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It happened. Breaking Bad, one of the most critically acclaimed series, has come to a close, and to say that it wasn’t one of the most perfect finales in recent television history would be an understatement. The King has finally fallen, but how did it all go down? Did the Breaking Bad series finale live up to the hype? And is there really any hope for potential future storylines?
Breaking Bad isn’t a show that was meant to end with a ‘make up your own mind’ conclusion – how you doin Soprano’s? – it clearly had a beginning, a middle, and an end, with each driving moment pushing the series ever closer towards its culmination. The whole episode focused around Walt getting retribution and owning up to the things that he had done throughout the series. “I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really … I was alive,” Walt proclaimed to Skyler during their last interaction of the series. It was with this acceptance and realization that he wasn’t doing this for the kids, or his family, he was doing it because at the end of the day he got off on the power. Being Heisenberg was something he could control and manipulate, unlike the cancer which he had no influence over whatsoever.
Walt’s final shining moment came towards the end of the episode. After having visited his family Walt heads off to see Todd and have one final showdown with his former protégé Jessie. Upon arriving Walt sets the pieces of the puzzle in place and when push comes to shove Walt unleashes his master plan, and with a MacGyvered machine gun tossed in the trunk of his car takes out the entire clan holding Jessie while he tossed his body ontop of Jessie’s in order to protect him..
The fact that Walt was literally willing to do anything for Jessie was beautiful to witness. Things however continued to go from one extreme to the next as Walt put his life in Jessie’s hands. This is only after Jessie took care of his captor and killed Todd once and for all. Begging Jessie to finish the job, Jessie looks at his former teacher and tells him to pull the trigger himself he wants to die so bad.
This final confrontation was beautiful to witness, Jessie finally stood up to the great and powerful Mr. White, and instead of harming him, and making him pay for everything that he had done, Jessie was the bigger man.
It was with that scene that the King finally fell, and was destined to die alone. So Walt made it out to the meth lab, where he bled out from a stray bullet wound that he got from saving Jessie.
Literally everything came full circle with this episode. There wasn’t any left over unresolved issues to leave us questioning what X, Y, & Z meant. Instead we were treated to the culmination of 61 previous episodes of pure brilliant storytelling. While I am sad that there really isn’t a need for a Breaking Bad continuation, I am happy that the story came to such a perfect close. I wasn’t left wanting more, I was left satisfied, that my time and energy that I put forward towards the show was actually ‘worth’ something, which I often don’t feel when it comes to series finales.
Once again I loved the series, the performances by the whole cast from RJ Mitte to Dean Norris, to Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul and everyone in between, they literally gave it their all with every performance, and that is why Breaking Bad will be missed because not ever show has such a talented cast and crew that literally give it their all every episode, but like all good things Breaking Bad must come to an end. Here is looking forward to whatever the cast and crew have in store for us in the future, because I for one will be actively looking forward to it.
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