How Breaking Bad Pulled Off An Impossibly Perfect Finale

When it comes to wrapping up a beloved television show, none have done it better than Breaking Bad. The AMC Smash Hit starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul didn't overstay it's welcome, and delivered an incredible finale that will probably never be rivaled. Breaking Bad's final episode Felina encompasses everything the show had to offer during its run. Now the ending of Better Call Saul, gives the ending of Breaking Bad that much more weight.

#breakingbad #walterwhite #nerdstalgic

Written by Ash Mitrano
Edited by David Sadvari

[Nerdstalgic]

Should we cover Better Call Saul's finale next?

[AadamSaleem]

The fact that people still talk about this show after 8 year's just shows how memorable and deep it was.

[dwilborn]

I love how "Felina" is both an anagram for finale, but refers to elements (iron, lithium, sodium) that make up blood, sweat, and tears.

[adamfrank]

I think you’re wrong about what Skylar sees when she sees Walt and Holly. That is the moment that she sees the last glimpse of a happy father and child - the last glimpse of a family that will in a moment be truly lost forever. It’s a tragic moment and the climax to the story of the family.

[olliegodfrey]

Jesse crying and yelling out of a mixture of sadness/elation felt I was there with him escaping the nightmare. Jesse was my favourite character.

[AlvinFlang]

One thing that is understated is Anna Gunn's fantastic final moments on the show where she looks at Walt before he leaves and you can tell how much she loved him before all of this. That former love is seen on her face. He truly broke her heart and the fact that she just showed this with her eyes is absolutely brilliant.

[SAClassHunterZero]

My favorite fan theory is that Walt is not ogling at the meth lab equipment out of nostalgia, but rather observing Jesse's work, and being proud of it in an odd sort of way... finally letting go of the idea that he has to have all the control.

[ajtaylor]

"Felina" is even better than "Ozymandias" because it perfectly wraps up the arc of Walter White by having him acknowledge his true nature. Hearing him finally confess that he did it for himself to Skylar was a huge sigh of relief for not only her but the audience as well. He's a man that's no longer a good person, yet has a bit of humanity left to right a few of his wrongs all before meeting his fate.

[huggleskuishy]

One of the few good shows that didn’t totally botch the finale.

[jimboniusmaximus]

I took Walter's death in the lab as one last final gesture of good will towards Jesse. By having his body found in the lab, maybe it would absolve Jesse of any connection or involvement, which would give him a better chance of starting a new life free of the meth. As law enforcement would assume it was Walter all along still cooking the blue meth.

[bonniehowell]

I love how they tied Badger and Skinny Pete into the finale. It was a well needed laugh for such an intense episode.

[wattsnottaken]

Breaks my heart everytime:
“No no NO NO! I tried to save him!” You could hear and feel the pain in Walt’s voice.
It’s so sad, Hank was a good man. He started off cocky and macho but he became a Humbled Samurai

[ROCK_UNIVERSE]

Most shows are not perfect with its ending but breaking bad is.

[leftoverstew]

To add to the horror analogies, remember when Jesse described Walter as the devil? In Felina, we see Walter become this devil-like creature on a quest to destroy and punish the wicked (himself included). Moreover, Walter also manages to free Jesse, secure the financial future of his family, and give Skyler a sense of closure. I think it's neat how the finale uses Walter to restore a sense of Justice in an otherwise unjust world, without letting us forget that Walter is a monster.

[FranklinHalfAddict]

The few seconds where Walt watched Walt jr walk into the apartment I think were some of the best in the whole series. Walt knew it was the last time he’d ever see his son. He just stood there without any distraction and fully soaked up every bit of those few seconds. It was a very short clip and had no dialogue but at the same time it was very powerful.

[nickasaro]

No joke, There has never been a rewatch of this show where I didn’t cry at the final scene where Walt accepts his fate and dies. As soon as the “guess I got what I deserved” line of the song hits, waterfalls. Every time. Perfection.

[infinty]

It's really hard to put into words how absolutely masterful Breaking Bad is. It's the absolute perfect drama series and I will go to my grave saying it's the best television show ever made. The fact that Vince Gilligan was able to make Breaking Bad and then go on to make Better Call Saul has basically cemented his legacy as something that will never be forgotten.

[jemadel]

Honestly I think you misread the expression on Skyler’s face as she watched Walter’s goodbye to Holly. In my opinion she saw a last fleeting glimpse of her husband who was once a completely ordinary man, and I think in that moment she was seeing what could of been but would never be. I think she was mourning the loss of the future she would never have. I don’t think she was frightened by him in that moment

[timob]

walter watching walt jr. enter the house in this episode is one of very few scenes in the show that genuinely made me break down. he could never truly say goodbye to his son, whom he loved more than anything in the world, and junior's final words to him were "just go die." so he had to stand there, watching his beloved son go into his house, only maybe a hundred feet away, but unable to reach out to him or let him know how much he loves him, even one last time before his death. he did everything he could to atone for the mistakes he made, but he still had to accept he had gone past the point of no return, and he still had to die knowing his son would always hate him. the episode doesn't really linger on that scene for long, but it's one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the show for me.

[tanphatlam]

The ending when he pointed at the pressure measurement, he smile. The reason why Jesse only get 96% pure meth is he set the pressure wrong, on that day, he noticed it and adjust it perfectly to the point his meth can be at 99.1% like Walt. That's why Walt smiled, because he'd passed the formula for his beloved Jesse