The Breaking Bad Finale Discussion Thread [SPOILERS WITHIN - UP TO FINALE]

[Forsaken]

From reddit, he's finally in control of where he goes

[dalsh327]

I'll probably go back and give the podcasts for the second half of season 5 a listen. I think I want to watch the series again in about a year with the commentary and aftershow podcast the next go round.

To me it was the ultimate "the action is the juice" ending. You kick ass and make money just for the sake of it and make sure your family are safe. Thats all you can do.

Dexter will never change, hes still out there cutting up lumberjacks.

Both Walt and Dexter had to die to save they family.

Its obviously imperial propanganda.

I don't know if Dexter was a long haul driver where he would be able to kill at random truck stops because he's not under Harry's Code anymore.

Walt knew the end was inevitable, but the show was about him going from the nerdy nice guy schoolteacher who was pushed around most of his life, into a full on outlaw.

He rejected his former partners' money in the beginning, and then forced their hand to give up their millions.

The question I had was why was Walt Jr/Flynn not to know his dad didn't kill his Uncle Hank?

[Lithium]

I've been thinking about the finale all day - the more I think of it, the more I appreciate it. I have the same feeling I had when The Sopranos ended. I didn't think there would be another show in the same league as that and The Wire for a long time, but then came Breaking Bad just a year later. I really hope the same thing will happen this time around.

Edited September 30, 2013 by Lithium

[Forsaken]

I've been thinking about the finale all day - the more I think of it, the more I appreciate it. I have the same feeling I had when The Sopranos ended. I didn't think there would be another show in the same league as that and The Wire for a long time, but then came Breaking Bad just a year later. I really hope the same thing will happen this time around.

Yeah. All I can think of is another show to take its place, not sure what it's going to be.

[Tater Totts]

I've been thinking about the finale all day - the more I think of it, the more I appreciate it. I have the same feeling I had when The Sopranos ended. I didn't think there would be another show in the same league as that and The Wire for a long time, but then came Breaking Bad just a year later. I really hope the same thing will happen this time around.

Yeah. All I can think of is another show to take its place, not sure what it's going to be.

Low Winter Sun?

[Forsaken]

That show truly is awful. I've tried to watch it, and would be genuinely surprised if it made it past a 2nd season.

[Estranged Reality]

Pretty sure Saoul can go back and do buisness

Everyone is dead now... sure Jesse won't be a problem and Huell is still in that hotel, he needs someone to help him

The cool thing is that I'd be very surprised, given the dark humor of Vince Gilligan, if they don't feature some kind of blink-and-you-miss-it interaction with Walt or Jesse. Like, I could easily see a scene where Saul enters a prison, and passes by a jail cell and Jesse is in there and calls him a bitch when he walks by or something. Nothing that would cheapen Breaking Bad, but enough that would please fans.

[Powerage5]

I've been thinking about the finale all day - the more I think of it, the more I appreciate it. I have the same feeling I had when The Sopranos ended. I didn't think there would be another show in the same league as that and The Wire for a long time, but then came Breaking Bad just a year later. I really hope the same thing will happen this time around.

Same here. Last night I felt a little underwhelmed, but after watching it again it's really growing on me.

[Estranged Reality]

I've been thinking about the finale all day - the more I think of it, the more I appreciate it. I have the same feeling I had when The Sopranos ended. I didn't think there would be another show in the same league as that and The Wire for a long time, but then came Breaking Bad just a year later. I really hope the same thing will happen this time around.

Yeah. All I can think of is another show to take its place, not sure what it's going to be.

Nothing quite the same as Breaking Bad, but Masters of Sex is a new show that's getting rave reviews.

[Forsaken]

I've been thinking about the finale all day - the more I think of it, the more I appreciate it. I have the same feeling I had when The Sopranos ended. I didn't think there would be another show in the same league as that and The Wire for a long time, but then came Breaking Bad just a year later. I really hope the same thing will happen this time around.

Yeah. All I can think of is another show to take its place, not sure what it's going to be.

Nothing quite the same as Breaking Bad, but Masters of Sex is a new show that's getting rave reviews.

The premiere was last night, right? I might check it out.

[Nobodys_Fault]

That was a great finale. Very satisfied with the ending.

[RussTCB]

The Onion's take:

‘Breaking Bad’ Ends With Reveal That Whole Series Was Plot Of Book Marie Shoplifted

NEWS IN BRIEF • Entertainment • ISSUE 49•39 • Sep 29, 2013

LOS ANGELES—Capping off five seasons of critically acclaimed television, the AMC series Breaking Bad concluded its run Sunday night with the shocking revelation that the entirety of the show’s story—from Walter White’s diagnosis with cancer to his transformation into a ruthless methamphetamine kingpin—was in fact merely the plotline of a crime novel that character Marie Schrader had shoplifted from a local bookstore. “What I wanted to create for the finale was an uncompromising conclusion focused on the show’s true emotional core: Marie’s kleptomania,” show creator Vince Gilligan said of the episode’s revelatory last scene, in which flashbacks to beloved moments from the show are intercut with shots of Marie flipping to chapters in the novel such as “Heisenberg’s New Hat,” “Trouble With Gus,” and “The Train Robbery.” “From day one of writing the show, I knew exactly how the story would play out: with virtually all of its central characters other than Marie—including Walter White, Jesse Pinkman, Saul Goodman, everyone—revealed to be fictitious figures in a paperback thriller Marie felt compelled to slip into her jacket in an Albuquerque-area Barnes & Noble. Marie uses this pulp crime novel to help herself deal with the guilt she has stemming from her own very real criminal behavior, which she tries desperately to hide from her husband, local mineralogist Hank Schrader.” Gilligan told reporters he is especially pleased with the final shot of the series, in which Marie closes the stolen book, revealing it had been titled Breaking Bad all along.

[Powerage5]

http://tvline.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-ratings-series-finale-10-million-viewers/

Last night had the highest viewings of the series: 10.3 million people tuned in. The previous record was 6.6 million, for Granite State. Hard to believe a year ago, Gliding Over All set the bar high at a mere 2.8 million...

[SunnyDRE]

Notice how Walt never says he is "sorry" - to anyone.

[Powerage5]

Notice how Walt never says he is "sorry" - to anyone.

Except Todd and Lydia

[Bobbo]

http://tvline.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-ratings-series-finale-10-million-viewers/

Last night had the highest viewings of the series: 10.3 million people tuned in. The previous record was 6.6 million, for Granite State. Hard to believe a year ago, Gliding Over All set the bar high at a mere 2.8 million...

God damn! That's quite the leap!

It's funny because I was talking to my sister about this today. I first started watching this show a month or two before season 4 began. And at that time, although nearly universally acclaimed, nobody I knew really knew much about the series, or even the mere fact it existed.

Then after last summers cliff hanger, it became this huggggeee sensation and everybody jumped on the bandwagon for the last stretch. Fucking crazy how that works sometimes.

[luciusfunk]

I've been thinking about the finale all day - the more I think of it, the more I appreciate it. I have the same feeling I had when The Sopranos ended. I didn't think there would be another show in the same league as that and The Wire for a long time, but then came Breaking Bad just a year later. I really hope the same thing will happen this time around.

Yeah. All I can think of is another show to take its place, not sure what it's going to be.

Low Winter Sun?

[highvoltage]

I thought it was an incredible finish. Very satisfying for me overall.

Ozymandias was the peak as far as the "action" goes, the final two episodes really tied up the story and the character overall.

I love how Gilligan gave us the ending that most had hoped for / predicted, but as always, presented it in a way that kept you guessing throughout.

He had so many "fan favourite" elements in the final episode... the bacon birthday plate, Walt got his "science geek" on with the M60, the ricin finally got used, we got to see the meth lab one more time, he had a true, honest moment with both Jesse and Skylar. I loved it.

[SunnyDRE]

After re-watching, have no problem with the ending - been cool though if Walt would have blown up the lab.

[Bobbo]

I thought it was an incredible finish. Very satisfying for me overall.

Ozymandias was the peak as far as the "action" goes, the final two episodes really tied up the story and the character overall.

I love how Gilligan gave us the ending that most had hoped for / predicted, but as always, presented it in a way that kept you guessing throughout.

He had so many "fan favourite" elements in the final episode... the bacon birthday plate, Walt got his "science geek" on with the M60, the ricin finally got used, we got to see the meth lab one more time, he had a true, honest moment with both Jesse and Skylar. I loved it.

Word for word exactly how I feel about it.

[Powerage5]

http://tvline.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-ratings-series-finale-10-million-viewers/

Last night had the highest viewings of the series: 10.3 million people tuned in. The previous record was 6.6 million, for Granite State. Hard to believe a year ago, Gliding Over All set the bar high at a mere 2.8 million...

God damn! That's quite the leap!

It's funny because I was talking to my sister about this today. I first started watching this show a month or two before season 4 began. And at that time, although nearly universally acclaimed, nobody I knew really knew much about the series, or even the mere fact it existed.

Then after last summers cliff hanger, it became this huggggeee sensation and everybody jumped on the bandwagon for the last stretch. Fucking crazy how that works sometimes.

I "jumped on the bandwagon" after season 5a, but I'd been hearing about it for a year or so. Actually, my roommate and I were really bored one day and looking for something to watch on Netflix. Breaking Bad popped up as a recommendation, and we were both kind of like "fuck it, let's give it a shot". So I guess I kinda started watching it by accident

I thought it was an incredible finish. Very satisfying for me overall.

Ozymandias was the peak as far as the "action" goes, the final two episodes really tied up the story and the character overall.

I love how Gilligan gave us the ending that most had hoped for / predicted, but as always, presented it in a way that kept you guessing throughout.

He had so many "fan favourite" elements in the final episode... the bacon birthday plate, Walt got his "science geek" on with the M60, the ricin finally got used, we got to see the meth lab one more time, he had a true, honest moment with both Jesse and Skylar. I loved it.

Exactly how I feel too. Nicely put.

After re-watching, have no problem with the ending - been cool though if Walt would have blown up the lab.

I dunno, I think it's kind of fitting that Walt died with his one true love. Don't think it would've been as satisfying if he'd blown it up.

One other point I read on Reddit worth mentioning - by him dying in the meth lab where a batch had just finished cooking, it would appear to the cops that he was always behind the blue meth, even after he got out of the business. No one else gets credit for it, and it's the last little egotistical Heisenberg moment we get.

[bacardimayne]

[dalsh327]

Funny Or Die gathered a bunch of Breaking Bad gifs a year ago. Some funny ones in there.

http://www.funnyordie.com/lists/51e11b74ab/the-60-best-breaking-bad-gifs

[chevelle]

After re-watching, have no problem with the ending - been cool though if Walt would have blown up the lab.

Now that I think on it, I really wish he did - Jesse's fingerprints are obviously all over it. And now he can't even get Saul's guy to disappear him since Saul is gone himself.

[Patience 4 Axl]

I thought the ending was great. I'm just disappointed it had to end at all. Lots of people were talking about it at worked today, and I actually felt a little bummed. Last time I felt like this over a show was the Sopranos, and at the time I thought maybe it was because I really wasn't happy with how it ended. But I realized that every once in a while a show comes along and just takes hold of you, becomes a part of your life, and it's hard to say goodbye.