The Breaking Bad Finale Discussion Thread [SPOILERS WITHIN - UP TO FINALE]

[Gordon Comstock]

Andrea getting killed was fucking ruthless, definitely one of the most difficult parts to watch since season 5B started. And then he says "There's still the kid", I just got that sinking feeling, what an intense scene.

I think Jesse escapes while Walt is taking out Todd and the Nazis [sometime in the first 1/3 of the episode is when that will happen]. From there.... I have no idea what'll happen.

Walt's not going after the nazis.

I'm sure he will, but why do you think he won't? Who do you think he will go after if not them?

[sweetness]

Of course he's going after the Nazis, he doesn't need a light machine gun to take out the Schwartzes...

[Powerage5]

Of course he's going after the Nazis, he doesn't need a light machine gun to take out the Schwartzes...

No, more like a heavy machine gun for them

[Axl_morris]

Could the mutual interest of walr and jesse in wanting to kill the nazi's bring them friends again? Or at least putting them in a situation where they are cool with each other and going separate ways.

I can't imagine either of them killing each other.

[luciusfunk]

Walt will find Jesse at the Nazi compound. He won't kill him. He won't save him. He'll leave Jesse to die in his cell.

[WhazUp]

Could the mutual interest of walr and jesse in wanting to kill the nazi's bring them friends again? Or at least putting them in a situation where they are cool with each other and going separate ways.

I can't imagine either of them killing each other.

I don't know, so much bad shit happened to Jesse on Walt's behalf (Jane, Brock's poisoning, him telling the Nazis that he was under the car which ensured his enslavement which caused Andrea to die when he tried to leave, etc.) that there is no way that he will not be resentful towards Walt even if they have to temporarily work together to beat the Nazis

Plus in Walt's mind Jesse's going to Hank and ratting meant that Hank showed up at where the barrels of money were which caused him to die. So yeah not much good blood left between them I assume

[Tater Totts]

Andrea getting killed was fucking ruthless, definitely one of the most difficult parts to watch since season 5B started. And then he says "There's still the kid", I just got that sinking feeling, what an intense scene.

I think Jesse escapes while Walt is taking out Todd and the Nazis [sometime in the first 1/3 of the episode is when that will happen]. From there.... I have no idea what'll happen.

Walt's not going after the nazis.

Who's he going after then? If anything the Grey Matter spot was just a trigger to set him in to full Heisenberg mode.

Of course he is going after them, looked like he was giving himself up after the chat with Jr on the phone. The Grey Matter spot on tv served to piss him off but it was only after he heard that the blue meth was still around that he started to look really angry.

[Axl_morris]

Andrea getting killed was fucking ruthless, definitely one of the most difficult parts to watch since season 5B started. And then he says "There's still the kid", I just got that sinking feeling, what an intense scene.

I think Jesse escapes while Walt is taking out Todd and the Nazis [sometime in the first 1/3 of the episode is when that will happen]. From there.... I have no idea what'll happen.

Walt's not going after the nazis.

Who's he going after then? If anything the Grey Matter spot was just a trigger to set him in to full Heisenberg mode.

Of course he is going after them, looked like he was giving himself up after the chat with Jr on the phone. The Grey Matter spot on tv served to piss him off but it was only after he heard that the blue meth was still around that he started to look really angry.

i guess that was the point he knew the nazis never killed jessie, as agreed.

[Forsaken]

Andrea getting killed was fucking ruthless, definitely one of the most difficult parts to watch since season 5B started. And then he says "There's still the kid", I just got that sinking feeling, what an intense scene.

I think Jesse escapes while Walt is taking out Todd and the Nazis [sometime in the first 1/3 of the episode is when that will happen]. From there.... I have no idea what'll happen.

Walt's not going after the nazis.

Who's he going after then? If anything the Grey Matter spot was just a trigger to set him in to full Heisenberg mode.

Of course he is going after them, looked like he was giving himself up after the chat with Jr on the phone. The Grey Matter spot on tv served to piss him off but it was only after he heard that the blue meth was still around that he started to look really angry.

Exactly

[SunnyDRE]

Didn't Walt say something like, "not leaving Albuquerque"?

Did Gretchen and Elliot live there? I don't remember.

[OmarBradley]

Didn't Walt say something like, "not leaving Albuquerque"?

Did Gretchen and Elliot live there? I don't remember.

Yup the gentleman who sold him the machine gun said something like "be careful about taking this across the border." And he replied, "It's not even leaving town."

[ohlovelyrita]

http://www.bettercallsaul.com/livewebcam.php

[highvoltage]

I thought the end of that episode was awesome. I got goosebumps when the music started playing, I didn't think it was cheesy at all!

He finally broke bad... Walter White is now dead.

There is only Heisenberg.

[bacardimayne]

Just rewatched the episode (I always rewatch them the next day because when I watch it live I'm in full "analyze everything/worry about how much time's left mode" and can't enjoy it properly) and I think the final scene with the music might be in my top 5 BrBa scenes of all time.

Edited September 24, 2013 by bacardimayne

[Powerage5]

Just rewatched the episode (I always rewatch them the next day because when I watch it live I'm in full "analyze everything/worry about how much time's left mode" and can't enjoy it properly) and I think the final scene with the music might be in my top 5 BrBa scenes of all time.

Agreed. And they've certainly got a knack for making the final scene of the penultimate episode of each season amazing:

S1 - Walt blows up Tuco's compound

S2 - Jane dies

S3 - Run.

S4 - Failed Gus assassination (Okay, this one isn't that great, but Crawl Space was!)

S5A - Mike dies

S5B - BrBa theme

[bacardimayne]

S4 - Failed Gus assassination (Okay, this one isn't that great, but Crawl Space was!)

I love that one. End Times is one of my favorite episodes.

[Powerage5]

S4 - Failed Gus assassination (Okay, this one isn't that great, but Crawl Space was!)

I love that one. End Times is one of my favorite episodes.

It's not a bad ending. But I just remember after seeing Crawl Space and how intense that scene was, I was a bit...underwhelmed.

[Forsaken]

Entire cast on Conan in 30.

[downzy]

Another great episode (I usually wait to watch it the next day as I don't get AMC in HD; prefer to download and watch the HD version with the girlfriend the next day).

As mentioned, loved how the destruction of the White homestead was something none of us could have predicted but made sense when you think about it. Loved how they brought the show back to the beginning with references to Grey Matter. Thought Robert Forester did a great job with his part. It was definitely the most tragic episodes from beginning to end.

I've posted parts of reviews for previous episodes, but this time I think this reviewer did such a great job in recapping what's going on that I'd post the whole thing. Definitely well worth a read:

"Not all that much happened on Sunday night’s Breaking Bad. Jesse Pinkman is still a prisoner. Skyler White is still a suspect. Hank Schrader is still dead. As episodes of this particular series go, “Granite State” seemed relatively uneventful.

Unless you watched closely. It turns out “Granite State” wasn’t about plots being hatched or people getting shot. Instead it was about something subtler: a conflict of identity. On Sunday night, the protagonist of Vince Gilligan’s grand cable drama finally came to grips with the question he’s spent the entire series trying to answer, in one way or another:

Who am I? The family man Walter White? Or the meth kingpin Heisenberg?

By the end of the episode, he had his answer. And so did we.

The plan at first was to be neither. The fellow who emerged near the beginning of the episode from the dark storage hold of a blue propane truck into the snow-bright daylight of New Hampshire—the “Granite State” of the title—was supposed to be “Mr. Lambert.” Last week, Walt called the Vacuum-Cleaner Guy, and now the Vacuum-Cleaner Guy had come through. New name. New IDs. And a new home in the wintry hills of New Hampshire, with “about a month’s worth of food on hand, mostly canned”; “a generator outside that works on LP”; and not one but two copies of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium to keep him entertained.

“You paid good money for this,” says the Vacuum-Cleaner Guy (brilliantly played by an avuncular but ruthless Robert Forster). “Two acres, lots of woods... Nice spot. Seems like just the place for a man to rest up and think about things.”

For a moment or two, it looked like Walter “Heisenberg” White might actually become “Mr. Lambert.” Back in Albuquerque, in the Vacuum Cleaner Guy’s basement, we saw Heisenberg stomping around on the security camera, then ranting to Saul Goodman, his fellow fugitive, as if he were Hitler in the Führerbunker during the final siege of Berlin.

“My money goes to my children,” Heisenberg growled. “Not just this barrel. All of it. I’m going to kill Jack and his crew. I’m going to take back what’s mine... Then and only then, I’m through. Got it?”

But up in New Hampshire, Heisenberg begins to fade. When he spots his crumpled black pork pie hat in a duffel bag, he puts it on and storms down to the property line despite the Vacuum Cleaner Guy’s warning: “If you leave this place, you will get caught.” But as Walt leans on the gate, he realizes he can’t go on. “Tomorrow,” he says. “Tomorrow.” Then he returns to his cabin and (literally) hangs up his hat on the antler of a stuffed buck. One month later, when the Vacuum Cleaner guy returns, the hat is still hanging there. Heisenberg, it seems, has finally retired.

At the same time, Walter White—the father who wants to protect and provide for his family—is withering as well. Wracked by cancer, alone in the woods, he’s losing weight at an alarming pace. His beard is growing out. His hair is back. His glasses are broken. He no longer looks like the man who left Albuquerque a month ago. Before the Vacuum Cleaner Guy leaves, Walt asks him a simple question.

“One of these days when you come up here I’ll be dead,” he says, gesturing to his last barrel of cash. “My money over there: what happens to it then? What if I ask you to give it to my family? Would you do it?”

The Vacuum Cleaner Guy’s answer confirms what Walt has begun to fear. That if he lives out his days in New Hampshire as Mr. Lambert, his meth money will never wind up with his family, and his whole adventure will have been meaningless. “If I said yes,” the Vacuum Cleaner Guy replies, “would you believe me?”

As Walt sleeps that night, his wedding ring—the last remnant of the husband and father he once was—slips from his finger. The next day, he tries to send a package containing $100,000— “it’s all I can fit into the box”—to one of Walt, Jr.’s friends, and to alert Junior to its existence with a surreptitious phone call. But Junior’s response only reinforces the demise of Walter White.

“I wanted to give you so much more, but this is all I could do,” Walt says. “Do you understand?”

“You want to send money?” Junior says. “You killed Uncle Hank!”

Walt tries to protest. “It can’t all be for nothing,” he says. He’s crying now. “Please.”

“I don’t want anything from you,” Junior shouts. “Why are you still alive? Just die already. Just die.”

And with that, Walt gives up, placing a traceable call to the Albuquerque DEA. “Who is this?” asks the agent on the other end of the line. “Walter White?” is the response he gets, from somewhere up in New Hampshire. It sounds like a question, too.

Near the end of “Granite State,” I realized that each of the episode’s fluctuations of identity—from Walt to Heisenberg to Lambert—had been accompanied by the same little marker: Walt’s cancerous cough. We heard it for the first time when Heisenberg was in the bunker with Saul. It returned a few minutes later, when he paused at the gate in New Hampshire. And it bubbled up again when Walt’s wedding ring fell from his bony finger.

I’m assuming the cough wasn’t a coincidence—nothing on Breaking Bad ever is. So why was it there? What was Peter Gould, the episode’s writer and director, up to?

My guess? The cough is a sign of Walter White’s mortality—and Heisenberg’s, and Mr. Lambert’s. Every time it arises, the man torn between those three identities has to ask himself how he wants to die—and who he wants to be when he does.

Mr. Lambert is a dead end. Walter White is too. Devastated, Walt sidles up to the bar and orders one last Dimple Pinch, neat. And then, as the bartender flips through the channels, Walt sees it: his former chemistry assistant (and girlfriend) Gretchen Schwartz, and her husband Elliott. The co-founders of Gray Matter, the pharmaceutical company he invented and was then elbowed out of. On Charlie Rose.

“What was Walter White’s contribution?” Rose asks.

“He was person who was there early on but who had virtually nothing to do with the creation of the company and still less to do with what it is today,” Elliott says. “As far as I can recall his contribution begins and ends there.”

“Is Walter White still out there?”

“No, he’s not,” Gretchen replies.

“You sound very sure of that.”

“I can’t speak of this Heisenberg people refer to—whatever he became,” Gretchen continues. “But the sweet, kind man we once knew? He’s gone.”

She’s right, of course. As Walt watches the Schwartzes on TV, he realizes who he is. Not Walter White. Not Mr. Lambert. Heisenberg—fully, utterly, completely. The idea that all of his cunning, his power, his genius would amount to “virtually nothing”—that his “contribution” would begin and end there, with the Schwartzes on Charlie Rose and him in prison—was too galling to bear.

And so Heisenberg leaves his dram of Dimple Pinch on the bar and heads back to Albuquerque—where, as we know from the flash-forward that started the final season, he will purchase an M60 machine gun at Denny’s and remove a ricin capsule from his abandoned home.

The official motto of the Granite State is “Live Free or Die.” Heisenberg knows he’s on the verge of dying. So he decides to live free in the meantime.

Presumably the poison and the bullets are intended for Uncle Jack and his merry band of Nazis—the ones who “stole” Heisenberg’s “life’s work.” Perhaps once he’s back in New Mexico, Heisenberg will again team up with Jesse, who tried and failed Sunday night to escape from his torturer Todd. Honestly, who knows—trying to predict the next plot point on Breaking Bad is a mug’s game.

But here’s the kicker: in terms of the ultimate arc of the series, what’s important now isn’t what Heisenberg is going to do next. The important thing is why he’s doing it. Not for his family. Not anymore. His family doesn’t want his money. His son wants him dead. Even he can see that.

For the first time, what Heisenberg does, he does—knowingly, consciously—for himself. Mr. Chips has finally realized that he’s Scarface."

Edited September 24, 2013 by downzy

[Rovim]

Uncle Jack loves to smoke. I think Walt will replace one of his cigarettes with the ricin.

[SunnyDRE]

The ricin is for Lydia.

[Rovim]

The ricin is for Lydia.

Interesting. With her fussy nature, and the pussy tea. Possible.

I just thought that the ricin had a connection with cigarettes with Jesse and all that. I'm still betting on Uncle jack dying from poisoning.

[Tater Totts]

Ricin could be for himself, kill everyone with the M60 then take his own life.

[Rovim]

Ricin could be for himself, kill everyone with the M60 then take his own life.

Hope not. That would be really boring and kinda lame imo.

[Forsaken]

Ricin could be for himself, kill everyone with the M60 then take his own life.

This was my theory a well. I'd figured he'd use the ricin on himself, and if not him, it's for Lydia. There's a reason why they emphasize so much on her meeting for coffee or tea, always drinking something. Has to be connected.