So have you seen the final episode yet, if not and if you don't want to know , SPOILER ALERT!
I do not watch a lot of dramas but Breaking Bad is one of the very few shows I really followed. In short, excellent writing and acting throughout. The final episode of season 4 was watched by 1.9 millions and the final episode of season 5 , also the finale of the series, was watched by 10.3 millions! Season 4 finale and season 5 finale are only separated by 16 episodes, a 542% increase in TV rating! This says how well recieved Breaking Bad is and the finale of the series has broken all records. I can't say there is any characters I don't like in this series ; in particular , all major characters. The scripts compliment the actors/actrsses very well and bring out their acting skills. Besides Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Bob Odenkirk (Saul) , Jonathan Banks (Mike), Giancarlo Esposito (Gus) and Mark Margolis (Hector) are among my favourites. Excellent works , people!
I truly believe that everything Walter did was for his family even though he told Skyler at the end that he did it for himself, he felt alive doing it. I think that is the truth that Skyler wanted to hear. I think Walter chose to tell Skyler his supposedly "selfish reason" for all his doings is just to please Skyler. What got me the most in this final episode is not the scene when Walter said his final goodbye to Skyler in the dim-lighted kitchen (appropriate for the mood of the scene) but when Walter was touching his daughter who is not going to grow up knowing his father , his sacrifices (even though everyone thinks everything Walter did was to serve his ego). Honestly, I think everyone has just grown too much animosity towards Walter because he caused all the deaths directly or indirectly. I do not believe everything Walter did was for satisfying his ego, he still had some "good" qualities right upto his final end. He tried to save his brother-in-law Hank and he saved Jesse from the bullets are two examples. Besides Walter's family , I guess the real survivor out of all these is Jesse (Aaron Paul), he is finally free from everyone and that's why he laughed with tears driving away at the end.
I really feel sorry for Walter even though he accomplished what he set to do at the end : left behind money so that his family could live after his death; unfortunately , his son would forever hate him (in one of previous episodes , Walter described how he didn't remember his own father well and he did not want his son to have bad memory of him, this is of course what happened). Unless Skyler told her son the truth about Walter didn't kill uncle Hank, Walter Jr. will live hating his father forever. It is also the sad scene that Walter has to die without his family at his side but at a Meth lab, even though he loves the equipments and how they are set (the temperature) according to his proud meth-making method, it is sad to see him go this way, but I guess this writing of the story is necessary to give the show an unforgetting ending.
The final song in the series is very appropriate and well chosen. The song Baby Blue was performed by Badfinger,
Obviously, I expected Walter to die at the end and he was not going to kill the Schwartz. It did not surprise me that Walter asked them to pass on the money to his son when he became eighteen (I wish I had 9.7 millions waiting for me to pick up from somewhere) since the couple is relatively trustworthy people (the "better people" in the show) . I also knew the ricin is for Lydia but there is a few surprises for me :
1) Even though it is not a surprise to me that Walter gave the millions to the Schwartz (Adam, Jessica) to be passed on to Walter's son; it is still surprising to see Walter has made his peace with them (he always blames himself for missing the opportunity to be part of a multi-billion-dollar company and his resentment towards the Schwartz for getting rich but not himself even though he was also the founder of the company).
2) Even though I knew the ricin is likely for Lydia but I am surprised at the method the poison was delivered to her. How would Walter know which table in the cafe she would be sitting at (even though Walter knew the time she would come to the cafe every week) and how did he get the poison into a non-opened packet of sweetener?? What if another person used it before Lydia did??
3) I knew that there would be a showdown between Walter and Todd's Uncle and his gang but how could Walter , a single person , against the whole gang?? The answer would be the auto-rotating M60. In this scene, Walter has to park his car at certain distance from the house and he has to know the layout inside the house in order to set the firing angle of the M60 so that it will kill everyone in the house but Walter has never entered the house before , how would he know the layout?? Also, did he anticipate that his car remote would be confiscated and whoever got the remote wouldn't press the remote accidentally and activated the M60 before the planned opportunity to fire??
4) Walter was killed by his own plan (the M60). I didn't see that coming. I simply thought he would be killed in the showdown with the Nazi gang.
5) Half surprise - Jesse survived at the end and Saul just disappears, can he still practice law?
Walter White (Bryan Cranston) as Heisenberg. This is a sad scene to me . This nick gives Walter his pride but at what price??
Heisenberg is from Werner Karl Heisenberg (1901- 1976), a German Nobel Prize Winner physicist famous for his Uncertainty Principle.
Goodbye Walter...........
This is my favourite scene . I wish I had so much money that I do not know what to do with it , and I can roll around on the pile of money.
The cast of Breaking Bad with Writer /Director of the show Vince Gilligan (far right)
From left :
Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman
Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman
Betsy Brandt as Marie Schrader
RJ Mitte as Walter White Jr.
Anna Gunn as Skyler White
Dean Norris as Hank Schrader
Bryan Cranston as Bryan White
Excellent work, gang!
Bryan Cranston :
Actually , Bryan did many comedy sit-coms and anime voice works before became Walter White in Breaking Bad.
Sitcoms: Malcolm in the middle (2000-2006), Seinfeld (as the converted Jewish dentist Dr. Tim Whatley) , 3rd rock from the Sun (1999) and the King of Queens(1999-2001). He also did the voice for Walter White in The Simpsons (2013).
Anime : Tekkaman Blade (U.S. dubbed) , Super Dimesnion Century Orguss 02 and Macross Plus (U.S. dubbed , Isamu) .
Earlier TV works include : Airwolf (1986) The return of sixmillion dollar man and bionic woman (1987) ; Hill Street Blues (1987); jake and the Fat man (1990); L.A. LAW (1992); Murder She Wrote ...
He was also in The X-Files also written by Breaking Bad writer Vince Gilligan.
By the way, he will be in Godzilla 2014 and Kung Fu Panda 3 ( voice, 2015)!
Jonathan Banks : I know him from Gremlins and beverly Hill cop, 48 hours.
His dying line to Walter in Breaking Bad (as Mike Ehrmantraut) : Shut the fxxk up, let me die in peace...
Walter White : "You got me!" to brother-in-law Hank.
Breaking Bad definitely "got" me!
Write / Director of Breaking Bad - Vince Gilligan.
END
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