Breaking Bad 5.16 "Felina" 9/29/13 SERIES FINALE

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

@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).

Maybe the prop microwave is somehow different, but he really made it sound like they discovered it during editing and went with it.

[Subterraneanus]

@WordMan

Basically this - love the show, and in no way want to rain on the parade of the finale, but I am still digesting how it ended.

That was a jab at those who want to rationalize art.

[JohnT]

@drastic_quench

…Walt’s moment of anagnorisis in the with Skyler was the crux of the episode…

@WordMan

Ah - I did not know that word.

Shouldn’t Drastic win something for stumping the WordMan?

[Subterraneanus]

@Martin_Hyde

This is a fictional drama. Hyperrealism is a style, but it isn’t a requirement for good drama. In fact, most drama requires strong suspension of disbelief, even the best works in fiction.

It isn’t a flaw for improbable things to happen, as long as they “make sense” in the context of the world and the characters that the creator has set in place. If only probable things happened, it wouldn’t really be entertainment, it’d be like a fictional documentary.

Thank you.

[Erdosain]

@JohnT

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.

I have to disagree here. No way the Nazis were providing the barrels or the chemicals inside them. Those were Madrigal barrels with Madrigal chemicals being sent to Madrigal companies in the Czech republic. Lydia put the blue in the barrels, then put on the shipping label.

We know from the show that Lydia and Walt met in person once a week. To me, there can be no other possible explanation for that fact.

All that being said, I’d have to watch the “Crystal Blue Persuasion” montage again to see if you can tell who is sealing the barrels.

[Subterraneanus]

@Unauthorized_Cinnamon

Last night I was reflecting on this type of thing. There were a lot of improbable, if not preposterous, events:
[ul]
[li]Walt evading the police in the first place[/li][li]Walt getting into the Schwartz’s so easily[/li][li]The LEOs only watching the front of Skyler’s place, so Walt could get in the back[/li][li]The Aryan Brotherhood not checking the trunk[/li][li]The AB not killing Walt immediately[/li][/ul]

And really, the series is full of equally problematic developments.

I think it comes down to this: get the characters and the emotions right, and the audience will carry a LOT of disbelief for you on things like this. It’s necessary for Walt to talk to Skyler and see Holly and Flynn, so he can. As long as the scene in the house is effective (and BTW, did Gilligan use that pillar brilliantly, or what?) and the interactions ring true, I for one will happily gloss over the difficult plot bits. And I think a lot of viewers are the same.

It’s art, ffs, not an exposition.

[Marley23]

@WordMan

Walt getting to resolve things and die with his Baby Blue definitely works - but does it get to the heart of the tragedy of Walt’s pride? And how important was it to do that?

I think one point the show always drove home is that you can’t undo what’s been done. A big part of Walt’s “victory” was stopping things from getting any worse for his family and dying on his own terms. (He did also, maybe, succeed in getting his money to his family.)

@WordMan

Oh, and was it just me, or when Skyler was on the phone and the camera lingered on shots of her with her cigarette - didn’t you want her long, blonde hair to fall in front of one eye, like Veronica Lake in a 1940’s hard-boiled noir film? She looked downright sultry.

She’s a good looking woman, but I thought she still looked like she was in hell. Which reminds me that Walt’s “I did it for me” admission was a real kindness. His rationalization of doing everything for his family must have been a horrible burden for Skyler. Imagine someone using you as a rationalization for the kinds of things Walt did. She still has a ton of things to grapple with, but she doesn’t have to live with Walt hanging all of that on her and their children.

[JohnT]

Naw, you’re right - it’s a Madrigal guy who is putting the meth in the barrels. You can see it at 1:21 in this video: breaking bad - crystal blue persuasion - YouTube

Looking further, at 2:08 you see the meth being given out in the desert, then right after that a couple of shots of Lydia and Walt meeting, with Walt walking out of a place (coffee shop?) with the bag that Lydia carried in.

[Subterraneanus]

@WordMan

Oh, yeah - totally. But, as I mentioned up thread, BB ultimately didn’t go full Shakespeare - the ending wouldn’t leave Walt dead knowing his loved ones were taken care of. He would’ve had everything ripped from him.

And, as I mentioned upthread, I am still figuring out how I feel about that. And, I suppose, I love the fact that Breaking Bad has been so flippin’ excellent that I find myself so invested in thinking it through. Great experience.

Tragedy begins with the Greeks. Think more Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and less Shakespeare.

[Dewey_Finn]

How do you think Lydia was traveling from Houston to Albuquerque weekly for the money-for-meth exchange? If she flew, the bag would have been x-rayed, which might have revealed the contents. But it’s a long drive.

[nivlac]

@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.

Actually I recall Jesse pointing out that that was the same location where Walt and he did their first cook. So Jesse knows the location, at least the general vicinity.

[Duke_of_Rat]

@Dewey_Finn

How do you think Lydia was traveling from Houston to Albuquerque weekly for the money-for-meth exchange? If she flew, the bag would have been x-rayed, which might have revealed the contents. But it’s a long drive.

Private or company plane, maybe?

And a non sequitur about a line that I laugh about every time I hear “ricin”. Ricin beans?

[Siam_Sam]

The wife and I just watched this final episode. We were blown away like neo-Nazis who crossed Walter White. I haven’t made it through this entire thread, but …

@Stephe96

Minor quibble: Drew Sharp’s parents will never know what happened to their boy. Sad.

Not necessarily. Jesse may find a way to let the family know, including where the kid is buried. Maybe an anonymous phone call pinning it on Mr. White.

@Dewey_Finn

How do you think Lydia was traveling from Houston to Albuquerque weekly for the money-for-meth exchange? If she flew, the bag would have been x-rayed, which might have revealed the contents. But it’s a long drive.

Could she maybe have used a private company plane?

[zoid]

@Dewey_Finn

How do you think Lydia was traveling from Houston to Albuquerque weekly for the money-for-meth exchange? If she flew, the bag would have been x-rayed, which might have revealed the contents. But it’s a long drive.

I was wondering about that too.
What’s she gonna tell her boss?

“I’m gonna need Tuesday mornings off”
“For how long?”
“Indefinitely”

Or perhaps the corruption runs so thoroughly through Madrigal that her boss wouldn’t even ask?

[Marley23]

Or she has a cover story or ranks high enough in the company that she doesn’t need to explain where she is. Head of Logistics sounds like a pretty important position.

[phungi]

@John_Mace

And let’s add: The AB agreeing to bring Jesse up to the “clubhouse”

Agreed: my only (albeit minor) quip with the finale was the plot line required to bring Jesse out of the lab:

“Oh, I’ll kill you, Walt, but I won’t have you die thinking I am a liar! Get Jesse up here!”

[Unauthorized_Cinnamon]

@Subterraneanus

It’s art, ffs, not an exposition.

Are people thinking that I’m complaining about the improbable bits and demanding hyperrealism? Because I was attempting to make the exact opposite argument - some viewers may complain about implausibility, but what really matters is the storytelling. I agree with **Martin Hyde’s **comments completely. No one wants a story where people have to stop and use the toilet every few hours, everyone has to vacuum and dust, and people get killed in random accidents, rather than thematically satisfying denouements.

[Subterraneanus]

@Unauthorized_Cinnamon

Are people thinking that I’m complaining about the improbable bits and demanding hyperrealism? Because I was attempting to make the exact opposite argument - some viewers may complain about implausibility, but what really matters is the storytelling. I agree with **Martin Hyde’s **comments completely. No one wants a story where people have to stop and use the toilet every few hours, everyone has to vacuum and dust, and people get killed in random accidents, rather than thematically satisfying denouements.

Sorry if I misunderstood you.

[Joey_P]

Did anyone else notice Jesse’s Justin Beiber haircut? Daryl from The Walking Dead ended up with that one about halfway through the series too.

[Gatopescado]

@Unauthorized_Cinnamon

(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.)

They end up adopting Brock, so all is back to status quo. But they don’t get him a motorcycle.