I did not post this in the "How would you end breaking bad" thread because I wouldn't change how it ended, just a small detail that I explain down below.
Make sure you realize that there are some major story points being told in here. If you have not watched the whole series then it might be best to save this thread and revisit it later. This is MY take on Breaking Bad and I would like to have a healthy conversation about this show.
Alright, so Jesse lives. There are some people who are upset about the “predictability” of the show, but I think this is the only way Breaking Bad could have ended and here is why.
Jesse – Jesse was saved because he was the only one that could be “saved” he was the only character in the show who had any emotion left in him. Was he a flawed character? Yeah he was, but it’s also a shot by the writers to reward that humanity and that raw emotion Pinkman had. I hold him ultimately responsible for the way the last 4 episodes play out, but I think that was the point in it all. Jesse was not a robot for the money, the job, the lifestyle. He was a kid who didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life and in the finale they showed a glimpse of where he could see himself in the future if he ever got away from the Nazis.
The Nazis – Some people are wondering why the Nazis would not search Walt’s car upon entering the house. If anyone remembers “Ozymandias” Uncle Jack asked “What does that fancy phone of yours say” about the location when they were trying to find Walt’s money. Now granted, one might say that they went through the effort of searching Walt all over and even check for wires, but in their eyes a car sitting outside does not pose a threat to them? If Walt would have had a weapon on him it might have raised some suspicion, but he was clean. Is it a little messy? Yeah, but still a believable scenario IMO. Plus like @
GoldenGlove pointed out, they didn't even check for Jesse under the car in the desert after that shootout they had with Hank and Gomie.
Hank – I know some won’t agree with this, but I think Hank was just as bad as Walt in terms of dedication to his job/craft. Family was an afterthought as long as the job gets done. The split in Walt’s family was an afterthought for him as he wanted to make sure he was able to catch “Heisenberg”. He was willing to sacrifice Jesse in Rabid Dog just to have it on “Video Tape” if Walt did decide to kill Jesse right in the meeting place they had set up. He was greedy and wanted the credit, why not let the DEA know that he has Walt "Dead to Rights" well I tell you why, because he probably wanted to prove everyone that was doubting him wrong and in the end it cost him his life.
Todd – Todd getting killed by Jesse was the only way this could have worked. It had to be a personal killing and glad it was done by hand. Todd was clueless and at the end when he looked out the window proved how out of touch the kid was with reality, his whole crew got killed and was absolutely amazed at what “Mr White” was able to pull off.
Lydia – Was a stone cold killer and ruthless business woman who is just about the numbers and time commitments. She did not buy Walt’s story about the new cooking method and did not care that Jesse was basically a slave to the Nazis cooking up batch after batch. She called Todd right after to see if the job was done. Mike was right about her all along.
Marie, Skyler, and Flynn – In the end I think Skyler is relieved that she doesn’t have that weight of Walt doing all of this for the family (even though he really did at first). Marie was just as lost as Hank IMO and even in the final conversation we hear, she takes great pleasure in thinking that she knows how the DEA would catch Walt over anything else. I let her slide a little more than Hank because she is legitimately concerned about Skyler, Flynn, and Holly, but the way she acted these final episodes was a bit much. It gives reasoning as to how Marie and Hank would be married...they are from the same mold.
About Flynn? All I have to say is
, I hope you don’t get a single dollar of that money and have to work hard for every bowl of cheerios you eat after your 18th birthday.
There is one problem I have with the show and IMO Brock had to die for all of this to be justified, in the end Jesse is all upset about the possibility of Brock dying. Does he have a right to be upset about what Walt did? Sure, but it would have added much more weight if the kid died to give the ride to the finish more substance. At the end of the day the entire chain of events started because a kid got sick, if it would have been that the kid died? Man that would have been terrible, but I would be able to understand Jesse’s actions. It brings me back to the flawed character argument and that is probably why he had to live.
I think they played Declan in the show as well. This dude is supposed to be the competition to Gus/Walt and gets killed off just like that? It gives the Nazis more weight, but I still hold the belief that if this guy is able to string up the kind of cash for 1,000 gallons of methylamine that he would have a bit more power than THAT. Dude went out like a bum. Tuco was tougher to dispose.
What happened to Huell? Probably irrelevant, but it would have been nice to see one last shot of him either leaving the house or dead in there somehow. I know it would have been impossible for anyone else to get to him since Hank and Gomie are dead, but whatever.
Despite those 2 beefs I have with the final 8, this is probably my favorite show of all time. I can’t recall a “bad” episode in the entire 62 episode run.
I would love to hear some responses because I have never spent this much time watching a show. I must have watched every episode at least 5 times.