This week's episode of Breaking Bad (SPOILERS)

[BinoAl]

Oh god, I'm excited for the finale now. This is gonna be good.

[Gormador]

I'm glad I can still type, as my jaw lies on the floor.

One more episode to go; I'm already sad to see it go.

[BinoAl]

I heard a lot of people mention Gray Matter before now, and always figured "That's dumb, that was just to establish how Walt became who he is, it won't come back!". I'm surprised to see it come back. My bet is on Walt poisoning Gretchen and the other guy, and using the M60 on the Nazis, for "stealing" his formula

[Gormador]

You know what ? I don't think either of us have a really good idea of what's going to happen. And that's one of the reason why this show is so good.

[BinoAl]

You know what ? I don't think either of us have a really good idea of what's going to happen. And that's one of the reason why this show is so good.

Lmao, exactly :)

[Ethinolicbob]

and using the M60

Yeah I agree that the M60 is probably destined for the group, but an added reason I think is because he now knows that they hold Jesse.
In the previews it showed him going to the house and getting the poison, and that the neighbour saw him so it may also be that the poison is meant for him after he has finished what he is doing and the police catch up to him.
My other prediction is that this is the episode Heisenberg finally comes to stay and he settles in over the fallen to start rebuilding his empire.

[Gormador]

My other prediction is that this is the episode Heisenberg finally comes to stay and he settles in over the fallen to start rebuilding his empire.

Naaa, he was wayyy too friendly with that neighbours of him ^^

[FlowerChild]

<grumble grumble>

Meh. It was ok. Definitely not the worst series finale I've seen (ahem...Dexter), but somehow I guess I was expecting more given the genius of the rest of the series.

[FlowerChild]

Actually, no, sorry, Dexter wasn't the worst, it's just the worst in recent memory. Battlestar Galactica takes the cake by a long shot.

Had forgotten how pissed off I was after that one. "Robots are bad, mkay?" <face palm>. Yes...that was established in the first episode thanks.

[Gormador]

What did you expect?
Is it the fact that Jesse lives that bothers you?

I really liked that ending, despite of the fact that it kinda was what I expected.

And, com on!, who doesn't love machine guns when used like that ? :p

[Larmantine]

I was quite excited about it, but the ending for me was a bit "meh". I wanted to see a bit more interaction between Jesse and Walt.

[BinoAl]

The series overall was amazing, but the finale wasn't that great. Not bad, but not as good as I hoped. I think my expectations were wayyyy too high, though

[Whisp]

Agreed that the ending wasn't as big or spectacular as I expected it. But it was just fitting with the rest of the series. Going through the scenes I can't think of a single one that felt out of place with Walter's usual actions, nor can I think of a better alternative for one of them.

I wasn't to happy with the hateful ending between Walter and Jesse, but that's just my gut feeling that always hopes for a happy end. ;)

[Gormador]

I wasn't to happy with the hateful ending between Walter and Jesse, but that's just my gut feeling that always hopes for a happy end. ;)

Hateful ? I don't think we've seen the same episode ;-)

I'm pretty sure they kinda forgave each other.

[FlowerChild]

Well, thinking it over, I DID like the whole aspect of admitting he enjoyed it all way too much to his wife and having that reflected in the very final scene in his last loving gesture to the cooker.

I think it was the machine gun scene that watered it down for me, as no, I didn't particularly love it being used that way and it kinda stretched on my suspension of disbelief (I think it was a 7.62 M60, which I can't really see being held firm and making that nice surgical line across the house attached to such a flimsy looking rig), so by the time it hit the final scene my emotional investment was already stretched thin, causing it to have less of an impact on me than it might of otherwise.

Honestly, I think they should have stayed away from gun fights. The series was very light on them, and when they tried to jam a couple in at the end of the series like that, it wound up being what messed with the overall quality IMO. I guess having been a gunner in the army makes me a little more critical of stuff like that, but man, it's not like it's hard to find a decent firearms consultant to bounce this stuff off of.

Anyways, like I said, not bad, I just think I was expecting a little more out of it.

[Gormador]

I think it was the machine gun scene that watered it down for me, as no, I didn't particularly love it being used that way and it kinda stretched on my suspension of disbelief (I think it was a 7.62 M60, which I can't really see being held firm and making that nice surgical line across the house attached to such a flimsy looking rig), so by the time it hit the final scene my emotional investment was already stretched thin, causing it to have less of an impact on me than it might of otherwise.

Honestly, I think they should have stayed away from gun fights. The series was very light on them, and when they tried to jam a couple in at the end of the series like that, it wound up being what messed with the overall quality IMO. I guess having been a gunner in the army makes me a little more critical of stuff like that, but man, it's not like it's hard to find a decent firearms consultant to bounce this stuff off of.

Oh yeah I totally agree, this didn't seem "realistic" at all. I just kinda liked the brutal death it gave to the neo-nazi bunch and the occasion for Walt to protect Jesse, which in my opinion is the purpose of this scene. Without it, Walt wouldn't have had a peaceful mind when he died, which I think he got in the end and was what he was after during this finale.
Call it an attempt at "making it right" or "redemption", whatever fits.

In the end, this whole story comes down to a guy who, due to despair, made a very bad choice, enjoyed it for a long while, realized what he had done (but still liked it) after coming back to his senses when he knew he was (for sure this time) going to die and tried to make amend the best way he could.

It is very classic, but the way it has been done made it unforgettable. It's only my opinion, though ^^

[TallTyrionLannister]

My critique is that I feel a much more devastating fate was in store for Walt and company based on what has been heavily foreshadowed throughout the series. Still, I give props to Gilligan for ending the series the way he wanted to and not on some arthouse contemplative film school malarkey that didn't give a firm resolution for the Whites, et al. I guess I can accept the reversal in Walt's fortunes since the character that emerged from the granite state wasn't Walter White...nor was he Heisenberg... he was something different entirely. A humbled, yet more dangerous entity that no longer needed the trappings of his former personas. Religion is heavy in Gilligan's masterpiece and I'm of the persuasion that New Hampshire was Walt's purgatory. He had stew on his misdeeds and watch as his life's work came undone. That he would emerge from this enviroment a changed and more capable man (Walt 2.0?) is entirely believable. In my opinion, the "finale" of the Walt vs. Heisenberg arc ended with Hank's death and the subsequent fallout happening two episodes ago.

The gun thing doesn't really bother me, FC. I can see where it would from a former military guy's point of view, but in my fiction Walt 2.0 tests his setup carefully before implementing it. He had the time and the caution and the empty desert space to do so. He could've easily reinforced his rig. And you know his meticulous mind would've factored in recoil, heat, etc. I even initially questioned why the Nazi's wouldn't look in his trunk to check for a bomb, but I think Walt 2.0 is so good at displacing his pride and ego that he appears truly broken and harmless(Skyler: "you look terrible" Walt 2.0 "but I feel great").

[FlowerChild]

One other thing I'll throw out there that kinda bothered me and took me out of the moment:

Where did he get the machine gun? That's rather major, and something I felt rather odd about them just throwing in there with no explanation.

He didn't really have any contacts left to get access to that kind of military hardware (like the neo-nazis or something), he was resorting to using Jessie's druggy friends to impersonate hitmen with laser pointers, he's never bought anything like that before so it's certainly not a given he would know where to look (I know New Hampshire's gun laws are extremely permissive, but I don't think they're THAT permissive), he was beginning to run low on cash, and somehow this machine gun materialized in his trunk.

Seems to be a rather major plot point to just be skipping over, especially given it was used for major foreshadowing several episodes ago. Any theories, or something I may have forgotten about from a past episode? Did he have that thing buried in his yard or something?

[Miss_Kat]

He got the machine gun from the same guy he bought his very first gun from - they exchanged cars at the same diner he made his sad bacon birthday plate. Did the money/keys trade in the bathroom, if I remember correctly. I can't remember if the episode that takes place in was at the start of this half season or the last...

[FlowerChild]

He got the machine gun from the same guy he bought his very first gun from - they exchanged cars at the same diner he made his sad bacon birthday plate. Did the money/keys trade in the bathroom, if I remember correctly. I can't remember if the episode that takes place in was at the start of this half season or the last...

Ah! Thank you! Glad to know that they did explain that at some point :)

[Miss_Kat]

Ah! Thank you! Glad to know that they did explain that at some point :)

You're welcome & you're right that it would've been extremely bizarre for something like that to just appear out of nowhere.

[FlowerChild]

You're welcome & you're right that it would've been extremely bizarre for something like that to just appear out of nowhere.

Yeah, I'm sad I didn't recall that as I think it contributed to the emotional disconnect at the end I was talking about above. Hard to focus on the emotional context when you're still wondering where the bloody machine gun came from in the first place :)

[Mikko_blu]

I hate seeing a series end. I'm sad to see breaking bad go, but I'm hopeful for the next good tv show to come around. Hopefully it can live up to to the standards that Breaking Bad has introduced.

[kregoth]

Actually, no, sorry, Dexter wasn't the worst, it's just the worst in recent memory. Battlestar Galactica takes the cake by a long shot.

Had forgotten how pissed off I was after that one. "Robots are bad, mkay?" <face palm>. Yes...that was established in the first episode thanks.

Agree both those shows had horrible finallies. When I watched Dexter I just sat there and said "WTF did I just watch? I knew I should have quit at season 3"

[FlowerChild]

Agree both those shows had horrible finallies. When I watched Dexter I just sat there and said "WTF did I just watch? I knew I should have quit at season 3"

Hear hear. I think Dexter started getting stale after the 2nd season, and I honestly think it would have been a much better show if his brother had killed his adopted sister at the end of that season.

It had an edge at the beginning that they lost big time, and her constant needy whining really dragged the whole thing down. By the end I was wandering off to the bathroom or to make a snack every time she went into one of her emotional rants as I couldn't take it anymore. They also had a terrible habit of nullifying pretty much every major plot development shortly after it happened to maintain the status quo just when you thought the show was about to evolve into something different.

I kept watching out of habit, and I guess out of a hope it would get back to its roots, but at the end, despite it concluding terribly, I felt a certain sense of relief that it was put out of its misery :P