Breaking Bad

Saephon

Die young and save yourself
I've seen a lot of people say that
Walt clearly meant to kill Jesse, or at least confront him about being a partner. And as much as that makes sense logically, I want to believe that by the time he got there he already suspected the "partnership" was a forced one. It just feels off to me that he spends the whole episode tying loose ends and making peace with his family, that he would drive to Jack's camp without the intention of making peace with arguably the one person he actually treated like family the whole show.

When he yelled at Jack with accusations of Jesse partnering up with him, I took it was an act, a desperate move to delay the gun currently being pointed at his head. Walt was a different man, one who owned up to his failings throughout all of "Felina". That's just how I want it to be though - I understand why others would disagree.

Also I don't think he planned anything in his final moments in that lab. I think he just wanted to die surrounded by what he loved, his true accomplishment in life. :badbone:
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Saephon said:
I've seen a lot of people say that
Walt clearly meant to kill Jesse

Including Vince Gilligan, called it the Searchers ending:

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-finale-vince-gilligan/


There's more insights in there, such has how they basically were going for the perfect ending, and, inadverdently, what's potentially problematic about that. A few days out I'm conflicted, they pretty much thought of how to best satisfy everyone/everything, an impressive feat and consistent with the shows methodical side, but by that same token it could be considered a lot of half measures when they could have gone all the way.
In past season finales this has memorably amounted to a new low for Walt to basically test the audience's sympathy for him (the oft-cited "how many viewers will we shed with THIS" mantra), such as if he did kill Jesse in cold blood, a final line in the sand if you will. Instead, Walt got a soft landing that could be enjoyed by his fans and detractors alike. Not that I'm complaining, it was perfectly fitting how it ended for those two, and the show has never crossed certain lines. Jesse and Walt always come back together and this was all consistent with those boundaries and precedent (as a matter of fact, my favorite moment was when Walt sees Jesse killing Todd and then absentmindedly goes for the gun to kill Jack, and inexplicably, for that moment, the band is back together for one last song =).
 
The final episode was not my favorite, but definitely had memorable and beautiful moments. It wasn't suspenseful because everyone knew that Walt would kill Lydia, the nazis, and then die since he no longer had any reason to live. The Schwartz money laundering scheme, admission to Skyler, and one last moment with his baby girl who's now grown curly hair did however take me by surprise.

This episode has my favorite music cue. It begins after Jesse chokes Todd to death and ends when Walt shoots Jack. It's infernal, nihilistic, badass, and awesome.

I haven't seen much of the Wire yet, just around the first 3 1/2 episodes, but I'll come back to it because of the universal praise. It definitely had things going for it, and I love D'Angelo, but didn't feel much anxiety and tension while watching it. I don't know if that will change for me in future episodes.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Saephon said:
When he yelled at Jack with accusations of Jesse partnering up with him, I took it was an act, a desperate move to delay the gun currently being pointed at his head. Walt was a different man, one who owned up to his failings throughout all of "Felina".
That's also how I interpreted the scene.

Groovy Metal Fist said:
I haven't seen much of the Wire yet, just around the first 3 1/2 episodes, but I'll come back to it because of the universal praise. It definitely had things going for it, and I love D'Angelo, but didn't feel much anxiety and tension while watching it. I don't know if that will change for me in future episodes.
There are certainly tense moments, but the show isn't driven by suspense.

Griffith said:
http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-finale-vince-gilligan/
Man, these interviews must be mortifying for a writer, explaining these things in detail. SO WHY'D THIS CHARACTER ACT THIS WAY? Uh, well it's sort of implicit if you- AND THEN YOU KILLED HIM. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING THERE? Did you watch the episode...? WHAT ABOU-.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Watched the ending again today and really enjoyed it, no pangs of disappointment, so I think it's going to hold up long term. Certainly seems that was the aim; nobody was really disappointed, let alone felt betrayed. That's hard to do in this day and age.

IncantatioN said:

I was until I saw the price. Yikes! My delusional mind was imagining it under $100.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
Watched the ending again today and really enjoyed it, no pangs of disappointment, so I think it's going to hold up long term. Certainly seems that was the aim; nobody was really disappointed, let alone felt betrayed. That's hard to do in this day and age.
Definitely. I also watched it again this week. Still felt a little disappointed, but acknowledged that it was still a huge accomplishment given all the moving parts this series had moving into that final episode.

I still feel a little gyped by the season split, and feel they could have accomplished more with a full season 5, and then a true 6th. But whatever, instead we got an extremely tight final season.

IncantatioN said:
I don't buy DVD/BluRays anymore, and I've never been a fan of those collectable gimmick things (where the hell do you put such a thing...?). I'll just watch the show on Netflix if I ever feel the need.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
Definitely. I also watched it again this week. Still felt a little disappointed, but acknowledged that it was still a huge accomplishment given all the moving parts this series had moving into that final episode.

I think it works best if you view it as an episode that happens to coincide with the end of the character's journey rather than the end of the series and all the vague, unfulfillable expectations that come with that (and worse, the end of ONE OF THE BEST SERIES EVER! Better be the best ending ever or it's disappointing; thoughtfully constructed to be as satisfying as possible? "Too safe").
Anyway, when you just think of it as another caper, but Walt happens to die at the end, it's one of the best. "In this the episode Walt wipes out a den of rival gangsters and saves Jesse with science and a cool machine gun trick. B story, he also gets all his affairs in order and happens to die."
Anyway, here's Vince Gilligan's take in his own words, minus tortuous interviewer prompting:

http://www.amctv.com/breaking-bad/videos/spoilers-inside-episode-516-breaking-bad-felina

He also confirms again that Walt was going to kill everyone in that room until the last second, for all the softies out there that didn't think that was sappy/horrible enough. =)

Walter said:
I still feel a little gyped by the season split, and feel they could have accomplished more with a full season 5, and then a true 6th. But whatever, instead we got an extremely tight final season.

I've been thinking about that a lot sine the finale. The flipside to how much they were able to effectively touch on in the time they had is how much more they could have fleshed it out, as in prior seasons. Last year Walt's time at the top amounted to two montages after four and a half seasons of buildup
, and this year Jesse's enslavement and Walt's exile amounted to less than two episodes.
I'm not saying they needed half a dozen more episodes of that material, but a little more time would have added a lot more weight to those situations (allow them to set in and feel like the norm, not just single episode scenarios) and breathing room elsewhere. Of course, that truncated format is what made Ozymandias so great, but also imbalanced the scales for the succeeding episodes including the finale. Anyway, they did a great job,
I think I was mostly disappointed Walt died. I stopped feeling that way when I remembered that we saw the alternative in the previous episode. BTW, and I can't be the first to suggest this, but if they so desired, Walt didn't necessarily HAVE to be dead in that final shot (just mostly dead). And with that, they really did have it every way imaginable. =)


Oh yeah, and the format certainly was ideal for them as far as reception went:

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-series-finale-ratings/

The difference between the ratings for this finale and what could have been the finale a couple years ago really are insane. It went from The Wire to The Sopranos relatively overnight in that regard. I wonder if that hurts it's all-time candidacy/cred. "Went too pop; overrated now." :carcus:
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Griffith said:
I was until I saw the price. Yikes! My delusional mind was imagining it under $100.

I'm hoping my fiancee will get it for me for Christmas. Otherwise, I'm going to have to save a little bit. :iva:

Walter said:
I don't buy DVD/BluRays anymore, and I've never been a fan of those collectable gimmick things (where the hell do you put such a thing...?). I'll just watch the show on Netflix if I ever feel the need.

I feel that way about some shows, but I buy the shows I really like.
 

Viral Harvest

Every Knee Bent Too Shall Break
Now that I've had nearly a week to sit on it, I can't say that I'm all that satisfied, but not disappointed either. I'm going to agree with what's been said her already, that we would have benefited from a full 5th and 6th season to wrap things up. Everything seemed rather rushed toward the end, and a large part of me would liked to see the aftermath of Walt's raid on the AB compound, rather than just a simple zoom-out of his dead body. It would have been cool to see scenes of Hank and Gomez being exhumed (tastefully) the crumbling of the meth empire via a mock news report, Skyler & Co.'s new life without Walt, Jesse's new life (by no means presented in a hokey way, of course) Maybe I'm asking for too much of a resolution, but for a show that built itself up to these heights, we deserve answers instead of ambiguity, no? I won't complain too much though, it's clearly up to the writers, it's their brainchild and not mine. Just not entirely satisfied.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Viral Harvest said:
a large part of me would liked to see the aftermath
of Walt's raid on the AB compound, rather than just a simple zoom-out of his dead body. It would have been cool to see scenes of Hank and Gomez being exhumed (tastefully) the crumbling of the meth empire via a mock news report, Skyler & Co.'s new life without Walt, Jesse's new life (by no means presented in a hokey way, of course)
Maybe I'm asking for too much of a resolution, but for a show that built itself up to these heights, we deserve answers instead of ambiguity, no?

That's an interesting take considering the consensus seems to be it tried to resolve everything pretty neatly, even to a fault. I certainly don't think there was much ambiguity
besides what becomes of Jesse and Walt Jr's money, but that's not really the point (in both cases I think the message is clearly happily ever, relatively speaking). So, considering the amount of resolution it had, I don't think the kind of scenes you describe were necessary or would have added much after Walt's death (it could even detract from what's supposed to be the final note, "Walt's dead, show's over"). I mean, we don't need to see them literally dig up Hank's corpse, whether Skyler and Jr. cry over Walt or not, or how the meth industry is affected (or Jesse becoming a chemistry teacher in Alaska :troll:). It's nice to leave a little to the imagination, such as whether Skyler will suspect the true reason Gretchen and Elliot are going to be so generous (I think so), or if, after a time, she'll ever try to explain Walt to Jr. and rehabilitate his family image somewhat, either directly or by simply not spurning his memory (maybe, maybe not, she kind of needs to disavow him for her own place in Jr's eyes).


Anyway, if you still need more resolution, you can always read Walter White's real life obituary! :guts:

http://www.today.com/entertainment/breaking-bad-fans-mourn-walter-white-newspaper-obit-8C11336454

(picture of how it appears in the paper see gallery):
http://main.abqjournal.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/wwhiteobitFULLpage.jpg

And if you thought the obit was a bit much, check this out...

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3196358.shtml?cat=500



UPDATE:

That full letter from Hopkins below is pretty damn cool. Nice summation of the program actually, plus an interesting observation on the long-term quality of the production from someone in a different part of the industry. I wonder if he usually watches television, because it's fascinating to think of a predominantly theater and film actor being blown away watching a peer at the top of their form getting to spend upwards of 60 hours exploring every aspect of the human condition with one character.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Anthony Hopkins wrote a fan letter to Bryan Cranston after binging on Breaking Bad: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/14/anthony-hopkins-breaking-bad-letter_n_4098441.html

[quote author=Hannibal Lecter]Your performance as Walter White was the best acting I have seen - ever.

I know there is so much smoke blowing and sickening bullshit in this business, and I've sort of lost belief in anything really.

But this work of yours is spectacular - absolutely stunning. [/quote]
:ubik:
 

Dar_Klink

Last Guardian when? - CyberKlink 20XX before dying
Walter said:
I'll Break You Bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY_k2WfTPOw
Let me tell you about Heisenchu, the Electric Methhog Pokemon! :ganishka:

I'm glad that was one of Chris-chan's less cringeworthy/disgusting videos.
 
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