# 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:** 40
**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:** [October 3, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/781 "2013-10-03T18:59:27Z")
> [@solost](#): > > … 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. Nice user name/post combo. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/782 "2013-10-03T19:00:20Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > A better question is why Gale would write such a purple-prosed dedication to a man he shared one cook with. Is he dropping these off all over Juan Tabo Boulevard? “To Gustavo, who fixed me my fair trade coffee this morning. My star, my shining light.” I think it was more than one cook. Wasn’t there a montage there, depicting some elapsed time? ETA: What Sam said. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/783 "2013-10-03T19:01:38Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Was it only one cook? I had the impression they worked for a short while. _We_ may have seen only one cook, but I thought there were more. > [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I think it was more than one cook. Wasn’t there a montage there, depicting some elapsed time? Yes, I remember something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/784 "2013-10-03T19:01:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I think the simple answer is that Walt forgot Gale signed the book. That was what gave him away. I think it would be out of character for Walt to forget a detail like that, especially considering the conversation he had previously with Hank about the initials W.W. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/785 "2013-10-03T19:05:52Z")
- on _Fresh Air_, Terry Gross interviewed Peter Gould and Thomas Schnauz (sorry if I blew either of those names) - writers and producers for the show. One highlight was the sharing of the fact that Mike Ehrmentrout came about because Bob Odenkirk wasn’t available to play Saul in helping Jesse clean up after Jane’s death. The Mike Private Eye character had been mentioned before that, apparently. They went with him and cast Jonathan Banks because Gilligan is a huge fan of his work on the TV show _Wiseguy_ - in the NY Times, TV Critic Emily Nussbaum gives a bad review behind their paywall. One paragraph: > [@](#): > > Don’t be mad, readers: as the Internet people say, YMMV, and very likely does. From my perspective, at least as I write, shortly after the finale aired, if this episode in fact took place in reality, it was troubling, and yes, disappointing, if only because the story ended by confirming Walt’s most grandiose notions: that he is, in fact, all-powerful, the smartest guy in the room, the one who knocks. Anyone other than Walt becomes a mere reflection of this journey to redemption. (With the exception of Jesse, who had the most mysterious scene: a poetic fugue of his own, in which he created what felt like a small coffin.\*) It’s not that Walt needed to suffer, necessarily, for the show’s finale to be challenging, or original, or meaningful: but Walt succeeded with so little true friction—maintaining his legend, reconciling with family, avenging Hank, freeing Jesse, all genuine evil off-loaded onto other, badder bad guys—that it felt quite unlike the destabilizing series that I’d been watching for years. If, instead, we were watching Walt’s compensatory fantasy, it was a fascinating glimpse into the man’s mind—akin to the one in the movie “Mulholland Drive,” a poignant, tragic attempt to fix a life that is unfixable. - Grantland has a great analysis: [» Walt’s Legacy](http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9757024/the-lessons-breaking-bad-finale) - one choice paragraph: > [@](#): > > So while I continue to have issues with the content and implications of the Breaking Bad finale, I don’t fault its construction. Walter White’s previous plans may have exploded with collateral damage and unexpected blowback, but Vince Gilligan’s plotting always seems to have resolved itself just fine. Breaking Bad was a show that flirted with chaos but thrived on order. Even for a show that defined itself by chemistry, to end untidily would have been a change too far. I may object to the outcome, but I wasn’t the one in charge of the experiment. ---
**Author:** ![Krazy-8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Krazy-8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krazy-8)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/786 "2013-10-03T19:08:17Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > It seems like you didn’t read the post you’re responding to. The idea was that they _don’t_ deposit the money, instead using it to pay their gardener etc in cash. > > I am not sure whether such a thing would be caught in an audit, but it does seem free from the risk of setting off any flags for anyone outside an audit context. I did read it, I thought it was quite silly using $9.5 million to pay the gardener and house keeper. Assuming they pay $2500/month for gardening and maid service on that pad, it would take 317 years to eat up the pile of cash. Sorry to say, but G&E are going to have to do something illegal to launder that money. I hear there is a car wash for sale in ABQ… ---
**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:** [October 3, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/787 "2013-10-03T19:11:35Z")
> [@Krazy-8](#): > > I always wondered when Gale gave this book to Walt. Walt and Gale had not met before they worked together in the Superlab. We first see Walt reading the book in the season 3 episode “Sunset”. Earlier in the same episode, Gale recites “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” to Walt. We don’t actually see Gale give Walt the book, but it’s pretty clear that he does it at around that point. We see the book again once more on the show before Hank’s “oh shit” moment, when Walt unpacks his things in the episode “Hazard Pay”. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/788 "2013-10-03T19:15:05Z")
> [@Krazy-8](#): > > I hear there is a car wash for sale in ABQ… There’s absolutely no reason in this world or any other for G&E to take any risks at all with this, when it’s so ridiculously easy for them to do it entirely risk-free and without complications. Well, unless they’re stupid, and they’re clearly not. They’ll just burn Walt’s cash and set up the trust fund for Junior with their own money. It’s pretty clear that they’re silly rich, $10 million is peanuts for them. They just donated $28 million to meth treatment centers. That is, IF they go through with the plan (although I think they probably will). Walt insisting that they use his money was as much about him making it clear to them that “I have millions, too” as anything else. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/789 "2013-10-03T19:35:00Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > - in the NY Times, TV Critic Emily Nussbaum gives a bad review behind their paywall. One paragraph: I think you mean [The New Yorker](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/09/breaking-bad-finale-reviewed.html) and not The New York Times. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/790 "2013-10-03T19:41:23Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think you mean [The New Yorker](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/09/breaking-bad-finale-reviewed.html) and not The New York Times. Shoot. Of course you’re right. So it should be accessible. Worth reading, even if you disagree. I really liked the quote from the Grantland piece - captures some cool truths about the orderly structure of the show… ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/791 "2013-10-03T19:43:47Z")
> [@Krazy-8](#): > > I did read it, I thought it was quite silly using $9.5 million to pay the gardener and house keeper. Assuming they pay $2500/month for gardening and maid service on that pad, it would take 317 years to eat up the pile of cash. They can use it to tip the pizza guy and buy lattes too then. If they have a lot left over when they die, so what? ---
**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:** [October 3, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/792 "2013-10-03T19:44:55Z")
Just to add another thing about the cash: I do think that it’s ironic that what will happen is essentially that Walt takes G&E’s money, which is what he could have done in the first place all the way back in season 1. I guess he just had to go on his two-year rampage of doom and self-fulfillment before he could bring himself to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/793 "2013-10-03T19:49:23Z")
Only in the sense that his family might not realize it’s actually Walt’s money. He doesn’t actually take their money. He surrenders the credit. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/794 "2013-10-03T19:53:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Only in the sense that his family might not realize it’s actually Walt’s money. He doesn’t actually take their money. He surrenders the credit. Well, as I said, only if G&E goes through the unnecessary trouble and risk of laundering and using his cash, instead of just disposing of it and setting up the trust fund with their own money instead, which is a heck of a lot easier for everyone, and the only sensible thing for them to do (and it’s not like Walt’s fictional “hitmen” would be able to tell the difference). ---
**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:** [October 3, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/795 "2013-10-03T19:58:48Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Walt insisting that they use his money was as much about him making it clear to them that “I have millions, too” as anything else. I agree with this. He was telling them, basically, “I still don’t want your charity and you’re not being robbed in any way.” ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/796 "2013-10-03T20:21:02Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I agree with this. He was telling them, basically, “I still don’t want your charity and you’re not being robbed in any way.” Yes, it was his pridefulness. The ‘use my money, not yours’ was certainly nothing to do with those particular pieces of paper currency (as some seemed to believe, a few pages back). It was about asserting his status as their equal (or even their better, as he surely believed). ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/797 "2013-10-03T20:42:33Z")
G & E should just come clean and tell everybody they won $9.72 million in a card game. ---
**Author:** ![lriemann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@lriemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lriemann)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/798 "2013-10-03T21:24:49Z")
Cue shots of G&E in the back of a limo, driving around at night through a poor neighborhood, while their chauffeur is throwing piles of money through the window. IMHO they will probably dispose of most of the money as quickly as possible, for the following reasons: 1 This amount of cash is only found in the homes of criminals. 2 CEO’s of huge companies are much more likely to get house calls from the IRS, and they will have a lot of explaining to do, if someone finds out. 3 They are former associates of a noted drug kingpin, people will snoop, especially journalists. 4 According to this article: > **[Contaminated currency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contaminated_currency)** > > Most banknotes have traces of cocaine on them; this has been confirmed by studies done in several countries. In 1994, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that in Los Angeles, out of every four banknotes, on average more than three are tainted by cocaine or another illicit drug. > Additionally, paper money in other parts of the world show a similar drug contamination, and studies indicate that they might even serve as a vector of disease, though researchers disagree over how easily dis... Roughly 30% of US notes carry trace amounts of Meth and the pile Walt brought should have much much more and of a higher quality. Walt, being a clever bastard, probably realized this. So in the end, they will destroy his drug money and pay his family from their own money. ---
**Author:** ![lriemann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@lriemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lriemann)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/799 "2013-10-03T21:43:00Z")
Not sure if this is coincidence or not. Walt tells G&E about why they would send his family the money “Call it a Beau Geste, call it liberal guilt, call it whatever you want, but do it.” Beau Geste means gracious gesture in French. It is also the name of a very famous adventure novel that was filmed multiple times. The plot centers around the disappearance of a precious sapphire known as “ **Blue Water**.” ---
**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:** [October 3, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/800 "2013-10-03T22:12:42Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I agree, totally. > > You might even take it further. As I said before, it’s like the show has been trying different endings on for size. Even episode 508 before Hank finds the book, with Walt retired and connected with his family, feels like one possible ending. It could be argued that we have a bunch of endings: Walt retiring (“Gliding over all” before the “oh shit” moment, plus maybe even ending on that “oh shit” moment for a properly ambiguous ending), Hank winning (“To’hajiilee” before the shootout), Walt busted but getting away (“Ozymandias”), in addition to “Granite State” (Walt dying alone, _and_ Walt turning himself in to the police) and “Felina”. Nice! Good point about the truly “happy” ending back in 508. > [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > It’s interesting reading those five alternative endings to find out that they didn’t actually have the ending plotted out when they put the M60 in Walt’s trunk to start the season. It seems they would write themselves into corners and have to work out solutions Yeah, I’ve been hearing Vince say that for years. It’s an interesting method. For instance when they were stuck in the RV with Hank outside, that was apparently a difficult one for them to crack. Then there was the series of flashforwards showing the singed pink teddy bear. Originally they did not know that was going to be a plane crash. I have said and continue to think that it might have been too specific, too early, this time with the gun and the New Hampshire thing. They really boxed themselves in with that. > [@Marley23](#): > > Perhaps he spends that night plotting and contacts Lawson. So where did he spend the night? > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > _shrug_ I’ve seen alarm systems like that. You disarm it once you arrive home, and it’s not active while you’re there. Maybe it’s a motion detector, or you’re going to be going in and out of the house and don’t want to disarm every time you open the door. Plus it’s a wealthy neighborhood in a gated community in Santa Fe. I’ve seen wealthy neighborhoods in gated communities in Santa Fe. No one’s worried much about bad guys while they’re at home. To the extent that they leave the door open, not even locking it? Never mind the alarm; what about a basic lock? > [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > There’s absolutely no reason in this world or any other for G&E to take any risks at all with this, when it’s so ridiculously easy for them to do it entirely risk-free and without complications. Well, unless they’re stupid, and they’re clearly not. They’ll just burn Walt’s cash and set up the trust fund for Junior with their own money. This, this, this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591.md?page=39) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591.md?page=41)