Decompressing after the Breaking Bad finale (Spoilerfest)

Last night, those of us watching witnessed television history, plain and simple. A show that has already gone down in history as one of the all time best finalized its standing by ending on its own terms and ending quite beautifully. Breaking Bad could have gone for many more seasons, but I'm glad it didn't because this is a show that has always been working toward an ending.

All I really have to say to convince you the finale was great is this: The title was Felina -- an anagram of finale, yes, but... Fe is Iron. Li is Lithium. Na is Sodium. These are major elements present in...

Blood, Meth and Tears.

Did your brain just explode or what?

Okay, let's talk about the top most perfect moments in the finale...

(in chronological order)

1.) Walt breaking into Elliot and Gretchen's house

The suspense was overwhelming -- wait... he's not gonna... is he? No... well... no... -- and the dark humor was spot on. This scene was incredibly entertaining and set the mood for the episode. This isn't gonna be a blood bath, like I thought. (Not yet...) Walt's got a plan and he's gonna carry it out meticulously before he lets the bullets fly.

Not to mention... BADGER AND SKINNY PETE! YES! WITH LASER POINTERS!

2.) The flashback of Jesse making that wooden box in his high school woodworking class

The season 3 scene (in the episode Kafkaesque) in which Jesse describes this box is one of my all time favorite instances of character development. For those of you who don't know what's up, here's the story:

At a rehab support group session, the leader guy asks Jesse what he would do if he could do anything at all. Jesse replies that he'd make more money. The leader says, no, if you had all the money you'd ever want, what would you do? Jesse thinks about it... he'd work with his hands. Like woodworking? Yeah, he says. He took a class in high school, woodworking, and their assignment was to make a box "just to, like, put stuff in" and he figured he could make it quickly, get a D and skip class for the rest of the semester. When he turns in this piece of junk box, the teacher asks him if that's the best he can do. Something about this question strikes him, and he works harder than ever at this box, starting over several times. The end product is the most beautiful box you've every heard anyone describe: sanded for hours, rubbed with oil so "it even smelled good" -- just gorgeous. The leader, back in present day, asks him where the box is now. He gave it to his mom, he says. You know, the leader says, you can take classes. It's not too late, you can still pursue this. Jesse looks at him and says, "I didn't give it to my mom. I traded it for an ounce of weed."

That scene made my heart break a million times over because JESSE TRADED ALL HIS TALENT AND HIS POTENTIAL AND HIS WHOLE LIFE FOR DRUGS. And Jesse is my baby. Look at him:

He's just a little baby...
(My one gripe is that his teeth are REALLY white for a
meth addict. They're pretty white for a normal human.)

Sooo in Felina, there was a brief, sort of sepia scene of a younger, less beaten up and less beaten down Jesse working his little heart out on that box. Then as he walks away from the woodworking table, his apron snags on the corner. As he looks down -- jump to present day. The light is harsher, Jesse's hair is overgrown and his poor baby face is all beaten up. It wasn't his apron that stopped his movement, but his chains. He's a meth slave, basically, if that's even a thing. Chained up and forced to cook Heisenbergian meth day in and day out. If only he'd kept that box.

3.) The shot down into Lydia's chamomile tea with soy milk (ick) as she pours in her "Stevia"

Spoiler alert: it's not really Stevia.

Just the feeling of: Noooo... but... what? How'd he do that? Did he do that? Noooo...

Spoiler alert: he did it.

Lydia got the ricin.

4.) "I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. I was really... I was alive."

Before we talk about this particular moment of closure-like-no-other, let's talk about another hand-over-mouth moment in this episode:

Skyler's on the phone with Marie, being told that Walt is back and that police are watching her house and to be careful and blah blah blah. Skyler doesn't seem all that concerned. She hangs up the phone. Then says, "Five minutes." The camera inches forward and we see that, standing behind a pillar in the kitchen, WALT WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME.

So, they have a little chat which leads to probably the most perfect moment of the whole episode. Walt starts to say, "Just remember that this whole time--" Skyler cuts him off. "If I have to hear one more time that you're doing this for your family--"

"I did it for me," Walt finally admits, after all these years. "I liked it. I was good at it. I was really... I was alive."

(I like how he says he was alive, like he's no longer.)

Let's remember that Walt hasn't been doing this for his family, hasn't been doing this to pay for his treatment, since episode 5 of season 1: Gray Matter. Elliot and Gretchen gave him a way out. A dignified way (a job offer), and one not so dignified (offer to pay out of pocket for his treatment). Walt turned them down -- aggressively. His pride was too strong. It shines through in the beginning of the episode when he demands that all expenses that arise from transferring his 9 million in drug money to Walter Jr. comes out of his drug money, not from Elliot and Gretchen. But when he admitted to Skyler and to himself his true motivation, it felt like the series could end.

5.) Jesse killed Todd

Todd only survived the barrage of bullets so this could happen. But it was a punch-the-air moment well worth any "well isn't that convenient" tricks from the writers. I usually don't cheer for violence, but come on... It's Todd. If anyone deserves to be strangled it's Todd, and if anyone deserves to strangle him it's Jesse. It felt so much like redemption.

PLUS -- So much like Walt's first murder, when he strangled Krazy 8 with the bike lock. Can't be a coincidence. Nothing is a coincidence in well-done television.

Hey, I had a thought! Walt's first murder (well, hands-on murder) and Jesse's last. I'm thinking the parallel is deeper than just the method used.

6.) Jesse didn't kill Walt

During Ozymandias, I thought that was what I wanted. But only Vince Gilligan really knows what I want.

I wonder, though, what would have happened if Walt didn't get shot by his little "say ello to my leetle friend" contraption and Jesse didn't shoot him. Or would he have? He doesn't lower the gun until he sees the wound. I think if Walt wasn't already going to die, Jesse very well might have shot him, but not out of rage, not for revenge. But for peace, for both of them. When he sees that Walt's a goner anyway, he realizes he doesn't have to yet again drench his hands in blood, so he doesn't. Instead tells him, "Do it yourself."

Would Walt have done it himself? I thought, before this episode, that he was going to, either by ricin or by gun (let's all remember that Walt would've shot himself in the mouth in the freaking pilot episode if he'd known how to turn off the safety). But once again, only Vince Gilligan knows what I really think, deep down.

7.) Jesse scream-laugh-crying as he speeds away, free at last

I have a head-canon that Jesse somehow adopts Brock (I don't care how impossible that would be IT NEEDS TO HAPPEN) and they move far, far away, somewhere it snows in the winter, and Jesse gets a job working with kids and since he's a dad now he never touches drugs again because he always had so much disrespect for mothers who did drugs and he's going to hold himself to that same standard, and he and Brock can be broken together, but they'll work it out and they'll not let each other forget Andrea and oh my God I'm making myself cry just typing this all out what's wrong with me this isn't even real.

8.) This shot:

I'll clue you in on the metaphoric significance: Viewing himself in the meth-making vat or whatever the heck that is, his image is distorted. He has changed so much because of this. The blood print, besides letting us know that the end is near, represents all the blood that's been shed because of his actions, but also marks his territory: even though he shouldn't be and he knows he shouldn't be, he's proud of his legacy. He succeeded at something and he wants credit for that. He wants credit for slaughtering those neo-Nazis who held Jesse captive all those months and he wants credit for making the best goshdarn meth the world's ever seen. For being the legendary Heisenberg and actually gaining the fear and respect of others for once. It's a blood-soaked legacy, but it's his, and he's at peace with that.

What I thought I wanted versus what Vince Gilligan knew I wanted

Felina was really everything I wanted that I didn't know I wanted until I saw it.

I thought I wanted Walt to shave his head and look like Heisenberg once more. I'm glad he didn't. His hair made him more sympathetic, more real. He didn't have to wear that hat and those sunglasses to be Heisenberg because the transformation of the last five seasons was complete. Walter White and Heisenberg had merged completely and the result ended up somewhere in the middle. The show has done something great. Walter White hasn't turned into a one hundred percent evil villain. That's too unrealistic for a show like Breaking Bad. He let his evil side overtake him during Ozymandias. That was the full extent. Granite State was his punishment, his low point. Felina is his redemption. He comes to terms with his evil side, lets it in but doesn't let it overtake his good side. Whether or not Walt deserved redemption, well... he didn't get it completely. But he got a tiny little bittersweet slice. And I'd argue that that doesn't go against everything good and moral. Walt's an exaggeration, yes, but how much of one? How much of him is plausible? How many of us deserve our own slice of redemption?


I've yet to see much of season 4 and a bit of 5a as well, but watching the end of this show was something I hope I can talk about one day, when I'm a TV writer, as something that affected and inspired me. Whether that happens or not, it has affected and inspired me.

The first thing my mom did after Hank died (as she hid behind her blanket) was look at me and say, "Promise you'll never write anything like this." She meant violence-wise, but there's no need to worry, mom -- I'll never be able to write something as groundbreaking and perfect as Breaking Bad. But the fact that it exists is enough for me.

Not to imply that I won't ever be blogging about Breaking Bad again, because that's pretty much a given.

Let's analyze the heck outta Breaking Bad! (Spoilerfest)

Breaking Bad is really good. Let's talk about that.

The concept

This show is about turning a protagonist into an antagonist. This is pretty ground-breaking. In all other works of fiction I can think of, it's pretty clear who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. Or, at least, there's the one main character whom you always root for. And it's obvious - it's the first character you're introduced to and you get attached and you aren't asked to question that attachment. Many times, antagonists "break good," but I really can't think of a time when a protagonist has gotten so bad that he's no longer the protagonist. And that's why Breaking Bad is revolutionary.

Walter White is likable at the beginning. I mean, he does kill a guy in the first episode, but at the beginning it's all fairly excusable: self-defense... he's doing it for his family... he had no choice... and the like. And he has cancer! We're never asked to root against someone who has cancer! He starts out doing the wrong things for the right reasons and since we know his reasons, we can forgive him for a while. And then we begin to forgive more and more... But if this show is going to do what it set out to do - and it will, believe me - we will all hate Walt without reservation by the end.

How is this going to happen in four more episodes for those who still can't help but pull for him? Well, if he killed Jesse that would do it because everyone loves Jesse and Walt's one redeemable quality is that he loves Jesse, too. So, in summary: things are not looking good for Jesse. As if we didn't already know that... but I was really hoping he'd make it out alright.

Walt's motivation

Walt made enough money to care for his family long, long ago. Clearly his motives have changed and he's become obsessed with making more money and building a larger empire. Why?

He wants to succeed at something before he dies.

He's a genius-level chemist and he could've been a big deal - could've worked for Gray Matter and made important discoveries... and a lot of money. Instead, he's a high school chemistry teacher. This is all he has left. He can make the best darn meth anyone's ever seen and make a fortune while he's at it. He can have a reputation - as the infamous Heisenberg. That's his obsession - not so much the money as the legacy. 

Theme: Justice

One of the major themes is justice. Not through the law, but through karma. People have what's coming to them. Actions have consequences. What does this mean? Well, it means Walt will die in the end, but we all knew that already. But it could shed some light on how he will die. Probably not of cancer, I mean. This idea could bode well for Jesse, but let's remember - he's no angel either. Breaking Bad has showed for a long time that crime pays and it pays well - but the more lasting message has to be that in the end, it really doesn't.

Theme: Family

Walt claims that everything he does, he does for his family. Even Tuco is shown caring for his elderly uncle, Hector Salamanca. Then Tuco's cousins, "The Cousins," vow revenge on Hank for killing Tuco. Quotes that reflect this theme include: "Family. You can't give up on them, ever. What else is there?" (Jane's father) and "La familia es todo" ("Family is all" - Hector Salamanca).

Symbols: Teddy bear and plane crash - AND CRAZY FORESHADOWING

The plane crash was foreshadowed from the first moment of the season two premiere using one of Breaking Bad's most favored storytelling techniques: a flash-forward. The flash-forward was of a plastic eyeball floating in Walt's pool - everything in black and white until... a pink teddy bear is revealed, under water, missing an eye. This flash forward was used four times throughout season two: the beginnings of episodes 2.01, 2.04, 2.10 and 2.13. The titles of the episodes reveal even more: "Seven-Thirty-Seven Down Over ABQ." And that's exactly what happens in the episode ABQ: a Boeing 737 crashes into another, smaller plane over Albuquerque. 

This happens because Jesse's girlfriend Jane dies of an overdose (an event Walt could have prevented) and her father, an air traffic controller, returns to work too soon afterward and is not focused, and well. Crash. Debris rains down over the city, and the teddy bear lands in Walt's pool. 

Clean-up crews remove the bear, but the eyeball is left behind and Walt finds it later. There are several times when he picks it up and stares at it and his guilt is tangible. "The pink teddy bear continues to accuse." I can't say it any better than that. Walt makes excuses for his role in the crash, but the plastic eyeball is there to remind him, and us - this is your fault.

Hank's elevator scenes

There are several small scenes in which Hank is either coming to or leaving the DEA building and rides in the elevator - often alone, or with Marie in one case. They're filmed in a very particular way as to make it obvious that these elevator rides are significant to understanding Hank's character. We always see, from the outside of the elevator, the doors close fully - Hank is composed, normal. Then we cut to the inside. Hank is having some sort of anxiety attack, or crying, or otherwise very decidedly not composed. Then we cut back and see the doors open fully. Hank is back to normal. No sign of anything out of the ordinary.

But we know. We've seen what's going on inside his head.

Of course in film there aren't a lot of options of how to show a character's thoughts. But this is really great way of doing it. Hank seems to always be putting on an act - at work, at home, wherever. He's the tough guy. He's almost unhealthily self-confident. But that would be too one-dimensional for the awesome show that is Breaking Bad. Hank's human - he has emotions. He just closes himself off - much like the doors of the elevator. But he always composes himself just in time; no one is ever allowed to see. 

My Skyler theory

Skyler figures out that Walt is up to no good pretty early on. They're separated for a while, but the point is: she sticks with him. Why? What's wrong with her?

Well, I think Skyler's loyalty represents us: the viewing audience. We've been with Walt for a while (five seasons for us, 17 or so years for her) and it's really hard to let all that history go and abandon him. We've grown attached. We remember him as he used to be and just know there's something of that left. When Skyler finally leaves his side for good, I bet we will, too. 

I just want to know when all of this will happen! THERE'S ONLY FOUR. EPISODES. LEFT.

My favorite villains

My current and oft-blogged about Sherlock obsession led me to think about that strange moment when you REALLY like a villain in a book or show or movie. Because, let's face it - Moriarty is awesome.

But he's a killer and completely insane. Not likable traits but he's a remarkably likable character. Mortiarty, however, isn't the only villain whom I've ended up liking just a little too much. This my list of my favorite villains.


Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

But this is on everyone's list. And there's a reason for it.

He's got so little regard for human life that he doesn't even care about his own. And that's what makes him so scary, but somewhat more respectable. Like, if you're going to kill a bunch of people the least you can do is not be a whiny baby about your own death. Of course, Heath Ledger was... awesome. And how quotable is this guy? The answer: really quotable. You can judge how good a villain is by how often you quote them. So judging from internet memes, this guy is the best of the best.


Sylar in Heroes

I started watching Heroes for Zachary Quinto, who plays Sylar, and I was not disappointed by what I found. His deal on the show is that he kills other "heroes" or "specials" for their abilities and he's obsessed with doing so. And somehow, he's really charismatic while doing so. One of my favorite lines (in the whole series) comes when he's in the car with this kid (Luke Campbell for those who know what's up) and the kid says something like, "You're a serial killer." Sylar denies it. The rather bold response: "You have a pattern, target specific people and keep mementos." "Okay, technically I'm a serial killer."

Oh, Sylar, you charmer. Honestly, the only reason I stuck around to the end was this guy. He was just captivating. It doesn't hurt that he's dead sexy, but it was more than that. He was certainly the most well developed character on the show, maybe a little overused, but hey - he was a hit. He had his bouts of remorse, his rare occurrences of mercy, his dark childhood, his thirst for greatness. And I really loved the creepy clock ticking sound effect that was associated with Sylar.

Plus, when he became a shape-shifter and he started messing with everybody even more than he usually did? Oh, the end of season 3 was awesome. At least five times during every episode I just sat there, shaking my head, fondly saying, "Freaking Sylar..."


The Master from Doctor Who

I thought the Master was very entertaining to watch. Plus, similarities between protagonist/antagonist abound. The Doctor didn't even dislike him that much, I mean he was pretty torn up when he "died." A villain whom the hero doesn't want to die? That is pure gold because it never ends, and when it does, if it does, it's not an entirely happy ending. More like sobbing over his corpse. 

But when he put that gas mask on and they were all like, "What gas?" "This gas." It's great when a villain can cause death and destruction while maintaining a sense of humor. And the drum beat thing? So sick. Plus, he sort of resembles a meerkat, especially when he made his "Master race."

I'm thinking for the Master to Peter Capaldi's Doctor... Benedict Cumberbatch. Make it happen, Moffat. I know you have the power to make it happen.

Can we just talk about Moriarty from Sherlock now?

Okay, good. Moriarty is adorable while also being sort of slimy and creepy; definitely insane but really, really smart; scheming and conniving but for no actually good reason; and he has that same unnerving disregard for his own life that all the best villains have. I like intellectual badasses better than physical badasses, and Moriarty is definitely in the former group. As a consulting criminal, he organizes and plans crimes, but has someone else execute them. He doesn't like to get his hands dirty. And this way, no one ever gets to him.

Plus, how fun is it when there are similarities between the protagonist and the antagonist? It's really fun. And Sherlock and Moriarty are "just alike." I love their mind games and their downright flirting - it's way better than throwing punches. Except here's a pro tip: Don't flirt like Moriarty. Don't strap people in bombs to get his attention. I mean, it kind of worked in this case, but it's generally a bad strategy. 

And, like all the best villains, he gave himself a new name. (Because his name is actually Richard Brook, not James Moriarty.) Is he quotable? Please stand by while I recite the last ten minutes of the Great Game. And I carve IOU into apples all the time now. I've gotten really good at it.

In summary:

Qualities of Good Villains

1. Similarities to protagonist

2. Associated with some sort of sound or symbol

3. Sense of humor or just really entertaining insanity

4. Interesting back story

5. Either not afraid of death (Moriarty, Joker) or WON'T FREAKING DIE ALREADY (Sylar, Master)

6. Renames himself (check, check, check and check)

7. He's got that stare. You know the stare. Serial killer eyebrows help, too... cough, Zachary Quinto.

8. You will be quoting him until the day you die

9. He becomes your favorite character a little too quickly (Sylar, Moriarty...)

10. If you had to die, you could think of much worse ways to do it than by his hand