'FeLiNa' delivers a fitting end to a truly remarkable television series.
INTRODUCtiON
The final episode begins with a borderline glacial Walter White trying to find a way to start a car amidst a background flashing of police lights in a snowstorm. It's not clear exactly whose car it is or where he is but what is clear is that he's heading back to Albuquerque to finish what he started. The methamphetamine empire, that is. He repeats the line 'just get me home' a number of times and suddenly something ignites inside. His focus shifts above, the keys drop into his hand, the car starts and Marty Robbins plays. Heisenberg answered his call.
In the next scene we see Walter adding yet another persona to his already long list of characters including the aforementioned Heisenberg, family man, high school teacher, murderer, liar, drug lord and overall nice guy. "Yes, hello, this is David Linn from the New York Times" he says before being put through to someone close enough to Gretchen and Elliott Schwartz that he manages to find out where they live. It was made to appear as though Walt was out for revenge against two people who were once so close but had, in light of the recent media attention, so strongly distanced themselves from anything to do with him that they lied about his contribution to the billion dollar technology company, 'Gray Matter'. That was another dagger to the heart of a man who already had several punctures. So much so that we assume Walter White no longer exists at the end of 'Granite State', but that's the easy assumption - isn't it?
PAYING THE ScHWARTZEs A VISIT
Don't dare move a muscle.
Following last week's emotional telephone conversation between Walt and Jr, in which his own son shouts 'why won't you die already?', it's clear that he's going to have to think of something smarter than simply sending a box of money to Jr's friend. This is where this part of the story ties together. Walt orders the two defenceless billionaires to send the money to his children upon their 18th birthday with the threat of a 'countdown' if they fail to follow his instructions. It's incredible that even in the final, most important, most gripping, most intense episode of the entire show the writers manage to find a subtle yet effective way to add a touch of comedy. This coming from the realisation that 'the two best hitmen west of the Mississippi' are actually Skinny Pete and Badger with laser pens. Further, Walt's final words to the couple are reminiscent of precisely what he's trying to achieve, whether effectively or otherwise, before the end; "Cheer up, beautiful people, this is where you get to make it right".
pre - exciting life
post - exciting life
"Get a little excitement in your life!"
"someday..."
THE PROpoSITION
Before you say or do anything just hear me out.
Thirty minutes in and we see Todd, a.k.a Meth Demon, a.k.a Matt Damon, sitting with the most attractive supplier of methylamine you're likely to see. He compliments what she's wearing and then WW steps in sits down...
Lydia seems hesitant. Todd isn't exactly delighted either. To them, Walt appears fragile, weak, not even a shell of the formidable Heisenberg. But that's precisely his plan. He pitches a weak argument for a 'new method' requiring no methylamine at all. Lydia doesn't respond to this. Instead asking how he knew that she and Todd would be meeting at this place and at this time. Perhaps this was a test to see what kind of answer the man sitting before them would respond with. Whether his response would at all indicate it was indeed the same man or a completely different, weaker one. Perhaps she was curious and just likes asking questions. Who knows?
"10:00am every Tuesday morning."
She appeared impressed, that is, until Walt starts coughing uncontrollably as a result of the lack of chemotherapy he's received over the past few months. He looks up, embarrassed, and mumbles "sorry". Todd attempts to play down the possibility of any deal happening before Lydia interrupts and steers the conversation onto business boulevard and asks "how much would it cost us?" Walt's reply intrigues her further and she turns to Todd, suggesting that his uncle hear the proposition. Todd remains unsure but Walt persists, "Listen, I could come up there tonight...talk to him...he'd get it. This is a win-win situation".
Cue the waiter with the terribly awkward timing.
Walt is forced to leave, and Lydia makes it clear to Todd that she has absolutely no plans to do business with him.
A couple more sachets of ricin, please!
"Jesus, did you look at him? You'd be doing him a favour"
she explains whilst opening a sachet of stevia.
THE seTUP
We're halfway through the episode and Walt is seen constructing some sort of auto-run mechanism for his machine gun. We all know who that's intended for, but how is he going to deploy it without the targets finding out? The answer is: parking your car how you like and not as the neo-nazi who's in it with you tells you to! We'll get to that later.
THE REUniON
As Skylar lights up her 516th cigarette of the series, Marie calls to tell her you-know-who is back in town and to be extra vigilant in light of the news. Soon after she hangs up we see Walt finish playing peekaboo and come out from behind the conveniently placed pillar in the middle of the kitchen. She again reiterates that she doesn't want any money and Walt, as per his plan with forced upon the Schwartzes, tells her that he doesn't have any left. What he does have, however, is a lottery ticket with the coordinates of the location his brother-in-law and partner are buried. 34, 59, 20, 106, 36, 52, in case your planning a trip there.
The reason for telling his wife the location of his rotting relative's corpse isn't to mess with her, it's to use for a deal with the prosecutor.
One of the most important confessions in the whole series takes place in this scene. Walt admits that he didn't enter the meth business for his family, or at least they weren't the primary reason. It was for his own pleasure, his own satisfaction if you will.
"I did it for me... I liked it... I was good at it... I was alive."
This admission is a truly courageous thing for Walt to have done considering how adamant he has been from the get-go that it has always been his family he has done this for. Some may argue that this is yet another lie in the whirlpool of deceit, but it felt genuine and the relief in his expression after telling Skylar tells you everything about how he's feeling at this point. Skylar seems shocked yet she doesn't respond and appears to accept what she has just heard without questioning it.
There's an emotional moment with Walt going in to see his daughter. He sheds a tear. Skylar sheds one too. They both know that this is the end. Her head drops towards the ground as her husband leaves for the very last time. Every last ounce of her disappointment is reflected in these two scenes. It's incredibly heartbreaking but, hey, she did win an Emmy !
Walt sees his son for the last time.
It may be surprising to some that Walt didn't speak to his son before waging war against Uncle Jack and co. but after the way their last conversation went it'd be a miracle if Jr didn't shout at the top of his lungs thereby informing the two policeman outside of his father's whereabouts. It must be said that this scene, along with the previous two, is the perfect way of Walt saying goodbye to his family. Incredibly honest and equally upsetting.
THE End
Here we are. The final 18 minutes of the final episode of the final season of the greatest television series in history. It didn't disappoint...
No replacement for displacement
We begin with Walt driving up to the entrance of the neo-nazi gang hideout. A member of the brotherhood appears to be in love with his 'classic' and asks "what block you got in it, the 500 or the 425?". Perhaps not something Walt is thinking about right now...
Once neo-nazi crew member finishes discussing his love of automobiles he accompanies Walt to the clubhouse.
"Go ahead and park it right in front over here. No, no, no, just straight in man.
All right, fine, yeah, whatever."
Just a misunderstanding? Think again.
Walt's apparent inability to listen to instructions appears; just a misunderstanding to the neo-nazi, intriguing to the audience and absolutely fucking awful for whoever's inside of that building.
Fellow gang-members greet Walt with a 'how ya doin'?' alongside a tap down and a check to see if he's wearing a wire. "Christ, I'm not wearing a wire" Walt replies. Nevertheless, he duly obliges and on we move into the clubhouse.
Walt almost gets himself killed within the first minute of meeting Uncle Jack. His proposal is immediately dismissed and the same automobile-loving gang member points a gun to the side of Walt's skull. Not a good start.
Him being alive is not him and me being partners, not by a damn sight.
The only thing buying Walt time is his accusation of Jack going behind his back, dishonouring their agreement and partnering with Jesse to cook meth. Jack obviously doesn't take kindly to this and insists on proving him wrong before he's killed.
"Go get him. Bring him here!
I'm gonna' show you just how wrong you are, then I'm gonna' put a bullet in your head myself."
It appears as though Jack also suffers from an inflated sense of pride and inability to be proved wrong. This is similar to Walt in many ways but it's probably a personality byproduct of being a meth producer...
Make or Break.
Whilst the brotherhood wait impatiently for Jesse's arrival, Walt is hoping for the sands of time to just slow down a little until he manages to lift the keys that were confiscated from him.
Jesse arrives and for a moment Walt focuses solely on him. Jesse, one of the only people he genuinely cares for has become a lifeless slave to the Aryan brotherhood, and it's completely, unequivocally Walt's fault. He's timid, no fight left in him at all and absolutely nothing to say. He's a broken man who has suffered anguish beyond imagine, twice.
Then, suddenly, Walt's emotions are swept aside, his plan prevails and he grabs Jesse - pulling him to the ground.
The moment Walt had planned for months on end was about to happen.
It is the end.
The end.
The final ten minutes of this phenomenal show left me speechless, so I won't even begin to to describe it. All I can say is this...
Thank you Vince Gilligan for telling the most incredible and emotional and beautiful story.
Thank you Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul for portraying two of the greatest characters in television history.
Thank you to all the fans who supported this series, you are a major part of what allowed the show to tell its entire story and reach the pinnacle of television drama.
YEAH SCIENCE!
'FeLiNa' delivers a fitting end to a truly remarkable television series.
INTRODUCtiON
The final episode begins with a borderline glacial Walter White trying to find a way to start a car amidst a background flashing of police lights in a snowstorm. It's not clear exactly whose car it is or where he is but what is clear is that he's heading back to Albuquerque to finish what he started. The methamphetamine empire, that is. He repeats the line 'just get me home' a number of times and suddenly something ignites inside. His focus shifts above, the keys drop into his hand, the car starts and Marty Robbins plays. Heisenberg answered his call.
In the next scene we see Walter adding yet another persona to his already long list of characters including the aforementioned Heisenberg, family man, high school teacher, murderer, liar, drug lord and overall nice guy. "Yes, hello, this is David Linn from the New York Times" he says before being put through to someone close enough to Gretchen and Elliott Schwartz that he manages to find out where they live. It was made to appear as though Walt was out for revenge against two people who were once so close but had, in light of the recent media attention, so strongly distanced themselves from anything to do with him that they lied about his contribution to the billion dollar technology company, 'Gray Matter'. That was another dagger to the heart of a man who already had several punctures. So much so that we assume Walter White no longer exists at the end of 'Granite State', but that's the easy assumption - isn't it?
PAYING THE ScHWARTZEs A VISIT
 |
| Don't dare move a muscle. |
Following last week's emotional telephone conversation between Walt and Jr, in which his own son shouts 'why won't you die already?', it's clear that he's going to have to think of something smarter than simply sending a box of money to Jr's friend. This is where this part of the story ties together. Walt orders the two defenceless billionaires to send the money to his children upon their 18th birthday with the threat of a 'countdown' if they fail to follow his instructions. It's incredible that even in the final, most important, most gripping, most intense episode of the entire show the writers manage to find a subtle yet effective way to add a touch of comedy. This coming from the realisation that 'the two best hitmen west of the Mississippi' are actually Skinny Pete and Badger with laser pens. Further, Walt's final words to the couple are reminiscent of precisely what he's trying to achieve, whether effectively or otherwise, before the end; "Cheer up, beautiful people, this is where you get to make it right".
 |
| pre - exciting life |
 |
| post - exciting life |
"Get a little excitement in your life!"
"someday..."
THE PROpoSITION
 |
| Before you say or do anything just hear me out. |
Thirty minutes in and we see Todd, a.k.a Meth Demon, a.k.a Matt Damon, sitting with the most attractive supplier of methylamine you're likely to see. He compliments what she's wearing and then WW steps in sits down...
Lydia seems hesitant. Todd isn't exactly delighted either. To them, Walt appears fragile, weak, not even a shell of the formidable Heisenberg. But that's precisely his plan. He pitches a weak argument for a 'new method' requiring no methylamine at all. Lydia doesn't respond to this. Instead asking how he knew that she and Todd would be meeting at this place and at this time. Perhaps this was a test to see what kind of answer the man sitting before them would respond with. Whether his response would at all indicate it was indeed the same man or a completely different, weaker one. Perhaps she was curious and just likes asking questions. Who knows?
"10:00am every Tuesday morning."
She appeared impressed, that is, until Walt starts coughing uncontrollably as a result of the lack of chemotherapy he's received over the past few months. He looks up, embarrassed, and mumbles "sorry". Todd attempts to play down the possibility of any deal happening before Lydia interrupts and steers the conversation onto business boulevard and asks "how much would it cost us?" Walt's reply intrigues her further and she turns to Todd, suggesting that his uncle hear the proposition. Todd remains unsure but Walt persists, "Listen, I could come up there tonight...talk to him...he'd get it. This is a win-win situation".
Cue the waiter with the terribly awkward timing.
Walt is forced to leave, and Lydia makes it clear to Todd that she has absolutely no plans to do business with him.
 |
| A couple more sachets of ricin, please! |
"Jesus, did you look at him? You'd be doing him a favour"
she explains whilst opening a sachet of stevia.
THE seTUP
We're halfway through the episode and Walt is seen constructing some sort of auto-run mechanism for his machine gun. We all know who that's intended for, but how is he going to deploy it without the targets finding out? The answer is: parking your car how you like and not as the neo-nazi who's in it with you tells you to! We'll get to that later.
THE REUniON
As Skylar lights up her 516th cigarette of the series, Marie calls to tell her you-know-who is back in town and to be extra vigilant in light of the news. Soon after she hangs up we see Walt finish playing peekaboo and come out from behind the conveniently placed pillar in the middle of the kitchen. She again reiterates that she doesn't want any money and Walt, as per his plan with forced upon the Schwartzes, tells her that he doesn't have any left. What he does have, however, is a lottery ticket with the coordinates of the location his brother-in-law and partner are buried. 34, 59, 20, 106, 36, 52, in case your planning a trip there.
The reason for telling his wife the location of his rotting relative's corpse isn't to mess with her, it's to use for a deal with the prosecutor.
One of the most important confessions in the whole series takes place in this scene. Walt admits that he didn't enter the meth business for his family, or at least they weren't the primary reason. It was for his own pleasure, his own satisfaction if you will.
"I did it for me... I liked it... I was good at it... I was alive."
This admission is a truly courageous thing for Walt to have done considering how adamant he has been from the get-go that it has always been his family he has done this for. Some may argue that this is yet another lie in the whirlpool of deceit, but it felt genuine and the relief in his expression after telling Skylar tells you everything about how he's feeling at this point. Skylar seems shocked yet she doesn't respond and appears to accept what she has just heard without questioning it.
There's an emotional moment with Walt going in to see his daughter. He sheds a tear. Skylar sheds one too. They both know that this is the end. Her head drops towards the ground as her husband leaves for the very last time. Every last ounce of her disappointment is reflected in these two scenes. It's incredibly heartbreaking but, hey, she did win an Emmy !
 |
| Walt sees his son for the last time. |
It may be surprising to some that Walt didn't speak to his son before waging war against Uncle Jack and co. but after the way their last conversation went it'd be a miracle if Jr didn't shout at the top of his lungs thereby informing the two policeman outside of his father's whereabouts. It must be said that this scene, along with the previous two, is the perfect way of Walt saying goodbye to his family. Incredibly honest and equally upsetting.
THE End
Here we are. The final 18 minutes of the final episode of the final season of the greatest television series in history. It didn't disappoint...
 |
| No replacement for displacement |
We begin with Walt driving up to the entrance of the neo-nazi gang hideout. A member of the brotherhood appears to be in love with his 'classic' and asks "what block you got in it, the 500 or the 425?". Perhaps not something Walt is thinking about right now...
Once neo-nazi crew member finishes discussing his love of automobiles he accompanies Walt to the clubhouse.
"Go ahead and park it right in front over here. No, no, no, just straight in man.
All right, fine, yeah, whatever."
All right, fine, yeah, whatever."
 |
| Just a misunderstanding? Think again. |
Walt's apparent inability to listen to instructions appears; just a misunderstanding to the neo-nazi, intriguing to the audience and absolutely fucking awful for whoever's inside of that building.
Fellow gang-members greet Walt with a 'how ya doin'?' alongside a tap down and a check to see if he's wearing a wire. "Christ, I'm not wearing a wire" Walt replies. Nevertheless, he duly obliges and on we move into the clubhouse.
Walt almost gets himself killed within the first minute of meeting Uncle Jack. His proposal is immediately dismissed and the same automobile-loving gang member points a gun to the side of Walt's skull. Not a good start.
 |
| Him being alive is not him and me being partners, not by a damn sight. |
The only thing buying Walt time is his accusation of Jack going behind his back, dishonouring their agreement and partnering with Jesse to cook meth. Jack obviously doesn't take kindly to this and insists on proving him wrong before he's killed.
"Go get him. Bring him here!
I'm gonna' show you just how wrong you are, then I'm gonna' put a bullet in your head myself."
It appears as though Jack also suffers from an inflated sense of pride and inability to be proved wrong. This is similar to Walt in many ways but it's probably a personality byproduct of being a meth producer...
 |
| Make or Break. |
Whilst the brotherhood wait impatiently for Jesse's arrival, Walt is hoping for the sands of time to just slow down a little until he manages to lift the keys that were confiscated from him.
Jesse arrives and for a moment Walt focuses solely on him. Jesse, one of the only people he genuinely cares for has become a lifeless slave to the Aryan brotherhood, and it's completely, unequivocally Walt's fault. He's timid, no fight left in him at all and absolutely nothing to say. He's a broken man who has suffered anguish beyond imagine, twice.
Then, suddenly, Walt's emotions are swept aside, his plan prevails and he grabs Jesse - pulling him to the ground.
The moment Walt had planned for months on end was about to happen.
It is the end.
 |
| The end. |
The final ten minutes of this phenomenal show left me speechless, so I won't even begin to to describe it. All I can say is this...
Thank you Vince Gilligan for telling the most incredible and emotional and beautiful story.
Thank you Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul for portraying two of the greatest characters in television history.
Thank you to all the fans who supported this series, you are a major part of what allowed the show to tell its entire story and reach the pinnacle of television drama.
YEAH SCIENCE!
