# 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:** 41
**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, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/801 "2013-10-03T22:21:10Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > So where did he spend the night? He probably parked somewhere out of the way and slept in the car. ---
**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, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/802 "2013-10-03T22:34:58Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > 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 find that hard to believe. I think we saw the teddy bear in the first episode of the second season. The episode title was “Seven Thirty-Seven”. Some later (non-consecutive) episodes that season were titled “Down”, “Over” and “ABQ”. In other words, the four episode titles collectively spelled “737 Down Over ABQ”. I don’t believe that wasn’t planned. ---
**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, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/803 "2013-10-03T22:41:24Z")
[Vince Gilligan told The AV Club](http://www.avclub.com/articles/vince-gilligan-walks-us-through-season-four-of-bre,63013/), “Season two was the only season where we knew exactly where we would end at the beginning of it all. That came about through many, many hours of beating our heads against the wall—very laborious work, which is probably why we haven’t repeated that formula since.” ---
**Author:** ![Hanniballistic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hanniballistic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanniballistic)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/804 "2013-10-04T00:45:24Z")
I havent read all every page in the thread, but I didnt see this mentioned. Did anyone else notice when Walt falls down at the end his hand on the tank forms a W in blood. I listened to a few podcasts about this episode also and they didnt mention it either. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/805 "2013-10-04T02:56:19Z")
> [@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. No, it was definitely just after the first cook that Gale recited “To the Learn’d Astronomer” to Walt and then we see Walt reading the Book of Doom just after that. I mean, the meth did take a long time to cook; what was it, 16 hours? But it always bothered me that inscription didn’t really fit with the relationship between Walt and Gale at that time. But, as Marley23 said, Gale _was_ an odd duck. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/806 "2013-10-04T03:17:31Z")
Gale was impressed with Walt’s intelligence (based on the blue meth) before he ever met Walt, or had any idea who Walt was. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/807 "2013-10-04T03:18:32Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > Gale was impressed with Walt’s intelligence (based on the blue meth) before he ever met Walt, or had any idea who Walt was. That’s right- he encouraged Gus to hire Walt rather than Gale, himself, running the lab saying Heisenberg was the best of the best. ---
**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 4, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/808 "2013-10-04T04:08:10Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > To the extent that they leave the door open, not even locking it? Never mind the alarm; what about a basic lock? Yes. This isn’t New York City. It’s a gated community. I didn’t live in a gated community, but I did live in New Mexico, I did visit gated communities in Santa Fe, and I have no trouble believing they did not immediately lock the door in fear of monsters getting in. Things are pretty laid back out there. s for Gale, I don’t have time to go back and review that season, but I feel certain they had more than one cook. ---
**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 4, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/809 "2013-10-04T04:56:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > s for Gale, I don’t have time to go back and review that season, but I feel certain they had more than one cook. We see a montage of them working together in “Sunset”, and then at least one more cook in “One Minute” (where Walt goes into complete dickhead mode). Technically, I guess it could have been just two cooks, but it’s at least implied that they worked together for some time. (By the way, I absolutely love that cooking montage, with those two eggheads geeking around with their chemistry, while making coffee, playing chess and reciting poetry. They think of themselves as proper scientists in that pristine lab, brainiacs doing serious lab work, in a world where degrees matter and the chemistry is respected. Of course, the reality is that, while it may help to a be chemical genius to create extremely pure blue meth in the first place, and geniuses presumably like to work in nice conditions, the Superlab is hardly a necessity, and certainly not for day-to-day meth manufacture. After all, not much earlier, Walt and Jesse were cooking it up in the back of an old, beat-up RV, and later, Jesse’s doing it as a tortured meth slave in a warehouse. The Superlab is all pomp and circumstance, bling and shiny surfaces, to let Walt and Gale have their illusion of scientific respectability, and divorce them from the realities of what they’re doing.) ---
**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 4, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/810 "2013-10-04T05:43:58Z")
> [@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. 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. You are making the assumption that G&E have vast liquid assets. You don’t know if the $28 million was a personal donation or one using Gray Matter corporate funds. As a banker, I talk to wealthy people every day, liquid assets are a major concern. Most rich people do not maintain liquid assets at a 1 to 2% return and their wealth is locked up in long term investments. To burn $9.5 million and replace it with clean money might actually create a financial hardship, even for folks deemed billionaires. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/811 "2013-10-04T06:07:38Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I find that hard to believe. I think we saw the teddy bear in the first episode of the second season. The episode title was “Seven Thirty-Seven”. Some later (non-consecutive) episodes that season were titled “Down”, “Over” and “ABQ”. In other words, the four episode titles collectively spelled “737 Down Over ABQ”. I don’t believe that wasn’t planned. I would think that by the time they were airing episode 1, episode 4 had already been filmed, meaning the titles don’t tell us much about the order in which they came up with the ideas contained in those four episodes. ---
**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 4, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/812 "2013-10-04T13:35:08Z")
> [@Krazy-8](#): > > You are making the assumption that G&E have vast liquid assets. You don’t know if the $28 million was a personal donation or one using Gray Matter corporate funds. As a banker, I talk to wealthy people every day, liquid assets are a major concern. Most rich people do not maintain liquid assets at a 1 to 2% return and their wealth is locked up in long term investments. To burn $9.5 million and replace it with clean money might actually create a financial hardship, even for folks deemed billionaires. Not really. I’m a financial advisor to high net worth people, and anyone worth billions could easily liquidate 10 times that amount in 3 days or less. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/813 "2013-10-04T13:53:10Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Of course, the reality is that, while it may help to a be chemical genius to create extremely pure blue meth in the first place, and geniuses presumably like to work in nice conditions, the Superlab is hardly a necessity, and certainly not for day-to-day meth manufacture. After all, not much earlier, Walt and Jesse were cooking it up in the back of an old, beat-up RV, and later, Jesse’s doing it as a tortured meth slave in a warehouse. The Superlab is all pomp and circumstance, bling and shiny surfaces, to let Walt and Gale have their illusion of scientific respectability, and divorce them from the realities of what they’re doing.) The lab does let Walt and Gale sort of replace the academic and research careers they never had, but the lab wasn’t for them. The lab was for Gus. He had a very large operation and he needed a well-hidden and secure location where his cooks could produce large amounts of reliably high-quality meth. In large part it’s insurance. Of course it also allowed him to keep an eye on his cooks. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/814 "2013-10-04T14:23:35Z")
**Marley** - I just noticed your updated title “I am the One who Bans” - love it! ---
**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 4, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/815 "2013-10-04T14:42:04Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Not really. I’m a financial advisor to high net worth people, and anyone worth billions could easily liquidate 10 times that amount in 3 days or less. A few posts on this topic back I realized we weren’t discussing reality but the fictitious world that Walt inhabits. One where the IRS makes unannounced “house calls” on high net worth people to poke around their safes, cash from illicit sources is radioactive in some manner that makes it unsafe to spend at the grocery store, and founders of billion dollar companies are 100% invested in their company stock. I’m sorry, LD, but your knowledge of actual wealthy people who inhabit our reality doesn’t apply here. I know this message sounds snarky, but the serious point it makes is that this a meaningless debate since there is no canon answer to the exact finances of Gretchen and Elliot, there is no canon answer to the exact laws the IRS works under in the Breaking Bad universe, and thus no single answer to the best way they can handle the situation they find themselves in. ---
**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 4, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/816 "2013-10-04T14:59:02Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > A few posts on this topic back I realized we weren’t discussing reality but the fictitious world that Walt inhabits. One where the IRS makes unannounced “house calls” on high net worth people to poke around their safes, cash from illicit sources is radioactive in some manner that makes it unsafe to spend at the grocery store, and founders of billion dollar companies are 100% invested in their company stock. > > I’m sorry, LD, but your knowledge of actual wealthy people who inhabit our reality doesn’t apply here. > > I know this message sounds snarky, but the serious point it makes is that this a meaningless debate since there is no canon answer to the exact finances of Gretchen and Elliot, there is no canon answer to the exact laws the IRS works under in the Breaking Bad universe, and thus no single answer to the best way they can handle the situation they find themselves in. That’s fine. I was responding to someone else’s claims about the real world. ---
**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 4, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/817 "2013-10-04T16:46:11Z")
According to somebody on Reddit, their friend works at the Albuquerque newspaper and they’ll be running [this obit tomorrow morning.](http://i.imgur.com/5exqCfP.jpg) ---
**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 4, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/818 "2013-10-04T17:13:22Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > According to somebody on Reddit, their friend works at the Albuquerque newspaper and they’ll be running [this obit tomorrow morning.](http://i.imgur.com/5exqCfP.jpg) Really funny is that even in Albuquerque, there’ll be some people, living under a rock maybe, will have never heard of the show and will take the obit as serious. ---
**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 4, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/819 "2013-10-04T21:08:10Z")
Indeed there will be! Old folks especially; problem is, that’s a lot of who actually gets the newspaper these days. I wonder if there is a disclaimer below that that we could not see in the clipping? > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Yes. This isn’t New York City. It’s a gated community. I didn’t live in a gated community, but I did live in New Mexico, I did visit gated communities in Santa Fe, and I have no trouble believing they did not immediately lock the door in fear of monsters getting in. Things are pretty laid back out there. Apparently the alleged gate (never shown) was insufficient to keep out a frail cancer patient and two goofball druggies. And FWIW I live nowhere near NYC and in fact there is not even an interstate highway for at least fifty miles in any direction; but I lock my front door immediately after entering. You are never going to convince me that a rich couple who has many valuables in their home are going to use an alarm system when they are out, but leave the door completely open when they are home. > [@Frylock](#): > > I would think that by the time they were airing episode 1, episode 4 had already been filmed, meaning the titles don’t tell us much about the order in which they came up with the ideas contained in those four episodes. Right. Look at how often movies are totally finished before they get a proper title. Before that, it’s often something like “Untitled Tom Cruise Space Cowboy Project”. > [@Marley23](#): > > The lab does let Walt and Gale sort of replace the academic and research careers they never had, but the lab wasn’t for them. The lab was for Gus. He had a very large operation and he needed a well-hidden and secure location where his cooks could produce large amounts of reliably high-quality meth. In large part it’s insurance. Of course it also allowed him to keep an eye on his cooks. But I think Martian’s point is valid. We are first shown that the lab is used to lure Walt into working for Gus on an ongoing basis when previously he had been reluctant to continue. Later, they retcon the origin story of the lab as being equipment that Gale ordered. Either way, it fits that narrative of giving them more shiny toys then they perhaps really need in order to make them feel satisfied as working a chemistry career rather than just a drug manufacturing one. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591/820 "2013-10-04T22:02:54Z")
Diego Trujillo stars as Walter Blanco in [Metastasis](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/breaking-bads-spanish-language-makeover-642606), a Spanish language version of Breaking Bad set in Colombia. Judging from the trailer in the link, it looks to be a straight-up remake. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591.md?page=40) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-16-felina-9-29-13-series-finale/669591.md?page=42)