My one complaint about the series is that there are far too many occasions when Walt gets away with things he realistically probably wouldn't, with no explanation, because Gilligan just needs him to. For instance, I find it difficult to believe that Walt was able to sneak into an elementary school and slip Brock a…

I think Sepinwall missed an important point when he says that Walt's plans unfolded too perfectly. He says Heisenberg is brought back to life in the finale, but I don't think that's true. The Walt who returns to Albuquerque isn't Heisenberg or the Walt we've known throughout the series. He's the true, real Walt, who…

Gilligan made a pre-finale remark to the effect that it was important for people to understand that Breaking Bad is a tragedy. I think "Felina" bears that out. In any Shakespearean tragedy, no matter what twists and turns the story makes along the way, the ending follows a recognizable, familiar pattern.

Walt realizes that everyone would actually be far better off if he'd never lived…the most depressing It's a Wonderful Life remake ever!

Brilliant — and it reminds me of the Shakespeare line, "Cowards die many times before their deaths; / The valiant never taste of death but once." In a way I guess that's applicable to the finale. Walt goes through many "deaths" as a moral hypocrite/coward, but when he dies for real it is as someone who has finally…

The thought occurred to me, too, but I have never personally seen an exception to the "lying unmoving with eyes open = definitely dead" rule of TV/movies.

I actually thought that might have been the plan — that Walt would set off some machine gun fire and convince the Nazis it was the Czechs or the Mexican cartel. (I was…wrong.)

"Freshman."

#fiveactsandaplay

I think the difference is that Jesse was basically a good, if flawed, emotionally naive person who was screwed up by a crappy family life and a warped father figure. Unlike Walt, he didn't rationalize his bad deeds but owned them, and was continuously tormented by guilt. Which doesn't excuse any of his actions, but it…

Breaking Bad 2: The Legend of Uncle Jack's Gold

I think one of the very few good things to come out of this whole sordid mess was Jesse learning to take pride in his work and in himself. For which he's paid an unbearable price, but it may be the slim reed that will let him pull himself out of the abyss. Killing Todd was perhaps the one completely morally defensible…

I'm not sure he didn't. I can't shake the feeling that Jesse ended up deliberately crashing into a tree and killing himself, and VG spared us actually seeing that happen because it would be too depressing and cruel.

For me, The Shining is a great film, a good Kubrick film, and a middling horror film. The imagery, the atmosphere, Nicholson's performance — they're iconic with good reason. As a film buff, I can't not love every second of this movie. But as a horror fan? Not so much. It's riddled with standard horror/haunted-house…

Wouldn't you like to Getaway?

Yeah, it's very reminiscent of how I felt watching Scarface. Even though I have no real sympathy for Tony Montana by the end, I still feel kinda thrilled when he starts laying waste to all those Colombian assassins.

And even if they didn't dismiss it, I don't think the local cops have the manpower to scour every single lonely shack in the area — in winter — as well as the little town itself. So Walt's chances probably weren't bad.

Better Heil Saul!

I dunno, for me it was a pretty sour feeling. I'm not necessarily anti-Walter, but things are just too irrevocably fucked up at this point. The moment had the look and feel of a "Rocky bouncing back from the ropes" turning point, but for me it also ironically underscored what a sick corruption Walt has made of that…

The part that kind of bothered me is how conveniently Andrea went out onto the porch to look at the truck that Todd said Jesse was in. Todd's whole "Jesse's in the truck, see? Right over there!" ploy was too clumsy and unconvincing to have lured Andrea (or any reasonably perceptive adult) so easily.