- Feb 5, 2013
- 8,295
- 7,534
Honestly the only thing I wanted in the last ep was for Walt to try his blue before he died
Breaking Bad Thread - "El Camino" - A Breaking Bad Movie on Netflix 10/11
- Jun 1, 2008
- 38,406
- 7,519
Walt the God 
Went out on his own terms, his name is his name.
"I did it for me"
Hail Vince, Hail Cranston, Hail Aaron Paul.
This whole series was art at its finest, I've shed tears over how amazing this show is. Cranston is one of the greatest actors of all time strictly off of this. Just glad I'm living in the generation to experience this, not even mad that its over, it's perfect.
Went out on his own terms, his name is his name.
"I did it for me"
Hail Vince, Hail Cranston, Hail Aaron Paul.
This whole series was art at its finest, I've shed tears over how amazing this show is. Cranston is one of the greatest actors of all time strictly off of this. Just glad I'm living in the generation to experience this, not even mad that its over, it's perfect.
- Jun 3, 2013
- 2,456
- 760
I was hoping he od like Jane and Jesse watched. I was hoping for one more B**** from Jesse would been perfect if he told Walt to say it B****. Great ending show, but finale didnt move me like the wire or prison break. At least it was much better than lost.
- Feb 5, 2013
- 8,295
- 7,534
I was anticipating him yelling yeah bisch when he sped off or uncle jack to say it when brought Jesse out . All in all great wrap up to a amazing series
- Dec 25, 2003
- 43,235
- 28,446
- Apr 15, 2004
- 44,370
- 74,058
"Just get me home"
- Apr 15, 2004
- 44,370
- 74,058
- Sep 9, 2013
- 2
- 11
The ending of BB reminds me of Resevoir Dogs, everybody dies except mr. Pink. In this case Pinkman.
- Sep 19, 2013
- 1,925
- 523
My dude Flynn has been killing the outfits for the past two episodes
- May 31, 2011
- 2,742
- 147
That's a great way to put it. Def felt the same way.
If you listen to most of the dialogue that makes up the episodes it's a retelling of everything that's happened.
- Jan 12, 2003
- 21,951
- 1,398
Just bought the Heisenberg blue 18 x 24 print off the amc site
- Dec 11, 2012
- 24
- 12
great series one of the best ever... rewatching felina ...i just noticed walts bullet wound is located at the same place where he shot mike at lol..and he died at peace..just like mike wanted too..
- Oct 1, 2011
- 5,686
- 529
Salute to Walter "Heisenburg" White. One of the coldest dudes to grace the television screen.
I have full closure. Walt accomplished everything he set out to do. The dude wanted to raise money for his family before he died of cancer. He left them more than enough. He finally became a boss, instead of working at the carwash. He used his knowledge of chemistry to make millions, like he should have at Grey Matter. The dude was gonna die of cancer, and instead ended up going out on his own terms. Not in a jail cell, or getting killed by Nazis, or Jesse. He killed himself, around the thing he loved most. And to top it off he puts both the m60 and ricin to deadly use? My dude went out on top. I dont give a damn his family hates him. I dont give a damn Hank died in the process. I watch the show for Walt, and only Walt. As far as I'm concerned, when I saw him sprawled out on the floor of the meth lab, it felt right. He died next to the only thing he can actually be proud of in his life. Jesse finally choked that punk Todd out like a boss as well, and that final head nod with Walt gave me closure for that too. Only thing better would have been Marie slipping and falling on a banana peel, but you cant have everything.
So Walt, I salute you. Rest in peace Heisenburg. You deserve this
ALL of this
great closure but I feel like I lost a friend now that its over 
- Aug 2, 2006
- 34,141
- 29,480
I feel a special kind of range when I hear people suggest that something about the ending of Breaking Bad was "unrealistic" or "too neat".
That, honestly is a completely misreading of the central themes of the show.
Breaking bad is so compelling because in modern society we strain so hard to see the many shades of grey in our actions so that we can avoid the real black and whiteness of what is right and wrong. Its gotten to the point that right and wrong do not even exist and anything bad that we do can be obfuscated by extenuating circumstance excuses and apologies.
The "neatness" is imperative to the story telling.
Breaking Bad is about Walter White's "BAD" decisions and the universe of the show is set up to make it IMPOSSIBLE to escape a rigid morality or GOOD and BAD. We lie to ourselves everyday to avoid responsibility and Walter White is a liar of the highest order and no matter how hard he tries to wriggle free from the consequences of his decision making "reality" within the universe of the show relentlessly marches towards him.
Its not a ******g documentary, it's not reality, its no even meant to be realistic in ANY way. it s a morality play, the kind that's existed forever. In Macbeth, he becomes king through treason and treachery and the kingdom is engulfed in chaos and darkness, Breaking Bad operates from the same playbook, so when Walter White makes decisions that leads to literal hell fire raining down upon him it's not "neat" but rather the inescapable outcome from the accumulation of bad decisions.
That, honestly is a completely misreading of the central themes of the show.
Breaking bad is so compelling because in modern society we strain so hard to see the many shades of grey in our actions so that we can avoid the real black and whiteness of what is right and wrong. Its gotten to the point that right and wrong do not even exist and anything bad that we do can be obfuscated by extenuating circumstance excuses and apologies.
The "neatness" is imperative to the story telling.
Breaking Bad is about Walter White's "BAD" decisions and the universe of the show is set up to make it IMPOSSIBLE to escape a rigid morality or GOOD and BAD. We lie to ourselves everyday to avoid responsibility and Walter White is a liar of the highest order and no matter how hard he tries to wriggle free from the consequences of his decision making "reality" within the universe of the show relentlessly marches towards him.
Its not a ******g documentary, it's not reality, its no even meant to be realistic in ANY way. it s a morality play, the kind that's existed forever. In Macbeth, he becomes king through treason and treachery and the kingdom is engulfed in chaos and darkness, Breaking Bad operates from the same playbook, so when Walter White makes decisions that leads to literal hell fire raining down upon him it's not "neat" but rather the inescapable outcome from the accumulation of bad decisions.
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- Apr 6, 2008
- 4,751
- 2,232
how the hell are people comparing this show's ending to LOST? i really would like to hear this....cuz lost was the dumbest shhhi ever
the article complaining the show was too neat, that guy needs to get a life
the article complaining the show was too neat, that guy needs to get a life
- Jul 18, 2012
- 6,237
- 2,674
Team WaltSalute to Walter "Heisenburg" White. One of the coldest dudes to grace the television screen.
....................
So Walt, I salute you. Rest in peace Heisenburg. You deserve this
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- Sep 17, 2008
- 14,674
- 2,212
I just want to praise Vice Gilligan and the whole writing staff for such an incredible ride and very satisfying end.
They could have went the unrealistic route and had Walt just go out guns blazing killing any and everyone but they really brought the series full circle with this finale. We see the progression Walt made here, from the Pilot we saw Walt as a very smart and crafty man. From the whole plan with the Grey Matter folks, to poisoning Lydia and finding a way in to the Nazi's lair through Todd, to seeing his family one last time, to rigging the M60, to parking the car in the perfect spot, to knowing what buttons to press to get Uncle Jack to bring out Jesse Walt used EVERY shred of his character we've seen during the entirety of the series. That alone is the ultimate payoff for us the viewers. Having Jesse die JUST to satisfy the "Team Walt" folks yet not be truly necessary to close out the show in itself would have been a bad move. As would killing much of the other supporting characters (The Grey Matter folks, Walt Jr and Skylar, Marie etc.). By going the route they went and having Walt himself tie up every loose end he could just made this finale 100% satisfying to me. I have zero complaints
Can't wait to see a montage of all the excellent musical symbolism from the entire series, like every song hit the nail on the head especially if you listen closely to their lyrics
They could have went the unrealistic route and had Walt just go out guns blazing killing any and everyone but they really brought the series full circle with this finale. We see the progression Walt made here, from the Pilot we saw Walt as a very smart and crafty man. From the whole plan with the Grey Matter folks, to poisoning Lydia and finding a way in to the Nazi's lair through Todd, to seeing his family one last time, to rigging the M60, to parking the car in the perfect spot, to knowing what buttons to press to get Uncle Jack to bring out Jesse Walt used EVERY shred of his character we've seen during the entirety of the series. That alone is the ultimate payoff for us the viewers. Having Jesse die JUST to satisfy the "Team Walt" folks yet not be truly necessary to close out the show in itself would have been a bad move. As would killing much of the other supporting characters (The Grey Matter folks, Walt Jr and Skylar, Marie etc.). By going the route they went and having Walt himself tie up every loose end he could just made this finale 100% satisfying to me. I have zero complaints
Can't wait to see a montage of all the excellent musical symbolism from the entire series, like every song hit the nail on the head especially if you listen closely to their lyrics
- Aug 4, 2005
- 35,033
- 16,945
Crazy to see on Twitter all the people who jumped back on the Walt bandwaggon after this weeks episode after they were wishing for his death all season
- May 3, 2013
- 8,790
- 1,989
One of the best posts I've ever read.Salute to Walter "Heisenburg" White. One of the coldest dudes to grace the television screen.
I have full closure. Walt accomplished everything he set out to do. The dude wanted to raise money for his family before he died of cancer. He left them more than enough. He finally became a boss, instead of working at the carwash. He used his knowledge of chemistry to make millions, like he should have at Grey Matter. The dude was gonna die of cancer, and instead ended up going out on his own terms. Not in a jail cell, or getting killed by Nazis, or Jesse. He killed himself, around the thing he loved most. And to top it off he puts both the m60 and ricin to deadly use? My dude went out on top. I dont give a damn his family hates him. I dont give a damn Hank died in the process. I watch the show for Walt, and only Walt. As far as I'm concerned, when I saw him sprawled out on the floor of the meth lab, it felt right. He died next to the only thing he can actually be proud of in his life. Jesse finally choked that punk Todd out like a boss as well, and that final head nod with Walt gave me closure for that too. Only thing better would have been Marie slipping and falling on a banana peel, but you cant have everything.
So Walt, I salute you. Rest in peace Heisenburg. You deserve this
Long live Heisenberg.
- Jan 27, 2004
- 4,824
- 1,998
Well I think when he finally admitted to Skylar that he did all of this for him, instead of saying it was for his family, you could accept that. He didn't continue to hide behind that "motive" anymore. That's why some people (including me) wanted to see him eventually fail. .
But he finally came clean. So in the end, you just wanted him to make things "right" which he did.
- May 9, 2008
- 3,420
- 907
One of the Best damn tv series !! It will be missed ...
Last episode was truly
Last episode was truly
big j 33
Supporter
- May 31, 2006
- 36,041
- 16,799
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- Aug 6, 2012
- 519
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Have an A1 day, ya'll.
U
User 37837
Guest
Everyone was going crazy about this last night 
I really need to start watching this show...
I really need to start watching this show...
big j 33
Supporter
- May 31, 2006
- 36,041
- 16,799
'Breaking Bad': Creator Vince Gilligan explains series finale
For those that missed it
[SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading if you have not watched the finale of Breaking Bad, titled "Felina." This story contains discussion of major plot points.]
You’ve now had a few minutes to gather your breath, wipe away the tears and start to process that brutal and poignant series finale of Breaking Bad. Whether your predictions were on the money barrel or off-base, you will most certainly want to read what series creator Vince Gilligan had to say about this satiating last-ever episode, which saw the fall of meth kingpin Walter White (Bryan Cranston). “Ours is nothing if not a definitive ending to the series,” says the show’s mastermind, who also wrote and directed the episode. It’s a heady challenge to wrap up five seasons of one of TV’s most daring, beloved and obsessed-over dramas in a manner that’s provocative and satisfying, and Gilligan was keenly aware of it as he and his writers toiled away for endless hours in search of the perfect ending. “I think plenty of people out there will have had a different ending for this show in their mind’s eye and therefore we’re bound to disappoint a certain number of folks,” he says, “but I really think I can say with confidence that we made ourselves happy and that was not remotely a sure thing for the better part of a year. I feel that the ending satisfies me and that’s something that I’m happy about.” Gilligan spoke with EW about the fates for Walt and Jesse, the possible alternate endings, the classic Western movie that turned out to be a huge influence on the ending and the most structurally important scene of the finale.
On choosing an ending for Walt in which he was afforded a sliver of redemption before dying
“We didn’t feel an absolute need for Walt to expire at the end of the show. Our gut told us it was right. As the writers and I worked through all these different possibilities, it felt right, but I don’t think it was a necessity for us. There was a version we kicked around where Walt is the only one who survives, and he’s standing among the wreckage and his whole family is destroyed. That would be a very powerful ending but very much a kick-in-the-teeth kind of ending for the viewers. We talked about a version where Jesse kills Walt. We talked about a version where Walt more or less gets away with it. There’s no right or wrong way to do this job — it’s just a matter of: You get as many smart people around you as possible in the writers room, and I was very lucky to have that. And when our gut told us we had it, we wrote it, and I guess our gut told us that it would feel satisfying for Walt to at least begin to make amends for his life and for all the sadness and misery wrought upon his family and his friends. Walt is never going to redeem himself. He’s just too far down the road to damnation. But at least he takes a few steps along that path. And I think more importantly for him than that is the fact that he accomplishes what he set out to accomplish way back in the first episode: He leaves his family just a ton of money. Of course, Walt for years now has been looking through the wrong end of the telescope. … For years now, he thought if he makes his family financially sound — that’s really all he has to do as a man, as a provider, and as a father. They’re going to walk away with just shy of 10 million in cash, because of Walt’s machinations with Gretchen (Jessica Hecht) and Elliott (Adam Godley). But on the other hand, the family emotionally is scarred forever. So it’s a real mixed message at the end. Walt has failed on so many levels, but he has managed to do the one thing he set out to do, which is a victory. He has managed to make his family financially sound in his absence, and that was really the only thing he set out to do in that first episode. So, mission accomplished.”
On the decision to spare Jesse and allow him to escape
“We found over the years that the way we can please the majority of the audience most of the time is to tune out as much extraneous factors as possible and please the eight of us in the writers room. If we can make ourselves happy day in and day out, we had a pretty good chance of making most viewers happy as well, and that’s what held us in good stead for six years. With that in mind, all [of us] in the writers room just loved Jesse (Aaron Paul) and we just figured he had gotten in way over his head. When you think of it, he didn’t really have a chance in the early days. Walt said, ‘You either help me cook meth and sell it, or else I’ll turn you in to the DEA.’ So this poor kid, based on a couple of really bad decisions he made early on, has been paying through the nose spiritually and physically and mentally and emotionally. In every which way, he’s just been paying the piper, and we just figured it felt right for him to get away. It would have been such a bummer for us, as the first fans of the show, for Jesse to have to pay with his life ultimately.”
On what happens to Jesse now
“We always felt like the viewers desired Jesse to get away. And it’s up to the individual viewer to decide what happens next for Jesse. Some people might think, ‘Well, he probably got two miles down the road before the cops nailed him.’ But I prefer to believe that he got away, and he’s got a long road to recovery ahead, in a sense of being held prisoner in a dungeon for the last six months and being beaten to within an inch of his life and watching Andrea be shot. All these terrible things he’s witnessed are going to scar him as well, but the romantic in me wants to believe that he gets away with it and moves to Alaska and has a peaceful life communing with nature.”
On whether the writers considered a version in which Jesse does shoot Walt during their final conversation
“We talked about Jesse taking Walt up on his offer to kill him or Walt turning around to find Jesse had a gun on him. We talked about every permutation we could conceive of, and we went the way we went ultimately because the bloodlust had been satiated prior to that moment by seeing Jesse throttle Todd (Jesse Plemons) to death. That’s what the writers wanted to see. Todd is actually in a weird way kind of likable, but he just had to go. Opie had to go. Ricky Hitler, as we like to call him. I think the whole world is better off without that group of characters. So having satisfied that, it felt to us like, ‘Jesse is not a killer.’ This poor guy has wound up having to kill over and over again. The first time he did it was to save Mr. White as well as himself, and it’s not a natural fit for him, and it’s something that’s stolen a big, important piece of his soul. And we thought to ourselves, ‘You know what? Let it end with Todd. Let that be the last person this kid ever kills. Let him go on from here to have a decent life.’ And also, he’s got reason enough to kill Walt. He’s got reason enough to be murderously angry at him. But he had said a long time ago, in a previous episode, ‘I’m never doing what you tell me to do ever again,’ so when he says no and drops the gun and says, ‘Do it yourself,’ to Mr. White, it’s as much a refusal to do what Walt tells him. He’s just not going to make Walt happy anymore. It’s not about, ‘I’m not still angry enough to murder you.’ Rather, it’s, ‘You want this, and therefore I’m not giving it to you.’”
On the story inspiration for Walt, who was hellbent on killing Jesse, saving his ex-partner out of sudden instinct
“A lot of astute viewers who know their film history are going to say, ‘It’s the ending to The Searchers.’ And indeed it is. The wonderful western The Searchers has John Wayne looking for Natalie Wood for the entire three-hour length of the movie. She’s been kidnapped by Indians and raised as one of their own, and throughout the whole movie, John Wayne says, ‘I need to put her out of her misery. As soon as I find her, I’m going to kill her.’ The whole movie Jeffrey Hunter is saying, ‘No, we’re not — she’s my blood kin, we’re saving her,’ and he says, ‘We’re killing her.’ And you’re like, ‘Oh my god, John Wayne is a monster and he’s going to do it. You know for the whole movie that this is the major drama between these two characters looking for Natalie Wood. And then at the end of the movie, on impulse, you think he’s riding toward her to shoot her, and instead he sweeps her up off her feet and he carries her away and he says, ‘Let’s go home.’ It just gets me every time — the ending of that movie just chokes you up, it’s wonderful. In the writers room, we said, ‘Hey, what about the Searchers ending?’ So, it’s always a matter of stealing from the best. [Laughs]“
On whether Walt’s death means that he ultimately paid for his sins
“It’s in the eye of the viewer. Dying is not necessarily paying for one’s sins. I certainly hope it’s not, because the nicest people that have ever lived are going to die eventually. So it could be argued instead that he did get away with it because he never got the cuffs put on him. [There was] the one time with Hank [Dean Norris, in 'To'Hajiilee']. But he’s expired before the cops show up. They’re rolling in with the sirens going and the lights flashing and he just doesn’t give a damn. He’s patting his Precious, in Lord of the Rings terms. He’s with the thing he seems to love the most in the world, which is his work and his meth lab and he just doesn’t care about being caught because he knows he’s on the way out. So it could be argued that he pays for his sins at the end or it could just as easily be argued that he gets away with it.”
On how Lydia became the ricin target
“The writers and I all subscribe to the dramatic philosophy of playwright Chekhov, who said that if you establish a gun in Act 1, you better have it get fired at somebody by Act 3. We knew that ricin was still out there and we knew it was hidden behind the wall outlet in the old White house bedroom. I guess we could have let it slide, but we thought to ourselves, ‘The audience has been real good to us, they’ve paid very close attention, we want to reward them by not leaving any loose ends here.’ And also, honestly, the actress who plays Lydia [Laura Fraser] is a wonderful, warm, sweet person but the chatacter of Lydia — we were all champing at the bit to see her get her just desserts much more than Todd even. Todd is so likable, you almost have these ambivalent feelings when he’s being choked to death. But Lydia? We were all of one mind when we were saying, ‘Oh man, she’s got to go.’ So we figured, ‘What’s the best way to do that?’ And we thought somehow she could be there when the M60 goes off, but then we thought, ‘She’d never be around for that kind of stuff.’ She’s just not that person. And then we thought, ‘Can we use the ricin?’ So we were very proud of ourselves when we figured out a way to hang it all together and have her get her just desserts as well. It was very hard-fought, trying to figure out how to plot all this stuff out so that everyone got theirs. Everyone had their final moment in the episode, and it caused a lot of headaches and a lot of stress trying to get all the stuff worked into the final hour of TV [laughs], but I feel real good about it that we did it.”
On the most challenging scene in the finale to pull off
“Oddly enough, the revenge stuff at the end is — this is an odd way to put it because it’s so violent — but that’s sort of the cherry-on-top stuff, that’s the stuff that the audience needs to see for their own emotional contentment. At the end of the hour, the audience needs to see Walt get revenge against the guys who killed Hank. That’s sort of a necessity, and that stuff was a little more clear-cut. But the most important sequence in the episode for me probably was Walt succeeding at his 62-episode long task, which is leaving money to his family. The sequence with Gretchen and Elliott at their house was the hardest thing of all for the writers and I to figure out. In the previous episode, Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) lays it out for Walt. He gives Walt all the reasons why it’s impossible to leave millions and millions of dollars to his family. He says, ‘You’ll never get it past the cops, and if somehow you manage to get to your family, the cops will find out about it and they’ll seize it because it’s drug money. And if miracle of miracles, you manage to get it past the cops, your family is not going to take it because it’s from you and they hate you. Especially your son, who is primarily the one you’re doing this for, so it’s an impossibility.’ We kept talking about that in the writers room saying, ‘Jesus, Saul’s right on the money, no pun intended. There’s no way for Walt to do this.’ The Gretchen and Elliott scheme is structurally the most important sequence in the episode, when Walt pulls that scam on Gretchen and Elliott and he intimidates them into giving his family money so that it’ll ride past the DEA without the DEA knowing it’s drug money and then it’ll be accepted by Skyler and Walt Jr. as largesse, as charity and not as money from their patriarch. As soon as we figured that out, we were like, ‘Oh my god, let’s go to lunch!’ [Laughs] That’s probably structurally the most important moment of the episode, and the toughest one to crack.”
On how he feels now about ending the show just as it was surging in popularity
“Every story has its running time, and it’s just hard in television to know what that running length should amount to, and I feel very happy and satisfied by the fact that we’re wrapping up now. I can’t even believe that the ratings have increased with each episode — I just think it’s wonderful — and people have asked me, ‘Does it make you want to go on and do a bunch more episodes now?’ Just the opposite. It makes me think, through quite a bit of good luck being involved, we really did pick the right moment to exit the stage, and I feel even more confident of that now than I did before.”
http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-finale-bryan-cranston-aaron-paul/
For those that missed it
[SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading if you have not watched the finale of Breaking Bad, titled "Felina." This story contains discussion of major plot points.]
You’ve now had a few minutes to gather your breath, wipe away the tears and start to process that brutal and poignant series finale of Breaking Bad. Whether your predictions were on the money barrel or off-base, you will most certainly want to read what series creator Vince Gilligan had to say about this satiating last-ever episode, which saw the fall of meth kingpin Walter White (Bryan Cranston). “Ours is nothing if not a definitive ending to the series,” says the show’s mastermind, who also wrote and directed the episode. It’s a heady challenge to wrap up five seasons of one of TV’s most daring, beloved and obsessed-over dramas in a manner that’s provocative and satisfying, and Gilligan was keenly aware of it as he and his writers toiled away for endless hours in search of the perfect ending. “I think plenty of people out there will have had a different ending for this show in their mind’s eye and therefore we’re bound to disappoint a certain number of folks,” he says, “but I really think I can say with confidence that we made ourselves happy and that was not remotely a sure thing for the better part of a year. I feel that the ending satisfies me and that’s something that I’m happy about.” Gilligan spoke with EW about the fates for Walt and Jesse, the possible alternate endings, the classic Western movie that turned out to be a huge influence on the ending and the most structurally important scene of the finale.
On choosing an ending for Walt in which he was afforded a sliver of redemption before dying
“We didn’t feel an absolute need for Walt to expire at the end of the show. Our gut told us it was right. As the writers and I worked through all these different possibilities, it felt right, but I don’t think it was a necessity for us. There was a version we kicked around where Walt is the only one who survives, and he’s standing among the wreckage and his whole family is destroyed. That would be a very powerful ending but very much a kick-in-the-teeth kind of ending for the viewers. We talked about a version where Jesse kills Walt. We talked about a version where Walt more or less gets away with it. There’s no right or wrong way to do this job — it’s just a matter of: You get as many smart people around you as possible in the writers room, and I was very lucky to have that. And when our gut told us we had it, we wrote it, and I guess our gut told us that it would feel satisfying for Walt to at least begin to make amends for his life and for all the sadness and misery wrought upon his family and his friends. Walt is never going to redeem himself. He’s just too far down the road to damnation. But at least he takes a few steps along that path. And I think more importantly for him than that is the fact that he accomplishes what he set out to accomplish way back in the first episode: He leaves his family just a ton of money. Of course, Walt for years now has been looking through the wrong end of the telescope. … For years now, he thought if he makes his family financially sound — that’s really all he has to do as a man, as a provider, and as a father. They’re going to walk away with just shy of 10 million in cash, because of Walt’s machinations with Gretchen (Jessica Hecht) and Elliott (Adam Godley). But on the other hand, the family emotionally is scarred forever. So it’s a real mixed message at the end. Walt has failed on so many levels, but he has managed to do the one thing he set out to do, which is a victory. He has managed to make his family financially sound in his absence, and that was really the only thing he set out to do in that first episode. So, mission accomplished.”
On the decision to spare Jesse and allow him to escape
“We found over the years that the way we can please the majority of the audience most of the time is to tune out as much extraneous factors as possible and please the eight of us in the writers room. If we can make ourselves happy day in and day out, we had a pretty good chance of making most viewers happy as well, and that’s what held us in good stead for six years. With that in mind, all [of us] in the writers room just loved Jesse (Aaron Paul) and we just figured he had gotten in way over his head. When you think of it, he didn’t really have a chance in the early days. Walt said, ‘You either help me cook meth and sell it, or else I’ll turn you in to the DEA.’ So this poor kid, based on a couple of really bad decisions he made early on, has been paying through the nose spiritually and physically and mentally and emotionally. In every which way, he’s just been paying the piper, and we just figured it felt right for him to get away. It would have been such a bummer for us, as the first fans of the show, for Jesse to have to pay with his life ultimately.”
On what happens to Jesse now
“We always felt like the viewers desired Jesse to get away. And it’s up to the individual viewer to decide what happens next for Jesse. Some people might think, ‘Well, he probably got two miles down the road before the cops nailed him.’ But I prefer to believe that he got away, and he’s got a long road to recovery ahead, in a sense of being held prisoner in a dungeon for the last six months and being beaten to within an inch of his life and watching Andrea be shot. All these terrible things he’s witnessed are going to scar him as well, but the romantic in me wants to believe that he gets away with it and moves to Alaska and has a peaceful life communing with nature.”
On whether the writers considered a version in which Jesse does shoot Walt during their final conversation
“We talked about Jesse taking Walt up on his offer to kill him or Walt turning around to find Jesse had a gun on him. We talked about every permutation we could conceive of, and we went the way we went ultimately because the bloodlust had been satiated prior to that moment by seeing Jesse throttle Todd (Jesse Plemons) to death. That’s what the writers wanted to see. Todd is actually in a weird way kind of likable, but he just had to go. Opie had to go. Ricky Hitler, as we like to call him. I think the whole world is better off without that group of characters. So having satisfied that, it felt to us like, ‘Jesse is not a killer.’ This poor guy has wound up having to kill over and over again. The first time he did it was to save Mr. White as well as himself, and it’s not a natural fit for him, and it’s something that’s stolen a big, important piece of his soul. And we thought to ourselves, ‘You know what? Let it end with Todd. Let that be the last person this kid ever kills. Let him go on from here to have a decent life.’ And also, he’s got reason enough to kill Walt. He’s got reason enough to be murderously angry at him. But he had said a long time ago, in a previous episode, ‘I’m never doing what you tell me to do ever again,’ so when he says no and drops the gun and says, ‘Do it yourself,’ to Mr. White, it’s as much a refusal to do what Walt tells him. He’s just not going to make Walt happy anymore. It’s not about, ‘I’m not still angry enough to murder you.’ Rather, it’s, ‘You want this, and therefore I’m not giving it to you.’”
On the story inspiration for Walt, who was hellbent on killing Jesse, saving his ex-partner out of sudden instinct
“A lot of astute viewers who know their film history are going to say, ‘It’s the ending to The Searchers.’ And indeed it is. The wonderful western The Searchers has John Wayne looking for Natalie Wood for the entire three-hour length of the movie. She’s been kidnapped by Indians and raised as one of their own, and throughout the whole movie, John Wayne says, ‘I need to put her out of her misery. As soon as I find her, I’m going to kill her.’ The whole movie Jeffrey Hunter is saying, ‘No, we’re not — she’s my blood kin, we’re saving her,’ and he says, ‘We’re killing her.’ And you’re like, ‘Oh my god, John Wayne is a monster and he’s going to do it. You know for the whole movie that this is the major drama between these two characters looking for Natalie Wood. And then at the end of the movie, on impulse, you think he’s riding toward her to shoot her, and instead he sweeps her up off her feet and he carries her away and he says, ‘Let’s go home.’ It just gets me every time — the ending of that movie just chokes you up, it’s wonderful. In the writers room, we said, ‘Hey, what about the Searchers ending?’ So, it’s always a matter of stealing from the best. [Laughs]“
On whether Walt’s death means that he ultimately paid for his sins
“It’s in the eye of the viewer. Dying is not necessarily paying for one’s sins. I certainly hope it’s not, because the nicest people that have ever lived are going to die eventually. So it could be argued instead that he did get away with it because he never got the cuffs put on him. [There was] the one time with Hank [Dean Norris, in 'To'Hajiilee']. But he’s expired before the cops show up. They’re rolling in with the sirens going and the lights flashing and he just doesn’t give a damn. He’s patting his Precious, in Lord of the Rings terms. He’s with the thing he seems to love the most in the world, which is his work and his meth lab and he just doesn’t care about being caught because he knows he’s on the way out. So it could be argued that he pays for his sins at the end or it could just as easily be argued that he gets away with it.”
On how Lydia became the ricin target
“The writers and I all subscribe to the dramatic philosophy of playwright Chekhov, who said that if you establish a gun in Act 1, you better have it get fired at somebody by Act 3. We knew that ricin was still out there and we knew it was hidden behind the wall outlet in the old White house bedroom. I guess we could have let it slide, but we thought to ourselves, ‘The audience has been real good to us, they’ve paid very close attention, we want to reward them by not leaving any loose ends here.’ And also, honestly, the actress who plays Lydia [Laura Fraser] is a wonderful, warm, sweet person but the chatacter of Lydia — we were all champing at the bit to see her get her just desserts much more than Todd even. Todd is so likable, you almost have these ambivalent feelings when he’s being choked to death. But Lydia? We were all of one mind when we were saying, ‘Oh man, she’s got to go.’ So we figured, ‘What’s the best way to do that?’ And we thought somehow she could be there when the M60 goes off, but then we thought, ‘She’d never be around for that kind of stuff.’ She’s just not that person. And then we thought, ‘Can we use the ricin?’ So we were very proud of ourselves when we figured out a way to hang it all together and have her get her just desserts as well. It was very hard-fought, trying to figure out how to plot all this stuff out so that everyone got theirs. Everyone had their final moment in the episode, and it caused a lot of headaches and a lot of stress trying to get all the stuff worked into the final hour of TV [laughs], but I feel real good about it that we did it.”
On the most challenging scene in the finale to pull off
“Oddly enough, the revenge stuff at the end is — this is an odd way to put it because it’s so violent — but that’s sort of the cherry-on-top stuff, that’s the stuff that the audience needs to see for their own emotional contentment. At the end of the hour, the audience needs to see Walt get revenge against the guys who killed Hank. That’s sort of a necessity, and that stuff was a little more clear-cut. But the most important sequence in the episode for me probably was Walt succeeding at his 62-episode long task, which is leaving money to his family. The sequence with Gretchen and Elliott at their house was the hardest thing of all for the writers and I to figure out. In the previous episode, Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) lays it out for Walt. He gives Walt all the reasons why it’s impossible to leave millions and millions of dollars to his family. He says, ‘You’ll never get it past the cops, and if somehow you manage to get to your family, the cops will find out about it and they’ll seize it because it’s drug money. And if miracle of miracles, you manage to get it past the cops, your family is not going to take it because it’s from you and they hate you. Especially your son, who is primarily the one you’re doing this for, so it’s an impossibility.’ We kept talking about that in the writers room saying, ‘Jesus, Saul’s right on the money, no pun intended. There’s no way for Walt to do this.’ The Gretchen and Elliott scheme is structurally the most important sequence in the episode, when Walt pulls that scam on Gretchen and Elliott and he intimidates them into giving his family money so that it’ll ride past the DEA without the DEA knowing it’s drug money and then it’ll be accepted by Skyler and Walt Jr. as largesse, as charity and not as money from their patriarch. As soon as we figured that out, we were like, ‘Oh my god, let’s go to lunch!’ [Laughs] That’s probably structurally the most important moment of the episode, and the toughest one to crack.”
On how he feels now about ending the show just as it was surging in popularity
“Every story has its running time, and it’s just hard in television to know what that running length should amount to, and I feel very happy and satisfied by the fact that we’re wrapping up now. I can’t even believe that the ratings have increased with each episode — I just think it’s wonderful — and people have asked me, ‘Does it make you want to go on and do a bunch more episodes now?’ Just the opposite. It makes me think, through quite a bit of good luck being involved, we really did pick the right moment to exit the stage, and I feel even more confident of that now than I did before.”
http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-finale-bryan-cranston-aaron-paul/
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