[Spoilers] Breaking Bad - The whole thing felt kinda shady, y'know, morality-wise?

[Lord Flashheart]

I changed my mind about the best part of the finale: the best part now is that Badfinger is getting a lot of recognition for being an underrated group.

Yeah...idk about that. I think Badfinger gets rated right where they deserve. Now Marty Robbins and the opening song, that deserves some recognition for being such a perfect fit.

Also the only negative review I have seen was written by someone from "The New Yorker" so hipster assholes aside I'd say the finale was perfect.

[Grey Words]

Or simply, "time's up" (since the face of the watch faced up). I don't know.

Just rewatched the episode, like a previous poster I thought it was much better the second time. Truly a masterful ending to a magnificent show.

Literally "time's up", got to love that inadvertent symbolism.. I too enjoyed the second viewing much more than the first - the cinematography was rich and filled with beautiful little details like the oversized empty feeling of Gretchen and Elliot's home and the dull, grittiness of Uncle Jack's compound. So much to take in.

[flinn]

Walt definitely did it for selfish reason. I think he always cared about his family but was to arrogant to acknowledge that he was putting them in real danger, but you need only refer to that "I'm in the empire business..." scene to know that it was beyond family and into stroking his ego. Like Jesse told him, if he sold out to Declan he would still have had way more money than he ever dreamed of making at the start of this thing, but Walt was on a power trip.

No doubt about it. If it were about his family, he could have quit after season 4. Instead he wanted to take over and become Gus.

He was never a pimple on Gus' ass though. His ego drove him more than anything IMO.

[Martell Spy]

Yeah, the opening song was great, too, when he got the car working. Catch a bullet indeed.

Of course, the best song of the series was "Crystal Blue Persuasion." Really hard to top that one, LOL.

[7V3N]

Yeah, the opening song was great, too, when he got the car working. Catch a bullet indeed.

Of course, the best song of the series was "Crystal Blue Persuasion." Really hard to top that one, LOL.

Negro y Azul. Topped.

[Azzanadra]

Yeah, the opening song was great, too, when he got the car working. Catch a bullet indeed.

Of course, the best song of the series was "Crystal Blue Persuasion." Really hard to top that one, LOL.

The first time i heard it in the show, I thought the song was made for the show. After a quick Google search, I found out it wasn't... the team must have been waiting for the right moment to use that.

[Ramsay Gimp]

No doubt about it. If it were about his family, he could have quit after season 4. Instead he wanted to take over and become Gus.

He was never a pimple on Gus' ass though. His ego drove him more than anything IMO.

Do "pimples" usually take over and kill off the head? You're underestimating Walt, the same mistake Tuco, Gus, Hank, and Jack made.

I find it fascinating that in the pilot, Breaking Bad appeared to be about what a man would do when pushed into a desperate situation and with nothing to lose. But looking back, that's clearly not the case. It was the story of a brilliant yet unappreciated man becoming the supervillain he was always meant to be. Usually his enemies were other villains, so we could root for him. But the show didn't spare us his innocent victims

[Jabronius Maximus]

It was the story of a brilliant yet unappreciated man becoming the supervillain he was always meant to be.

This is interesting. For a long time I've thought that given his personal traits, Walt was always destined to do something 'exceptional'. He had an 'empire state of mind', and a person like that with Walt's level of intelligence could only be repressed for so long. Well I guess that's the premise of the entire show, but the point is the milquetoast, lame Walt was never real, just part of the bitter callous built up by years of regret. In Felina we saw Walt for exactly who he was.

Edit: and now is probably the beginning of what will be years of debate on whether Walt is a villain or anti-hero.

[Harle The Handsome]

I find it fascinating that in the pilot, Breaking Bad appeared to be about what a man would do when pushed into a desperate situation and with nothing to lose. But looking back, that's clearly not the case. It was the story of a brilliant yet unappreciated man becoming the supervillain he was always meant to be.

I disagree with the idea that he was always meant to be a supervillain. He simply lost perspective of the consequences of his actions. It wasn't until Ozymandias where he was suddenly forced to reconcile the cumulative consequences of his decisions. It wasn't until the Aryan Brotherhood was about to kill Hank that the consequences of Walter actions really sank in. Watching the scene where he offers the AB all his money if they let Hank live, I could feel him thinking in his head, "If they kill him I am truly lost."

Felina, strangely enough, reminds me of an eposide of CSI:NY that guest starred Edward James Olmos. He was the founder of a street gang who grew disgusted with what he created turned into. He kept saying how they were created to protect the neighborhood, but now they were what the neighborhood feared. he died-shot by the hero-only after he had killed the monster he created.

[Nathanael]

I fall into that apparently small minority of people who were somewhat dissatisfied with the ending. It was neat and tidy, yes, and I also did not feel like Walt had earned his victory nor did anything that qualified as redemption. I know many will list the things he "lost" so it wasn't really that big of a win, but ultimately I don't think he really cared as much about most of the areas where he lost vs where he won, the only exception being the respect of his son. A great comment I saw on one of the reviews I've read mentioned the hair's breadth of distance between being "the man who sacrifices everything to provide for his family" and "the man who wants to think of himself as the man who sacrifices everything to provide for his family," and I think Walt, even in the finale, falls squarely on the other side of this line.

I also found a bit off because for a season that was spent showing that Walt was not as infallible and powerful as he liked to believe, the finale felt a bit like, "No, wait a minute, actually Walt is as awesome as he thinks he is."

I liked that New Yorker article. The review I've read that matches my perspective most closely is probably the NPR review.

Here, however, I could not escape the feeling that by earning anyone's sympathy, Walt was getting away with one last self-aggrandizing con.

After all, you can see in his trip to Gretchen and Elliott's house the maneuver of a man manipulating nasty rich people into doing the right thing, even while being too harmless now to really hire hit men.

But you can also see in it Walt's continuing use of violence to get over on his utterly blameless son one last time, figuring out how to snooker Junior into doing the one thing he most wants to avoid: unwittingly living on his father's drug money.

Do Skyler and Walter Jr. not have the right to make the decision not to accept the money? Is that not their own choice? Is that not Skyler's own grasp at grace?

I also liked this article on Slate (not the review that the NPR article mentions being opposed to):

And this is where the finale is not quite so satisfying: After everything, after five seasons in which the writers were clocking Walt’s every misdeed, at the very end, they turned out to be Team Walt. Despite everything he did, Walt was rewarded—not with life, too much had gone down for that—but with a death on his own terms. He died having provided for his family, without going to jail or giving up on his legend. (Imagine the news story: “Druglord Heinsenberg found in Neo-Nazi compound: Dozens dead, booby-trapped car found on premises.” Walt would have loved that.)

That said, Breaking Bad is still a fantastic show, that will reign on the list of the all-time greats. And I'm happy for the countless out there who disagree with me and were fully satisfied by the ending.

[Eponine]

Thanks for posting that NPR article, I thought it was great.

[Relic]

That said, Breaking Bad is still a fantastic show, that will reign on the list of the all-time greats. And I'm happy for the countless out there who disagree with me and were fully satisfied by the ending.

Same here. Well said.

[Ramsay Gimp]

I disagree with the idea that he was always meant to be a supervillain. He simply lost perspective of the consequences of his actions. It wasn't until Ozymandias where he was suddenly forced to reconcile the cumulative consequences of his decisions. It wasn't until the Aryan Brotherhood was about to kill Hank that the consequences of Walter actions really sank in. Watching the scene where he offers the AB all his money if they let Hank live, I could feel him thinking in his head, "If they kill him I am truly lost."

Felina, strangely enough, reminds me of an eposide of CSI:NY that guest starred Edward James Olmos. He was the founder of a street gang who grew disgusted with what he created turned into. He kept saying how they were created to protect the neighborhood, but now they were what the neighborhood feared. he died-shot by the hero-only after he had killed the monster he created.

He admits that he liked being a criminal. Just because he didn't intend for certain events to happen and now regrets them doesn't mean he is less of a supervillain. I use that term not to say he is super-evil, but that he is a genius bad guy who hatches amazing schemes. Walt's cancer diagnosis allowed him to shed both his moral inhibitions and his fear (the fear he'd felt all his life) and unleash his full potential.

This is interesting. For a long time I've thought that given his personal traits, Walt was always destined to do something 'exceptional'. He had an 'empire state of mind', and a person like that with Walt's level of intelligence could only be repressed for so long. Well I guess that's the premise of the entire show, but the point is the milquetoast, lame Walt was never real, just part of the bitter callous built up by years of regret. In Felina we saw Walt for exactly who he was.

Edit: and now is probably the beginning of what will be years of debate on whether Walt is a villain or anti-hero.

For my part, he went from anti-hero to villain at the end of season 4 and thru 5A, and back to anti-hero in season 5B.

[Lord Flashheart]

People not fully enjoying the finale I can understand, but not agree with. What I can't understand is people complaining about how everything was so neatly tied up. As far as I recall watching BB, every season ended with a nice tie up, as opposed to cliffhangers and leaving things open ended. This finale seems to fit the mold of the show.

[Ramsay Gimp]

I think "Ozymandias" was the ending for people who didn't want Walt to get off easy or go out looking good. The show could well have ended with him riding off in that van, life ruined, and Jesse trapped in hell. I view the last two episodes as an optional epilogue (that I choose to accept as real)

[Francis Buck]

People not fully enjoying the finale I can understand, but not agree with. What I can't understand is people complaining about how everything was so neatly tied up. As far as I recall watching BB, every season ended with a nice tie up, as opposed to cliffhangers and leaving things open ended. This finale seems to fit the mold of the show.

Feelings on the ending aside, pretty much every season (aside from, perhaps, four) ended with a pretty significant cliffhanger and ton of unresolved story threads. How someone couldn't consider the ending of season three a cliffhanger is kinda mind-boggling to me.

[Aemon Stark]

All good stories need a denouement. There may be some school of thought that the abrupt climax of "Ozymandias" might have been more "artistic" as a final ending. But I think we needed time to mull over everything that happened. And I did NOT want Jesse to end up a prisoner of Meth Damon and his swastika-adorned brethren.

And beyond anything else in "Felina", we needed to see Walt admit to himself that he did everything for himself, even if it took months of exile and solitude for him to realize that.

[Lord Flashheart]

Feelings on the ending aside, pretty much every season (aside from, perhaps, four) ended with a pretty significant cliffhanger and ton of unresolved story threads. How someone couldn't consider the ending of season three a cliffhanger is kinda mind-boggling to me.

Whats that, the one where Jessie is at Gale's door? I'll give you that's a definite cliffhanger, but one with an obvious outcome.

[Jabronius Maximus]

Every season has ended on a major climax, except s5. Season 1 ended with Tuco showing his fully insane side, something that would be dealt with in s2. S2 ended with the plane crash and Walt getting kicked out (and earlier, Jane dying), and these would be dealt with the following season as well. Ditto for s3 with Gale's death and s4 with Gus'. S5 was different in that the 'real finale' in terms of climax was Ozymandias, and of course the rest was a wrap-up. And I stand by what I said earlier that not only is it the show's ultimate climax, but it could (and probably should) have been the final episode of the series. It's just that those pesky flash forwards made the denouement a necessity.

Now I loved the ending and agree that Felina was the best way to end Walt's story. It's just that if S5 followed the trajectory of the earlier seasons, then Ozymandias would've been the rather explosive finale.

[Castel]

Walt isn't an average person, though. The question is whether Walt was a chemist, or a chemical engineer?

Do "pimples" usually take over and kill off the head? You're underestimating Walt, the same mistake Tuco, Gus, Hank, and Jack made.

I find it fascinating that in the pilot, Breaking Bad appeared to be about what a man would do when pushed into a desperate situation and with nothing to lose. But looking back, that's clearly not the case. It was the story of a brilliant yet unappreciated man becoming the supervillain he was always meant to be. Usually his enemies were other villains, so we could root for him. But the show didn't spare us his innocent victims

That. I was greatly amused when Hank refused to take Jesse's fear of meeting Walt seriously, just like Jane did. In the series only Jesse seems to realize just what a dangerous fucking bastard he can be with a little prep. And it's not just limited to cooking up some ridiculous compound that can atomize you with a single breath either, look at the tape.

Ultimately Jesse was right, everyone who met him on his terms instead of blowing him away regretted it.

This is interesting. For a long time I've thought that given his personal traits, Walt was always destined to do something 'exceptional'. He had an 'empire state of mind', and a person like that with Walt's level of intelligence could only be repressed for so long. Well I guess that's the premise of the entire show, but the point is the milquetoast, lame Walt was never real, just part of the bitter callous built up by years of regret. In Felina we saw Walt for exactly who he was.

Not sure I agree. But then, I don't agree that people with X personality traits must Y. It was the cancer that let Walt escape his depressing little life. Without it...he gets crushed under a life of bills and mediocrity. Or he fucks himself, over and over and over until he's even lower. He seemed to have stabilized by the beginning of the series but you never know.