# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/21 "2013-09-25T15:33:22Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > It might also be worth noting the title. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felina_%28Breaking_Bad%29): > [QUOTE=Wikipedia] > > Prior to broadcast, the title of the episode resulted in several attempts to speculate on its meaning.[2][3][4][5] The episode title is an anagram of the word “Finale”,[2][3] while also consisting of the symbols of three chemical elements Iron (Fe), Lithium (Li) and Sodium (Na).[2] It is speculated that these elements represent blood, methamphetamine and tears respectively.[2][6] It is also speculated to be a reference to the 1959 Marty Robbins song “El Paso”, which is about an unnamed cowboy who falls in love with a Mexican woman named “Felina”, commits murder for her, goes into exile, and then returns to her (with “Felina” in this instance being Walt’s money from his drug empire, which he is returning to New Mexico for). [/QUOTE] Regarding this theory (which has since been edited out of the Wikipedia article), I didn’t think there was any Lithium in meth. The formula given in Wikipedia is C[SUB]10[/SUB]H[SUB]15[/SUB]N. It would have been a nice theory, if it worked. (I still like the way that those second season episode titles combined to make a clue about the plane crash.) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/22 "2013-09-25T15:34:58Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > I am going to be very disappointed if they somehow link Grey Matter to Madrigal. They won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/23 "2013-09-25T15:54:59Z")
Can someone sum up what we know about the whole Gray Matter situation? I last saw that episode when it originally aired, and I know the broad strokes (the company became big after Walt left) but I’m having a hard time remembering the details. There was something about a love triangle, right? Were Skyler and Walt Jr. in the picture yet? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/24 "2013-09-25T16:04:08Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > There was something about a love triangle, right? That’s what a lot of people have assumed, but nobody ever said so and I think the dialogue suggests otherwise. There’s a conversation where Gretchen says Walt just left very suddenly (when he was visiting Gretchen and her family) and wouldn’t explain what was going on. You can find the background on the Breaking Bad wiki, for example. The gist of it is that Walt says Elliot and Gretchen cut him out and got rich from his research, and they say he left and never told them why. He cashed out of the company for $5,000 long before it was worth anything, and his piece of the company would be worth hundreds of millions now. > [@](#): > > Were Skyler and Walt Jr. in the picture yet? No. This all happened before Walt met Skyler. ---
**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 25, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/25 "2013-09-25T16:41:07Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No. This all happened before Walt met Skyler. But didn’t he take the $5,000 buyout to help provide for the family when Skyler was pregnant with Walt Jr? Or am I recalling that wrong? ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/26 "2013-09-25T16:53:34Z")
There has been nothing on the show to suggest that. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/27 "2013-09-25T16:55:07Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > But didn’t he take the $5,000 buyout to help provide for the family when Skyler was pregnant with Walt Jr? Or am I recalling that wrong? No. I think some people have assumed that must have been the reason, but it’s contradicted in a few places and it doesn’t make much sense. Walt knew Gretchen and (probably) Elliott from college and they worked together around that time. He was working at Los Alamos when he met Skyler, which suggests he’d already left Gray Matter already. Skyler is also a decade younger than Walt is, so he can’t have been a young man working at Gray Matter and starting a family with her at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![victorlisboa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/cdc98d/32.png) [@victorlisboa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/victorlisboa)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/28 "2013-09-25T17:03:31Z")
Anyone noticed the insistence of showing Lydia using Stevia sweetener? My bet is that Walter will use it to poison her. ---
**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 25, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/29 "2013-09-25T17:28:31Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > I am going to be very disappointed if they somehow link Grey Matter to Madrigal. That would be a horrible, horrible plot. I’m not sure I really care how it ends; because I think it will be an ending to be talked about regardless. What I’m going to hate slogging through in these posts is that no matter what the ending is; a bunch of people will hate it, and a bunch of people will love it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/30 "2013-09-25T17:33:51Z")
> [@victorlisboa](#): > > Anyone noticed the insistence of showing Lydia using Stevia sweetener? > My bet is that Walter will use it to poison her. I thought it was meant to show how prissy she is. Remember when she first met Mike in that diner? She first asked for herbal tea (which the diner didn’t have) and then stevia or some non-standard sweetener. I think Mike rolled his eyes at her, and how much she stood out. At least in the place she met Todd, her chamomile tea and stevia were available. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/31 "2013-09-25T17:34:54Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > I am going to be very disappointed if they somehow link Grey Matter to Madrigal. That would be a horrible, horrible plot. I agree. > [@divemaster](#): > > I know I’m in the minority, but I want Walt to win. It’s obvious he won’t (and I’m okay with that), but I’m still rooting for the guy… Me too. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/32 "2013-09-25T17:41:56Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > I’m not sure I really care how it ends; because I think it will be an ending to be talked about regardless. For a series finale that Gilligan has promised would tie up all loose ends, seems like there’s still a lot of loose ends to tie up in a single episode. I don’t think that will leave a lot of room for subtlety, it’s going to have to be wham bam thank you ma’am. Roll credits. ---
**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 25, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/33 "2013-09-25T17:45:02Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > What I’m going to hate slogging through in these posts is that no matter what the ending is; a bunch of people will hate it, and a bunch of people will love it. And some people will think it’s “OK”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/34 "2013-09-25T17:48:04Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > I kind of wish we could have separate threads for predictions. It’s annoying to watch the episode, log on here, and have to wade through two and a half pages of wild ass speculation that was posted a week before the ep even aired. But that’s just me. Silly me. I thought that’s what [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=702357) was for. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/35 "2013-09-25T20:01:35Z")
> [@Duke\_of\_Rat](#): > > For a series finale that Gilligan has promised would tie up all loose ends, seems like there’s still a lot of loose ends to tie up in a single episode. > > I don’t think that will leave a lot of room for subtlety, it’s going to have to be wham bam thank you ma’am. Roll credits. If it is done well, it could blow our minds with all this tension resolution - a Breaking Bad-gasm? A Heisenberg-asm? ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/36 "2013-09-25T20:18:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Regarding this theory (which has since been edited out of the Wikipedia article), I didn’t think there was any Lithium in meth. The formula given in Wikipedia is C[SUB]10[/SUB]H[SUB]15[/SUB]N. There are three basic ways to cook meth. One of them, the Birch reduction method (ironically sometimes called the Nazi method), uses lithium as a catalyst. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/37 "2013-09-25T20:24:56Z")
Now that it appears that Saul has left this show for good I hope that they come out and say that the spinoff is actually a sequel and not a prequel. I’d much rather see what kind of life he has in Nebraska, does he try to reestablish himself, are there people coming after him (law, other criminals)? That seems much more interesting than a prequel that we already knows how it will end. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/38 "2013-09-25T20:35:18Z")
I’m excited to see how this all ends, and like the posts made before this one, there will be people who love it, people who hate it and people who think it’s just ok. FWIW, my predictions: - The final episode begins with a flashback to that fateful 4th of July weekend when Walt suddenly packed his bags and left Gretchen; this will finally explain the details of what happened in the now infamous “love triangle.” - Walt returns to NM to settle the score with Uncle Jack, and get his fortune back with the intent of giving it to his family. How he plans to pull this off, I haven’t a clue but can’t wait to find out. Perhaps they all die, Walt included. - “Bold ass spoiler no-one-saw-this-coming” prediction : Skyler is informed by the DEA that she’s going to prison. Overcome with guilt, she hands the kids over to Marie. She arranges a secret meeting with Walt to discuss the fortune and how to give it to the kids. During the meeting, she swipes the ricin from Walt. Final scene: **Skyler takes the ricin** ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/39 "2013-09-25T20:42:26Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > Now that it appears that Saul has left this show for good I hope that they come out and say that the spinoff is actually a sequel and not a prequel. I’d much rather see what kind of life he has in Nebraska, does he try to reestablish himself, are there people coming after him (law, other criminals)? That seems much more interesting than a prequel that we already knows how it will end. I dunno. Chances are that Saul will have a very boring life in Nebraska. There are a lot more hijinks to get up to as a criminal lawyer than there are managing a Cinnabon, especially since he’ll be wanting to keep his head down. It’s actually a proper downer ending for him, even though he survives. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/40 "2013-09-25T20:44:27Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > - The final episode begins with a flashback to that fateful 4th of July weekend when Walt suddenly packed his bags and left Gretchen; this will finally explain the details of what happened in the now infamous “love triangle.” Noting again that it’s never been suggested there was a love triangle. That’d be kind of a boring explanation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591.md?page=3)