Official Breaking Bad Season 5 Thread.

naturalborn103 · Post by **naturalborn103** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:33 am

Great great final season but pretty lackluster finale.

Everything tied together way too neat and the episode seemed too hurried. This whole seasons pace has been perfect for me, but this last episode he just jumped too quickly from perfectly tying up one thing to the next. I wish it was broken down into two episodes.

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:34 am

http://opinionatedjay.com/felina-felina-felina/

samdoom · Post by **samdoom** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:46 am

^^^ well put.

I think Walt has always been at least partially, if not completely, delusional about things. This final incarnation of Walt was at peace with his past, present, and (limited) future. The time alone in New Hampshire made things crystal clear for him. He did what he had to do to remove all threats to those he cared about from the situation and then called it quits. I understand how people might think some of the ending was too on the nose or too precise and neat, but Walt was able to mastermind most of it, just like he had throughout the entire series. I thought it was a great, finite, ending that used its time very wisely. They accomplished a lot of storytelling and closure last night. i would have liked to see a bit more Jesse stuff because he was only in the finale minimally, but him being saved by Walt and then choosing not to shoot Walt was a great way to let him literally ride off into wherever the future takes him.

naturalborn103 · Post by **naturalborn103** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:20 am

I think everyone like this series as a whole a lot more then me, but this has to be one of the best seasons on tv I have ever seen. Up there with season 4 of the wire.

drobizhek · Post by **drobizhek** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:30 am

naturalborn103 wrote:I think everyone like this series as a whole a lot more then me, but this has to be one of the best seasons on tv I have ever seen. Up there with season 4 of the wire.

Season 4 of the Wire? The one with those little brats and the annoying boxer-thug? How was that the best season of that show?

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:31 am

B+ finale, agree that it felt too tight and too neat and they played it safe and for that it felt a bit underwhelming. Can't really blame them for going the sure-fire crowd pleasing way, but considering how much they built up the 'anything can and will happen' expectations I think it's fairly reasonable to be a little disappointed in how straight forward it was.

The the Shwartzes was my favorite part, and it was the only part that really felt surprising. Even if the logic of it wasn't 100% air-tight, this is the kind of thing I wanted from the episode. It felt like a classic Walt plan and put a nice spin on the last scene of the previous episode - he didn't just leave the bar because he wanted revenge, he left because he figured out the way to get his family the money. It was amazingly shot too, the sequence from the moment he comes out of the shadow in the background to the wide angle shot showing them eating cheese while Walt looks at the picture>>>> The palpable feeling of regret, of knowing that under different circumstances he probably could have had what they have was pretty heavy.

The ricin thing was cool but sloppy. They never bothered coming up with a good reason for it, 'it was him or her' doesn't really make sense. She had no intention of killing him before he showed up at the coffee shop, and it seems like he has days left to live anyway. The mechanics of execution were sketchy at best, especially since they weren't even sitting at the same table as before. And the act was so heavily telegraphed that the later phone call felt like total overkill. A little ambiguity would've played better, instead of explicitly spelling out I POISONED YOU WITH RICIN IN YOUR STEVIA for the cheap seats. Generally, I think they did it just to do finally actually use the ricin. This thing has been looming for seasons now, they couldn't bring themselves to just leave it hanging, and Lydia was the easiest and neatest target for it. It was done more in service of tying up meta loose ends than for any tangible plot or character reasons.

I like to read the ending as:

a. Assume that he went there expecting to die, or in the very least expecting his road to end there one way or another. He ominously mentioned 'regardless of what happens to me tonight' twice prior to going there.

b. He went there at least partially assuming that Jesse is really complicit with the nazis in some way, maybe expecting to kill him along with everybody else. But when he realized the truth he had a change of heart and dove to cover Jesse to save him instead, as part of him owning up to what he's actually done. Offering Jesse the gun was partly an apology and partly a way to finish what he came there to do (to die.)

Dap · Post by **Dap** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:47 am

drizzle wrote:B+ finale, agree that it felt too tight and too neat and they played it safe and for that it felt a bit underwhelming. Can't really blame them for going the sure-fire crowd pleasing way, but considering how much they built up the 'anything can and will happen' expectations I think it's fairly reasonable to be a little disappointed in how straight forward it was.

The the Shwartzes was my favorite part, and it was the only part that really felt surprising. Even if the logic of it wasn't 100% air-tight, this is the kind of thing I wanted from the episode. It felt like a classic Walt plan and put a nice spin on the last scene of the previous episode - he didn't just leave the bar because he wanted revenge, he left because he figured out the way to get his family the money. It was amazingly shot too, the sequence from the moment he comes out of the shadow in the background to the wide angle shot showing them eating cheese while Walt looks at the picture>>>> The palpable feeling of regret, of knowing that under different circumstances he probably could have had what they have was pretty heavy.

The ricin thing was cool but sloppy. They never bothered coming up with a good reason for it, 'it was him or her' doesn't really make sense. She had no intention of killing him before he showed up at the coffee shop, and it seems like he has days left to live anyway. The mechanics of execution were sketchy at best, especially since they weren't even sitting at the same table as before. And the act was so heavily telegraphed that the later phone call felt like total overkill. A little ambiguity would've played better, instead of explicitly spelling out I POISONED YOU WITH RICIN IN YOUR STEVIA for the cheap seats. Generally, I think they did it just to do finally actually use the ricin. This thing has been looming for seasons now, they couldn't bring themselves to just leave it hanging, and Lydia was the easiest and neatest target for it. It was done more in service of tying up meta loose ends than for any tangible plot or character reasons.

I like to read the ending as:

a. Assume that he went there expecting to die, or in the very least expecting his road to end there one way or another. He ominously mentioned 'regardless of what happens to me tonight' twice prior to going there.

b. He went there at least partially assuming that Jesse is really complicit with the nazis in some way, maybe expecting to kill him along with everybody else. But when he realized the truth he had a change of heart and dove to cover Jesse to save him instead, as part of him owning up to what he's actually done. Offering Jesse the gun was partly an apology and partly a way to finish what he came there to do (to die.)

walt killed lydia because she posed a threat to walts family. lydia knew what skylar looked like and she had already sent todd to the house to presumably kill walts family (even though todd just lets her off with a "warning")

i looked at it as walt making sure there were no threats out there to his family still

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:50 am

^ been saying that for pages now. why can't we just accept that?

also good review

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood ... -in-felina

Post by **thekeentwo** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:52 am

i think he killed lydia because todd is a giant psychopath and deserved to have who he loved die. altho i wish walt could have told him that before jesse killed him. would have loved to see todd's reaction to that.

i also thought walt was gonna start to cook one more batch
shit was sad
i have a sad
that is all

Jayou Ayen · Post by **Jayou Ayen** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:56 am

Aside from my minor complaints, what I really wanted was to feel some way about Walt's death.
I felt bad for his family, and good for Jesse, but really nothing for him.

39

peanut butter · Post by **peanut butter** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:58 am

Walt succeeded with so little true friction—maintaining his legend, reconciling with family, avenging Hank, freeing Jesse, all genuine evil off-loaded onto other, badder bad guys—that it felt quite unlike the destabilizing series that I’d been watching for years.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/c ... iewed.html

PEACE

naturalborn103 · Post by **naturalborn103** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:06 pm

Dap wrote:
drizzle wrote:B+ finale, agree that it felt too tight and too neat and they played it safe and for that it felt a bit underwhelming. Can't really blame them for going the sure-fire crowd pleasing way, but considering how much they built up the 'anything can and will happen' expectations I think it's fairly reasonable to be a little disappointed in how straight forward it was.

The the Shwartzes was my favorite part, and it was the only part that really felt surprising. Even if the logic of it wasn't 100% air-tight, this is the kind of thing I wanted from the episode. It felt like a classic Walt plan and put a nice spin on the last scene of the previous episode - he didn't just leave the bar because he wanted revenge, he left because he figured out the way to get his family the money. It was amazingly shot too, the sequence from the moment he comes out of the shadow in the background to the wide angle shot showing them eating cheese while Walt looks at the picture>>>> The palpable feeling of regret, of knowing that under different circumstances he probably could have had what they have was pretty heavy.

The ricin thing was cool but sloppy. They never bothered coming up with a good reason for it, 'it was him or her' doesn't really make sense. She had no intention of killing him before he showed up at the coffee shop, and it seems like he has days left to live anyway. The mechanics of execution were sketchy at best, especially since they weren't even sitting at the same table as before. And the act was so heavily telegraphed that the later phone call felt like total overkill. A little ambiguity would've played better, instead of explicitly spelling out I POISONED YOU WITH RICIN IN YOUR STEVIA for the cheap seats. Generally, I think they did it just to do finally actually use the ricin. This thing has been looming for seasons now, they couldn't bring themselves to just leave it hanging, and Lydia was the easiest and neatest target for it. It was done more in service of tying up meta loose ends than for any tangible plot or character reasons.

I like to read the ending as:

a. Assume that he went there expecting to die, or in the very least expecting his road to end there one way or another. He ominously mentioned 'regardless of what happens to me tonight' twice prior to going there.

b. He went there at least partially assuming that Jesse is really complicit with the nazis in some way, maybe expecting to kill him along with everybody else. But when he realized the truth he had a change of heart and dove to cover Jesse to save him instead, as part of him owning up to what he's actually done. Offering Jesse the gun was partly an apology and partly a way to finish what he came there to do (to die.)

walt killed lydia because she posed a threat to walts family. lydia knew what skylar looked like and she had already sent todd to the house to presumably kill walts family (even though todd just lets her off with a "warning")

i looked at it as walt making sure there were no threats out there to his family still

Walt did not know his family had been threatened yet.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:13 pm

Dap wrote: walt killed lydia because she posed a threat to walts family. lydia knew what skylar looked like and she had already sent todd to the house to presumably kill walts family (even though todd just lets her off with a "warning")

i looked at it as walt making sure there were no threats out there to his family still

This idea hinges more on the simplistic Lydia=bad guy=threat assumption than anything tangible in the plot, that's why it feels loose and sloppy. Months passed from the moment that she sent Todd to kill Skyler the first time (which Walt didn't even know about after after he already poisoned her). If she really felt the first scare was insufficient, she could've pressed Todd to finish the job long before Walt re-appeared. Especially since there's an ongoing investigation, and Skyler could dime at any moment. It doesn't make sense that somebody as neurotic as Lydia would leave it open-ended for any period of time. It seemed like until Walt sat down, both Todd and Lydia were pretty finished with him and anything directly related to him.

You can reason around this all you want, but there's no denying that the show ultimately opted for catharsis in its last moments instead of risking fucking up their ending with some sort of real shock or surprise. And considering the show's history of awesome curveballs, that's just a little bit disappointing.

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:21 pm

The moment he knew they were still cooking, let alone the blue stuff, he knew the parties involved. It meant betrayal. It meant Lydia, Jesse and the Nazi's were getting rich off his baby. It also meant Lydia is a wild card and already had a few people killed. The fact Walt is no more, helpless from New Hampshire and that Lydia has already made an attempt (Car wash scene) that failed. He knew, his family, his wife were at risk. A lot of things just were. Don't beat yourself up over this. We don't know the real reasons Gray Matter never worked out, we just know they didnt. I think we know enough to know Lydia is a crazy bitch and has the ability to wipe people out. Remember this is the same bitch who wanted all of Mike's folks removed and was already spared her life over this shit in her own home.

His redemption yesterday was more about security. He got that money to go to Walt. He knows Skyler has a get out a jail card with the GPS coordinates and he knows eliminating the Nazi and Lydia would assure him that nothing would happen to his family. He alluded this to this multiple times.

Hayzoos · Post by **Hayzoos** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:21 pm

Without Lydia there is no meth ring. If he killed all the nazis, Jesse and himself it wouldn't matter because she would just find someone else to work with just like she did when Gus got killed. I think him killing her was his way of saying this can't and won't go on anymore without him. I also think a lot if this episode was about him getting revenge for Hank getting killed. I think that's when he really took a turn, and I think him basically making sure the meth ring would be no more was kind of a nod to Hank seeing as he gave his life to put an end to it.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:51 pm

Philaflava wrote:The moment he knew they were still cooking, let alone the blue stuff, he knew the parties involved.

For the sake of argument, they actually made a point of showing that he didn't know that Jesse was involved until he was in the car with Badger and Pete. It seemed like he only assumed that Todd and Lydia were keeping on with it, at most.

Lydia by herself doesn't really have the means to do anything except make contacts to people looking to buy lots of meth and be an occasional source of chemicals. Todd and the nazis are a real threat, they're her muscle.

FWIW there WAS a meth ring without her, the first cook they did independently was with methlamine from another supplier.

They didn't bother tightening any of this up because ultimately I think they just wanted to use the ricin on somebody and she was an obvious choice for it. The loose pretext of 'she's one of the bad guys' was enough, so they just went with that.

Prophecy · Post by **Prophecy** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:53 pm

I think the perfect way to end the episode would have been transitioning from the pan out of Walt dead on the lab floor to a Montage of none of Walt's plans for those he cared about working out. Skyler plea deal not working, Jessie in Alaska but hooked on meth in the streets, Walt Jr never getting his inheritance, Marie alone and grieving, etc. Would've been the perfect way to close as Walt's plans only work out for Walt and always harm those around him.

Hayzoos · Post by **Hayzoos** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:05 pm

Prophecy wrote:I think the perfect way to end the episode would have been transitioning from the pan out of Walt dead on the lab floor to a Montage of none of Walt's plans for those he cared about working out. Skyler plea deal not working, Jessie in Alaska but hooked on meth in the streets, Walt Jr never getting his inheritance, Marie alone and grieving, etc. Would've been the perfect way to close as Walt's plans only work out for Walt and always harm those around him.

tehgiftofgab · Post by **tehgiftofgab** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:13 pm

no way, jesse is living the life bangin eskimo broads and hunting for whale blubber, bitch

Tweak Da Leak · Post by **Tweak Da Leak** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:27 pm

Hayzoos wrote:
Prophecy wrote:I think the perfect way to end the episode would have been transitioning from the pan out of Walt dead on the lab floor to a Montage of none of Walt's plans for those he cared about working out. Skyler plea deal not working, Jessie in Alaska but hooked on meth in the streets, Walt Jr never getting his inheritance, Marie alone and grieving, etc. Would've been the perfect way to close as Walt's plans only work out for Walt and always harm those around him.

Funny I pretty much agree, Walt got a happy ending and while the BB fanboys may cheer I don't think it was the right way for the show to end, although the final scene with Walt dying happily with his "chemistry" was pretty great.

naturalborn103 · Post by **naturalborn103** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:30 pm

Prophecy wrote:I think the perfect way to end the episode would have been transitioning from the pan out of Walt dead on the lab floor to a Montage of none of Walt's plans for those he cared about working out. Skyler plea deal not working, Jessie in Alaska but hooked on meth in the streets, Walt Jr never getting his inheritance, Marie alone and grieving, etc. Would've been the perfect way to close as Walt's plans only work out for Walt and always harm those around him.

That would of been great.

This last season has all been about despair and Walts plans falling apart. The more I think about it the more I don't like that they let him fix everything left and right all wrongs in one episode. Doesn't that go against everything this has happened so far?

Philaflava wrote:The moment he knew they were still cooking, let alone the blue stuff, he knew the parties involved. It meant betrayal. It meant Lydia, Jesse and the Nazi's were getting rich off his baby. It also meant Lydia is a wild card and already had a few people killed. The fact Walt is no more, helpless from New Hampshire and that Lydia has already made an attempt (Car wash scene) that failed.

What was Lydia attempting to do at the car wash scene that threatened Walt? Outside of his wife seeing her face.

Philaflava wrote:His redemption yesterday was more about security. He got that money to go to Walt. He knows Skyler has a get out a jail card with the GPS coordinates and he knows eliminating the Nazi and Lydia would assure him that nothing would happen to his family. He alluded this to this multiple times.

I think killing the nazis was more for him then anything else.

naturalborn103 · Post by **naturalborn103** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:31 pm

Did Jesse have one line in that episode?

Ramen · Post by **Ramen** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 2:17 pm

naturalborn103 wrote:Did Jesse have one line in that episode?

naturalborn103 · Post by **naturalborn103** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 2:20 pm

All I remember is the "Tell me you want it." line to Walt when Walt told him to shoot him.

Blockhead · Post by **Blockhead** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 2:50 pm

Prophecy wrote:I think the perfect way to end the episode would have been transitioning from the pan out of Walt dead on the lab floor to a Montage of none of Walt's plans for those he cared about working out. Skyler plea deal not working, Jessie in Alaska but hooked on meth in the streets, Walt Jr never getting his inheritance, Marie alone and grieving, etc. Would've been the perfect way to close as Walt's plans only work out for Walt and always harm those around him.

Sounds like how it would have ended if it was done by the Wire writers.

Ramen · Post by **Ramen** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:05 pm

Blockhead wrote:
Prophecy wrote:I think the perfect way to end the episode would have been transitioning from the pan out of Walt dead on the lab floor to a Montage of none of Walt's plans for those he cared about working out. Skyler plea deal not working, Jessie in Alaska but hooked on meth in the streets, Walt Jr never getting his inheritance, Marie alone and grieving, etc. Would've been the perfect way to close as Walt's plans only work out for Walt and always harm those around him.
Sounds like how it would have ended if it was done by the Sons of Anarchy writers.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:10 pm

A montage like Prophesy describes reads clunky but I think his heart is in the right place. Showing how Walt ruined everybody around him a bit more explicitly wouldn't be out of pocket. Although you easily could argue that Saul's 'managing a cinnabon' thing, and the pan of Skyler's tiny apartment and Flynn walking to it from the school bus already do that well enough. And giving Jesse one more kick in the balls by following through on what likely happens next (which is probably nothing good) after allowing him a moment of well earned triumph would've been too cruel.

Tommy Bunz · Post by **Tommy Bunz** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:11 pm

LOL @
being the best way to end the show.

907 · Post by **907** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:46 pm

The Aluminum Falcon wrote:Phenomenal show. I'm glad Pinkman got out alive.

at the the two best hitmen west of the mississippi turning out to be badger and skinny pete with laser pointers.

My girlfriend asked who that could possibly be when the lasers popped up, I said that the only people Walt could possibly have gotten were Badger and skinny Pete. I was on some :smugkid:

shit when I ended up being right.

The Rapping Coffin · Post by **The Rapping Coffin** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:49 pm

Blockhead wrote:
Prophecy wrote:I think the perfect way to end the episode would have been transitioning from the pan out of Walt dead on the lab floor to a Montage of none of Walt's plans for those he cared about working out. Skyler plea deal not working, Jessie in Alaska but hooked on meth in the streets, Walt Jr never getting his inheritance, Marie alone and grieving, etc. Would've been the perfect way to close as Walt's plans only work out for Walt and always harm those around him.
Sounds like how it would have ended if it was done by the Wire writers.

The Wire writers would of had some corny Lion King ending where some young guy becomes the new Walt and some DEA agent becomes the new Hank, etc

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