Oh, sorry, it was like two minutes in so I didn't bother.
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Breaking Bad - The (Beautiful) Finale - Season 5 Part 2 - Sunday on AMC - OT3
- Thread starter Cornballer
- Start date
Oh, sorry, it was like two minutes in so I didn't bother.
Breaking Bad is rarely unpredictable on a moment to moment basis, in fact I wouldn't categorize it as being a shocking or surprising show, and that's not a bad thing. The best moments in BrBa come from knowing what lies ahead. We knew Walt was going to kill Krazy 8 the moment he pieced together that broken plate. We knew when Gus was going to get killed the moment he wanted to head down to the hospital himself, if not before that. We knew the Nazi's were still coming even after Walt told them not to on the phone. We know what's going to happen, but we don't know how it's going to come to life on screen. What makes the show so great is that nearly everything is executed better than we could have imagined, and I'm saying that literally. I can't really imagine more satisfying and intense episodes for this universe than what these writers have created.
Grimm Fandango
Member
Great finale. Everything wrapped up nicely.
But I hated how Todd went. He got up and just stared out the window like a doofus for a good 5 seconds? Come on.
But I hated how Todd went. He got up and just stared out the window like a doofus for a good 5 seconds? Come on.
But the show is just the opposite. Good people get hurt and die along the way, but Breaking Bad is ultimately a moralist story and always has been.
That, and going grim just for the sake of grim has always seemed like a cop-out to me, imo. Happy endings (which is pretty relative here lol) can be just as powerful as any dark ending, and I think going dark for dark's sake is pretty cheap.
Seems so perfectly in character to me.
DancingCactus77
Member
Finale rankings of recent shows watched:
The Shield > Lost > The OC > Breaking Bad.
The Shield > Lost > The OC > Breaking Bad.
zero shift
Banned
Nameless
Member
Going the flash forward route really opened the flood gates for rampant online speculating & theorizing, which inevitably leads to people being disappointed when their dreams don't come true, as it were.
As someone who doubted if they could kill Walt without force feeding the audience some cheesy moral of the story such as 'crime never pays', I feel satisfied. We're conditioned for karma to prevail, for a depraved character to either grovel for redemption or pay the piper, and I'm glad BB didn't go that route.
Walt went out basking in his infamy knowing all he'd done had not been for nothing: His family will reap the rewards of his hard work,(a man provides), his legacy is intact; he'll always be remembered as being the absolute best at something. He finally slayed the Gray Matter monkey that's been clawing at his back for decades. Unlike Gus, he looked the man who wronged him dead in the eyes as he negotiated for his life before snatching his vengeance. And to top it off he got to reneig on the Jesse mistake & give Hank closure before dying with a smile, ultimately averting the slow cancerous death he lamented early in the series.
Walt won as he always should have.
As someone who doubted if they could kill Walt without force feeding the audience some cheesy moral of the story such as 'crime never pays', I feel satisfied. We're conditioned for karma to prevail, for a depraved character to either grovel for redemption or pay the piper, and I'm glad BB didn't go that route.
Walt went out basking in his infamy knowing all he'd done had not been for nothing: His family will reap the rewards of his hard work,(a man provides), his legacy is intact; he'll always be remembered as being the absolute best at something. He finally slayed the Gray Matter monkey that's been clawing at his back for decades. Unlike Gus, he looked the man who wronged him dead in the eyes as he negotiated for his life before snatching his vengeance. And to top it off he got to reneig on the Jesse mistake & give Hank closure before dying with a smile, ultimately averting the slow cancerous death he lamented early in the series.
Walt won as he always should have.
Eh. Neither scarface or the shield were about someone 'normal' becoming someone bad. The scarface analogy is common but Tony Montana was already a bad dude when the movie starts. And The Shield is, in a lot of ways, almost the exact opposite. Vic's
worst act is arguably in the pilot
Grimm Fandango
Member
I disagree, Todd has a nice nature about him but he wasn't a simpleton.
I guess I completely disagree on your assessment of this show. I've don't particularly see Breaking Bad as a morality tale, and I think it's stronger because of it. And I don't think Walt's little plan failing is going dark for dark's sake—like I said, it's a damnation a Walt's character. If Walter White is a tragic figure, then this is the tragedy; all he ever wanted was agency, and in the end, that should be the one thing he can't have.
Todd is truly a dumb fuck.
Yes. Absolutely. I told my wife after we watched Granite State last week that the ending of that episode was better than anything else they could come up with for the actual finale. It wasn't contrived, it wasn't clean, it didn't close the book on every loose end - and that is OK. You can't finish all of the plot lines without it coming across as weak and predictable, which is what we got. It would have given people something to talk about. Plus, it ended on the classic breaking bad theme song.
So yes, granite state was a better finale than what we got.
Or any loose end, for that matter.
Which is why I say that it hasn't declined as much as individual show ratings would suggest. Note that the largest drop mentioned in that article isn't live tv as a whole, but broadcast (as in, not cable or satalite) TV, which is a pretty obvious trend as cable has so much more content than it used to.
That would have been awful. It would have ended with "it's all up to you to decide!"
I don't see why it makes him a simpleton at all, and that absolutely wasn't what I meant to suggest. He saw the threat as being external and he was focused on that.
Cornballer
Member
Quick reminder that Gilligan will be on Colbert tonight.
The Silver
Member
that alternate season 1 thing makes Walt seem like Jigsaw
Where do you to gift basket?
what the fuck is this and why isn't there a link attached?
What time?
zero shift
Banned
I see. I stand corrected.
Cornballer
Member
11:30 ET
There goes your credibility.
Grimm Fandango
Member
Yeah I just think it was incredibly silly. I would have preferred to see him wounded on the ground and Jesse does his thing.
Spectral Glider
Member
He fires a gun like a doofus, so there's that for some consistency.
Really enjoyed the finale, but so bummed the show is done. Simply an amazing series.
Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
I thought the finale was pretty sloppily-written, all things considered. Walt being able to just stroll about the town - including getting in and out of Skyler's house after the DEA already knew to watch it - was pretty ridiculous, even with the whole "spreading the DEA thin" handwaving, and the idea that Skyler and Flynn wouldn't be suspicious getting a trust fund of MILLIONS from Gretchen and Elliot is just not something at all logical or believable for Walt to think, at that point. And why wouldn't the Nazis check his freakin' trunk for weapons, or a bomb, or something, before letting him in the compound?
It just seemed like everything happened because, well, the plot required it. I guess that's fine, but as endings go, it was pretty damn safe. BB has never been the least realistic, but even in terms of character writing, it seemed almost like a fan-fiction.
So Walt finally realizes he did it all for himself. You could argue that the ending of Season 4, taken in a vacuum - the relish Walt takes in saying, "I won" - suggested basically the same thing, but in a less on-the-nose way.
It just seemed like everything happened because, well, the plot required it. I guess that's fine, but as endings go, it was pretty damn safe. BB has never been the least realistic, but even in terms of character writing, it seemed almost like a fan-fiction.
So Walt finally realizes he did it all for himself. You could argue that the ending of Season 4, taken in a vacuum - the relish Walt takes in saying, "I won" - suggested basically the same thing, but in a less on-the-nose way.
No fucking way, Hank finding out as the ending? God fucking no. It would kill people.
Same with people that say it should have ended at the end of Season 4. Walt saying I won? Us seeing the Lily of the Valley? We didn't see any Walt downfall there, or Gliding Over All.
This one, he may have 'won', but he suffered terrible consequences to get there. He suffered next to nothing comparably in those two episodes.
Really enjoyed it. I wasn't here for this season because I had a lot spoiled for me last season but I was with you in spirit.
Before this episode I wanted it to end exactly the way it did but with Jesse killing Walt at the end, but I much prefer the way it happened in retrospect.
Before this episode I wanted it to end exactly the way it did but with Jesse killing Walt at the end, but I much prefer the way it happened in retrospect.
I don't see how Walt "won" this finale. He reveals to Jr. that his whole reason for doing this is that he doesn't want to be remembered as a failure in the mind of his children after he dies. And I see no future where his children have anything other than contempt for him.
Walt just embraced who he really was and set out to destroy what remained of his empire. He wanted it to die with him, not live on without him like Gray Matter did.
Walt just embraced who he really was and set out to destroy what remained of his empire. He wanted it to die with him, not live on without him like Gray Matter did.
They could have easily cut the whole Gretchen/Elliot thing and have an extended scene with the Nazis and Jesse. Only issue I have is Walt Jr and Holly getting his dirty money.
But then we wouldn't have had that beautiful scene in their house and we wouldn't have seen Badger and Skinny Pete, so fuck it.
But then we wouldn't have had that beautiful scene in their house and we wouldn't have seen Badger and Skinny Pete, so fuck it.
ThatCrazyGuy
Member
I disagree. I know the show is not the most realistic, but I don't think what happened was beyond belief.
He looked like a hobo with different glasses. Maybe people didn't recognize him. The nazis got into the house under watch, so they set up Walt could do it as well.
They never show the aftermath of the trust fund. Maybe they never actually do and call walt's bluff. Maybe they do it, and skyler and walt jr do refuse it. Maybe the DEA says, fuck that, give me that trust fund. Who knows.
As for the trunk checking. Maybe. in zero dark thirty, then let those 2 dudes on the base without checking their bodies, so what are some nazis gonna do? heh. I see your point though.
I guess the weirdest set up is parking the car in the right exact spot and everybody being in the room at the same time.
I don't get the safe stuff everybody is on. Everything was heading down this road, and they finally got there.
This show does already have some very puply/Frank Miller moments.
It's just going a liiiiittle too far.
ElectricBlue187
Member
The way the final scene played out seemed way too easy for Walt but I guess the show has always been like that when it comes to Walt dispatching his would be murderers.
Looking pretty different to how he did before, enough hair on his head and face to hide it, as well as different glasses and clothing style. Not entirely realistic I guess... but certainly not implausible.
She said five minutes, he was pretty clearly there before that so obviously knew the DEA wasn't watching it at that point as he'd only just orchestrated the 'spreading thin'
I don't think its completely out of the question they'd accept it nor do I think its out of the question they'd reject it. What's important is that Walt believes they'd accept it, and I see no reason for him not to do so. Money from a legitimate business, it could be explained away as stocks Walt always kept, his legacy in the business and so on and so forth. Again, not entirely out of the realm of plausibility (certainly not so in a show written like BB)
Why would they have any need to? They frisk him, they take him into the club house, they're about to shoot him. Where was the point he was ever going to get access to the trunk of his car?
Walt saying I won was less on the nose? What? It wasn't even about Walt realising. It was about him owning up to it.
PeskyToaster
Member
Well they did explain it when the Nazi guy riding with him was like park over there and then Walt parked where he wanted.
On a side note: I also I think Todd looking out the window can be explained because he had no idea what was going on. State of shock + getting killed by automated machine gun = dumbfounded for a few seconds.
Oh, you mean "finale"?
I'm just saying, Gliding Over All would've been a much more satisfying open-ended ending than Granite State would have been. It's not like 5.2 played out in a particularly unexpected way, everything basically went according to plan. Which I have no complaints about, but I think you could end the show after Hank finds out and at that point, you know it's over. That would be fine by me.
edit: oops dp
It should also be mentioned that the Nazi knew how sick was. They most probably thought he was too sick to do anything and they didn't see him as a threat anymore. About the car being parked perfectly, stuff like this isn't new to BB. The train heist and the magnet thing comes to mind. Walt has always been a lucky mofo.
Ozymandias could have been a finale too. Works perfectly with the prequel to Malcolm in the Middle theory.
edit:
Saw this on reddit.
lol
Ozymandias could have been a finale too. Works perfectly with the prequel to Malcolm in the Middle theory.
edit:
Saw this on reddit.
http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/1ngn8x/my_chemistry_teacher_hasnt_yet_seen_the_breaking/
lol
triplestation
Member
imagine a sequel show years from now when aaron paul is 40
AranhaHunter
Banned
Really enjoyed the finale and the show overall.
Not sure why Walt would tell Lydia he gave her the ricin though, gives her a chance to go to the doctor and recover...
Todd looking out of the window and just going, "Mr. White...." before realizing what's going on and not showing concern for his uncle and crew goes incredibly together with his character throughout the series. Cold, apathetic, dumb, gullible, naive.
Not sure why Walt would tell Lydia he gave her the ricin though, gives her a chance to go to the doctor and recover...
Todd looking out of the window and just going, "Mr. White...." before realizing what's going on and not showing concern for his uncle and crew goes incredibly together with his character throughout the series. Cold, apathetic, dumb, gullible, naive.
FantasticMrFoxdie
Mumber
Its like people forgot Walt was shot by his own robot
Oh shit, i totally knew that, I was thinking this was something else. lol.