Breaking Bad: Season 5: PART II - The Thread

@wjb: No kidding. I'm half-watching Homeland right now.

Also it looked like you could actually see Kenny get shot in the head during the chaos.

Not much else to say that hasn't been said already except for the fact I laughed so fucking hard when Walt dropped the news to Lydia. I always hated her and she deserved what she got.

Also,

Best fucking post ever.

One of the greatest stories ever to grace the television screen.

I'm not sure when I'm going to say that again.

@theht: Ah, must've missed it. I thought it would have been hilarious if he survived because he was an idiot fucking with the recliner.

Heard off of someone else that it was fitting for Walt to die in the place he felt most alive.

After playing so much GTA V in the last 2 weeks all i could hear during the last shot was this song.

Brilliant ending.

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck no.

bullet ricochet or something I think is the likely answer

They were Walt's final opponent, and their entire story arc happened through nine of the sixty-two episodes. And I don't think they even made appearances in the majority of those nine. Walt's personal confessions were cleaned up very well, but Jessie's captivity and Walt's capstone revenge felt like footnotes.

@spunkyhepanda said:

Like MiniPato, my only sympathy for Todd is that he might be mildly mentally challenged, and clearly grew up with some terrible role models. He seems to show basic understanding of social interaction through rote memorization only and doesn't respond properly to more nuanced situations requiring more empathy (he tells Walt "sorry for your loss" minutes after shooting at the very person Walt just lost, he tells Andrea before murdering her that that "just so you know, this isn't personal", as if that means anything to anyone involved, and he is generally poor at reading Lydia's motivations), though on the other hand he justifies his shooting of Andrew Sharp to Mike and seems to understand that what he did could be considered "wrong", but is otherwise unremorseful about it.

The rest of Uncle Jack's Aryan Brotherhood crew are just complete dirtbags, but I'll admit Todd might get a pass if you're willing to cut him some slack for possible mental illness. Still, there's enough evidence that he has his wits about him and just doesn't give a fuck, so I generally felt no sympathy for him.

Yeah or he shifted himself during the chaos and it hit. That seems the most likely because if it hit at that angle, it would go straight through his vital area, making his fairly quick death a lot more believable.

How exactly did Walt get the ricin into Lydia's stevia? That's some mad sleight-of-hand he had to pull.

Jack's line when he brings Jesse in front of Walt "Does this look like a partner to you?!"

so perfect, walt totally planned on killing Jesse too but he couldn't after seeing him like that

watch it briefly he does a dying man's cough which puts Lydia and Todd feeling uncomfortable.

I'm pretty sure it's implied he rigged the stevia packet. It was the only one in that entire group of sweeteners. As soon as I saw that, I knew what had happened. Walt's a smart one. Well, he was.

Or what @i_stay_puft said. Didn't even see that. I'd have to watch the episode again.

So long great show, although i enjoy Mad Men more.

@nhoj_sllew said:

I think Walt planned on killing as many of Jack's gang as he could gather in a small space near the car, given how little he knew about their compound, and through luck/narrative convenience, it happened to be all of them. While he didn't know that Jesse was their slave, I don't think Walt wanted to kill Jesse or expected Jesse to be anywhere near him, and even when he referred to Jesse as Jack's "partner", it was just a stall tactic to make sure Walt didn't get shot in the head in the next 5 seconds, and give Walt time to sneakily grab his keys. So I don't think he ever really planned on killing Jesse, and most of that situation aside from "robotic gun turret" was heavily improvised by Walt.

It feels weird at being satisfied of a show's ending, they are so often terrible.

Oh...when did Walt take a bullet?...

The awkward moment when Gretchen and Elliott end of keeping Walt's money

Breaking Bad isn't like other shows. They weren't Walts final opponents in the same sense that Trinity was Dexters opponent during that season. Walt needed them dead so everything could end for good. Their arc was simply the flow of the story. Yes it would have been nice if this was a 20+ episode season, but they did really well with the time they had. And their screen time did tell you a lot about them. They were a family of killers and thieves.

Also, what is capstone? Do you mean GreyMatter?

They have no clue that was staged. They will be in fear until they get rid of the money.

Anyone think there were an ungodly amount of commercials? I'll need to watch it again without commercials. They would play a 5 minute scene and then 5 minutes of commercials. I was excited to see it was a longer episode, but I bet all that extra time was spent in ads.

As for the ending. It was great, all the loose ends were tied up, which feels good today but I won't be thinking about it six months from now like I was with Sopranos. Tidy endings are great in the moment, but it won't linger in people's minds.

@mlarrabee said:

Why are we suddenly putting spoiler tags on things?

Anyway, sure, Jack's gang were technically his final adversaries, but I think the point is, they could've been basically any group of dangerous criminals. The final half of the 5th season had to finally have Walt lose control of the situation (the combination of Hank tricking him into revealing the money, and Jack not taking his order to abort the hit), and realize how quickly he could lose everything that mattered. Yes, a lot of the issues related to Walt and Jesse are introduced in the last eight episodes, but hey, when you're involved in serious-ass crime, when things go bad, they go bad very quickly and suddenly that's your whole life. I don't think it would've fit to introduce some greater-than-Gus-Fring mastermind that outplays Walt; that phase of the show was over. Walt was his own undoing: first by leaving out evidence that Hank eventually found, and later by placing too much trust in Jack's Aryan Brotherhood gang, a group that lacks the refinement of Gus and Mike's people and are instead just dangerous, unpredictable lifelong criminals.

Satisfaction. Well done Breaking Bad. Well done. I feel like it would be insanely hard to end any show and I don't think they could have done it any better. I kinda wish he would have left something for Marie. Anything really but that's just nitpicking. I think this show will live on for a loooong time, as it should. One of the best shows ever, easily.

One thing I wanted was for Walt to put a gun to his head or something similar and end without any other action. Then you're left to wonder whether he kills himself or gets taken into custody.

On the other hand, I wanted Walt to die because of all the dumb shit people say on Facebook, twitter, and some fans I know in real life. "I'm still rooting for him." "I hope he makes it." Really? After all that?

@bisonhero:

no I meant how when he said that Walt was looking at his actual partner

I thought it was more of an awkward moment when Jessie Pinkman drove away from that compound and right into the "Need for Speed" movie. That's right folks its obvious, the character Jessie Pinkman is the main character in Need for Speed.

I always find the gun to the head thing a bit corny. Walt basically shot himself anyways with his gun turret. I would have preferred that he grabbed a chair and sat down slunk over waiting for the cops coming in. Then we get a shot of Walt's back with him sitting facing the door as cops come in aiming at him. We're left wondering if he's dead or alive when the cops come in to arrest him.

I know, but I was simply using the gun to the head thing to make the point. What you said sounds good too, but I'd be doubtful he died then. You could make the case that he could die on the way to the hospital and/or during surgery, but I feel like the cops would do everything to keep him alive so they can brag that they caught Heisenberg. But maybe the fact that I'm thinking that way means your idea works.

@sackmanjones said:

He did basically the most he could for Marie given the circumstances, which was to give Skyler the paper slip that reveals the coordinates of Hank's body (and Gomez's body), so that Hank can get a proper burial, and Marie doesn't have to live with the idea that Hank is out there somewhere in an unmarked grave in the desert.

It would've been too weird if Walt got Gretchen and Elliot to also somehow give money to Marie. Nobody would buy that.

@landon said:

A literal capstone is the final, topmost stone in an arch. A metaphorical capstone is any final piece that completes a set. In this case, Walt's killing of Jack's gang was a poor capstone when compared to that of Fring. In fact, it was nearly a mirror of Walt's attack on Tuco. Both were desperate acts of a desperate man, and both ended with Walt saving Jessie and walking away from a broken building. While poetic (and realistically "subdued") it didn't carry much impact with me since I had so little history with Jack and his crew. I had no real reason to hate them--no more than I had anyone else, anyway--until Ozymandias--two episodes ago.

Walter had been in the compound at least once I think twice. In that room is where he hires them to kill Jesse.

Yes Walt has been to the Nazi's compound, I think the first time was planning the prison hits, when we're introduced to Uncle Jack and his pals.

@manhattan_project said:

Ah, yeah, the times he met up with them to discuss killing Mike's guys in prison and later Jesse, I was never sure where that scene was taking place. I assumed it was in a motel or something, but I guess it could've been their actual compound. I'd have to watch the scenes again to be sure.

Either way, my point is that it was luck/narrative convenience that Walt's turret got everyone. For all he knew, they wouldn't even bother all being in the same place when Walt has his little meeting with them. Hell, it was a little contrived that the guy they left outside on watch near Walt's car got shot, as he just as easily could've walked like 5 feet away and not gotten shot. I'm not saying that part of the episode was lame or unbelievable, just saying that Walt planned as best he could, and the parts where everyone was together and that they actually bothered to bring Jesse were complete luck on Walt's part.

Thing is I doubt Walt knew that Todd had a thing for Lydia. Maybe if he knew he would have arranged some way for Todd to find out about Lydia dying....

Sigh.

All of the drama that revolves around Walt's cooking stemmed from Jesse's action/in-action. I was pointing out that a case could be made that Jesse turning on Walt was a douchebag move considering all Walt had done to protect Jesse. Even going so far as to take on a drug cartel kingpin psychopath named Gus Fring. Pointing out that Jesse was quick to turn on the man who saved his life a dozen times over has no bearing on whether Jesse did the right or the wrong thing. Morality isn't the issue. The issue is how quickly people tend to blame everything on Walt when the truth is that everyone has a hand in the fucked up trainwreck that results.

The only thing they have in common is that Walt "won." He didnt go into Tucos place to save Jesse (he was already at the hospital), he went in to get his money/meth. And he wasnt desperate in this last episode, at least not in the same way he was with the Tuco situation. He was a man who had finally accepted that all the terrible things he did, all the lives he destroyed, were for his benefit, not some family bullshit. He decided he was finally going to do something for his family: give the police a body to pin everything on while getting back at the men who killed Hank.

This whole season was always about Heisenberg thinking he was invincible. Thinking he was smarter than everyone else, that on the off chance someone was smarter they would be too scared to cross the man who offed Gus. Heisenberg underestimated Hank, Jesse, and the nazis and they ripped his world apart leaving the Walter White we saw tonight to pick up the pieces.

Oh. Never heard that word before. Thanks, the more you know I guess.

I don't think I agree with your comparison. Walt wasn't exactly desperate in this situation. With Tuco it was a sheep going into a lions den, but with Jack he thought he was tricking them into discussing business. Walt had no idea that they were going to just execute him on the spot. And Walt wasn't really saving Jesse in Tucos case. He was getting money to pay for his medical bills.

And as for satisfaction for this and Fring, you need to look at it in two different ways. Frings death was immensely satisfying because he was so smart, and Walt finally out smarted him. I found this ending satisfying for completely different reasons. Jacks group was pure evil. They killed people with no remorse, and they did it smiling. They tortured Jesse and made him watch Andrea die. So seeing them get gunned down, and seeing Jesse get revenge on Todd I found to be immensely satisfying. I didn't need an elaborate backstory to know why I should hate them more than I already do, I was glad that Walt got the best of them,and gunned down Jack the same way he did Hank. I was glad that Jesse got away and can finally do whatever he wants with his life now.

But different strokes for different folks, I guess. I thought it was a great ending for an amazing show.

I tried so hard not to think that when I saw it.

Rewatched the episode. I know a lot of people gave the title to Ozymandias, but I think that this finale was the best episode of the series. I think I could seriously watch it 100 more times.

@liquidsolidus said:

I feel that way about Granite State. Even though a bunch of crazy shit went down in Ozymandias, Walt was still very much acting like Heisenberg (though Skyler and Walter Jr. ultimately rebel), aside from the moment of Hank's death.

Granite State is interesting to me because you finally get to the point that Walter is truly humbled, and finds himself powerless. He orders Saul to help him, but is so sick that Saul isn't intimidated anymore. He wastes away in the cabin, trying to don the Heisenberg hat and go into town but being unable to make it past the front gate. He realizes that nothing will come of his money, because the cancer will kill him before he can ever get any of it to his family. He realizes Junior is always going to hate him now and won't take his money. He's finally facing his own mortality and the futility of all of his actions, until there's that moment at the end where Walt's chance viewing of Elliot and Gretchen motivates him to hatch one last plan for a small bit of redemption and purpose.

What about the confession tapes they made with Jesse? They ended up in Jack's compound. Unless they destroyed the evidence off-screen they'll probably be looking for him soon enough. That being said, I am hoping for a better outcome for Jesse.

I've been hearing a lot of people thinking the episode was too predictable, including a friend of mine who thought that it wasn't has heartpounding as previous episodes because of it. It made me wonder, imagine if that first flashforward never happened, and nobody knew about the M60 until this episode. I wonder how that'd change people's reactions, though I feel that might have made it seem somewhat shoehorned in.

I cried. Goddamn you, Vince Gilligan. You beautiful bastard.

I cried when Walt and Jesse nodded at each other. God fucking damn it.

This fucking show. If this fucking show doesn't sweep everything at next year's Emmy's, that will be the greatest injustice since The Wire not winning anything.

...and that's it Ladies and Gentelmen.That.Is.It. I don't think I can watch another tv show again. Breaking Bad has spoiled us rotten...nothing.NOTHING!...will be as that good of a tv show.

Now excuse me while I'll lay down for abit.

That was a great ending to one of the greatest television series I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

@bigjeffrey said:

So long great show, although i enjoy Mad Men more.

Wow, someone on GB who enjoys Mad Men more than Breaking Bad (like me). Before you puff away, as you're obviously a figment of my imagination, Wasn't the Hershey Scene from the season 6 finale just fantastic? Best scene of a tv show I've ever watched. So slight, yet so emotionally impactful. Can't wait for that shows last season.

I think the way I would have liked the ending to be better, is if Walter White was bleeding lots and lots, but not enough to kill him. And he wanted to put himself out of his misery.

So he picks the gun up, puts it to his head but all you can hear is a click... because it is out of ammo.

Then you see the flashing lights and the cops arrive. Walter now knows he will be subject to his cancer and worsening condition day after day. He just feels worse, but there is nothing he can do about it. He would be alone, locked up in isolation. Treated like an animal. Rather than the quick, easy way out of shooting himself. He would be in the cell never having contact with his family or friends ever again.

A great ending to an incredible show. Easily my favourite television show.