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

[spunko12345]

I like open endings.

I don't mind open endings in a movie, when it's used the right way. Not a huge deal if I walk out of a theater feeling confused or even annoyed by an ending, I've only wasted an hour and a half or so of my life.

But a tv show where I've invested years getting to know these characters, forming a bond with them, rearranging my schedule at times to watch, discussing plots and subplots with other fans, etc., and I'm going to just be left hanging? Nah, that sucks. I think that's why I was so annoyed by the Sopranos, that ending almost felt like a cop out, like the writers didn't want to take responsibility for whatever happened. Don't leave it to me, I'm not writing your damn show, do your job like you've been doing since day one and tell me how you want to end this. It wasn't my decision to end the show, if it was up to me it would still be going on, so go ahead, tell me what happens...

That's why I was satisfied with the way this ended. Sure there were a few things left to ponder, nothing major though, and not about the one guy who mattered the most. Walt was going to die one way or another, we all knew that from the beginning, I'm just happy it wasn't left up to me to try and figure out how.

Nice post and I agree that the ending of the Sopranos was heartbreaking (in a huge let down type of way). The only logical reason (I could think of) as for a reason for the Sopranos ending was that David Chase has anticipated either writing a movie or having some type of "reunion" show. But given the fact that James Gandolfini has since passed away, that idea no longer holds any water...and if they did try to come back with some type of movie or show, it would obviously have to be with Tony no longer in the picture.

I never got the impression there was going to be a sequel or a movie, maybe a prequel set in the 50s and 60s, but then you're getting into Goodfellas comparisons/tones. Chase did do a movie about a group of kids starting a band in the 1960s that had Gandolfini in it and Steve Van Zandt coordinating the music for the film.

There's few series that end well. It seems to be a consistent complaint, but I think spinoffs are the worst thing to do when a series ends. I can't think of one that's ever worked.

Fraiser?

[dalsh327]

I like open endings.

I don't mind open endings in a movie, when it's used the right way. Not a huge deal if I walk out of a theater feeling confused or even annoyed by an ending, I've only wasted an hour and a half or so of my life.

But a tv show where I've invested years getting to know these characters, forming a bond with them, rearranging my schedule at times to watch, discussing plots and subplots with other fans, etc., and I'm going to just be left hanging? Nah, that sucks. I think that's why I was so annoyed by the Sopranos, that ending almost felt like a cop out, like the writers didn't want to take responsibility for whatever happened. Don't leave it to me, I'm not writing your damn show, do your job like you've been doing since day one and tell me how you want to end this. It wasn't my decision to end the show, if it was up to me it would still be going on, so go ahead, tell me what happens...

That's why I was satisfied with the way this ended. Sure there were a few things left to ponder, nothing major though, and not about the one guy who mattered the most. Walt was going to die one way or another, we all knew that from the beginning, I'm just happy it wasn't left up to me to try and figure out how.

Nice post and I agree that the ending of the Sopranos was heartbreaking (in a huge let down type of way). The only logical reason (I could think of) as for a reason for the Sopranos ending was that David Chase has anticipated either writing a movie or having some type of "reunion" show. But given the fact that James Gandolfini has since passed away, that idea no longer holds any water...and if they did try to come back with some type of movie or show, it would obviously have to be with Tony no longer in the picture.

I never got the impression there was going to be a sequel or a movie, maybe a prequel set in the 50s and 60s, but then you're getting into Goodfellas comparisons/tones. Chase did do a movie about a group of kids starting a band in the 1960s that had Gandolfini in it and Steve Van Zandt coordinating the music for the film.

There's few series that end well. It seems to be a consistent complaint, but I think spinoffs are the worst thing to do when a series ends. I can't think of one that's ever worked.

Fraiser?

True, I was going off the top of my head of the shitty ones that I overlooked the good ones, Fraser and this one:

Edited October 3, 2013 by dalsh327

[Ace Nova]

Guys, check this out: BUZZFEED: Was the Breaking Bad Finale just a fantasy in Walter White's head?

And, remember how I said Granite State would be a fantastic ending? This is from Reddit:

SPOILERS, SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!

NOTE: This is just how I view the final episode of Breaking Bad. I'm not saying it's the end all be all answer, but rather just one person's opinion. And no, I'm not saying it's all a dream or Walt's fantasy. That's a different "theory" entirely.

As many have noticed, the final episode of Breaking Bad has a tonally different and other-worldy feel to it. Walt floats around like a ghost, everything comes easy to him, etc.

That's led some to speculate that the ending was all a fantasy of a dying man. While I think that's a bit too easy and cheap of an explanation, it does have some merit. However, I have a different take.

Breaking Bad has 2 endings.

The first, definitive, "TV" ending is the final episode: Felina.

The keys magically fall from the visor. Walt taps the window and all the snow perfectly falls off. He easily glides into the Schwartz's house and successfully threatens them. Badger and Skinny Pete make cameos. He patches things up with Skyler. He says what everyone wants him to say, that he did it all for himself. He looks at his son one last time. He takes a bullet for Jesse, kills all the neo-Nazis, and gets one last moment with a meth lab. Jesse also gets revenge on Todd, escapes, and happily drives off into the night to settle down somewhere quiet and take up carpentry. It's a perfect, Hollywood ending.

And completely unlike Breaking Bad.

Breaking Bad is real. Breaking Bad is gritty. It's getting shot mid sentence and being dragged through the dirt. It's always striving to get what you want, but never succeeding. When there's a perfect heist, an innocent child ends up getting shot. Simple tasks like swatting a fly can take all day. Running a drug empire doesn't give you a legacy and pay for your children's collegiate future. It leaves you dying in your underwear in a cabin in the middle of nowhere while Nazis take credit for everything you've fought so hard for.

To me, the true "Breaking Bad" ending is the episode before: Granite State. It's real, it's tragic, and it's unexpected. It's fitting.

Jesse tries to escape, is punished dearly for it, and ends up paying for his sins by working as a meth slave. All of Walt's hard work was for nothing. His family hates him, won't accept his money, he has power over nothing, and his legacy has been stolen from him. He turns himself in, but at the last minute decides to go out in one last hurrah, disappearing from the bar like he was never there. It's then left up to us to decide if he goes on to build that robot machine gun to save the day, or if he dies from one last coughing fit in his snow covered car, depending on if we're pessimists or optimists.

Hell, the final shot of Granite State is literally the glass half-empty or half-full idiom. And guess what music plays over it. The theme song. (Which we have never heard outside of the intro.) It's the true, open-ended finale.

But most viewers would hate it. And Vince Gilligan and the writers knew that. They knew that they owed it to us as viewers to give us a satisfying ending. But they also knew that they owed it to the show to give it a truthful ending. It would be impossible to create an ending that did both. They were conflicted as writers and probably deliberated about it for days, weeks, months. Should we make an ending to satisfy and reward the viewers, or one that stays true to the realism of our story? Eventually, someone decided, why can't we do both?

Granite State is the truthful ending the show deserves, and Felina is the happy ending the audience deserves.

That explains the difference in feel of Felina to the rest of the show. It's not a dream sequence, that's too cliche and cheap, totally wrong for the show, and if that were the case they would make it clearer to the audience. Instead, it's simply a satisfying, almost tongue-in-cheek, Hollywood ending. When the keys fall from the sky, the snow perfectly falls off the window, and the music kicks on, that's Breaking Bad's wink and nudge to the audience that this episode is going to be the fun, happy, classic TV ending that we all deserve after going through so much torment. It's the switch from the real, gritty Breaking Bad we all know, to a cleaner TV fantasy world. Think about it -- We get everything we've wanted as viewers.

And you may think that would be a betrayal to the story and the show, but it isn't. It's still true to character, tone, etc. There's still all the drama, drugs, and clever scientific Walter White destruction. The only difference is that it's all tied up into a neat little perfect bow, because at the end of the day Breaking Bad is still just a TV show. And a really fucking good one.

EDIT: Thanks for the Reddit Gold, stranger! And like I said, this isn't the end all be all interpretation, it's just how I see things. I'm not saying Felina didn't really happen or that it was a fantasy, just that it's the more "TV" ending most everyone wanted.

Granite State is the creators saying, "This is how it would/should end."

Felina is them saying, "But this is how you/we want it to end."

Really good theory - probably something to it, imo.

[dalsh327]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpg2MvVPV7Y

[wasted]

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?

To me the dexter ending was he had to give up his family so they dont get hurt. And he was going to continue killing. But the last shot gave the impression that he had changed he was just going to kill because the other way didnt work out so well.

[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?

To me the dexter ending was he had to give up his family so they dont get hurt. And he was going to continue killing. But the last shot gave the impression that he had changed he was just going to kill because the other way didnt work out so well.

I think Dexter will have a reason to go back to Miami again.

[ohlovelyrita]

Walter White gets an actual obituary in Alburquerque paper: http://www.abqjournal.com/275038/news/abq-news/it-provides-closure.html

[SunnyDRE]

Funny how out of all Walt's apprentices, Jesse admired him the least...

Yet he was the only one Walt cared about.

[spunko12345]

Funny how out of all Walt's apprentices, Jesse admired him the least...

Yet he was the only one Walt cared about.

One of the best things about the show was the father/son dynamic between Walt and Jesse. I think the reason he didn't admire him is because Jesse is totally 100% honest. Whereas Walt is just so full of shit and lies all the time. Jesse saw through Walts bullshit better than anyone.

[luciusfunk]

Ok, re-watching the series, I finished season one at work last night.

Best episode: A No-Rough-Stuff Type Deal, worst episode: Gray Matter.

Starting season two tonight.

Edited October 4, 2013 by luciusfunk

[Bobbo]

I do wish they would have clarified how exactly that stick came to be up his ass when it came to Gretchen and Elliot.

Only big loose end they didn't fully tie up in my book.

Also didn't Lydia say the police were looking for Jessie in granite state? Where exactly would he go to live happily ever after? Especially with Saul gone.

Don't get me wrong, I was pretty satisfied with the finale. But after fully digesting it, I've come to feel they let a tad too much go unresolved only to get answered in 50 minutes.

[Forsaken]

Walter White gets an actual obituary in Alburquerque paper: http://www.abqjournal.com/275038/news/abq-news/it-provides-closure.html

This is cool as hell

[PappyTron]

I do wish they would have clarified how exactly that stick came to be up his ass when it came to Gretchen and Elliot.

Only big loose end they didn't fully tie up in my book.

Also didn't Lydia say the police were looking for Jessie in granite state? Where exactly would he go to live happily ever after? Especially with Saul gone.

Don't get me wrong, I was pretty satisfied with the finale. But after fully digesting it, I've come to feel they let a tad too much go unresolved only to get answered in 50 minutes.

It really boils down to the fact that Walter is bitter. He is bitter over the fact that he was there at the beginning with Elliot and Gretchin (having a relationship with the latter) and he contributed a lot to their early successes, only to start a family and sell up his stake for a month's rent. Fast forward a few years and they are billionaires and he is washing wheels and teaching students who don't want to be there - he feels that the success that Elliot and Gretchin have is the success that he should have had.

[Bobbo]

I do wish they would have clarified how exactly that stick came to be up his ass when it came to Gretchen and Elliot.

Only big loose end they didn't fully tie up in my book.

Also didn't Lydia say the police were looking for Jessie in granite state? Where exactly would he go to live happily ever after? Especially with Saul gone.

Don't get me wrong, I was pretty satisfied with the finale. But after fully digesting it, I've come to feel they let a tad too much go unresolved only to get answered in 50 minutes.

It really boils down to the fact that Walter is bitter. He is bitter over the fact that he was there at the beginning with Elliot and Gretchin (having a relationship with the latter) and he contributed a lot to their early successes, only to start a family and sell up his stake for a month's rent. Fast forward a few years and they are billionaires and he is washing wheels and teaching students who don't want to be there - he feels that the success that Elliot and Gretchin have is the success that he should have had.

I get that. But I was really hoping at some point during the series they would explain exactly what happened that made Walt leave in the first place. When you factor in Gretchen and Walt's confrontation in season 2, it just makes the scenario even more confusing.

I know Vince likes to leave some aspects of the show ambiguous like Gus' past. But unlike that, this just leaves the viewer totally puzzled.

Edited October 5, 2013 by Bobbo

[SunnyDRE]

Don't remember the exact episode, but didn't he explain it as something like a love triangle? First he was with Gretchen, than she left him for Elliot.

[luciusfunk]

I think Walt left her because she had a rich family. He left her while they were at a Fourth of July celebration at her family's house.

[luciusfunk]

Love when Jesse slams the phone down in "Down" and the moving guy pops his head up and takes it with him. "Here! You forgot your ice trays!"

Skyler really is a bitch in season two.

[luciusfunk]

[RussTCB]

Skyler really is a bitch in season two.

And to top that off, she fucked Ted as I understand it.

[luciusfunk]

Yeah, but that's next season.

[Crash Diet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLaWiUWEX1k


The Ballad of Heisenberg

[Lithium]

Fuck it, I have to rewatch this motherfucker. I can hardly remember anything from season 1.

[Gia]

Season 2 is the only season I have a tough time watching because of Jane

I really couldn't stand her character... was pretty happy when Walt let her die

I really love season 1... I'm usually not a big fan of season 1 in any series but this is the few because of the character development

what awesome writing

[Lithium]

Season 2 is the only season I have a tough time watching because of Jane

I really couldn't stand her character... was pretty happy when Walt let her die

Agreed. That bitch was annoying.

[dalsh327]

I do wish they would have clarified how exactly that stick came to be up his ass when it came to Gretchen and Elliot.

Only big loose end they didn't fully tie up in my book.

Also didn't Lydia say the police were looking for Jessie in granite state? Where exactly would he go to live happily ever after? Especially with Saul gone.

Don't get me wrong, I was pretty satisfied with the finale. But after fully digesting it, I've come to feel they let a tad too much go unresolved only to get answered in 50 minutes.

http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2009/05/jessica-hecht-interview/

"Vince Gilligan told us exactly what went down between the characters off screen: We were very much in love and we were to get married. And he came home and met my family, and I come from this really successful, wealthy family, and that knocks him on his side. He couldn’t deal with this inferiority he felt — this lack of connection to privilege. It made him terrified, and he literally just left me, and I was devastated. Walt is fighting his way out of going back to that emotional place, so he says, “F— you.”