Awesome awesome finale.

I have the feeling Mike is going to play a role in next season. the dude's still alive and we haven't seen him since he got gutshot in Mexico. he's not gonna let Walter get away with murdering Gus.

BTW...Where's the cigarette?

Great interview with Vince Gilligan.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/vince-gilligan-of-breaking-bad-talks-about-ending-the-season-and-the-series/

Awesome season! Awesome finale! Emmys all around!

The cigarette was nixed by Huell in Saul's office (End Times). After Huell does the patdown you see his left hand deposit something into his jacket pocket.

People have complained that it was out of character for big, dopey Huell -- who's only served as comic relief up to this point -- to suddenly be a master pickpocket. But if you rewatch the scene you'll see there's nothing masterful about it at all. It's actually over-the-top bad, and Jesse's naivety is the only reason he gets away with it.

My predictions for the final season:

Mike becomes an unlikely ally to Walt and Jesse. I mean even Vince Gilligan has hinted that there might be some retribution from Mike, but I don't buy it. Mike's a hired gun. He's also pragmatic. Walter still cooks the best meth in the world and is capable of setting up a world class lab. Mike knew the inner workings of Gus' distribution network. Someone's going to step up and fill that void, might as well be them.

Gus' past comes back to haunt them. Gus was untouchable, even to the Mexican cartels, who'll kill anyone. He must've been a serious bad-ass in Chile. Possibly one of Pinochet's generals, but given his business acumen, I'm thinking more likely one of Pinochet's University of Chicago economists/policy makers. Thing is, it's not like Chile's some hot bed of the drug trade, and it's not like being a Pinochet lackey still carries any underworld cache. So I'm thinking Gus' juice came from CIA connections. He might've even been CIA.

Cancer comes back. It's been hinted at all season. Especially in the last few episodes; Walter was coughing like crazy. Maybe it will be the driving force for Walter to make one more go for big money in the meth trade, or maybe it'll be the final undoing of Walter White.

In the end it'll come down to either Hank vs Walt, Jesse vs Walt or Cancer vs Walt. Maybe some variation of the three. Jesse and Hank will emerge as the heroes, even if tragic heroes, and Walter will end the series as the most vile villain of them all.

Mike will be back. They've developed too much into that character to have him stay away or in Mexico. I seriously doubt he comes back for revenge either. If anything, he'll probably be thankful because his price is going to be driven up as being the main enforcer in the former kingpin's meth organization. And everyone in the underworld will know that Gus wasn't assassinated under his watch. He might even try to recruit Walt and Jesse, knowing the caveat of their strong bond and how unpredictable/dangerous Walt can be. The formula will be worth the danger for prospective drug lords and Mike might think he'll be able to handle them both better a second time around. It's very unlikely that Walt is going to retire to a quiet, upper-middle class type of life knowing the real earning potential he has now.

The next season (which is the last) is 16 episodes long, so they're going to have time to develop Walt as the new meth kingpin if they want. It'll either be that and he ends up at the top completely vile and without sympathy or he receives some serious reprisal from the underworld, the law or even Jesse. Dying of cancer would be a cop out. Getting sick again might prompt him to get cooking again, but that won't be the end of Walt. There is no way they're going to end this open-ended/ambigiously like The Sopranos ended.

I finally finished the new season last night (thank you, uTorrent). I hadn't watched the show consistently until just recently, but I blew through the first 3 seasons on Netflix and now I'm all caught up.

I LOVED this most recent season, and the finale was spectacular. The orchestration of Gus's death (and the final reveal of the plant in the backyard) was master-class. I'm actually kind of glad that the finish line is in sight and they can wrap it up properly...if they can keep it going until the end this will have to be considered one of the best shows of all-time, maybe even the very best.

Mike and cancer will come back for sure. And now that Walt thinks he has won, he will feel invincible. Maybe Hank will have the last laugh. Or Jesse becomes some kind of avenging angel. Lots of great possibilities for a long last season.

No nomination for Breaking Bad + 2012 Golden Globes = Bullshit.


Any best television award that doesn't include this season of Breaking Bad you can promptly ignore.

Fuck yes.

Looks like their splitting the final season in two. I find that infuriating (like when Dr. Who or Lost did it). But oh well, considering it's their last season: do whatever the fuck you want, I say.

Great.

I knew about the split longer season dealio. It's the same as they did with The Sopranos. The Sopranos kind of botched that in my opinion. The show had exhausted itself. BB is riding on a much higher crest right now, so I think having a break will be killer (the midseason cliffhanger that is).

And it worked totally effectively with The Walking Dead in this last season. Even with the shitstain known as "The Killing", I have confidence in AMC.

SUNDAY !

Yeah, I watched the last five episodes over the last couple of night On Demand (it is all that is available). The first season was just a decent build-up (thanks to the writer's strike) and the next couple of season had their boring/contrived/corny moments, but they completely knocked it out of the park in that fourth season. Hopefully that elite level of storytelling carries over, but even if it dips a bit, it'll still be great.

I am a little psyched. Can't decide if I pile up the episodes or start watching right away.

stoked.

haha, Mike kicks ass. "I can foresee many outcomes to this scenerio and none of them involves Miller Time".

I imagine the informant being implied in the next week preview is what ropes Mike into working further with Jesse and Walt.

Nice wrap-up to the whole Bennake thread.

And yeah, the cancer is back. The first scene here is the cliff-hanger to mid-season break at #8.

edit - oh yeah and holy shit! Saul is the one who poisoned Jesse's kid!

No wasting time. Sucked me right back into the story. Mike rules ("Keys, scumbag. Its the universal sign for keys!"). And taking the "Big Easy"-magnet-trick times two was a nice touch. I bet there is different script-version with Jesse saying: "A magnet, guys. Like in The Big Easy", you know."

I don't know, all felt a bit clumsy to me.
The set up to later in the series was good, and awkwardness in Walt's family life is spot on (that was my main 'loose thread' from the end of series 4), but the transition to working with Mike and then another cartoon caper was just a bit much to cram into the first episode for me.

More darkness please.

Hello spambot!

Well I asked for darkness, and we got it in Ep2.
The fallout from the collapse of Pollos Hermanos Inc is getting messy; Mike's backed into a corner; Skyler is terrified of Walt, full of guilt over getting drawn into the plot; Jessy seems to be having some sort of trauma reaction; and Walt is just driven to get back in business. He seems to have stepped right away from the justification, distancing and equivocation of the early series - "there's gold in the streets, all we need to do is scoop it up" (or something like that) - he no longer has any hesitation about being a king pin.

BUT the investigation does seem to be gaining some ground, and Hank may have had a bit of a lightbulb moment, and Walt is set on getting the operation going again in the same place, using the same supply and distribution channels which are under investigation in the wake of Gustavo's death.
He's on a self-destruct, feeling invincible.

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The third episode moved things along great. Walt really is turning into Gus. That his wife is having a nervous breakdown and he's blaring Scarface at midnight with his son tells you how much of a sociopath that guy has become.

Esp. watching Scarface with his baby on his lap. That would usually be more than enough for Skyler to throw a major fit. Now she's scared. Which is cool because she became more annoying with each season.

Except you know Gustavo Fring was never so coarse with his family. He managed the separation/compartmentalisation far better than Walt, who loves the seductive power of violence a leeeeetle too much.

It's pretty crazy how fast things have gone to shit between Walt and Skyler. Walt's slide post-Gus almost seems kinda phony. I think it's highly likely Skyler ends up being the undoing of Walt, whether it be going to Hank, killing herself purposely or accidentally or even pulling the trigger on Walt herself after he's accumulated some more wealth. With her chain-smoking at the end after admitting waiting for the cancer was just brutal.