Breaking Bad is over... so your verdict? (Spoilers) -

[DiscipleOfTheLie]

I thought it was the best possible ending they could've had. I think we all knew Walt was going to die, but it was just a matter of how he would die was up for debate.

Are you satisfied, or incredibly dissatisfied?

 

[bradsternum]

Very satisfied.
SPOILERS


I know, there were implausibility all around (the Nazis didn't duck, or check the trunk of the car, how the hell did Walt get the ricin into Lydia's stivia, so on and so forth), but I didn't care much. Breaking Bad isn't about reality. It's fantasy. It was a damned fun show, a great ride, and I'm sad it's done.

 

[Some JERK]

I really liked it. It's the only way it could have ended, i agree. My roommate and i were talking about Pinkman afterwards.

Spoiler

She thinks Jesse should have gotten the money that the nazis stole from Walt. I don't think he deserves shit. As endearingly troubled as Jesse was, he still murdered a completely defenseless person who was begging for his life. Yeah they would have killed Walt if Jesse hadn't killed Gale, but when your moral justification for shooting someone in the forehead is basically "Well i killed THIS meth cook so that the international drug dealing murders we all voluntarily work for wouldn't kill this other meth cook who happens to be my kinda-sorta friend", You're really not going to sell that to anyone besides the other criminal pieces of shit you associate with.

 

[Fibonacci]

I don't know what to do with myself now that Breaking Bad is over. I wish I could watch it all over again for the first time.

I really love that Gilligan made sure to resolve the Grey Matter plot. When Elliot pulls the knife on Walt and Walt responds "Elliot, if that's the way we're gonna go, you're gonna need a bigger knife", summoning the spirit of Mike. That was probably the most satisfying part of the entire finale. Walt dying was a given and his death was appropriate. The real closure was his final acceptance for who he was. It goes all the way back to the episode in season 3 where Jesse comes back from rehab and says that self-acceptance is the first step of rehabilitation. Walt asks "Well, who are you?" and Jesse says "I'm the bad guy".

 

[Kamen Rider Black RX]

I don't know what to do with myself now that Breaking Bad is over. I wish I could watch it all over again for the first time.

I really love that Gilligan made sure to resolve the Grey Matter plot. When Elliot pulls the knife on Walt and Walt responds "Elliot, if that's the way we're gonna go, you're gonna need a bigger knife", summoning the spirit of Mike. That was probably the most satisfying part of the entire finale. Walt dying was a given and his death was appropriate. The real closure was his final acceptance for who he was. It goes all the way back to the episode in season 3 where Jesse comes back from rehab and says that self-acceptance is the first step of rehabilitation. Walt asks "Well, who are you?" and Jesse says "I'm the bad guy".

Well, you can always get super-plastered and leave notes for your amnesic ass to watch it again.

I'm happy everyone says it has a satisfying ending. I haven't watched BB yet, but I've heard good things from friends. I've just waited to see how it ends because I've noticed a tenancy for popular shows to overstay their welcome and become absolute shit. It happened on House, it happened to Dexter, X-Files, Buffy, Kamen Rider Wizard, etc. Nothing worse than getting invested and it ends up sucking royally at the end. But hey, this cleared up my last shred of doubt!

 

[Fibonacci]

Well, you can always get super-plastered and leave notes for your amnesic ass to watch it again.

I'm happy everyone says it has a satisfying ending. I haven't watched BB yet, but I've heard good things from friends. I've just waited to see how it ends because I've noticed a tenancy for popular shows to overstay their welcome and become absolute shit. It happened on House, it happened to Dexter, X-Files, Buffy, Kamen Rider Wizard, etc. Nothing worse than getting invested and it ends up sucking royally at the end. But hey, this cleared up my last shred of doubt!

Yeah, I was worried that it would end with Walt dropping Jesse's body in the desert and then driving the RV into a sandstorm. Then a year later, we see someone working on an oil rig and it's revealed to be Walt. That or I thought maybe it would end with Walt organising a family meeting at Denny's with Bad Company's Shooting Star playing as Walt Jr attempts to parallel park. We see a mexicano get up and walk into the restroom and then it zooms on Walt and cuts to black. Or I was worried maybe Gilligan would use Breaking Bad as a vessel to patch up X-Files, which Walt finding redemption when the 2012 invasion begins. Finding a way to process Black Oil into a weapon and saving humanity from enslavement.

Overall, I'm satisfied that the ending wasn't apologetic. While Dexter was just crap from the beginning of season 5, the writers still had the opportunity to make a decent finale, but instead, their idea was that after everything Dexter put Deb through, Deb would forgive him for everything on her deathbed and tell him never to regret anything he's ever done. It was so ham-fisted and unrealistic. They just had to come up with some sort of soap opera dramatics because they couldn't think of anything better to write. And then of course the whole "LULZ DEXTER IS A LUMBERJACK AND HE'S OKAY" thing. With Walt, no one really forgave him; they all just came to an understanding. And Walt didn't care. In the end, he wasn't sorry, regrets or no. He enjoyed everything he did.

 

[Kamen Rider Black RX]

Agreed. I read in one review of the Dexter finale that the writers long ago decided Dexter was a good guy. No, he was not. He kills people, he takes life for his own enjoyment and tries to justify it with his code. Uggh. One thing I know is I stopped buying the dvds after s4 because I disliked Dexter getting with someone after Rita, a woman who made him feel human, just died. Oh, and they get rid of Rita's other children too, so all Dexter has to worry about is Harrison.

I'm picking up Breaking Bad s1 next time I go to Walmart. It's cheap, so it's not that much of a problem with my budget.

 

[Fibonacci]

Agreed. I read in one review of the Dexter finale that the writers long ago decided Dexter was a good guy. No, he was not. He kills people, he takes life for his own enjoyment and tries to justify it with his code. Uggh. One thing I know is I stopped buying the dvds after s4 because I disliked Dexter getting with someone after Rita, a woman who made him feel human, just died. Oh, and they get rid of Rita's other children too, so all Dexter has to worry about is Harrison.

I'm picking up Breaking Bad s1 next time I go to Walmart. It's cheap, so it's not that much of a problem with my budget.

Yeah. I liked the reviewer that said that watching Dexter is watching a show about someone who always gets what they want. Dexter is never really given any consequences for his actions, and when he is, it's only for one episode and the chance to evolve the character is thrown out the window at the end when something conveniently happens to let Dexter do what he wants to do. Like you said, Cody and Astor being sent away. Absolutely no consequences for the fact that Rita died. And every season afterwards showed a frighteningly CWC-like determination with shacking Dexter up with a new fuck buddy that "understands" him. The constant struggle with the light/darkness was stupid. In season 5 alone we had Dexter shift from the darkness to the light and back again like 6 times. Surprise! - he's still a killer, people! And this finale was just the same. Dexter should have ended after season 4. If it did, it would still be on my list of greatest shows, rather than a show that is so terrible that I continue to watch it just to make fun of it.