Eh, not the best finale and I figured out everything before it aired, but the execution was still good.
RIP in Peace Breaking Bad.

Another great series for the books.

It was predictable, but it’s what I think we all wanted. I freaking hate Todd.

Hey Todd! “Sorry for your loss.”

Poor Huell…

It was predictable, but I don’t think it would’ve worked any other way. The loose ends should’ve been tied up and they were. Walt died in a meth lab, the place of his greatest passion and achievement, bad guy to the end. I thought it was done well.

In my book, there is no such thing as “best ever” when it comes to film and art. So now that we know where I’m coming from, I’d like to say I enjoyed it. I loved watching the evolution from uncertainty to pure stern at the end and yes, I almost let my pride of, “What’s all this Breaking Bad hype mainstream pop bullcrap” take the wheel.

If it wasn’t for me moving into an apartment and not having cable tv I might’ve never got my hands on my buddies 5 seasons of episodes of what I will call the most thorough, gripping, anxiety prone, villainous satisfaction in any series I’ve witnessed history.

Something I noticed about fans of BrBa: everyone seemed to still be on Walt’s side after all he’s done. I understand why since he’s the cool main character, but I kind of didn’t like Walt towards the end because he took things too far. He could have quit a long time ago but didn’t due to pride and ended up ruining a lot of people.

I was actually pretty pissed when Andrea was shot in the head.

Did I mention I hate Todd?!

Haven’t read the answers yet (or evn the whole question) because I haven’t seen it yet and I don’t want spoilers. Hoping it will be out on iTunes tonight. Just chiming in so I can find this question after I watch it.

Didn’t see it. I was so disappointed by the final episode of Lost that I have been unable to watch any other final episodes since.

I was surprised… by the laser pointers. That was about it.

I think I wanted him to be arrested. @Blackberry I was not on Walt’s side by the end.

I appreciated Walt’s introspection. It made me not hate him as much.

Interesting that people hated Walt. Within the Breaking Bad universe, I always routed for him. Jesse was the least sympathetic character, in my opinion.

Anyway, it was an ok ending. A bit too clean – they wrapped up nearly everything in just a few minutes time. But it could have been worse.

@tom_g Can you elaborate on why you find Jesse to be the least sympathetic? Because I was very much immersed in his story. Aaron Paul exuded so much pathos that it really hurt to see Jesse’s story unfold.

I found the finale satisfying, but not moving. I am a pretty open crier, and this did not move me to tears. It had some beautifully directed moments that stick out to me in the larger perspective of the show, and they wrapped up most of the story enough so that I am still pondering but not disappointed.

One day I’ll marathon the entire series and then see if my feelings toward the finale are any different.

@muppetish – He was the antagonist who seemed to screw things up and make things difficult the entire series.

He didn’t kill the meth head couple that robbed him, which resulted in their street cred being crap once the ATM story got out. This led to Combo’s death. He went after the guys who killed combo, which led to Walt having to save him. The death of those guys led to them getting on Gus’ bad side, which led to Gale having to be killed. He got Jane using again, which led to her overdose, which led to the plane crash, which killed tons of people. He then suddenly has a change of heart, so rather than taking off and starting a new life, he tries to ruin Walt’s life and the life of his family. In the process, he gets Hank and Gomez killed.

This is all from a guy who grew up in a stable, middle-class household. This guy is already a meth dealer when Walt meets up with him again. There’s also the fact that he steals meth from the Gus lab and sells it to recovering drug addicts at his recovery meeting.

Walt is continually covering up for Jesse. He’s protecting him through nearly the entire series, and they pay a serious price for the fact that he’s a complete fuckup who can’t get his shit together for more than one day in a row in order to better his life. He drags everyone down around him. The sudden change of heart near the end with his involvement with the DEA was just icing on the cake.

Shhhh! Watching now!!

Wow! The part where Walt fights a T-Rex is truly the best scene in the whole series
Bravo Vince

@Judi Bro, it’s 2013, why are you waiting for an episode to come on iTunes to watch?

yeah it’s on amctv.com for free

@tom_g I was sympathetic with Jesse, until I just read what you typed lol. That makes a lot of sense.
I still feel bad for him though, having to watch Andrea get shot in the head on her front porch, having to help cover up Todd’s mistake when he shot that 8 year old kid on the dirt bike, and having to kill Gale etc.

@Blackberry , I don’t have cable and I hate commercials. We have Apple TV and I can watch shows in hi def commercial free and only pay for what I want to watch. Did you know that $4.00 of your cable bill goes to ESPN? I don’t give a shit about ESPN so why should I give them my money? It’s 2013 bro! We have options!
now I’m going back to read all the comments.

Wow. I really enjoyed reading through all the varied opinions. Thanks and Lurve to everybody.

I probably should have said ONE OF the best endings since my vote for BEST EVER finale goes to Newhart for sheer brilliant genius (it was actually his wife who suggested it to him.)

But this finale was a whole lot more satisfying than other notable fails (Sopranos, Dexter, X-Files, Lost and a whole lot more.)

Yes, it was a bit predictable in terms of the broad strokes but if it had ended more obliquely, I think everyone would have been majorly pissed. It was a fitting ending for a show which was so meticulously plotted and paid attention to the smallest detail. I’m good with it.

And I will admit to tearing up a bit at the scene with Skyler where he finally was honest with her and admitted the truth of his motivation as not being solely about doing it for his family. And he did give her a bargaining chip to get her off the hook with the DEA.

And his little goodbye moment of stroking Baby Holly’s cheek was poignant and sweet.

I think what I appreciated most about the ending is that it left people feeling good about investing five viewing years time into a show (unlike Lost and others) and not feeling ripped off in the end.

I’m still pondering about how I feel about the character of Jesse (considering some excellent observations by Tom-g)

But all in all, maybe not the absolute best finale but definitely a home run IMHO.

PS. I almost forgot: for a show about such a serious subject, I’ve always appreciated the little humorous touches throughout.

The reveal of the “assassins lasers” as wielded by Badger and Skinny Pete was a great touch. And their little protestations about feeling morally ambiguous about it being deftly silenced by a wad of cash brought a smile to my face. So typical BB humor. I loved it.

And then there is Colbert’s analogy:
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http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4022496/
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If you’re on comp. rather than mobile, removing the m. signifier should likely get you there.

Just got caught up, and returned to read this… I’m ambivalent about Walt dying vs. Walt going to jail. Either one had to happen, to keep Skyler from being dogged by the police forever. And he would have died in prison soon enough.

However, I thought they might kill off Jesse… just because there is nothing that can happen to that kid to fix how broken he is. Having him escape the meth lab was immediately satisfying, but – now what? I guess he raises Brock. Maybe he can find some happiness there. I doubt it.

I disagree with you, @tom_g, that he was an antagonist in the show. He was, in his own way, a kind of innocent – and he kept Walt on track, whether or not he knew that was his role. I think Walt would have turned badder, faster, if it weren’t for Jesse. Walt fucked up their operation at least as many times as Jesse did, just through his own hubris instead of stupidity. And Jesse grew; he learned. He was often cleverer and wiser than Walt near the end. I wish they had come to some kind of peace in the final episode – because I think they loved each other a lot, even though they constantly hurt each other deeply. Jesse was more family to Walt than his own wife and kids were.

For me, the best part was Walt telling Skyler that he had done it all for himself, not for the family, as he had persistently claimed. That and Todd’s death. I hate that guy.

@glacial, Walt certainly did come up against his own demons and hangups from time to time. But for some reason, I just couldn’t find much redeeming about Jesse at all. I couldn’t elicit any sympathy. It could be that I relate more with Walt or something. Jesse’s young, “bitch”, vacuous, irresponsible, erratic, naive nature just set him up (in my mind) as something keeping things from running smoothly.

On a side note, how comfortable overall are you with the Brock poisoning -> ricin/not-ricin -> Jesse’s enlightenment thing, which kept Jesse from disappearing and led to the final events? I am still finding it the hardest thing to swallow from this series, and it’s a rather pivotal thing.

The moment he knew about the poisoning, there was no way he could just leave without confronting Walt or just killing him. This part of his character was pretty well established during the Gus storyline.

I think the point of this aspect of Jesse’s character is that he is a counterpoint to Walt. When they started, Jesse had no moral qualms about cooking or dealing meth, while Walt found it abhorrent. Gradually, they switched roles, as Walt embraced every part of that lifestyle and Jesse found it harder and harder to live with what they’d done.

Again – not related to the Jesse character thing, but I am a bit unclear on how Jesse knew about the poisoning….

So, Jesse is waiting to be picked up and disappeared. He discovers that his pot is missing, so he realizes that Huel picked it from him. He then decides that his original belief that Huel had stolen the ricin cigarette must be true because of this. Ok, a bit of a stretch – considering that he found the ricin cigarette later. But why was he so convinced that Walt/Saul had Huel pick the ricin cigarette off of him? I mean, Brock wasn’t even poisoned with ricin. What exactly does Jesse “know” that leads him to pass up the van ride and start beating up Saul?

Anyway, back to Jesse – I get the whole arc of character that was supposed to happen here. But I still see Jesse as a destructive force – from start to end. Sure, much of it in the beginning happened to be a result of his apparent stupidity and drug abuse. But later on, as he became more “wise”, he ended up being one of those homicide-suicide cases. You know, those people who want to check out, but want to bring a ton of people out with them. But like I said, I always wanted Walt’s ascendancy and empire to thrive. One of the biggest challenges to that happening seems clear to be Pinkman – and Walt’s commitment to him.

Oh ok – I missed which thing you found hard to swallow. YES, I totally agree that the stolen cigarette pack shouldn’t have tipped him off. After all, he had already asked Walt if he’d had Saul do this with the ricin cigarette. That was pretty thin.

I think my view of Walt’s commitment to Jesse being a challenge to his ascendency is just the opposite: as long as Walt was protecting Jesse, he still had a shot at keeping our good will. He could still be a kind of hero. He could still win. But as soon as he betrayed Jesse (and here I don’t mean things like letting Jane die or poisoning Brock – which were still ways of protecting him), he was doomed. He had to lose, and lose everything.

I am late to the party. I just finished the series. Magnificent.