[quote]RampantBadger wrote:
That was suprisingly satisfying. I didn’t think they could tie up all those loose ends in one episode but somehow pulled it off.
I liked how Walt was given a couple of final evil-genius flourishes and that Jesse seemed to recognize his benevolence.
I’m never touching stevia.[/quote]
Agreed. Wow!
I don’t think a TV series ever had such an emotional impact on me…
All I could think about in the final minutes was how far this unlikely duo had come in 2 years… How 2 years ago it started, for a lack of better word, rather innocently…
Makes me also think how far I’ve come since first watching this series and how profoundly my life has changed since then, how much I’ve seen and how it changed mef…
I could not have envisioned this going nearly the way it did, but I am ever so glad at how it went out. I expected to be depressed and ruined by the end of the finale, but instead I found myself uplifted, deeply satisfied, marvelling at the beauty of it all. No more deceptive words from Walt to the ones that he loves, but finally the unbridled truth. I adore the final two shots, with the reflective metal on the container showing us the face of the cold, dark Heisenberg that took over, then suddenly back to the Walter White that this man went out as, showing a wave of justice and means to amend his wrongs in his final days.
I love the mirroring of the end to Crawl Space, a very similar shot, whereas Walt was once panicked and maniacal on pondering his (what he expected to be then) inevitable death, here he is at peace in the same thought, knowing that he left doing something for the betterment of all the benevolent people he has wronged.
It was a beautiful, beautiful episode, and a fitting end to a man that had such hard times travelling the slippery slope of his morality. I am deeply moved by the finale, and shall regard Breaking Bad as one of the best, most passionately created shows I could have ever hoped to see.
Great episode. The gun mount was just pure awesomeness. I did not see that scene with the Grey Matter people going in that direction. I loved this show because every time I had the thought that I knew what was going to happen it somehow still got me.
[quote]Big Kahuna wrote:
I expected to be depressed and ruined by the end of the finale, but instead I found myself uplifted, deeply satisfied, marvelling at the beauty of it all.
It was a beautiful, beautiful episode, and a fitting end to a man that had such hard times travelling the slippery slope of his morality. I am deeply moved by the finale, and shall regard Breaking Bad as one of the best, most passionately created shows I could have ever hoped to see.[/quote]
You must have read my mind…EXACTLY the way I feel. Exactly.
I found myself staring at the screen feeling warm inside and utterly satisfied with how it ended. I was quietly saying:“see Battlestar Gallactiica writers, that’s how it’s done!”
“Say, Walt, what’s to stop these two amazing hit men from just killing all three of us and taking the $9 million? You know, instead of following the two of us around for the next few years for only $100k apiece.”
“Say, Walt, mind popping your trunk for me? You know, since were’ already frisking you and all.”
“Say, Walt, mind if every single one of us hangs out in this room directly in front of where you parked?”
“Say, Walt, mind if I just throw your keys in my pocket rather than just laying them out in plain view?”
“Say, Walt, mind if I take you into a house to shoot you all over the furniture rather than just popping you outdoors right away and spraying the ground with a hose?”
Fairly predictable, “safe” ending, IMO.
NTTAWWT, it was very well executed and wrapped everything up nicely.
[quote]sonnyp wrote:
The ending that no one predicted, you call predictable? OK man.[/quote]
Which part did “no one” predict?
Using the machine gun to kill the Nazis? What else was he going to do with it, storm Grey Matter and leave that whole “Jesse Captured/Hank unavenged” thing hanging?
Jesse killing Todd? What else did you think would happen after Todd capped Andrea?
Using the ricin on Lydia? Ever noticed her obsession with Stevia?
Walt dying from a gunshot? Though, to be fair, most thought he would be shot in the head due to an image I’m not going to bother tracking down.
Walt making some semblance of peace with his family? The show never pushed hard enough for anyone to think that wouldn’t happen.
I’m not saying I could have called every single scene, or that I brainstormed each and every point above, but come on. Where have you been that had “no one” calling any of that?
Again, I’m not saying that predictable = bad. What happened was an excellently-executed, neat ending… but just because “no one” ON THIS BOARD mentioned any of that doesn’t mean “no one” EVER called any of that.
[quote]anonym wrote:
Again, I’m not saying that predictable = bad. What happened was an excellently-executed, neat ending… but just because “no one” ON THIS BOARD mentioned any of that doesn’t mean “no one” EVER called any of that.[/quote]
Yeah…I’m not as into the show as you guys are and not very good at predicting things, but was pretty obvious what was going to happen.
[quote]sonnyp wrote:
The ending that no one predicted, you call predictable? OK man.[/quote]
Actually pretty much everyone predicted that:
Walt would die
Jesse would escape
The Nazis would die
from the gun we knew Walt had
The ricin would get used to kill someone
Walt would reveal the location of Hank and Gomez’ bodies
Edit: Oh yeah and everyone knew Todd was getting killed by Jesse
I think the season as a whole was fairly unpredictable. After every episode everyone had a new theory on how it was going to end. If you look at the last episode by itself (knowing everything we did) it was a little bit predictable. But I do not think most anyone could have predicted it a few weeks ago. I think that shows that they just set the final episode up really well with the other 7 episodes.
[quote]anonym wrote:
“Say, Walt, what’s to stop these two amazing hit men from just killing all three of us and taking the $9 million? You know, instead of following the two of us around for the next few years for only $100k apiece.”
Hitmen who shoot their employers would never find work again and 4.5 mil might not be enough for someone in such a high-risk trade to retire forever.
Also, just because the hit is out doesn’t mean they have to follow them 24/7, they can just hit at random.
“Say, Walt, mind popping your trunk for me? You know, since were’ already frisking you and all.”
Meh
“Say, Walt, mind if every single one of us hangs out in this room directly in front of where you parked?”
“Say, Walt, mind if I just throw your keys in my pocket rather than just laying them out in plain view?”
Yeah that would’ve been a deal breaker
“Say, Walt, mind if I take you into a house to shoot you all over the furniture rather than just popping you outdoors right away and spraying the ground with a hose?”
Fairly predictable, “safe” ending, IMO.
NTTAWWT, it was very well executed and wrapped everything up nicely.[/quote]
The only slight blooper for me was how he managed to get back to his hut and get the 11 million once he’d alerted all law enforcement in north America to his location. When he stole the car he just had the 100 grand in the box [and the Marty Robbins tape ]
[quote]RampantBadger wrote:
The only slight blooper for me was how he managed to get back to his hut and get the 11 million once he’d alerted all law enforcement in north America to his location. When he stole the car he just had the 100 grand in the box [and the Marty Robbins tape ][/quote]
Coz he’s fuckin Heisenberg But I take your point, hadn’t really considered that.
Really solid ending to the series, I thought. No real ‘Holy Shit’ moments - but there were plenty of those in the lead-up to this episode. Just wrapped things up nicely. Perhaps a little too nicely (Skylar and her sis reconciling so easily, esp after Hank’s death), but as a viewer you can wear shit like that.
For mine, this was/is the greatest show of all time.
I like that they had White die alone, having not reclaimed the rest of his money. Just setting his kid up with 9 million was a little too much happy ending for me. He destroyed people around him. Associated with skinheads and child killers. And, was a murderer himself, after all. Still he died alone, on the floor of a warehouse, with only his reflection on a chemical tank as his last companionship.
Frankly, he lied to Skylar. Part of all of his doings, especially in the beginning, was because of his misguided idea of making sure the family was taken care of. In fact, you see his emotional breakdown in the prior episode, when his son fully rejects him. Prior to that, he was willing to go to prison than see Hank murdered (though the neo-nazis showed up anyways). He wasn’t faking any of that. I think he told her that so she wouldn’t mourn anew for Walter White, when she caught the news later on. “Walter White has been dead for some time. You’ve already started working through the loss of him. The dead man you’ll hear about in the news later is a completely different person. Completely a monster you needn’t and shouldn’t mourn.” She’s already been working through the ‘loss’ of W.W. No need to start her through the stages of grief all over again, when news broadcasts began recounting his death (which he must’ve considered a likely outcome, if not planned). Don’t forget, he asked to see his daughter one last time.
Nope, he failed in his primary goal. And he knew it. He was no different than any thuggish kingpin. Taking the lives of, or at least destroying them, those around him. But even less liked and respected than many ‘kingpins.’ He irrevocably destroyed one aspect of his life (his family). And his relationships in the other aspect (Mike, Pinkman). He had no choice now but to find some shred of satisfaction in revenge, and in protecting a family (don’t forget he knew about Todd’s visit to the White home) that wanted nothing more to do with him.
A bad man died alone, on the floor of a warehouse in a neo-nazi compound, with his relationships shattered. Only a fraction of his money possibly going (let’s not assume it ever actually gets paid out) to his son. A son that despises him. An adopted son/partner (Pinkman) that would rather leave him to die a slower death from bleeding out than carry out a vengeance that would put White out his misery quickly. Basically, “Die slow, BITCH!”
Nope, it wasn’t the ending he had worked and planned for. It was the best he could get out of the mess he caused. Ultimately, he wasn’t clever enough.
I liked how the situation in the Skinheads’ compound played out a little bit like with that Latino psycho in the first series, with Walt going in unarmed but with a harmless looking ace up his sleeve.
I had a hard time suspending disbelief when he just kept showing up in all of these places that were under surveillance.
But I take your point, hadn’t really considered that.