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Long thoughts on the ending of Breaking Bad
Posted on 10/2/13 at 9:23 am
Posted on 10/2/13 at 9:23 am
This is going to be TL;DR but screw you, I’m verbose.
It’s taken me a few days to digest the finale of Breaking Bad, and I’ve perused all of the major episode reviews out there. The general consensus seems to be that this was a satisfying though not spectacular finale. I can agree with that assessment, but I have noticed that those who disliked the episode the most were those who felt Walt “got away with it” and that this was an unearned conclusion.
There is a major strain of Puritanism that runs through Americans, even ones that consider themselves alternative and edgy. We love our anti-hero stories, but we also want to see him punished (it’s almost always a he). The Shield found the perfect punishment for Vic, The Sopranos ends obliquely but hints at torment and retribution, and so on. We root for the antihero until the end, when we want to see him have some sort of punishment. There is a view that Walt was not punished enough for being, well, a sociopathic monster for a large portion of the series.
I believe this view is wrong for two reasons. The first is that Walt is punished. While the final episode ends just about as well as it could for Walt, that’s the best of his bad options. He has lost family that he does love. His name, so important to him, has been destroyed and will not live on with his son, who now calls himself Flynn. He is directly responsible for the death of his brother-in-law, destroying his extended family as well. He also gets shot and dies, so it’s not like he got away with it. We’re all dead in the end. His punishment could have been worse, or more poetic (like Vic’s in The Shield), but he did not escape punishment and judgment.
Which leads to the second reason: Redemption. This is the Catholic in me, but I found my anti-Walt stance soften in this finale because he did what he had never done before: he confessed his sins and was truly penitent. It doesn’t make up for his sins, but it is an important step. Breaking Bad is a moral universe, and Walt’s greatest sin was pride. He finally swallowed his pride and admitted the truth about himself, and laid himself before his wife for judgment (not a perfect metaphor – this makes Skyler either a priest or God).
Walt is essentially killed in Ozymandias, the true climax of the show. In Granite State, he suffers for his sins and is cast out of society. He is left to pathetically offer $10,000 to a guy to spend an hour with him. He is defeated and laid low. It is not Hell, it is Purgatory, with the demons pulling away his sins. He is punished for misdeeds, most acutely when his son asks why he doesn’t just die already. When he looks at the roof of the car and asks for help to just get back home, some think he’s asking God, but I think he’s asking Heisenberg. This is the criminal mastermind’s last act, so Walt can return home to his family and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness that Skyler gives because, well, she’s a better person than Walt is. She has also been punished for her sins, but sins her sins were not as severe, she still has what is truly important: her family. And she has the power of Walt to grant forgiveness which she gives when he finally asks for it in an honest way, without excuse.
But the key was that he “was alive”. Not is. Walt is already dead, making right what little he can. He can only get the money to his family by telling them it is not from him. He has to give up all ego. Their saviors will be the Schwartz’s. He had to be the villain and let others save his family. He loses the credit for his act, but his family is rewarded. Which is what he always said he wanted, to take care of them.
Finally, Jesse. Jesse is the most good hearted person on the show, which is why he has been consistently punished for his misdeeds. Unlike everyone else, he has known what they are doing is wrong, so the universe keeps punishing him for his sins. He accepted his responsibility a long time ago and he has been beaten up repeatedly, lost his family, two women he loved, and been made into a slave. No show could be so cruel as to then kill him. He has suffered enough. He earned a happy-ish ending.
The best part of his ending is that he made Walt tell him what he wanted, and then was able to deny it. Jesse can no longer be manipulated and he is now free of all chains. For the first time, he has agency. And after killing Todd, who really deserved it, Jesse will not kill again. He turns his back on that kind of life, and joyfully sprints to freedom. He is reborn, fresh to do anything by his own choice. Jesse, more than anyone, appreciates being alive. Marie and Skyler are nearly dead husks, shuffling through existence. Jesse is now finally and fully, alive.
Maybe Walt wasn’t punished enough, but the ending was earned. He just had to ask for it. He finally did.
It’s taken me a few days to digest the finale of Breaking Bad, and I’ve perused all of the major episode reviews out there. The general consensus seems to be that this was a satisfying though not spectacular finale. I can agree with that assessment, but I have noticed that those who disliked the episode the most were those who felt Walt “got away with it” and that this was an unearned conclusion.
There is a major strain of Puritanism that runs through Americans, even ones that consider themselves alternative and edgy. We love our anti-hero stories, but we also want to see him punished (it’s almost always a he). The Shield found the perfect punishment for Vic, The Sopranos ends obliquely but hints at torment and retribution, and so on. We root for the antihero until the end, when we want to see him have some sort of punishment. There is a view that Walt was not punished enough for being, well, a sociopathic monster for a large portion of the series.
I believe this view is wrong for two reasons. The first is that Walt is punished. While the final episode ends just about as well as it could for Walt, that’s the best of his bad options. He has lost family that he does love. His name, so important to him, has been destroyed and will not live on with his son, who now calls himself Flynn. He is directly responsible for the death of his brother-in-law, destroying his extended family as well. He also gets shot and dies, so it’s not like he got away with it. We’re all dead in the end. His punishment could have been worse, or more poetic (like Vic’s in The Shield), but he did not escape punishment and judgment.
Which leads to the second reason: Redemption. This is the Catholic in me, but I found my anti-Walt stance soften in this finale because he did what he had never done before: he confessed his sins and was truly penitent. It doesn’t make up for his sins, but it is an important step. Breaking Bad is a moral universe, and Walt’s greatest sin was pride. He finally swallowed his pride and admitted the truth about himself, and laid himself before his wife for judgment (not a perfect metaphor – this makes Skyler either a priest or God).
Walt is essentially killed in Ozymandias, the true climax of the show. In Granite State, he suffers for his sins and is cast out of society. He is left to pathetically offer $10,000 to a guy to spend an hour with him. He is defeated and laid low. It is not Hell, it is Purgatory, with the demons pulling away his sins. He is punished for misdeeds, most acutely when his son asks why he doesn’t just die already. When he looks at the roof of the car and asks for help to just get back home, some think he’s asking God, but I think he’s asking Heisenberg. This is the criminal mastermind’s last act, so Walt can return home to his family and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness that Skyler gives because, well, she’s a better person than Walt is. She has also been punished for her sins, but sins her sins were not as severe, she still has what is truly important: her family. And she has the power of Walt to grant forgiveness which she gives when he finally asks for it in an honest way, without excuse.
But the key was that he “was alive”. Not is. Walt is already dead, making right what little he can. He can only get the money to his family by telling them it is not from him. He has to give up all ego. Their saviors will be the Schwartz’s. He had to be the villain and let others save his family. He loses the credit for his act, but his family is rewarded. Which is what he always said he wanted, to take care of them.
Finally, Jesse. Jesse is the most good hearted person on the show, which is why he has been consistently punished for his misdeeds. Unlike everyone else, he has known what they are doing is wrong, so the universe keeps punishing him for his sins. He accepted his responsibility a long time ago and he has been beaten up repeatedly, lost his family, two women he loved, and been made into a slave. No show could be so cruel as to then kill him. He has suffered enough. He earned a happy-ish ending.
The best part of his ending is that he made Walt tell him what he wanted, and then was able to deny it. Jesse can no longer be manipulated and he is now free of all chains. For the first time, he has agency. And after killing Todd, who really deserved it, Jesse will not kill again. He turns his back on that kind of life, and joyfully sprints to freedom. He is reborn, fresh to do anything by his own choice. Jesse, more than anyone, appreciates being alive. Marie and Skyler are nearly dead husks, shuffling through existence. Jesse is now finally and fully, alive.
Maybe Walt wasn’t punished enough, but the ending was earned. He just had to ask for it. He finally did.
20
Posted on 10/2/13 at 9:26 am to Baloo
Why is it always punishment with you Catholics? haha JK man great review and perspective.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 9:27 am to Baloo
I read it all, and I agree.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 9:28 am to Baloo
Thought about the post between Walt and Skyler being like the wall between a priest and the confessor.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 9:31 am to LNCHBOX
Good stuff but I'm so tired of hearing about how great Jesse was. I thought he was a pretty despicable character.
And Hank's pride killed Hank.
And Hank's pride killed Hank.
This post was edited on 10/2/13 at 9:47 am
Posted on 10/2/13 at 9:36 am to Baloo
Well put, Baloo.
I would like your's and the board's opinion on something. Maybe it has been discussed, but I have missed it.
Does Jesse take out Walt, if Walt hasn't already been (essentially fatally) shot?
They made the point to show Jesse notice this as he has the gun pointed at Walt's head.
My gut says no, but again, they made the point to have him notice this.
I would like your's and the board's opinion on something. Maybe it has been discussed, but I have missed it.
Does Jesse take out Walt, if Walt hasn't already been (essentially fatally) shot?
They made the point to show Jesse notice this as he has the gun pointed at Walt's head.
My gut says no, but again, they made the point to have him notice this.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 9:40 am to Me4Heisman
quote:
And Hank's pride killed Hank.
Or a bullet from Jack's .40 caliber Desert Eagle (which is ironic considering Hank's spill from the pilot). Which btw a Neo Nazi with a Desert Eagle?
Posted on 10/2/13 at 9:43 am to MrFreakinMiyagi
quote:
They made the point to show Jesse notice this as he has the gun pointed at Walt's head.
I must have missed this, because I thought the first time it was noticed was after Jesse had left and Walt looked down at the wound.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 9:45 am to MrFreakinMiyagi
No. I think Jesse wouldn't have killed Walt under any circumstances save self-defense. It's what Walt wanted, and Jesse promised to never do anything he wanted ever again. So he didn't. It was important that Jesse not only recognize his agency, but follow through on on it. He is no longer Walt's tool.
Also, Hank does bear some responsibility for getting himself killed. But almost every person in the meth trade had a moment where they could have, and should have, walked away but didn't. Hank was given an out, but refused to take it. His pride doomed him as well. The Nazis were doomed the moment Todd convinced Jack to keep selling meth because you always want more money. Like addicts, no one could stop.
Also, Hank does bear some responsibility for getting himself killed. But almost every person in the meth trade had a moment where they could have, and should have, walked away but didn't. Hank was given an out, but refused to take it. His pride doomed him as well. The Nazis were doomed the moment Todd convinced Jack to keep selling meth because you always want more money. Like addicts, no one could stop.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:03 am to Baloo
Good analysis Baloo. I was quite happy myself with the finale and I think Walt got what he deserved. Having done all this to support his family, there is nothing worse that could have happened to him than losing them.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:12 am to Baloo
to piggy back on the "punishment" thoughts.
Seeing Walt have to see Flynn one last time, from a distance, knowing he hated him, was tough.
I mean. His own son, HATES him and wishes him DEAD.
christ
Seeing Walt have to see Flynn one last time, from a distance, knowing he hated him, was tough.
I mean. His own son, HATES him and wishes him DEAD.
christ
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:14 am to Pilot Tiger
He was punished, asked for forgiveness, and received mercy. But only after Confession.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:16 am to Baloo
first off, great write up and i mostly agree with everything.
totally agree. when that bullet goes thru hank you see walt start to fall apart (or die as you put it). i would submit at that moment it was actually heisenburg who dies inside of walt and only a broken walt remains. he realizes that all he has at that point is his family and wants to cut his losses and try to hold on to the only thing he has left.
when hank dies, it's the true point of no return. everything before that point, was like watching a gambler take his exciting ride of huge wins and bad beats knowing that at any time he could leave the table with what he has (feel free to tie in the gambling cover story). everything that happens after hank's death to walt until the very end i can't say any better than you did so i'll stop.
furthermore i'm a fan of jesse's ending as well. gaining his freedom from walt and his literal freedom from the nazi's. i'm trying to decide if i agree with you on jesse being the most good hearted person on the show. he definitely had his moments but i don't think he was ever the kind of evil that walt had become. i think gilligan's use of children (jesse's soft spot and walt's ability to justify using them as pawns) was him directing the audience to exactly how he wants us to feel about walt and jesse.
one of the things i noticed by season 3 and 4 is just the far reaching misfortune of everyone walt had come into contact with even indirectly. he was all consuming. there was no one who was changed for the better afterwards, that is, if they survived.
quote:
Walt is essentially killed in Ozymandias, the true climax of the show
totally agree. when that bullet goes thru hank you see walt start to fall apart (or die as you put it). i would submit at that moment it was actually heisenburg who dies inside of walt and only a broken walt remains. he realizes that all he has at that point is his family and wants to cut his losses and try to hold on to the only thing he has left.
when hank dies, it's the true point of no return. everything before that point, was like watching a gambler take his exciting ride of huge wins and bad beats knowing that at any time he could leave the table with what he has (feel free to tie in the gambling cover story). everything that happens after hank's death to walt until the very end i can't say any better than you did so i'll stop.
furthermore i'm a fan of jesse's ending as well. gaining his freedom from walt and his literal freedom from the nazi's. i'm trying to decide if i agree with you on jesse being the most good hearted person on the show. he definitely had his moments but i don't think he was ever the kind of evil that walt had become. i think gilligan's use of children (jesse's soft spot and walt's ability to justify using them as pawns) was him directing the audience to exactly how he wants us to feel about walt and jesse.
one of the things i noticed by season 3 and 4 is just the far reaching misfortune of everyone walt had come into contact with even indirectly. he was all consuming. there was no one who was changed for the better afterwards, that is, if they survived.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:19 am to Baloo
quote:
This is going to be TL;DR but screw you, I’m verbose.
It’s taken me a few days to digest the finale of Breaking Bad, and I’ve perused all of the major episode reviews out there. The general consensus seems to be that this was a satisfying though not spectacular finale. I can agree with that assessment, but I have noticed that those who disliked the episode the most were those who felt Walt “got away with it” and that this was an unearned conclusion.
There is a major strain of Puritanism that runs through Americans, even ones that consider themselves alternative and edgy. We love our anti-hero stories, but we also want to see him punished (it’s almost always a he). The Shield found the perfect punishment for Vic, The Sopranos ends obliquely but hints at torment and retribution, and so on. We root for the antihero until the end, when we want to see him have some sort of punishment. There is a view that Walt was not punished enough for being, well, a sociopathic monster for a large portion of the series.
I believe this view is wrong for two reasons. The first is that Walt is punished. While the final episode ends just about as well as it could for Walt, that’s the best of his bad options. He has lost family that he does love. His name, so important to him, has been destroyed and will not live on with his son, who now calls himself Flynn. He is directly responsible for the death of his brother-in-law, destroying his extended family as well. He also gets shot and dies, so it’s not like he got away with it. We’re all dead in the end. His punishment could have been worse, or more poetic (like Vic’s in The Shield), but he did not escape punishment and judgment.
Which leads to the second reason: Redemption. This is the Catholic in me, but I found my anti-Walt stance soften in this finale because he did what he had never done before: he confessed his sins and was truly penitent.
Excellent points all around.
quote:
he confessed his sins and was truly penitent. It doesn’t make up for his sins, but it is an important step. Breaking Bad is a moral universe, and Walt’s greatest sin was pride. He finally swallowed his pride and admitted the truth about himself, and laid himself before his wife for judgment (not a perfect metaphor – this makes Skyler either a priest or God).
Easily the best and most important scene in all of the show. I may criticize Breaking Bad a bit, but that scene, in relation to everything that had come before, was brilliant.
quote:
Finally, Jesse. Jesse is the most good hearted person on the show, which is why he has been consistently punished for his misdeeds. Unlike everyone else, he has known what they are doing is wrong, so the universe keeps punishing him for his sins. He accepted his responsibility a long time ago and he has been beaten up repeatedly, lost his family, two women he loved, and been made into a slave. No show could be so cruel as to then kill him. He has suffered enough. He earned a happy-ish ending.
The best part of his ending is that he made Walt tell him what he wanted, and then was able to deny it. Jesse can no longer be manipulated and he is now free of all chains. For the first time, he has agency. And after killing Todd, who really deserved it, Jesse will not kill again. He turns his back on that kind of life, and joyfully sprints to freedom. He is reborn, fresh to do anything by his own choice. Jesse, more than anyone, appreciates being alive. Marie and Skyler are nearly dead husks, shuffling through existence. Jesse is now finally and fully, alive.
While I feel he had the right kind of ending, I just feel he was misused before that. But maybe I was wrong, the view of his "agency" and how that relates matches well with the meme about each scene of Jesse not driving a car, and then finally driving in the end. Good call.
quote:
Maybe Walt wasn’t punished enough, but the ending was earned. He just had to ask for it. He finally did.
Part of his punishment you mentioned is his name being ruined. Are we to believe that his pride wasn't about being a drug lord and the pinnacle of all meth cooks? We aren't given sufficient information that he wasn't remembered as such. At least I didn't read it as if we were.
I've been trying to also think about how the Schwartz's play into a lot of these interpretations...
quote:
Walt is already dead, making right what little he can. He can only get the money to his family by telling them it is not from him. He has to give up all ego. Their saviors will be the Schwartz’s. He had to be the villain and let others save his family. He loses the credit for his act, but his family is rewarded. Which is what he always said he wanted, to take care of them.
We never knew enough about them, but they seemed to be crooked, but still well-intentioned people. Ends and means? I mean, what we did get about the start of the company was shaky at best, but they were almost framed as equal in moral ineptitude as everyone else on the show, and it was a real problem, for me, that they got to do the saving.
I haven't thought it through completely, though.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:27 am to Baloo
Can't say I disagree with anything you wrote... I think the show had about as fit an ending as one can ask for.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:38 am to Baloo
quote:
No. I think Jesse wouldn't have killed Walt under any circumstances save self-defense.
I feel the same, but unless I'm remembering it wrong, Jesse looked right at the wound before he decided not to pull the trigger.
To me, it was the most ambiguous part of the ending.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:42 am to Baloo
I enjoyed the post with the exception of the Catholic part about Purgatory. People always try and force themes into shows and this is one of the most cliche ones that viewers try and "see" in the show. I'm not buying it and I wouldn't believe that Gilligan intended or would even agree that this was an over-arching part of the series.
Otherwise good stuff
Otherwise good stuff
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:47 am to Baloo
quote:
Finally, Jesse. Jesse is the most good hearted person on the show, which is why he has been consistently punished for his misdeeds. Unlike everyone else, he has known what they are doing is wrong, so the universe keeps punishing him for his sins. He accepted his responsibility a long time ago and he has been beaten up repeatedly, lost his family, two women he loved, and been made into a slave. No show could be so cruel as to then kill him. He has suffered enough. He earned a happy-ish ending.
The best part of his ending is that he made Walt tell him what he wanted, and then was able to deny it. Jesse can no longer be manipulated and he is now free of all chains. For the first time, he has agency. And after killing Todd, who really deserved it, Jesse will not kill again. He turns his back on that kind of life, and joyfully sprints to freedom. He is reborn, fresh to do anything by his own choice. Jesse, more than anyone, appreciates being alive. Marie and Skyler are nearly dead husks, shuffling through existence. Jesse is now finally and fully, alive.
Agreed with most of what you said up until this point. Jesse, while indeed free of both the physical chains of Todd + the metaphorical chains Walt had on him, has nowhere to go from here. I doubt he can make it a day or two before he's back on drugs and ultimately puts a bullet through his brain due to the extreme amount of guilt and loss he cannot overcome.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:48 am to Baloo
Great post.
I liked the finale, but I felt like something was off. I was happy to see Walt own up to his sins, but I thought it leaned too much in the "Walt wins" column.
One thing that Maureen Ryan and Todd Vanderwerf brought up is how Walt centric everything was. The show, including Season 5, has largely been Walts descent and how Walt's actions affect those around him. The finale really abandons this. We see Walts actions, but we dont see the ripple effects of those actions- rather we are left to assume they all went as planned as the Nazi raid and the ricin dump did.
I think you're right about Ozymandias being the climax of Breaking Bad and the final two being the humbling and redredemption of Walter White, almost a separate mini series. Before I get slammed, I liked the final two episodes. To me, they just didnt seem to fit right with the other 60 hours of the show.
I did think Emily Nussbaum's dream theory was very interesting. Not sure I buy it, but a thoughtful interpretation of the episode
I liked the finale, but I felt like something was off. I was happy to see Walt own up to his sins, but I thought it leaned too much in the "Walt wins" column.
One thing that Maureen Ryan and Todd Vanderwerf brought up is how Walt centric everything was. The show, including Season 5, has largely been Walts descent and how Walt's actions affect those around him. The finale really abandons this. We see Walts actions, but we dont see the ripple effects of those actions- rather we are left to assume they all went as planned as the Nazi raid and the ricin dump did.
I think you're right about Ozymandias being the climax of Breaking Bad and the final two being the humbling and redredemption of Walter White, almost a separate mini series. Before I get slammed, I liked the final two episodes. To me, they just didnt seem to fit right with the other 60 hours of the show.
I did think Emily Nussbaum's dream theory was very interesting. Not sure I buy it, but a thoughtful interpretation of the episode
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:51 am to Rohan2Reed
quote:
Agreed with most of what you said up until this point. Jesse, while indeed free of both the physical chains of Todd + the metaphorical chains Walt had on him, has nowhere to go from here. I doubt he can make it a day or two before he's back on drugs and ultimately puts a bullet through his brain due to the extreme amount of guilt and loss he cannot overcome.
I was thinking about it and how much does the DEA have on Jesse specifically? Obviously Marie would have told them everything she knows but the tapes were stolen correct? They would find Walt in the lab and probably assume he had been doing the cooking...
Not that it matters but I am guessing they just assume that Jesse is dead.
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