kind of shady,you know, like morality-wise?
Badger: Totally.
(Walt holds up the money)
Walt: How do you feel now?
(They take the money)
Skinny Pete: Better.
Badger: Yeah, definitely improving.
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- Loved this shot of Walt in the desert working on the gun contraption that was framed through the window of an abandoned home. Showed him a dead man working inside his grave:
gEyF0Zz.jpg

- Full circle:
IRdWSkS.jpg

- Jesse is finally in control for where he goes:
e2C13Wo.png

- Walt finally built the robot:
NdCj3TI.jpg

- The evolution of Walter White with a gun in his face:


MYEw0hs.jpg




BTW, here is the apparent reference of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium:

"When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He's written "He dies." That's all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is "He dies." It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with "He dies." And yet every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it's only natural to be sad, but not because of the words "He dies." but because of the life we saw prior to the words."
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refocusedmedia said:
- Walt dying in the Nazi's lab will have police thinking he's been cooking the blue this whole time. His last gift to Jesse will be getting him off the hook for good.
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Not sure it's a gift to Jesse as much as his last act of egocentrism. He WANTS people to believe he was cooking the meth. He reputation as Heisenberg was all he had left. He didn't want anyone else getting the credit.
 
Batutta said:
Not sure it's a gift to Jesse as much as his last act of egocentrism. He WANTS people to believe he was cooking the meth. He reputation as Heisenberg was all he had left. He didn't want anyone else getting the credit.
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This is true as well, no doubt. The "gift" is probably more unintentional, but that's how I saw it. I definitely agree that he was thinking only of himself, his life, his legacy, etc. when he was affectionately walking through that lab.
 
Batutta said:
Not sure it's a gift to Jesse as much as his last act of egocentrism. He WANTS people to believe he was cooking the meth. He reputation as Heisenberg was all he had left. He didn't want anyone else getting the credit.
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i definitely saw it like that as well.

As for the nazis not checking the trunk, well that didn't bother me much. What I didn't quite buy is the way Jack was insulted and got Jesse brought into the house in order to show he wasn't lying about not being partners. I just didn't see Jack as the type of guy who'd give a rat's backside about this.

But anyway...

What an outstanding series. I never buy tv shows...I will buy this one.
 
refocusedmedia said:
Critic Matt Zoller Seitz called these last two episodes the most spectacular postscript ever, saying that Ozymandias was the spiritual finale.

A couple things I've noticed or read elsewere:

- Walt dying in the Nazi's lab will have police thinking he's been cooking the blue this whole time. His last gift to Jesse will be getting him off the hook for good. And it'll look like he was the only one capable, making his legacy even more legendary.
- Jesse is brought to the clubhouse in the middle of a cook. When Walt goes out there he checks out the work (taps the needle, etc) and makes no adjustments, seemingly indicating that Jesse has finally applied himself (reinforced by the flashback scene of the other time Jesse applied himself).
- Was Hank's fascination with minerals some insane foreshadowing that he would be returning to mineral form himself?
- Walt killing Jack like Jack killed Hank was sweet. I love that Jack was the one who begged for his life while Hank went out with his dignity in tact.
- In S01E04, Walt Jr disingenuously tells his dad to 'give up and die already' since he won't commit to treatment. In S05E15, he tells him the same thing and means it.
- This was the 3rd time Jesse pointed a gun at Walt and Walt encouraged him to "do it". I loved how Jesse wouldn't do one more favor or follow one more order.
- Badger and Skinny Pete summarize the show in 20 seconds:

- Loved this shot of Walt in the desert working on the gun contraption that was framed through the window of an abandoned home. Showed him a dead man working inside his grave:
gEyF0Zz.jpg

- Full circle:
IRdWSkS.jpg

- Jesse is finally in control for where he goes:
e2C13Wo.png

- Walt finally built the robot:
NdCj3TI.jpg

- The evolution of Walter White with a gun in his face:


MYEw0hs.jpg




BTW, here is the apparent reference of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium:
Click to expand...

Great post, but how is the last quote a reference to Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium? Is that a quote from the film?
 
Stephen Colbert kidnaps Vince Gilligan for more Breaking Bad

Stephen Colbert kidnaps Vince Gilligan for more Breaking Bad

 
I was only half kidding when I posted the snowglobe pic. : )

Was it a fantasy? Well, it's just a TV show first off, so what does it really matter, right? Someone in the "comments" section pointed out that Walt presumed Jesse to be dead, so how would he end up in Walt's dream?

W/O taking in that article, I felt the finale was everything as a fan of the show I was hoping for.

How did you all feel about Walt's goodbye to his daughter and/or watching Flynn from afar? I know my wife was broken up by it, but it didn't resonate with me emotionally. During the course of the show, Walt didn't spend a heck of a lot of time with his newborn daughter, he was always too busy running off being a drug kingpin. On that note, I loved his final conversation/admission to Skylar.

I'll watch it a 2nd time now.
 
Scott F said:
Walt presumed Jesse to be dead, so how would he end up in Walt's dream?
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In the second last episode when Walt used Jesse's two friends to help threaten Gretchen and Elliot, it was revealed in the car that Jesse must still be alive as the blue meth is still being cooked at "Hisenberg" level.
 
Matthew B said:
In the second last episode when Walt used Jesse's two friends to help threaten Gretchen and Elliot, it was revealed in the car that Jesse must still be alive as the blue meth is still being cooked at "Hisenberg" level.
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That happened in the finale!.
 
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