# Breaking Bad 5.16 "Felina" 9/29/13 SERIES FINALE **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 24, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591 "2013-09-24T17:31:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/361 "2013-09-30T15:27:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think you are wrong. Just because someone has a charity doesn’t mean that they can avoid all of the laws about money laundering. It’s still illegal to do anything with the money without having the banks file all the appropriate paperwork. > > Also, the charity they founded was for drug treatment facilities in the Southwest. It can’t possibly be legal for them to use charitable funds for the benefit of one person (i.e., Walter White Jr). Of course money laundering is illegal. But the point is that creating an irrevocable trust for Walter Jr. would not arouse any suspicions that they were laundering money. They’re worth billions. ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/362 "2013-09-30T15:29:50Z")
Well, if you want Walt’s family to suffer more than they have you can imagine that members of the Aryan Brotherhood outside of Jack’s group decide to go after them as revenge for what Walt did. Myself, I don’t want that. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/363 "2013-09-30T15:36:28Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > He also knows where Hank and Gomez are. Not really. Have you ever driven out in the country (or the desert in this case)? Unless Jesse knows the GPS coordinates; it’s extremely easy to believe he could never find them even after searching for years and years. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/364 "2013-09-30T15:36:38Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I assumed that they were there because of the gunfire. Same here. But I like the theory I read somewhere that Walt called them or had Badger and/or Skinny Pete call. That way there was a backup plan in case his plot did not work. > [@Bob Ducca](#): > > There was nothing ambiguous about Walt’s ending. Cops don’t walk over bodies of living criminal masterminds. He’s super dead. Have you ever seen the movie _Shallow Grave_? > [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > For people like them, persons of significant means not under active investigation, it would be very easy to hide $10m in income or fold it into legitimate income. It’ll most likely cut down the amount Flynn receives by anywhere from 10-25%. What are you envisioning that 10 to 25% being spent on, exactly? And how are they actually going to physically get that cash into the bank? In real life, my understanding is that billionaires use very little if any cash. It’s not like Scrooge McDuck. But most importantly: why even bother with it? How will their lives be any worse or changed in any way except for having more time to devote to other things, if they just burn the money? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/365 "2013-09-30T15:37:19Z")
> [@Mithras](#): > > Well, if you want Walt’s family to suffer more than they have you can imagine that members of the Aryan Brotherhood outside of Jack’s group decide to go after them as revenge for what Walt did. Myself, I don’t want that. No - I don’t “want” it, either. Not at all. But is there something _different_ about what happened to Walt vs. the classic tragedy characters? I think there is; I’m just not sure what it means and how I feel about it. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/366 "2013-09-30T15:38:43Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > …The pulse of the interwebs seems to be ‘it was satisfying, but perhaps too tidy.’ Rubbish! … I know! Just can’t win. If the ending was more ambiguous, a bunch of other people would be complaining about it. Some people are saying they still need to “digest” the ending. Fair enough, but I’m going to stick with my first impression while I was watching, that it was a very satisfying, near-perfect ending. And I’m fine with some ambiguity-- I thought the Sopranos ending was fine. But compared to say, that trainwreck of an ending of the show I will no longer mention by name, the one about the magical island…no contest. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/367 "2013-09-30T15:40:14Z")
> [@Mithras](#): > > Well, if you want Walt’s family to suffer more than they have you can imagine that members of the Aryan Brotherhood outside of Jack’s group decide to go after them as revenge for what Walt did. Myself, I don’t want that. If Walt were still alive, I could see that happening. But, even though they are Nazis, I don’t them doing a revenge hit on the family - it serves no purpose, and exposes them to unnecessary risk. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/368 "2013-09-30T15:41:09Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes, she was. And she went to the coffee place to talk business. She met Walt there every week and she kept doing the same with Todd. That’s how Walt knew he would find them there. I thought it was established that the finished meth was shipped from one place to another with legitimate Madrigal products, but I could be wrong. Yeah, the blue meth was shipped to the Czech Republic via Madrigal. But there has to be a way for Walt and later the Nazis to get the blue to Lydia in the first place. They’ve never explained the logistics before, but it stands to reason that if Lydia is meeting Walt and later Todd EVERY week, the only possible logical reason would be to pick up the drugs/drop off money. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/369 "2013-09-30T15:42:49Z")
Someone mentioned Walt’s reflection on the tank in the lab, I don’t know what the symbolism is with reflections, but Skyler had a pretty clear reflection in the microwave in her apartment as well. And not just that they set the shot up that way, but that they probably had to replace the front of the microwave with something that would reflect better, that wasn’t just an opportunistic shot, it was very done very much on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/370 "2013-09-30T15:44:21Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > I found myself wondering how that would go with regard to Marie: “So I know where your murdered husband’s body is, but I’m going to hold that information hostage to lessen my fully-deserved criminal punishment. That’s cool, right?” > > I wonder what kind of deal Jesse could make by offering a detailed account of everything Walt did, as well as an explanation of Drew Sharp’s disposition. I imagine he couldn’t make out terribly well, but a good lawyer could probably dangle the Drew Sharp stuff to some effect. Of course, I agree that he might well send an anonymous tip from Alaska or wherever. > > (I admit I just really want Drew’s parents to at least know what happened and that he didn’t suffer, isn’t currently enslaved, etc.) Jesse wouldn’t be able to cut a good deal because he’d become the biggest remaining target for the government as it investigates the Heisenberg empire. He’d be admitting to at least one murder he committed (Gale) and another murder that was committed in the commission of a crime he planned (Drew) as well as making the meth with Walt. He’d let Skyler off the hook but there’s no way he would avoid a very long jail sentence. The information about Hank and Gomez is worth more to Skyler because she’s less culpable. The government obviously suspects that she knows more about Walt’s business than she lets on, but her involvement really doesn’t go further than money laundering and they may have struggled to even prove that much. > [@solost](#): > > I know! Just can’t win. If the ending was more ambiguous, a bunch of other people would be complaining about it. Some people are saying they still need to “digest” the ending. There’s some irony to people complaining that the ending was too neat (especially when people demand an explanation of every little thing) and the crazy furor that followed the ending of The Sopranos. But I think most people are reacting positively - not just to this episode specifically but to the way the series wrapped up. > [@Erdosain](#): > > Yeah, the blue meth was shipped to the Czech Republic via Madrigal. But there has to be a way for Walt and later the Nazis to get the blue to Lydia in the first place. They’ve never explained the logistics before, but it stands to reason that if Lydia is meeting Walt and later Todd EVERY week, the only possible logical reason would be to pick up the drugs/drop off money. That seems kind of incautious of Lydia, but that could be the reason. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/371 "2013-09-30T15:44:33Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > … Skyler had a pretty clear reflection in the microwave in her apartment as well. And not just that they set the shot up that way, but that they probably had to replace the front of the microwave with something that would reflect better, that wasn’t just an opportunistic shot, it was very done very much on purpose. According to Vince Gilligan on Talking Bad, it was completely an accidental shot and it was the editor who even noticed it! ---
**Author:** ![Quercus\_alba](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quercus_alba/32/4061_2.png) [@Quercus\_alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus_alba)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/372 "2013-09-30T15:45:41Z")
Alternate reality– [http://www.theonion.com/articles/breaking-bad-ends-with-reveal-that-whole-series-wa,34036/](http://www.theonion.com/articles/breaking-bad-ends-with-reveal-that-whole-series-wa,34036/) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/373 "2013-09-30T15:45:44Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Not really. Have you ever driven out in the country (or the desert in this case)? > > Unless Jesse knows the GPS coordinates; it’s extremely easy to believe he could never find them even after searching for years and years. Jesse said it was the exact site of their first cook (and that was confirmed by the fade in/out at the opening scene). If that’s the case there’s at least a chance he can get out there again…Walt did. He didn’t drive out there with the money and start digging and then realize that, in all of the desert, he just happened to stop in the same place as he did the first time he drove out there. The coordinates were for Skyler to find the money later, after he died, not for him to find it again, he knows where it is and I think it’s safe to say that Jesse does as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/374 "2013-09-30T15:48:16Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > If Walt were still alive, I could see that happening. But, even though they are Nazis, I don’t them doing a revenge hit on the family - it serves no purpose, and exposes them to unnecessary risk. Well, once Flynn is worth over $9 million someone could conceivably find some motivation to intrude in their lives. But that’s not how it plays out in my head. Walt’s family is just forgotten/ignored by the few criminals who might want to do him harm. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/375 "2013-09-30T15:48:36Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Someone mentioned Walt’s reflection on the tank in the lab, I don’t know what the symbolism is with reflections, but Skyler had a pretty clear reflection in the microwave in her apartment as well. And not just that they set the shot up that way, but that they probably had to replace the front of the microwave with something that would reflect better, that wasn’t just an opportunistic shot, it was very done very much on purpose. In Talking Bad they admitted it was pure coincidence and just turned out really cool. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/376 "2013-09-30T15:48:37Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > According to Vince Gilligan on Talking Bad, it was completely an accidental shot and it was the editor who even noticed it! I haven’t listened to the podcast and maybe they’ll address it there, but if that’s the case I wonder if they had to ‘photoshop’ it. It seemed way too clear to be reflection in a microwave. Especially the kind of cheap one you’d find in a cheap apartment like that (that is, one that doesn’t have a nice glass front). ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/377 "2013-09-30T15:52:44Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I haven’t listened to the podcast and maybe they’ll address it there, but if that’s the case I wonder if they had to ‘photoshop’ it. It seemed way too clear to be reflection in a microwave. Especially the kind of cheap one you’d find in a cheap apartment like that (that is, one that doesn’t have a nice glass front). I don’t think so, they didn’t notice it until they were in the editing room. The editor complimented Vince on the shot and Vince was all\* Whaaaa… cool!\* ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/378 "2013-09-30T16:01:21Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Walt’s moment of anagnorisis in the **[kitchen]** with Skyler was the crux of the episode. He’s had blustering, false, and wishful moments of it throughout the series, “I am the danger.” This was the true one. What a weird omission. That was bugging the shit out of me. Continue. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/379 "2013-09-30T16:01:47Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > He did shoot himself. Repeatedly, his entire life. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/380 "2013-09-30T16:08:54Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Yeah, the blue meth was shipped to the Czech Republic via Madrigal. But there has to be a way for Walt and later the Nazis to get the blue to Lydia in the first place. They’ve never explained the logistics before, but it stands to reason that if Lydia is meeting Walt and later Todd EVERY week, the only possible logical reason would be to pick up the drugs/drop off money. The meth was bagged up, placed in green barrels of what looked like oil at the lab, then it was transported to Madrigal whereupon the barrels were FedEx’d to Europe. The only thing I’m not 100% certain on is how the meth got from the lab to the shipping facility, but I presume Todd drove it there. Lydia handled the Madrigal end - in an earlier episode there is a scene of her putting the FedEx sticker on the barrels and making sure they got on the truck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591.md?page=20)