Breaking Bad Finale Discussion
By BOP Staff
October 1, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Reagen Sulewski: I think it was a perfectly fine finale in that everything that needed to happen happened, and in generally the right order and way, but it almost felt a little bit too pat. There were some crowning moments of awesome that fit the thematic flow of the series, but there was nothing that really surprised me in the way that the series has surprised me in the past. It was a bit like a poker hand where all the cards were face up. It occurred to me today that it's a structural issue for me, not plot-wise: I think the two big flash-forwards for the final season were a mistake. Maybe just show one of them, the gun or the ricin, but not both. Because we had so much lead time to think about these issues, basically all of the possible developments were figured out beforehand. Not that anyone got the finale exactly right in totality, but all of the big potential developments were figured out by *somebody*, so when all of them happened, we were able to see just where it was going. I just think it was a mistake to give a tip-off to the audience what was going to be used in the finale, even if we didn't entirely know how. They didn't even have to foreshadow the ricin since they re-used that scene in the finale anyway.
Max Braden: I've probably seen just over a dozen episodes of the series full run. Typical of AMC shows, it's dark and broody and ponderous in pace, and I don't always feel up to tuning in for that. (I've nearly quit Walking Dead and Mad Men a number of times for this reason. Also, in my mind the show is akin to The Sopranos, which I didn't really watch either). In the episodes I saw, I was not a fan of the actors and scenes depicting his family. I did really like the *ding-ding-ding* wheelchair bomb assassination episode, and the giant magnet evidence theft, and I was hooting at the machine gun in the trunk in the season finale. Those moments in the series were fun. Lately I've been thinking about TV characters who have been villains but are working for redemption. Person of Interest in particular features a character who feels guilty about the things he's done and even though he still breaks the law, he's doing it in an attempt to make things right. That's a tried and true storytelling element, but sometimes it can become tedious. I found it annoying rather than interesting that outwardly, Walter White claimed to be doing his bad deeds for a good purpose when it was obvious to everyone that that was a lie, and that if he was serious he could have found a way out far earlier. I actually turned off the episodes I saw where Jesse was moping and giving away his money because I just didn't feel sorry for him. I think the series had to put an end to White, but I'm not moved much either way on whether he had to die - I think he could have been caught. I did love the song selection over the final montage a lot.
Kim Hollis: Although I agree with Reagen that there were no *huge* surprises in the finale, it nonetheless was satisfying to me. I wasn't sure what Walt was going to do with his former Gray Matter partners, but I liked that he used them in a way that benefited him in multiple ways (they both served a specific purpose and he had a chance to terrorize them as compensation for what they did to him). The scene between Walt and Skyler hit all the right notes. Jesse's killing Todd was surprisingly appropriate, and I loved that he got to ride off into the sunset. And Max is right - the machine gun in the trunk was fantastic. I was content with Walt's final moments, too. He's with his one true love and then he dies right beside it. This final season was terrific.
David Mumpower: I feel that the issue of no huge surprises is a tribute to the ascendant popularity of the show. A program that began with an average of fewer than a million viewers during season one became so popular over the course of the past year that its minutiae were examined obsessively. Nobody could have anticipated that fundamental change in its pop culture positioning. In addition, AMC's decision to split the seasons created that extra year of (too much) analysis. We cannot fault Breaking Bad for being so great that its viewers became too emotionally invested in its outcome. That is the end goal of every program ever made. Breaking Bad is the rare series that justifies that sort of devotion.
For me, this was one of the best series conclusions I have ever seen. I had been saying for a while that the one aspect of the conclusion I considered a slam dunk was that Jesse had to kill Todd. The reason why was simple. Todd was the inferior protege. He couldn't even get the color correct on his batches of meth. As Walter White once noted, he and Jesse were the TWO best meth makers in the world. Even though Jesse shunned his mentor and only murdered one person previously, Todd's presence on the show was primarily to establish that for all of his failings, Jesse was ultimately Walt's prize student. I loved the way that the conclusion mirrored the first murder on the show, the one where Walt similarly choked a drug dealer to death (albeit at least partially in self defense).
With regards to the rest of the show, I had deduced last season that Walt would wind up in opposition to the skinheads because I believed that they represented the entropy that can destroy any chemical reaction when the components become unbalanced. While I guessed the nature of Walt's final build, I still loved the sequence wherein he faked a fight with Jesse in order to force the younger man to the safety of the ground. That sort of MacGyvering exemplifies how the two men continually survived long odds against ruthless killers. In the end, that aspect of Breaking Bad was always what I admired the most. It worked the best when implemented to show that Gus Fring was capable of destroying an entire drug cartel yet unable to best Walter White. Demonstrating feasible scenarios where an underdog can become a crime lord is Vince Gilligan's wheelhouse.
I am a bit disappointed that Hank didn't reach the end as I felt the first three episodes of the (second half of the) season hinted at a battle that never transpired, at least not in the way I wanted. It is a small quibble compared to the satisfaction of the ending. Contrast that disappointment to the satisfaction of Walt once again seeing the woman he once loved...and threatening her and her husband with murder from beyond the grave. That is the type of storytelling that distinguishes Breaking Bad from its peers. Best of all, Walt's final moments should be spent in a chemical laboratory with the equipment that brought him happiness during his time of need. The Gollum references are all over the internet today, but they are completely accurate. Walt loved The Blue in a way that defined his life. It was pitch perfect for his life to end nestled in the arms of his one true love.
Finally, I want to thank all of the BOP staff members whose passion for Breaking Bad pushed me to watch the show to figure out what had you all so dialed up. You were 100% right about the greatness of Breaking Bad.