Desperate to discuss last night's "Breaking Bad" in more than 140 characters! Anyone interested? I'll start by saying, I was kind of let down by those final moments.

Not even close to being the kind of big, winner take all finale, the way last season was. The stakes seemed smaller this season, his brother-in-law and the police never seem as close to taking Walter down the way his street enemies do.

I would have liked to see them make the revelation more dramatic and with more build up. The throne was a cute idea but wasn't the way I think it should have been left off. It's not even the kind of definitive connection that couldn't be explained away moments into next year's season opener.

A Twitter follower suggested it would've been better if Hank had a heart attack upon reading the WW thing. I actually really liked this idea. Or something that got him super close but then so far--like, would he remember?

I agree re: the buildup. I thought Walt Jr. was gonna fall and baby Holly was gonna end up in the pool or something.

I rather liked the ending: since Hank started the series as a kind of oversized cartoonish goof, having him stumble upon the WW connection to Gale through happenstance rather than one his now more common "Colombo Moments" struck me as a nice nod to the characters origins in the show.

that said, the stakes were definitely lower this season: after you kill off Gus, you have to rebuild a lot of stuff from the ground up, and I wonder how much the creators felt hemmed in by having 16 episodes to A) produce some new kind of dynamic and B) tear it all down to show Walt's total collapse.

I guess I just feel that the "Hank is on to Walt" theme is pretty obvious.

Side note--if you haven't read this invu w Vince Gilligan, highly recommend it:

We have two bits of information now: Hank probably knows (I haven't foreclosed the idea that he could refuse to believe it). And at some point Walt grows his hair back and seems to be up to something in another part of the country.

So, Hank helps him out into witness protection? Walt kills his entire family and sets up a new identity and rebuilds his empire in the Northeast.

I found it exciting that the show may turn around and have Hank going at Walt when Walt is no longer up to anything.

I liked this better than last season because I'm more invested in Hank than I ever was in Gus (or Tuco).

I think its more likely that a combination of the DEA and whoever Lydia's people are come calling, and Walt gets in touch with "the man who can dissappear you" that Saul knows. But maybe Walt can't dissappear that easy.

Also: anyone else suspect that Gomez is corrupt/working for Madrigal?

Twitter follower also notes--how will Hank prove/follow up on what he found? I mean he'd need a search warrant to get back into Walt's house to take out the book as evidence, no?

I think the theme of the episode isn't so much "Hank is onto Walt" as much as it is the narrative consistency the show has demonstrated. Everything in a highly dangerous world seems to be meticulous and calculated. Similar to Gus' demise in last season's finale, a minor oversight resulted in, well, an unfortunate circumstance for Gus. It seems that a minor oversight such as keeping incriminating evidence could render a fate similar for Walt.

Also, in case anyone is unaware, Grantland's Andy Greenwald has done some excellent pieces on Breaking Bad. His recap from last night:

grantland.com

And to even begin that process is to open Hank up to career suicide as well. I mean, why would the Heisenberg case that he is obsessed with preoccupy him so much? Maybe because he was hiding the involvement of his brother in law? Shooting his brother in law's obstacles down (Tuco). If you were Gomez you'd be asking those questions.

Great point, Michael. Also since the money paid for his physical therapy, Walt could easily assert to the DEA Hank was always in on it. Or at least, he could threaten to make that arg and it might deter Hank from doing anything.

"It seems that a minor oversight such as keeping incriminating evidence could render a fate similar for Walt." <--Awesome and so true.

Is anyone else distracted by Landry being Landry and not a meth maker? I kind of can't handle his part on the show. He'll ALWAYS BE LANDRY!!

Dude, you're not kidding about Greenwald. That's bravura recapping.

So how do we think everything ends? What happens to Walt? Skyler? Hank?

If the final moments are any indication, it's going to end badly for Walt. While it seems there are some people who were disappointed in the finale, I thought it showed us a hint of what to expect. Five minutes removed from Walt telling Skyler he's out, Hank strolls into the bathroom and picks up "Leaves of Grass." There is no "out" for Walt.

I have this weird feeling Walt goes into near permanent remission, but loses his family somehow. That he gets to live, but loses his life.

I think Walt dies, and Vince Gilligan has almost said as much. Also, even though the viewer may have long since stopped sympathizing with Walt, I suspect that the show is still going to go to great lengths to remind us what a bad guy he is. So I think between Jesse, Skyler, Walt Jr., Hank, Marie, a few of those people are going to die too as collateral damage.

Jesse getting murdered would be a real stomach punch to watch.

Speaking of people dying. The only thing I didn't like about last night's episode was using Sinatra for the prison sequence. I felt like that didn't need a soundtrack and would have been more effective without one. It "tamed" the evil instead of amplifying it.

Worth reading

@Paul--when do you think/how do you think Walt dies based on the scene we see of him in the diner and opening the trunk?

@Michael, Sinatra was indeed an interesting choice. Speaking of montage sequences though, I thought "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was my favorite that Breaking Bad has ever done. Great editing and pacing, and it spanned more time than we've ever seen in a Breaking Bad sequence before (I think).

I don't know. On one hand, I'm tempted to think its going to be a massive shootout (this season's Scarface shout-outs havent gone unnoticed) but I think if Gilligan's going to keep things thematically consistent, he'll probably cut us off from reveling for one last time in the sheer violence of the Heisenberg persona, because that would sort of be rewarding us for our questionable identification with Walt.

So I think he'll probably be heavily armed, chased, and maybe gunned down by some faceless assassin from the Madrigal group. I do think having him on the run from the DEAm and then lacking the guts to commit suicide would be poetic, tho. Walt's only brave when it serves his ego.

btw thanks for tweeting this, this has been neat!

@Michael, I also enjoyed the Sinatra sequence for a variety of reasons. It's the exact opposite sound you would expect for what I thought was the most horrific moments in the entire series. It juxtaposes perfectly the violence occurring, yet the detachment from it as we see Walt casually standing, checking his watch.

@Paul and Callie - I agree. So glad there is a legion of supafreaks creating a market for shows that are this good. (Homeland, Mad Men, etc.)

Ooh excited to read this

Like this point: "Walt's only brave when it serves his ego."

Side note: Is it summer? Did Walt retire? Is this still his leave of absence for cancer? It's been like 100 years!

Funny. One of the strengths of the show was demonstrating that there is no "better" or "cleaner" way to make Meth (besides chemically). You have to be a killer, you have to be menacing, and intimidating.

But, I think another way this Empire differs from others is that you can't just retire, can you? People who make clothing or software can stop. But it doesn't seem like people who make meth can stop.

does everyone else think that the sequence showing him going through the MRI/Scan then punching the paper towel dispenser up means that the cancer has returned?

I'd totally forgotten about this part! Yes, I think you're right!

Did he beat up another one, or was it that they never repaired the one he beat up in season one?

A must read piece from Emily Nussbaum at The New Yorker: Once the truth came out, and Brock recovered, I read posts insisting that Walt was so discerning, so careful with the dosage, that Brock could never have died. The audience has been trained by cable television to react this way: to hate the nagging wives, the dumb civilians, who might sour the fun of masculine adventure. “Breaking Bad” increases that cognitive dissonance, turning some viewers into not merely fans but enablers.

Question: Why do people identify so easily with Walter White, and what does this say (if anything) about a certain class of people finding themselves politically/socially emasculated? More to the point: the show has scene a halyconic rise during roughly the same time period as a political party that does a great job of catering to privileged white men....

@Stirlo Actually, Walt punched that paper towel holder in Season 2 (e9 I think?) after he found out his cancer was in remission. Remember he was angry because he was certain he was on death's door which in his mind justified his actions.

I always thought Skyler would rat on Walter, and this to my mind is Still On The Cards.

Could be, but she'll be in jail right next to him.

I think the series will end with Walter killing Jesse, and with him becoming the new Gus. The natural progression of the series has been Walt going from a guy in a desperate situation to someone that has to do the worst things in order to survive. I think the next step in his evolution as a character would be to show his sadistic side, as we have seen grow from desperate to ambitious, always cold blooded and logical, never gratuitously violent. The ending might be like the ending of Godfather II, were Michael did not have to kill anybody since his enemies were already defeated, but does it anyway, and truly loosing his soul.

Man, do you think the audience could forgive Walt for that?

Maybe. In a way, the whole thing about Hank knowing about Walt might put Walt into a situation were Jesse is a huge loose end. In that kind of situation, where it is Jesse's life against loosing all that he has built... I guess if he poisoned a kid and he has been forgiven, pretty much everything goes...

"Just because he’s out of the business doesn’t mean he’s off the show. We love Jesse Pinkman as much as all the multitude of Aaron Paul fans out there love him. It would not be the same show without Jesse Pinkman on it."

ALSO! "That flash-forward, with the Denny’s and Walt looking a bit like the Unabomber and purchasing an M-60 machine gun in the back of an old Cadillac, is a glimpse forward to the future, and it is a future that is about a year ahead – 10 to 12 months ahead from the time of the first eight episodes. It is a glimpse to the end of it all? Perhaps. It is something we are still nailing down."

The mystery of the M-60 also lies in Walter's awkwardness around guns (like when he shot Mike). What could it be for?

@Callie, the question is SHOULD the audience forgive Walt for that. I think Rafael makes an interesting argument about what Walt will become. It certainly fits the ethos of the show and Gilligan's own belief that Walt should go to straight to hell. Furthermore, don't you think this would tie in nicely with the audience being enablers? It would turn the enabler notion on its head if we suddenly began to root for Walt's much-deserved comeuppance.

saw this on the street today..

plus.google.com

" In main protagonist Walter White's world, the meth market is occupied by Kierkegaardian anti-heroes with enough agency to decide their own fate. Indeed, his is a world where one's situation is predicated on individual choice, rather than economic determinism.

The premise of Breaking Bad – that a middle-aged, educated white male would wilfully risk his life and the wellbeing of his family to become a crystal meth kingpin is, of course, the stuff of middle-class fantasy. "

guardian.co.uk

There's no way Marie will let Hank start down this path so he'll keep it to himself. Since he never shares anything with her anyway it shouldn't be too hard. I think Hank is going to try to unravel it in reverse and build a case.

@Steve While I agree with the overall points of the article, I have to say that there is a message that goes beyond individualism in Breaking Bad. The initial situation of Walter White, a high school teacher that is diagnosed with cancer and knows that all he will leave behind for his family is debt is, unfortunately, believable

@Rafael - indeed!

@Clayton--Totally agree re: Marie and Hank.

So now, do we think Walt lives or dies?

He'll seemingly die... but there will be enough ambiguity to make us wonder!

OK so...apparently this means nothing but I didn't even NOTICE it: did anyone notice marie always wears purple???

Most of the stuff in her house is purple. The comforter on the bed, the shag carpet, and throw pillows are purple.

Haha.. I do now!

I just had never even noticed any of those details. Also, baby Holly always wears pink? She's a baby and she's a girl! That's not something you need to read into!!

I watched the season finale with some friends, and one of them mentioned that in most of the shots of Walter, one side of his face is in shadows, sort of hidden. I never would have noticed that.

@Michael, maybe, but the Talking Pillow wasn't. One of the series best scenes.

"So now the spell is broken. I no longer like Walter White, and I don't want to be around him. "Breaking Bad" creator Vince Gilligan may say that was the plan all along, but here’s a bigger problem: I don’t buy it...But transformation into a full-fledged, morally bankrupt monster is something else."

This take is disingenuous...once Walter White refused to take money from his older business partner so he could keep making meth (and thus gorge himself on the egotistical fruits of the "Heisenberg" persona) it was clear he was not a morally torn character but instead a very, very bad person. You can pretend like Walter was likeable up until he started to wander into either the child harming business of the empire business (and, indeed, its somewhat comforting to imagine that Walt has been like most of us all along) but the fact of the matter is that his turn to being bad comes early. Our willingness to sign up for that ride says something about us, not Gilligan's scripting.

For me, the tipping point was last season. In previous seasons you get the idea that Walt made a risky, naive decision (cooking meth), and then some very bad things in order to survive, and solve the problems that motivated him in the first place. Trying to fill Gus' shoes made him after all that happened made him very unlikable to me, in some instances. The beauty of the show is that everybody can relate to or despise Walt as much as they want.

thoughts?

Pretty cool article. I think that perspective, looking at Walt's past ,and the missed opportunities of his life as his driving force, is very interesting. Walt can also be thought as what happens when talent goes to waste, and society does not take care of highly trained individuals.