(Spoiler
alert: The following reveals the conclusion to "Breaking Bad." A "Breaking Bad" binge is currently airing on
Sundays on AMC. The series ran from 2008 to 2013).
 | ||
| Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul.) AP photo |
Watching the final minutes of the greatest TV show ever created this week, I was an emotional wreck.
In the final scene of the series finale of "Breaking Bad," I think we're supposed to be rooting for the greatest TV anti-hero ever created - Walter White, aka Heisenberg - to finally get his.
That wasn't what I was
thinking. Walter, near death from a gunshot wound, stumbled into a
crystal
meth lab with the Badfinger song "Baby Blue" playing in the background. It
was like there was no other place he wanted to be, but what was Walter
thinking during his final breath?
Was he
thinking about his creation, his near-perfect blue crystal meth? Of was
he thinking of the crimes he committed, the people he killed
and the pain he caused? Or his tortured wife, the son who now hated him,
or his infant daughter? Or that his partner from the outset, Jesse
Pinkman (Aaron Paul), was finally free? Or that he finally won, going out on his own tearms?
"Breaking
Bad" is emotionally draining, addictive and fabulous. It pulls you in
so many directions, I wasn't sure what to think of Walter when it was over.
Show creator Vince Gilligan has made a masterpiece. A show might come around to equal "Breaking Bad," but I'll be
shocked if anything surpasses it.
Actor Bryan Cranston, who played Walter White, will go down in history, with the Emmys to prove it.
AMC
began a "Breaking Bad" binge in August, showing eight episodes every
Sunday. For me, better late than never. AMC's binge is nearly over, but the wait for the series'
conclusion was
excruciating, so I pushed ahead myself.
The race
to the finish of "Breaking Bad" is an experience unlike any other in
pop culture. It will rock you to the core. It will entertain you, make
you laugh and make you cringe. During the final scene, it might bring
you to tears.
Now, back to the series' final scene. When creating
"Breaking Bad," Gilligan said, "How can I do a show in which the
fundamental drive is toward change?"
Gilligan
created a complex character in Walter, who at times showed great
humanity, then followed with unspeakable acts. What made
this character tick? It's revealed in the series finale, "Felina," when
Walter tells his wife Skyler his true reasons for becoming a meth drug
lord: "I did it for me. I liked it. And I was good at it," he said. Walter also tells his wife he felt "alive."
In the pilot, Walter seems like a man whose life has passed him by. It only gets worse when he's told he has cancer. The next five seasons, the transformation from a timid man to a ruthless killer hell bent on getting whatever he wants at any cost is breath-taking.
While
we're led to believe Walter's motive all along is his family - his
goodbyes to his family in the finale are gut-wretching - in the end his
greatest love is for chemistry and his near-perfect creation, the
blue crystal meth.
The
series' final scene doesn't bring complete redemption for Walter, but there's some of it. He
frees Jesse, and relieves some of the burden he brought to his family simply by expiring. Before that, he does find a way to leave millions to his family (watch to find out). All along, I can't help but think the man is a bit oblivious to the destruction he caused in doing so.
So in his final moments, I couldn't but think Walter - or better yet Heisenberg - won.
- Mark Podolski | @mpodo
