Tyrus yes, Hector no. Hector’s fate was in his own hands (literally, heh).
What reputable glass installer is going to charge… OH.
One of the text interviews with Gilligan confirms that this was written with the possibility of the show ending.
I just hope Gus took the opportunity to cut an ad himself before the end - we know he was a staunch believer in community activism, after all.
And it wasn’t just the finale, but the entire season was clearly written with that in mind. There really aren’t any loose ends. Gus is gone, the cartel is more or less out of the picture (at least for now), the laundry is as destroyed as our minds want it to be, Hector is dead, Jesse and Walt are on good terms etc etc etc.
As I’ve said before, the show really could end right now. Any drama going forward is going to be ‘rising from the ashes’ type stuff, Walt vs Hank and brand new things.
Nope …
And with that (@interface’s quotes) you have to remember as we said before, most people haven’t discussed this to death like we have. They watched the scene where Jesse and Walt argued about whether or not Walt poisoned Brock. They watched Walt convince Jesse that it was Gus and that was the last time they thought about the possiblity that it may have been Walt until they showed the plant in his back yard. For them it was truly a Holy Shit moment while for us (and many of the other message boards around the internet) it was more of an answer then anything else.
That made it much more of a cliffhanger then it was for us even though it still could have been a series finale.
Walt stepping forward and glowering at Saul’s secretary when he figured out she was trying to blackmail him, then saying, instead of anything remotely intimidating or Heisenberg-ish, “I’ll be right back,” as he stooped awkwardly to get back through the shattered glass door, was my favorite part of the episode. His sputtering at her suggestion that the door would cost tens of thousands of dollars to replace was also great.
And once the door is shattered why not just unlock it to leave?
And I still can’t believe a man like Gus would wear a clip on tie.
Because, true to form, Walt does stupid shit when things don’t go his way. And as I’ve said many times before (and it’s been said a few times in this thread) when he gets in to that mode, he really does channel Hal.
Again, I urge anyone who hasn’t seen it to watch Malcolm in the Middle during the off season.
I was kinda wondering that too. But I think you could consider it a metaphor. He pretends to be a “real” business man. He pretends to be sophisticated. He is rather obsessed with appearances. People who really care about something actually do it “right” and the appearance part just takes care of itself. You can wear a nice real tie and it looks right. Or you can wear a fake one and still “looks right” but technically it ain’t.
I think we might see some Gus backstory where Gus had a really sucky life and wanted all these great things in life and “faked it” to some extent rather than actually “getting it”.
Plus he had Aspergers (that parts obvious 
)
I don’t really see any of that as sloppy writing.
[ul]
[li]Ted’s accident was weird, I’ll grant that. I don’t know if I’d call it sloppy unless the plot line is completely dropped next season. [/li][li]Gus didn’t “know” for sure that his car was trapped, but he is someone who meticulously plans things. And I think he realized that if he was going to kill someone else, that insisting they come somewhere so that someone else could put a bomb on the car would be a good way to do it. Gus has been shown to be careful, so it makes sense to me.[/li][li]In the comments on the AVClub recap, several commenters talk about how people can act weird when in shock. It was over-the-top, but I don’t mind such a big character having a big going out moment. [/li][li]The bodyguard didn’t have to be a master pickpocket. It wasn’t like Jesse was just walking by some random guy in the street who switched out the cigarette packs without Jesse noticing anything going on. The bodyguard was majorly feeling him up, and Jesse was feeling too insulted and angry to notice the switch. [/li][li]Walt’s plan was convoluted, but I think one of the recurring things in the show is contrasting Gus’s methodical planning, and Walt’s desperate improvising. [/ul][/li]
There’s this videoI thought was interesting that someone made after last weeks episode laying their case for Walt poisoning Brock. Obviously we don’t need the video to prove it to us now after seeing this week’s episode, but I thought it was interesting, since it points out Saul calling Jesse so many times, the symptoms of Lily of the Valley, shows the clip of the bodyguard switching the packs, and overall makes Walt’s plan mostly make sense.
Also, I think everyone would be interested in reading Vince Gilligan’s walk through the season at the AV Club.
I don’t get why everyone is so hung up on the Ted story line ending abruptly. It served it’s purpose. We had the drama of IFT which ultimately wound up with the Whites separating. We had the drama of a possible IRS audit and we had the Walter losing the ability to disappear the family when he most needed to. I’d say Ted was a pretty damn good plot device. He kept the story moving forward over 3 seasons (first appeared in S2). On top of everything else, as a plot device he really didn’t seem all that contrived. We bitch about Huell not being able to lift a pack of cigarettes, we complain about Gus waking into gunfire or how one character didn’t see this or that…I think it’s perfectly reasonable that Ted tripped over the carpet and smacked his head on a granite/marble table. Not only that, they set a precedent for the carpet being a tripping hazard so it’s not like it came out of nowhere. Ted served his purpose and they’re done with him now. Also, like we’ve said before, they needed to clean up the loose ends.
Now, let’s just hope the last season is just as good and this doesn’t become one of those shows that 10 years later you’re telling your friends “You should watch Breaking Bad, but don’t bother with the last season” Kind of like Twin Peaks.
Am I the only one who that the name “Brock” should be confided to novels written by Jean Auel?
It makes me think of the actor Brock Peters. Specifically his short scene as a Star Fleet official in STAR TREK IV for some reason.
Eh, that was part of his “Los Pollos Hermanos” work clothes. When I worked in a fast food place, most of us wore clip on ties because they were easy to take off and put back on as necessity dictated. When Gus made his fateful final visit to see Salamanca, he was wearing a regular tie.
It makes me think of the word “chifforobe”
From To Kill a Mockingbird, also known by it’s original title The Lyin’, The Bitch and the Wardrobe.
From Bob Ducca’s link:
Actually they might should have added a week more. Giancarlo Esposito’s right eye is very visible in a couple of frames- it’s at the :50 second mark on this one.
It’ll be real hard to side with a protagonist that gets back in the shit by his own volition. He’s free, he’s not wealthy but he’s free and even if the cancer comes back that car wash is a substantial asset. He’ll be risking what he’s gained by trying to start again, and the DEA will know they still didn’t get Heisenburg.
Unless the overall story arc is to turn Walt into the antagonist. He didn’t seem to be too bothered to kill those two dudes in the elevator, not to mention the Brock poisoning. He’s selfish, willing to sell out Jesse, use whoever he has too. He was scared for a long time but clearly enjoys the power he feels when he ‘wins’. Hes had no problem feeling completely justified in doing immoral acts until now, we’ll find out next season if he’s willing to make excuses to continue to do them.
That’s the first time I’ve seen the scene since yesterday and I just noticed the two nurses who ran up to the room. I didn’t see them the first time. Perhaps I was distracted.