This goes without saying, but: SPOILER ALERT!
The world saw the end of a great television series yesterday. The finale of AMC’s methamphetamine drama Breaking Bad appears to have overwhelming fan approval. I feel that it was very well done. I think I shed an invisible tear and all. But just a few niggling points stuck in my craw about the end of Walter White’s run as the blue meth kingpin Heisenberg.
1. The cops were absolutely useless. Walt escapes a near-miss with the police just once. After that he was able to drive all over Albuquerque, sneak in to see Skyler, peek in on Walt Jr., meet with Lydia in public at a diner he previously frequented, and gather the tools for his ultimate kill– all without being recognized or tailed? He shows up at his old home and there’s no surveillance? He was supposed to be the subject of a nationwide manhunt and he gallivants throughout town unimpeded. I know he needed to be able to do this for the climax of the episode, but really though?
2. The bows were tied wonderfully, but a little too neatly. Walt’s final triumph was thrilling to watch and I would have been disappointed if his plan had any hitches. But Lydia gets the ricin treatment. The Neo Nazi scumbags get the hand-rigged Gatlin gun. And everybody catches the fade they deserved, just as Walt designed. But how in the world does Walt MacGyver just know how to set up a rotating Gatlin? And I still cannot figure out how he got the ricin in a sealed sugar packet.
3. Skyler did not kill/slap/beat Marie. I think everyone was rooting for the downfall of Marie, if only just to silence her annoying little mouth. She had to have been the show’s best worst character, a former kleptomaniac sitting on moral ground so high that she tries to kidnap her sister’s baby. Just once, I wanted Skyler to do more than take Marie’s lip about the White family: I wanted her to shove a fist in that purple-loving harpy’s gullet! Alas, it was not to be. Vince Gilligan let Marie go out doing what she always did. Jabbering and gossiping and trash-talking. But Skyler herself looked too beat down to give one, anyway.
Breaking Bad is hands-down the best television series I have watched since I discovered The Wire (which is the greatest TV series of all time, don’t argue with me). I will miss the complex progression of Walter White from sickly chemistry teacher to fedora-wearing Heisenberg.
Did you catch the finale? What did you think about the ending?
dara t. mathis 
Awwww, Jesse was my boo! I didn’t mention him because I would’ve bust into tears all over my keyboard. It had a good end, though, I think they cut everything off well.
Lol. See, your problem was that you cared. I didn’t give a hoot who lived or died by the end of the show. I hated every single person that was left on the show. I was however pleased to see Lydia get her comeuppance in the way that she did. i didn’t really care what happened to Jesse. As for the ricin, well, that confused me a bit but it was plausible since he knew they were coming and had time to tamper with the Stevia packet.
And, Marie got hers because she’s going to be crazy for the rest of her life without Hank there to save her.
Thank you so much! How cool, my first blog award! 🙂
Hi, Dara! I just wanted you to know that I nominated you for a Lovely Blog Award. You can read more about it here: http://curiouserediting.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/curiouser-update/.
Yeah, I was thinking about the coffee shop because SOMEBODY there had to remember…Yo, I used to serve that dude every Tuesday! He was a meth kingpin?!
I also forgot to mention that the Neo-Nazi bumpkins snuck into the house and threatened Skyler when she was under surveillance, too. The cops pretty much failed at everything.
Truuue! It reminded me of his wheelchair bomb with Gus Fring…like, how?! But the yes, whole thing was magnificent.
1. You got to remember that the cops thought he was in New Hampshire. Which is why they were not at the old house. Also, they knew he sold meth, however, they did not know anything about how his empire was set up. So of course he could go to the coffee shop b/c the only folks who knew he frequented it was Lyia, him, and Todd.
2. The bows were tied neatly b/c well, it fit the whole story. Here is a guy that destroyed evidence with a huge magnet, cooked meth in an RV, cooked meth in people’s homes via roach abatement. He did tons of outlandish things and somehow made it. Thus, it is only best he goes out that way lol
3. Marie was the easiest character to dislike. I really was hoping she got shot.
I thought they did a wonderful job giving Walter what he deserved, but in a way that didn’t play with fans’ emotions. If they had done him TOO dirty, my little heart would’ve been hurt. LOL.
Good point about the metaphor. I just worry for poor Jesse’s sanity, even if he did get out!
Thanks for reading! 🙂
I loved the finale. I think, in a way, the finale was a metaphor for drug use in general-some get out and some cannot. Great show!