- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Long thoughts on the ending of Breaking Bad
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:54 am to corndeaux
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:54 am to corndeaux
quote:
I did think Emily Nussbaum's dream theory was very interesting. Not sure I buy it, but a thoughtful interpretation of the episode
Just read a chunk of it, and I don't really agree with her at all.
0
Posted on 10/2/13 at 10:57 am to corndeaux
quote:
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.
true and i get what you're saying but the show is about walter white, right?
Posted on 10/2/13 at 11:29 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 think it's up to each of us to decide what happens to Jesse. As the Drive by Truckers tell us, the secret to a happy ending is knowing when to roll the credits. But I'm a generally hopefully person, and I'm glad his story ends with hope. You can bring it to a dark place if you wish, but I prefer not to. And the audience has the ability to craft that ending. I prefer not to live in a world as cruel as one that would keep punishing Jesse. I'd like to think he actually makes it to Alaska.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 11:37 am to corndeaux
quote:
I was happy to see Walt own up to his sins, but I thought it leaned too much in the "Walt wins" column.
I'm sympathetic to this view, but ultimately, that's the audience wanting villainy to be punished. We love antiheroes, but we want them to get theirs in the end. I think that's projecting our desire to see punishment onto the show. And also, he was punished.
The show was Walt's story, not anyone else's. So it can't show the ripple effects of his actions after he dies because the story is over. I am also sympathetic to Freaux's view that the Schwartz's likely don't deserve to be heroes, but that is another story. In Walt's story, they get to be the saviors (though at the price of always worrying someone is going to murder them). We also don't know if his plan works, we have to hope, just as Walt does, that it does.
I do think the finale was very Walt-centric, as it had to be. But it was about his contrition for his sins. This wasn't breaking bad, but breaking not good precisely, but at least honest and remorseful. He took responsibility. Because of that, he got a "better" ending. But honestly, had he just died as chemistry teacher with no money and a family who loved him and mourned him... that was a better way to live. He missed his happy ending by deciding to break bad.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 11:39 am to Baloo
Walt, swallowed his pride and used others ego and pride to destroy them.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 11:45 am to Baloo
quote:
The Shield found the perfect punishment for Vic
Shield Spoilers?
I still need to see the series, I don't even know who Vic is.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 11:45 am to Baloo
quote:
The general consensus seems to be that this was a satisfying though not spectacular finale.
I respectfully disagree. Perhaps it was not "spectacular", but the truly heartbreaking scene with Skylar, Holly and Flynn, coupled with his death and perfect musical accompaniment, in my humble opinion, was spectacular. I've never been so affected by a television show as Breaking Bad, and I hope I never am again (if that makes any sense).
Posted on 10/2/13 at 11:51 am to flvelo12
quote:
I've never been so affected by a television show as Breaking Bad, and I hope I never am again
This, first time ever, I had a show do that to me.
This post was edited on 10/2/13 at 11:52 am
Posted on 10/2/13 at 11:51 am to Baloo
quote:
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.
The worst mistake Walt made in the entire show was not letting Hank think Gale was Heisenberg. The case was almost closed, Hank would have been Asac and not have paid as much attention to it. But this show was great with foreshadowing. I'm glad I watched the entire series in a month, made it easier for me to remember all the points of each episode.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 12:33 pm to dr smartass phd
quote:
This, first time ever, I had a show do that to me.
Walking Dead for me.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 1:21 pm to Baloo
quote:
that's the audience wanting villainy to be punished.
Thats true to some extent, but this show inhabited a moralistic world and conditioned us to expect this. Bad actions led to bad consequences.
quote:
So it can't show the ripple effects of his actions after he dies because the story is over
I get that and I understand the point. To me that is a large reason why the finale didnt feel right. So much of the show is how Walt's actions affected those around him. Leaving that out was a choice and, to me, it felt different than what we had seen before. It wasnt a bad or wrong choice. It just left me feeling like something was lacking.
quote:
But it was about his contrition for his sins
I agree. But it does beg the question:
If redemption was what he wanted, why not follow Saul's advice and turn himself in? Wouldn't that be the ultimate sacrifice of his pride and vanity?
I loved the show and liked the ending. It just didnt hit for me the way I was hoping. Absolutely respect and understand the many who loved Felina as the final statement from a classic show.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 2:17 pm to corndeaux
quote:
Thats true to some extent, but this show inhabited a moralistic world and conditioned us to expect this. Bad actions led to bad consequences.
completely agree. And Walt suffered bad conseuqences. The fact we'd consider that his son hates him, his wife is irreperably damaged and maybe headed to prison, Jesse has been horribly tortured both physically and psychologically, the money will seem like charity from a benefactor that he despises, and he dies alone on the floor of a meth lab AS A VICTORY, shows how horrible his life had gotten.
We defined success down to something that barely qualifies.
quote:
If redemption was what he wanted, why not follow Saul's advice and turn himself in? Wouldn't that be the ultimate sacrifice of his pride and vanity?
I don't think it was redemption he wanted, just he finally realized what he became. He wanted some measure of atonement. And killing the Nazis does far more good for Skyler than turning himself in. He became the person that protects the family from the person who protects the family. He did this by killing every last vestige of Heisenberg.
I agree that the finale was a notch below, say, Six Feet Under. But it was denouement after the climax of Ozymandias. And that is a climax I will put up against anything.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 2:18 pm to Baloo
damnit Baloo, spoiler on The Shield. I haven't finished it yet. 
Posted on 10/2/13 at 2:54 pm to Baloo
quote:
Maybe Walt wasn’t punished enough, but the ending was earned. He just had to ask for it. He finally did.
Stopped reading there.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 3:08 pm to jrodLSUke
Jesse was a prisoner of drug addiction, then a prisoner of Walt's cooking, a prisoner to guilt of being involved in the deaths of innocent people.
In season 5, eventually became a prisoner in a prison.
My interpretation:
IMO, the scene with him breaking out of the Nazi camp was him busting the last form of imprisonment in his life. He will still carry the guilt but when he went through that gate he was finally free from it all.
In season 5, eventually became a prisoner in a prison.
My interpretation:
IMO, the scene with him breaking out of the Nazi camp was him busting the last form of imprisonment in his life. He will still carry the guilt but when he went through that gate he was finally free from it all.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 3:26 pm to Baloo
quote:
shows how horrible his life had gotten.
Very fair point.
quote:
He did this by killing every last vestige of Heisenberg
Definitely think there is something to be said for dying, haggard Walt, eschewing the black hat and clothes, making these moves. Still not convinced he did all of these things just to atone (he was going after the Nazis- and Jesse?- before he knew they threatened Skyler), but this is a debate that can go back and forth for a long time.
quote:
But it was denouement after the climax of Ozymandias. And that is a climax I will put up against anything.
Excellent point. The root of my feelings about Felina probably have a lot to do with the near impossibility of topping Ozymandias.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 3:26 pm to YumYum Sauce
quote:
IMO, the scene with him breaking out of the Nazi camp was him busting the last form of imprisonment in his life. He will still carry the guilt but when he went through that gate he was finally free from it all.
i totally agree and its why i don't think he'll ever use again. at least not anything hard.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 3:32 pm to hiltacular
quote:
I was thinking about it and how much does the DEA have on Jesse specifically?
The tapes were taken from Hank's house, but that doesn't mean the nazis destroyed Jesse's confession. Also Jesse's fingerprints are all over the lab where walt died. Jesse may be free, but the DEA has to know he was involved somehow.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 3:37 pm to ashy larry
The DEA is extremely unlikely to go after Jesse. They know Walter White is Heisenberg, and he's now dead in the meth lab along with a bunch of neo Nazis on the compound. The blue meth with disappear from circulation, furthering the case that Walter was the guy still making meth. They might pursue the open case again Skyler, but they will likely let the matter drop with his death. there's no one to testify for or against.
The tape is almost certainly inadmissable and it might make the entire investigation fruit from the poisonous tree. Why risk a total DEA win? Declare victory that Heisenberg saw justice, and close the investigation and move on. The case wraps up nicely without the trouble of trying to prosecute Jesse.
The tape is almost certainly inadmissable and it might make the entire investigation fruit from the poisonous tree. Why risk a total DEA win? Declare victory that Heisenberg saw justice, and close the investigation and move on. The case wraps up nicely without the trouble of trying to prosecute Jesse.
Posted on 10/2/13 at 4:21 pm to ashy larry
quote:
Also Jesse's fingerprints are all over the lab where walt died
Not so. Jesse was an "artist" at heart who mastered the cook. One of his first lessons: CLEAN every inch of the lab after every cook
Page 2 of 5
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News