Season 5, Episode 16: Felina

John Dodger

snausages wrote: »

Both times Walt was saving his own ass. Jane had threatened to blackmail Walt.

No, she blackmailed him.

John Dodger

snausages wrote: »

How did Walt get the ricin in the tea anyway? What kind of magic sleight of hand was at work there?

Oh good grief, does everything have to be spelled out for you?

John Dodger

[Deleted User] wrote: »

You're right. My favourite part was that Todd just pretended to die likeyou do when a bear attacks. He was clever, he knew a weakened Jessie wouldn't last long (i mean, did we REALLY see him die? I saw no blood!) so he could rescue Lydia (again, she never died on screen!)

He was just a knight in search of his princess, trapped into doing bad by his mean old uncles.

Delighted to see Todd and Lydias story being kept open

Indeed! Lydia is probably chained up in the bunker as Todd's sex slave.

I know I'm late to the table but I just want to record my own thoughts before the thread disappears into nothingness. After 2 viewings of Felina and several days to ponder, I am another who can be added to the 'wholly satisfied' group.

I invested 6 years in Breaking Bad and I hold it up there with The Sopranos, The West Wing, Oz, The Shield, Deadwood and X-Files in my all-time favourite drama shows. I would rank 'Felina' very highly amongst the series finales of some of the shows listed above, maybe slightly behind The Shield. But that doesn't matter one bit, as I thoroughly loved every minute of the conclusion to Breaking Bad. I smiled, I saddened, I jumped, I awed, I held back man tears on several occasions.

Some of the cinematography in the episode was genuinely top-drawer, which isn't breaking new ground for BB I know. That wide shot of the Schwartz's living room/kitchen area with them talking about their holiday plans oblivious to the lurking Walter in the corner had me tensed up something serious. Then when Walter clicked his fingers and made the hitmen known, I freaked as much as the targets did. Obviously that scene becomes something else entirely on 2nd viewing when you know who these 2 guys whom Walt dubs "the best hitmen this side of the Mississippi" actually are! Great to see Badger and Skinny Pete get a look in in the final episode.

The first downer I had was watching Walt walk through the ruins of his house, with the "get some excitement in your life" flashback and then Walt walking out the door of what was once his home for the very last time. This was the first time I felt 'Wow, this really is the end'. I know we saw most of that scene in an earlier episode as a flashforward, but it carried more emotional weight for me in this final episode.

Where the earlier camera shot I mentioned in the Schwartz's house impressed and unnerved me, the reveal of Walt behind the pillar in Skylar's kitchen absolutely leveled me. That whole scene was perfection in my eyes, and Cranston's delivery in Walt's most honest moments will be shown in side-reels and fan videos for decades to come. It was easy to see the relief and closure that finding Hank's whereabout's offered Skylar, be it for emotional, redemptive and/or judicial gain. I thought I was a bit down watching Walt say goodbye to his daughter who will never know him, but the following scene where he watches his son who will always hate him shut the door on him one last time, well fúcking hell you must be made of 1980's British Steel if you didn't choke up a bit watching that! "Why can't you just die?" The last words Walter White heard from his only son, and there are people who call this a happy ending for Walt??

I admit that in this episode Walt relies more than ever on good luck and coincidence, but again this is not new ground for BB. The fact that we are not shown Walt having any difficulty in moving around despite his 'most wanted' status apart from the police lights in the opening scene isn't a big deal for me fortunately. The writers and director had to choose to make the episode as meaty as possible in the time allowed, so that is why I feel we only got one scene of Walt worrying about being caught by the cops, and for that matter one scene of Walt putting together and mastering the use of the remote M60 which he would use in the final battle. If anything, I would question why the Nazi's didn't search the trunk of Walt's car at the gates of the compound but by the time the gun starts shooting, my mind was on other things!

So Walt and Jesse. For me, Walt didn't go there initially to rescue Jesse and he really did believe that Jack had partnered up with Pinkman. It was only when he saw the reality of the partnership Jack was talking about that Walt decided he had to save Jesse. If there was no Jesse would Walt have simply activated the gun while he stood amongst the Nazi's and gone out there and then? We'll never know. But for some reason, I do honestly think that he did not count on seeing Jesse in that state and when he did, seen it as one more wrong he had to put right before leaving.

For a while now I have been itching for Todd to die a visceral death, preferably screaming, and that was delivered in the most rewarding way. I have been through the mill with Jesse Pinkman, most recently wanting to see his demise, but I felt pure joy for the character in his final moments onscreen; getting to kill his tormentor, free himself, pass up the chance to kill Walter, and speed out of his own personal hell not looking back once. The parting nod between him and Walt was all that needed to be said. Jesse knew this was the last time, as did Walt, nothing else to get hung up upon or vitriol to spout, just 2 souls who have been to hell and back with and because of each other but in the end, there still exists some form of a mutual respect because of this.

Poor Lydia, before she made that phone call she was expecting to hear that Walter White had been killed and she was probably planning a trip to the doctor the next day to see about that bug she was suffering from. Then, she got the full unrepentant wrath of Heisenberg, the last time we see it ourselves, in finding out that her plan had gone to shít; Walt lived, Todd and everyone is dead and so is her meth operation...oh and she is dying from incurable ricin poisoning. "Goodbye Lydia".

Through most of the years I've watched BB, I always had the feeling that there was no way Walter White could live. He started with terminal cancer, the show's creator hinted that he could not survive from early on, his occupation was extremely hazardous, the cancer came back, so Walt dying was no great shock to me. i just never imagined how it was going to happen, and I will never imagine a more perfect and moving way than was presented to us in the show's final scene. From the double-tap on the Weiss pressure gauge, to Walt watching the life drain out of his eyes in his own reflection on the tank and falling to the ground with gas mask in hand.

I love this finale for what it showed me and don't hate it for what it didn't show me. There will never be another like Walter White, just like there'll never be another like Tony Soprano, and there'll never be another like {insert future TV character here} We really are living through a golden age for TV drama and considering some of the shows that have finished in recent years on a serious downer tone-wise, I was happy to see out BB with the odd uplifting moment and shred of light in spite of the darkness and death it has presented over the years.

Gonna miss posting and reading other thoughts on new episodes here, hopefully the forum will be fairly active for sometime to come. There will be a serious looking boxset to rewatch and discuss, as well as 'Better Call Saul' so all is not lost I guess

Optimalprimerib

John Dodger wrote: »

Jesse didn't have a change of heart about burning the house down. Pay attention! I swear some people must watch BB half asleep or have the attention span of a goldfish!

Where was hank in the last episode. He was my favorite character.

adamski8

Optimalprimerib wrote: »

Where was hank in the last episode. He was my favorite character.

I think he will be back in the next ep!

kiffer

John Dodger wrote: »

Oh good grief. Better Call Saul is a PREQUEL as has been mentioned like a 100 times on this thread.

Wow... as many as that... makes me wish that I had read the whole thread before posting. Thanks, a bit late, someone already mentioned that but thanks anyway for trying.


Moving on from the requirement to have read the entire thread.
I'm always amazed at who two people can watch the same scene and miss different things or take different meanings. For example people not noticing Walt getting hit, and the wound while he was talking to Jesse, or not seeing that Todd had gone to ground to stop Walt killing Jesse.
For me it's Walt's "I did it because I liked it" admission/confession to Skyler... he's still not telling the truth, just telling her what she needs to hear to get a little peace.
Yes he kept doing it because he liked it I have no doubt about that but that's as much of a half truth as "I did it allfor you and the kids" ... at least at the start he was doing it to get his 3/4 of a million odd dollars to provide for his family after he died. *shrug*

Who called the cops to the Nazi compound? Did I miss something there? Was there enough time for them to not meet Jesse coming the other way on the road?

Big Game

John Dodger wrote: »

Oh good grief. Better Call Saul is a PREQUEL as has been mentioned like a 100 times on this thread.

Good of you to mention it again. You do realise that the vast majority of the posts you replied to on that multiple quote fit you're just had, had already been replied to and explained by other posters, could have saved yourself the bother of getting so worked up and adding so much pointless repetition to the thread.

Padraig Mor

A contrarian view of "I did it for me" from the TWOP forums:

"I loved a lot of the moral ambiguity with BB, but I think Walt's heartbreaking confession "I did it for me" was one last lie to Skylar. Even though there is much Walt did that Skylar presumably never will find out about, Walt has always maintained that he's doing this for his family. He did get greedy and ruthless at times, but the family rationale was never too far behind it. Gus used the rationale that a man cares for his family even when he isn't appreciated for it to coax Walt into cooking for him to begin with. Walt started cooking after killing Gus because Skylar had given away the bulk of their money to Ted to keep the IRS off their back, which Walt had intended on using to disappear his family. And he went to Gretchen and Elliott to get them to give Walter Jr. an irrevocable trust for the rest of his money.

So while I think as the audience, and sundry other characters on BB had little reason to think Walt was ever really truly motivated by family, I can totally believe he believes he was. But what good would that do Skylar and the kids, and Marie? Again, that's why I think what he said was his last lie. Let Skylar move on, believe Walt was just a man undone by his cancer, his greed, his regrets, and by some well of darkness he had hidden for all those years of marriage and fatherhood. In time she'll be able to forgive herself if she knows Walt was being selfish. Walter Jr would eventually find out he was given his father's money, Gretchen and Elliott would likely let him know at some point, and Skylar would have her suspicions. It was just the best, most final, way, to say goodbye. Walt didn't have enough time left to be victorious over convincing the people he cared about that he was truly acting in their best interests most of the time, but he could take out the men who took his "life's work" and Hank's life down with him."

Personally, I think there might be something to it. It's only in season 5A that Walt keeps cooking despite not needing to (and even then, only for a relatively short while). The first four seasons, it's always been for specified financial goals for his family, or because he had no choice. As the poster above points out, Gus only convinces Walt to cook for him by invoking his family.

bellinter

John Dodger wrote: »

Read (or search) the thread. Why should others do it for you?

I didnt ask if someone could read (or search) the thread though, did I? Also, have you tried searching for that? Not easy. Contol+F for the word "watch" throws up about 20 results per page. Mainly by lads going;

"Did you not watch the episode"
"Clearly you haven't been watching since season 1"
"Well if you actually bothered to watch S03E02"

and my personal favourite, which seems to be the standard response to any sort of negativity;

"well if you hate the show this much, as you so CLEARLY do, why do you bother watching." (EDIT: reading through your posts and you yourself have posted along these lines with an added "its not compulsory you know" which I thought was lovely.)

Searching for "Tag Heuer" was similarly unfruitful.


So, maybe reading through pages and pages of people argue about who loves this show the most is not too appealling and I threw it out there on the off chance. The guy that answered originally was sound, thanks again!

Big Game

Summary of Gilligan's alternative endings here.

http://m.ie.ign.com/articles/2013/10/01/five-ways-breaking-bad-couldve-ended

Neil McCauleys Cooler Brother

(*sigh*) I was never here.

Big Game

Out of interest, what did people make of the use of Badfinger's Baby Blue as the song for the final scene? It was Gilligan's choice against the initial feelings of the musical directors but he talked them round. The lyrics are kind of fitting but I'm thinking that maybe Dylan's It's All Over now Baby Blue would have fit better? There'a absloutely loads in those lyrics that you could associate with themes from the show.

You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun
Crying like a fire in the sun
Look out the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense
Take what you have gathered from coincidence
The empty handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets
This sky, too, is folding under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home
Your empty handed armies, are all going home
Your lover who just walked out the door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore
Strike another match, go start a new
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

bellinter

Personally I loved Badfinger. I've listened to the song about 37 times since the finale! Would love a youtube montage of moments from the series with just that whole song.

Dylan's words would have been fitting there but I dont think that the music itself would have been.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beM28FLdAzk

It's been an emotional it really has. Goodbye Breaking Bad I can't stop listening to this song!

Dave!

I don't get too hung up on the lyrics really. "Don't Stop Believing" worked well in Sopranos. I think "Baby Blue" was perfect for BB (Baby Blue... Breaking Bad... BB... COINCIDENCE?!?!? :eek: ). Very emotive.

Big Game

bellinter wrote: »

Personally I loved Badfinger. I've listened to the song about 37 times since the finale! Would love a youtube montage of moments from the series with just that whole song.

Dylan's words would have been fitting there but I dont think that the music itself would have been.

I dunno, Baby Blue was a kind of upbeat song despite it being about the songwriters ex girlfriend whereas the Dylan baby Blue seems more apt to accompany a scene where the main character in the show is dying. Plus the lyrics really fit, you could see Jesse as the orphan with the gun mentioned given how many people close to him have died and that Walt was essentially a father figure to him. Even the 'Forget the dead you've left' line in the last verse rings true. They could always have used The Byrds cover version anyway if they wanted a more upbeat song!

The use of music in the show could nearly be worth a thread of it's own, the cooking scene where they used 'Crystal Blue Persuasion' is probably my favourite use of a song in a tv show ever, absolutely class.

evolving_doors

Big Game wrote: »

Summary of Gilligan's alternative endings here.

http://m.ie.ign.com/articles/2013/10/01/five-ways-breaking-bad-couldve-ended

Jeez, theyre all ****e endings...maybe vince "didn't have any choice"... like walt used to say

Mousewar

John Dodger wrote: »

Really? Are you an expert on ballistics?

No, that's why I said I wasn't sure.

Seriously, wtf was that episode you just had?

snausages

John Dodger wrote: »

No, she blackmailed him.

Yeah, that's what I said

bellinter

Big Game wrote: »

The use of music in the show could nearly be worth a thread of it's own, the cooking scene where they used 'Crystal Blue Persuasion' is probably my favourite use of a song in a tv show ever, absolutely class.

Absolutely brilliant. As was Fever Ray for Jesse's party in "Open House"

Those and the end were my three favourites.

Mousewar

I really enjoyed listening to this video - brought back a lot of memories.

Wacker The Attacker

Big Game wrote: »

Out of interest, what did people make of the use of Badfinger's Baby Blue as the song for the final scene? It was Gilligan's choice against the initial feelings of the musical directors but he talked them round. The lyrics are kind of fitting but I'm thinking that maybe Dylan's It's All Over now Baby Blue would have fit better? There'a absloutely loads in those lyrics that you could associate with themes from the show.

You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun
Crying like a fire in the sun
Look out the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense
Take what you have gathered from coincidence
The empty handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets
This sky, too, is folding under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home
Your empty handed armies, are all going home
Your lover who just walked out the door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore
Strike another match, go start a new
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

I for one paid little or no attention to it at the time. It has already been beaten to death

Nerdlingr

Big Game wrote: »

the cooking scene where they used 'Crystal Blue Persuasion' is probably my favourite use of a song in a tv show ever, absolutely class.

Yep. If there's one song that sums up the whole of BB for me its that one. class scene, class music..i've actually been humming it to myself since the show ended. That whole montage is brilliant and the song just takes it to a whole other level.
Two other songs stuck with me as well are "Black" by Rome, the end of S4 where we get the lily of the valley reveal. And "Goodbye" by Apparat when Gus starts his walk to his death.
Three fantastic pieces of music used to full effect.
I not that keen on the badfinger song to be honest, for me it felt a little out of place or something.

wandatowell

Loved "El Paso" by Marty Robbins. The old chap is a huge fan and we spent hours listening to Marty in the car as kids

Killer_banana

bellinter wrote: »

I didnt ask if someone could read (or search) the thread though, did I? Also, have you tried searching for that? Not easy. Contol+F for the word "watch" throws up about 20 results per page. Mainly by lads going;

"Did you not watch the episode"
"Clearly you haven't been watching since season 1"
"Well if you actually bothered to watch S03E02"

and my personal favourite, which seems to be the standard response to any sort of negativity;

"well if you hate the show this much, as you so CLEARLY do, why do you bother watching." (EDIT: reading through your posts and you yourself have posted along these lines with an added "its not compulsory you know" which I thought was lovely.)

Searching for "Tag Heuer" was similarly unfruitful.


So, maybe reading through pages and pages of people argue about who loves this show the most is not too appealling and I threw it out there on the off chance. The guy that answered originally was sound, thanks again!

You may have found the answer elsewhere but in case you haven't:
When they recorded the scenes of Walt in the diner Walt had no watch on as they hadn't come up with the idea of Jesse giving him one yet. However after Jesse did give him the watch he wore it all the time. They didn't want the diner scene to contain a continuity error so they decided to show him taking it off. Gilligan said the 'made up' reason for Walt to take it off was he realises Jesse is now one of his nemeses so he didn't want to wear it anymore.

ashdale5

I've been thinking about the scene at the bar in Granite State where Walt sees Elliot and Gretchen on the TV.

So everyone seems to agree that he's basically given up at this stage and is just waiting for the cops to come and arrest him until he sees this interview and decides he's going back to New Mexico.

I've seen lot's of theories about his motivation for changing his mind but, after watching the finale, I think the key was when he heard them say that he had nothing to do with Grey Matter apart from the name and I don't think it was anger at their dismissal of him that sparked this change of mind.

I think it's very possible that this was the moment Walt saw an opportunity to do what he always set out to do - provide enough for his family so that they would be comfortable when he died. By denying that Walt had any real connection to Grey Matter, Elliot and Gretchen gave him the opportunity to backdoor the money to Walt Jnr without raising suspicion.

Big Game

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Yep. If there's one song that sums up the whole of BB for me its that one. class scene, class music..i've actually been humming it to myself since the show ended. That whole montage is brilliant and the song just takes it to a whole other level.
Two other songs stuck with me as well are "Black" by Rome, the end of S4 where we get the lily of the valley reveal. And "Goodbye" by Apparat when Gus starts his walk to his death.
Three fantastic pieces of music used to full effect.
I not that keen on the badfinger song to be honest, for me it felt a little out of place or something.

Someone beat me to the punch and set up a soundtrack thread for anyone interested in the music in the show. Top 3 selections anyone?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=86839381#post86839381

Torqay

ashdale5 wrote: »

I think the key was when he heard them say that he had nothing to do with Grey Matter apart from the name and I don't think it was anger at their dismissal of him that sparked this change of mind.

I think it's very possible that this was the moment Walt saw an opportunity to do what he always set out to do - provide enough for his family so that they would be comfortable when he died. By denying that Walt had any real connection to Grey Matter, Elliot and Gretchen gave him the opportunity to backdoor the money to Walt Jnr without raising suspicion.

We don't know if Walter did contibute much more than just the formation of the company name. His grief did not stem from leaving the company but from his own stupidity of selling his shares in a company now worth billions for the ridiculous sum of $5000 dollar. He could have left and remain a silent shareholder.

ashdale5

Torqay wrote: »

We don't know if Walter did contibute much more than just the formation of the company name. His grief did not stem from leaving the company but from his own stupidity of selling his shares in a company now worth billions for the ridiculous sum of $5000 dollar. He could have left and remain a silent shareholder.

Whatever way he left the company is irrelevant to the point I was trying to make.

The fact that they publicly wiped him from Grey Matter history gave him the opportunity to get the money to Walt Jnr.