Warning: Spoiler alert! This post is for those who have watched “Breaking Bad” and know how it ends. For everyone else it will either not make much sense or ruin the ending.
I saw the finale of “Breaking Bad”. Boo!
“Breaking Bad” (2008-2013) is easily one of the ten best shows I have ever seen on television. Up there with “The Twilight Zone”, “Star Trek” and “I’ll Fly Away”. Not only does it have great acting, great writing and great filming – as good as any big-screen Hollywood film – but it is as good as a good book. Instead of returning to the status quo at the end of each hour like most television shows, it uses its 62 one-hour episodes to show Walter White turn, step by step, from high school chemistry teacher and family man to evil drug lord.
Not that the show is without its faults. Like the ending.
I wanted to Walter White to lose everything. EVERY. THING. I wanted all of his actions to have been in vain, to destroy everything and everyone he cared about.
For me the high point of the series came two episodes ago (“Ozymandias”) during the shoot-out in the desert. The moment Uncle Jack, Walt’s neo-Nazi hitman, lowered his gun and chose not to kill Jesse, Walt’s former partner in crime, the show went all mushy. It has not been the same since. Boo!
I wanted Uncle Jack to kill Jesse and take ALL of Walt’s millions. I wanted Walt to come back to town and find his family brutally murdered to within the limits of television broadcast standards. I wanted him to be arrested and thrown in prison. I wanted the doctor to tell him his cancer was gone – death would be too easy. I wanted him to come face to face with everyone his pride, his hubris, his precious meth empire, had destroyed – all the meth heads, all of their children, all of their families.
All right, maybe that is a bit much. Then just have Uncle Jack kill Jesse, kill Walt, take the money, drive off down the road, roll credits.
Instead, instead, this evil, heartless bastard got everything he could have hoped for and more:
- Two years of life – the best doctors said he could hope for when they found his lung cancer.
- $9 million – way more than the $737,000 (51,000 crowns) he said he needed to make for his family before he died. His son now starts life as a millionaire!
- Revenge – none of his main enemies were left standing: Krazy-8, Tuco, the Salamanca brothers, Gus, Lydia, Todd, Uncle Jack, all dead.
- “Live Free or Die” – Walter White never once was put behind bars.
I understand that some fans were for Walter White – he was the “hero”, the point-of-view character, after all. Yet I had faith in Vince Gilligan, the show’s creator: his universe was so wonderfully full of karmic justice: evil always got what it deserved – in the end. That is, until – the end.
See also:
Those are fair points. On the other hand Walter finally had to stop lying to himself. He was killed by his own contraption. He lost a relationship with his family and especially his son. He watched his brother-in-law die, which was not in his plan. I was content to see Walt die. I never thought he was a hero. He was evil but at the end he ran up against worse evil (Lydia, Todd, Jack).
LikeLike
It goes to the heart of the writer. Either he wants us to understand that there is a judgment beyond this life that cannot be evaded, and so the payback is implicit; or he deeply resents the notion of ultimate judgment, and for all the acclaimed karmic justice, wants to defy it vis-a-vis his character. Maybe he’s forcing us to draw our own eschatological conclusions. Many people have no problem with an impersonal karmic sort of justice; but they deeply resent the notion that they will have to answer to a transcendent and personal judge that cannot be evaded in the ultimate sense. After all, ‘the wicked strut about on every side, when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.’ But do the Walter Whites of this or any world, fictive or otherwise–and does anyone ultimately escape judgment?
LikeLike
I can’t bring myself to watch a single episode of this b.s. as a living breathing product of the drug trade this shows popularity is sickening. People glamourize this guy and sympathize with his reason for dealing. Total bs. In real life people like my self are labeled miscreants, thugs that are detrimental to the community. Almost blackballed from society. Nobody gives a f*** about people like me who dealt, nobody cares why, or how we got in the situation in which dealing drugs is the only solution.
But all hail heisenberg…smh
LikeLike
Absolutely agree abagond. The ending was a total cop out to me. It felt “Capraish” to me though it wasn’t a happy ending per se, it was a nice neat ending full set pieces where, as you say, in the end Walt got everything he wanted. Some of the stuff was so cliched as to be almost gag inducing. Giving his wife a get out of jail ticket – literally? Stick it to the “swells” and forcing them to set his kds up with the drug money? Jessie literally breaking the chains connecting him to the Nazis and then Walt and just in case you didn’t get it, he busted out of the gate and drove off into the night. And so on…
Overall, what always bemused me about the critical/fan reception for the show is how they got the main theme wrong. They called it a transformation as in Breaking Bad when it really wasn’t. Walter wasn’t transformed, he was revealed.
LikeLike
The character that wins our sympathies somewhat while turning bad and thus creating a conflict within ourselves is a relatively common device. For many viewers, they like Walter at first and then see him slowly become worse and worse, and it creates this conflict which is intensified by an appreciation of his talents despite them being used for immoral acts. So, he is a character that many people simultaneously like and don’t like, want to succeed but don’t want to succeed. I think that is one reason why the character is compelling.
LikeLike
This show was supposed to be one thing: an entertaining work of fiction. It was not supposed to be a guidepost to justice in the universe or any such thing. It was not supposed to promote your personal agenda. It was not supposed to be a simplistic and obvious social commentary.
I am always amazed when people expect a work of fiction to conform to how they’d have liked it or what would’ve sent a clear message of which they approve and then criticize the work in this context.
Sometimes a work of fiction will simply document a thing that happens and do so in a straightforward manner and let the viewer interpret it as they may. It will then be criticized because it did not clearly condemn or reinforce XYorZ. I’m glad that artists do their own thing and are not listening to these folks. If they did, then they would soon realize that they cannot please everyone and their work would suffer.
LikeLike
Also, I sort of disagree that he stopped lying to himself in the end. He stopped lying to his wife. But, he still played to his vanity. He was great at making meth but a terrible drug kingpin. His entire “reign” from making his first batch to his final end lasted barely two years and he survived by the skin of his teeth in a series of events that would make “24’s” Jack Bauer blush.
LikeLike
ks, show me a compelling character that is faultless? It would be hard to pull that off.
LikeLike
“Maybe he’s forcing us to draw our own eschatological conclusions. ”
Or maybe it is just a television series that does not feel the need to consider the afterlife, at least not in a way that you would approve.
LikeLike
C’mon qwerty, that’s kind of weak. People understand what fiction is and don’t need your condescending definition. They just disagree and there’s nothing wrong with that.
LikeLike
I disagree, ks. I did not simply define fiction. I wrote why I feel that social commentary of fiction is often misguided. If there is something at fault with my implications, then please point them out. I feel that I pointed out the obvious and simultaneously put what was being written here in perspective. I see it as just complaining for no real reason.
If the the ending would’ve been some ham handed unequivocal statement that: drugs are bad and everyone that is involved with their manufacture and distribution is bad and Walter White was a horrible person and nothing good came of what he did and he got nothing out of it and he paid and he is now likely in hades….well we wouldn’t be talking about it now because no one would’ve watched that show to being with.
LikeLike
*being with
LikeLike
oh goodness
*begin with
LikeLike
qwerty,
“ks, show me a compelling character that is faultless? It would be hard to pull that off.”
I don’t need to show you any such thing because I never said any such thing. I get the “difficult men” period of the highbrow tv fiction era were in now. Anyway, stop trying to browbeat any criticism of the show with platitudes about art and fiction. Again, it’s kind of weak.
LikeLike
qwerty,
If the the ending would’ve been some ham handed unequivocal statement that: ….”
Full stop. Imo, the ending was ham handed in a different way, but, I don’t think your assertion is what abagond is saying and he’s clearly a fan of the show. You’re exaggerating for effect.
LikeLike
Stop trying to browbeat the show because it didn’t send a clear message which you endorse. That’s kind of weak.
If the platitude applies to what you are stating, then it isn’t a platitude.
I suppose it seems a platitude because it has been used to support works of art over and over and is pretty true, as I see it.
Social justice warriors always take their reaction to a work of art as the only and obvious one and what the creator meant to put forth. Oddly, works that are wholly endorsed by SJWs tend to stink and be banal.
LikeLike
You’re right that I wrote of an extreme version of it where all of the concerns expressed would’ve been dealt with. I was trying to show why that would have been bad as well. We got something in between. And I wasn’t only speaking of Abagond’s post, I was obviously also referring to the comments here.
I don’t see how anyone can think that Walt got everything he wanted or got off without a large cost. He lost the respect and love of his family. He lost most of the money. He was shot and died. Also, I do not think his inner monster was simply revealed. He did change over the course of the show. But I suppose who can say what lurked in the heart of a fictional character. Still, the clear implication was that he went from mild-mannered, frustrated family man to something else.
I knew going into the final episode that it would not be compelling tv: if Walt really turned everything around (got all the money back, his family back, somehow got to where LEO couldn’t touch him, cancer was gone) or if Walt was utterly decimated. So, the writers did something in between and produced a relatively fitting finale.
The entire show was a cautionary tale of sorts. I don’t think it is fair to hang so much on the finale when the show was basically an extremely long movie/mini-series. It sent its message long before the final scenes.
LikeLike
” his universe was so wonderfully full of karmic justice: evil always got what it deserved”
There was nothing related to the supernatural in this show. I do not think the show somehow hinged on “karma”, and I think the show would have suffered if it had.
The negative things that occurred were a product of the cause and effect relationships that are easily observed. But, often good guys had bad things happen and bad guys had good things happen, which mimics what I at least observe in everyday life.
LikeLike
qwerty,
You are really off the rails now and acting a bit butthurt. Show me where I said that the show needed to send a clear message that I endorsed? That’s right you can’t because I never said that. Stop making stuff up to cover for your bad argument.
All shows are open to criticisms. You tactic here is a classic fanboy/girl move to try and shout down any criticisms with, again, platitudes about art. “Social justice warriors…blah, blah, blah”…c’mon now, that’s really silly. Speaking of banal, I’d say that’s a good description of the Finale.
LikeLike
KS, your criticism and that of Abagond was a bit more nuanced than the others on this thread. But the stench of “it didn’t make me feel as I’d like and so I’ll criticize something I could not have produced” is still wafting about. I admit, I had a bit of knee jerk reaction to seeing what I’d expect here: people B&$%^ing about stuff that really isn’t a big deal at all.
LikeLike
@ qwerty
Oh please. I am allowed to love, like, hate or feel lukewarm about a show or an episode. I am allowed to have an opinion. This series had some great moments – the ending just was not one of them. I pretty much agree with ks. I was not expecting it to “send a message” – this was not some after-school special on drugs. I thought Walt was an evil bastard so of course I wanted to see him go down in flames.
LikeLike
@ qwerty
No, it was a karmic universe. Every single evil character, except Walt and Jesse, met a nasty, deserved end. It was not “cause and effect”, it did not “mimic” the real world at all. In the real world, Uncle Jack would have killed Jesse and Walt and taken the money, and probably would have got away with it. Leaving them alive was amazingly stupid and cost him his life.
LikeLike
Abagond, you missed where bad things happened to good people.
LikeLike
qwerty,
No problem, it’s all good.
“I don’t see how anyone can think that Walt got everything he wanted or got off without a large cost. He lost the respect and love of his family. He lost most of the money. He was shot and died. Also, I do not think his inner monster was simply revealed. He did change over the course of the show. But I suppose who can say what lurked in the heart of a fictional character. Still, the clear implication was that he went from mild-mannered, frustrated family man to something else.”
I see what you’re saying and I think that’s the common take on things though I think the ending lessened his cost quite a bit. My main point of contention would be that the journey from what he was as you say above (which was one of the show’s great hooks) to what he wound up to be was the implication, I think it was a case from going from BAD to WORSE.
I don’t think you need to look into his heart much as, iirc, he chose to make meth instead of sell insurance? and killed a person in the very first episode. That’s quite a big first jump for a mild mannered family man. To me it was more of a slow reveal than a transformation. When you add in his insistence that people say his name and making sure his wife understood exactly who he was, I think there’s something to my point.
Notice that even in the end in the speech to his wife where she finally gets him to admit that it was all about him, he never really expressed any regrets? He expressed pride and satisfaction and even joy but no regrets because, imo, that’s who he truly always was.
LikeLike
I wanted Walt to come back to town and find his family brutally murdered
That tells me everything I need to know about you.
LikeLike
You’re funny Da Jokah
LikeLike
Well, the people Walter kills in the first episode are trying to kill him first. This show, for me, is about what can lurk inside seemingly nice people when put in a given set of situations. I don’t think it is necessary at all to think that a special lurks inside of Walter. I think a metamorphosis that is common enough in people is explanatory enough.
About Jesse not getting his punishment, Jesse did some bad things, but he suffered a lot in this series and he never really turned into the person Walter became. I think that is why Jesse is one of the more beloved characters.
LikeLike
If it was lurking, it was lurking right below the surface and came to the fore in a hurry. I’d say the seeming nice guy was the facade while the “Say My Name” guy was the real dude.
I agree that Jessie was more sympathetic than Walt so he got a better end though I wouldn’t bet on his long term viability.
LikeLike
I agree. Walt got off too easy. I think that Jesse and his family should have been killed (except the baby); and then he should have gotten revenge, tried to flee and got caught. He then should have died in prison and then Native Americans should have found the money. The End.
LikeLike
Thank God someone else agrees!!! It’s like they blew their load on Ozymandias and went totally soft on Walt for the last couple of episodes, especially the last one. I was happy Jesse lived (and really happy with their last bits of dialogue– Jesse denying Walt his own murder was really important, I thought), but everything else was unsatisfying. I think it was MAYBE supposed to be pathetic that Walt went back to caress the chemistry equipment, but they really didn’t drive the point home enough and he got to die a death he and I’m sure many idiot Walt fans thought was heroic and admirable and cool. Yuck! Wtf!
LikeLike
Abagond, your love of Breaking Bad is nothing more than an expression your own Internalized Racism. Did you give such kudos the vastly more relevant, and infinitely superior “The Wire”? No. You did not. I think you need to correct that.
LikeLike
Wasn’t “The Wire” an extremely racist show?
LikeLike
The thing that made this show so different for me was; despite the fact that I hated every single person on the show, except Gus Fring, I kept watching and enjoying the show.
At a certain point I didn’t have an emotional investment in the show other than for entertainment. I didn’t care who lived or died, I just wanted cathartic violence and an interesting plot line.
As for how the show ended. I was glad Lydia ‘got done’ the way she did. She deserved it. I didn’t really care either way that Jesse survived or that Walter died. I was glad to see Todd and his people get it. And, that’s pretty much it.
LikeLike
@ Satanforce
I never saw “The Wire”. I heard it was racist, so I did not have much interest in seeing it.
LikeLike
once you saw the M60 in his trunk and the little rotating arm gizmo you could kind of figure out the end, didn’t he have some type of dynamite looking stuff? I was kind of thinking he would have blown everything up. It seems odd the police arrived immediately, I guess Lydia called them.
LikeLike
@abagond was the wire racist? i think the drunken irish cop was probably so, but there weren’t too many white people in the cast, I’m not sure about that. It had strong parts for black people in terms of acting and the roles, both for cops and criminals.
LikeLike
To say that The Wire is racist requires a leap of logic only seen in the most extreme ledt wing blacks and right wing whites.
1. There are black people in the cast
2. The majority of black people in the cast are affiliated with the drug trade.
2. The majority of 2. speak ebonics, wear baggy clothes. and engage in non-Buppie behaviour.
4. The Wire is racist .
Maybe the show is racist, but even then, it probably the greatest ever deconstruction of the American Dream, the War on Drugs, , basic microeconomics (see above), and American institutions. And that alone makes it worth watching.
I’ll let Peter Griffin sign off here:
LikeLike
satanforce,
Indeed. “The Wire” was not racist.
LikeLike
I thought the ending was perfect – Walt returned from the wilderness to tear down all that he had built. the blue meth operation was his Frankenstein’s monster. He destroyed Jack and the nazis, and it was clear the meth operation was shut down when his body was discovered among the lab equipment.
Lydia got hers. She put a lot of people under the bus (and under the ground) without lifting a finger of her own. Her death was the most clever and best planned of the bunch.
It was Michael Corleone settling all family business in spades.
Jesse paid his karmic debt in servitude and mental anguish over the death of innocents.
Some innocents were harmed in the story – but nobody forced anyone to use that meth – Walt was a drug producer, but a dealer, noway.
LikeLike
The actors’ take on the finale.
http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-finale-bryan-cranston-aaron-paul/
LikeLike
Never watched a single episode of this show. Didn’t interest me. I am one of those boring people who thinks evil is evil and bad is bad. Sounds like the ending was a joke as was the show.
LikeLike
I would have agree with satanforce here ,The Wire was had a very diverse cast of African American actors,not all drug dealers or stereotypes.
While I am forced to watch and like many exclusively white cast tv shows and films due to the current white hegemony of this society and much of the world ,
I pick and choose which interest me.
Currently Two of my favorites are
POI (Person Of Interest) interesting premise,diverse cast,lots of action AND great music!
And The Recently concluded Spartacus series :Blood And Sand,Vengeance And War Of The Damned
I fell in love with this series from the beginning ,Just as I loved Spartacus The Movie With kirk Douglas, now both and all have many of the flaws that trojanpam has extensively discussed ,they still appeal to me.
Primarily due to their expression or take on what I describe as the Moral Imperative (the motive behind most of abagonds posts and the reason he expressed displeasure with breaking bad’s ending.)
That good truth and justice “should” triumph or at least be most important.
BTW can anyone comment of the claim that African Americans disproportionally consume media content esp TV And Film?
LikeLike
“To say that The Wire is racist requires a leap of logic only seen in the most extreme ledt wing blacks and right wing whites.”
You don’t see that here constantly, SF?
LikeLike
“Some innocents were harmed in the story – but nobody forced anyone to use that meth – Walt was a drug producer, but a dealer, noway.”
Hahahaha, that’s funny. That’s a great example of hair splitting beyond the point of absurdity.
LikeLike
I was disappointed by the ending too. My ideal ending would have looked something like this:
– Walt kills Olivia with the ricin. It’s the only part of his plan that works.
– Walt heads to the Nazi compound to kill Jesse.
– The cops get wind of it – they’ve wired up the compound.
– When Walt arrives the cops confront him. They arrest him and Uncle Jack – the rest of the Nazis (incl. Todd) are shot.
– Jesse somehow escapes and runs away to Mexico (I know this is not possible but what the hell).
– Meanwhile, Skylar leaves with the kids for an unknown location. She posts Walt a note telling him she hopes he rots in jail.
– The prison guard gives Walt the note, he cries etc.
– Uncle Jack gets the chair.
– The last scene is Walt dying in his cell some months later. The cancer gets him in the end. He dies alone, knowing that he’s lost everything – his family, money, his honour.
LikeLike
I am shocked you watch breaking bad. I don’t like breaking bad . I live in a small southern town and meth addiction is terrible I just can’t enjoy watching it played out for entertainment on tv but that’s just my opinion.
LikeLike
[…] credits: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, […]
LikeLike