Breaking Bad - Season 5 - Page 50

Check out the large exterior setting. Good place for a final standoff or something. And the cop car in the background? Is that a set piece or blocking off a street for filming?

Jesse and Saul meeting? Something tells me Jesse is gonna find out about the rice and beans

Hank looking like he hasn't slept in days

"We all hate him!"

 

Huell!

Not sure if this has already been posted but, if not, it's mildly amusing.

What if Breaking Bad had been made during the 90's?

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Originally Posted by Andy Bain 

The first official merchandise T-shirt I've purchased in a very long time.

 

 

It's clearly the dude from the "Mayhem" commercials.

You remind me of Cary Elwes

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Originally Posted by Andy Bain 

The Dread Pirate Roberts?  I'll take that :)

I know this thread has become Andy Bain - Celebrity Look Alike, but, on one last reflection, I think you are the much more handsome brother of Ron and Clint Howard. In the family dynamic, you were the youngest, most athletic, carefree one. You took the money your parents made on Ron's career, and settled in Middle Earth, enslaving the local hobbits with your charm and wit. They raised you to be their Thane, as King Andrew the Griffith, ruled in far away America.

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Originally Posted by MrTyres 

 

I know this thread has become Andy Bain - Celebrity Look Alike, but, on one last reflection, I think you are the much more handsome brother of Ron and Clint Howard. In the family dynamic, you were the youngest, most athletic, carefree one. You took the money your parents made on Ron's career, and settled in Middle Earth, enslaving the local hobbits with your charm and wit. They raised you to be their Thane, as King Andrew the Griffith, ruled in far away America.

I was going to go with "Reed Diamond, if Reed Diamond had any character or presence at all."  

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Originally Posted by Bailey 

 

That was the same thinking that led to Frasier.

That definitely would've made for an interesting alternate Cheers finale.

Finale begins filming today, tweets Director of Photography Michael Slovis.

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Originally Posted by FatherDude 

Finale begins filming today, tweets Director of Photography Michael Slovis.

 

Somewhere, a goat is screaming like a man.

If Walt does die  - and at this point I'm thinking he won't, because that seems too obvious, and more importantly, because Walter has embraced death from Episode 1 - but if he does die, Jesse and nobody else has to be the one to do it.

It's an incredible journey, just in terms of where characters WERE and where they ARE now. And it's been mentioned before, but you see the results of every character's DECISION affecting the plot, most of the time for the worse. Think about it: there's an alternate universe out there where Walt, Jesse, Gus, Mike and GALE all worked together to bring down the cartel and roll in the money. 

That's great. And it's actually everyone's fault it didn't happen, not just Walt. Tres cool.

It certainly makes sense for Walt to die at Jesse's hand. That's an appropriate ending for his story. But it's a bummer ending for Jesse's story. I'd like to see Jesse thrown clear of the shit and finding some measure of peace, and short of a very atypical Hollywood finale, I don't think that includes killing off Mr. White.

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Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd 

That's great. And it's actually everyone's fault it didn't happen, not just Walt. Tres cool.

 

It certainly makes sense for Walt to die at Jesse's hand. That's an appropriate ending for his story. But it's a bummer ending for Jesse's story. I'd like to see Jesse thrown clear of the shit and finding some measure of peace, and short of a very atypical Hollywood finale, I don't think that includes killing off Mr. White.

Definitely. If he does kill Walt, he's sort of embracing his dark side and losing the innocence which he has more or less retained or struggled to retain throughout the show. I count only two times that he has done some really indefensible things - one is obviously the murder of Gale, and the other is pushing meth on people who have never tried it before. Of course he feels guilty about both of those things, but like you say, the best case for Jesse would be for him to get thrown clear of the shit.

I'm imagining a scene where Walt confesses everything to Jesse (including Jane) and Jesse refuses to kill Walt, opting instead for him to live the rest of his miserable life in prison. Sort of like Luke refusing to kill Vader



Actually I'm starting to get something of a clear feeling on the general direction this is going to go:

-EVERYONE versus Walt
-Jesse will find out via Saul the extent of Walt's treachery

-Jesse and Hank will align due to their common enemy

-Skyler will get caught in the crossfire and experience the extent of Walt's wrath. This would mark his absolute low point in terms of morality and represent the closure of the circle from caring family man to egomaniac sociopath. Her death is almost excessively foreshadowed, and the Denny's scene has been analyzed to death.

Or maybe she's just dead to him metaphorically after working with Hank and Jesse to take him down, and the machine gun is to finish the job in a final act of spite. They'd be heavily guarded. Kill as many of them as he can, "them" being Hank, Jesse, Saul, Skyler, as a final act of vengeance before being shot to death by police. How perfect would that be and who would see it coming?

When Walt realizes Skyler doesn't love him anymore and wants him to die:




Walt's cancer comes back (he's taking pills in the Denny's scene). He comes out of exile after being dethroned by the aforementioned parties, knowing death is imminent, to kill the people who took away his fortune and glory. This makes more sense than any final act of redemption.

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Compelling theories all but I just...can't...conceive of a scenario where Walt dies. Not because he's a sonofabitch who doesn't deserve it, he does in many ways, but because forcing him to live with everything he's done but to do it alone, on the run, with only his money to comfort him is a far worse fate than the momentary satisfaction someone would get from offing him, even if that someone is Jesse.

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Originally Posted by Doc Happenin 

Compelling theories all but I just...can't...conceive of a scenario where Walt dies. Not because he's a sonofabitch who doesn't deserve it, he does in many ways, but because forcing him to live with everything he's done but to do it alone, on the run, with only his money to comfort him is a far worse fate than the momentary satisfaction someone would get from offing him, even if that someone is Jesse.

I've always thought that Denny's flashback was Walt returning from doing it alone, on the run, with only his money to comfort him. I think wherever Walt is going with that gun will end up being his final resting place.

Honestly, does no one else feel like "the criminal has to live with having lost his status/loved ones" is getting a bit played out as a resolution?  I was going to run through some examples, but realized that I would basically be completely spoiling a bunch of stuff just by mentioning their names.

Regardless, I expect Breaking Bad to end with very definitive finality.  If Walter is still breathing when the credits roll I'll be shocked.

Pants. Fluttering in the wind. While Walt is shot in the background. Mirroring the first shot of the series. 

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Originally Posted by Schwartz 

Honestly, does no one else feel like "the criminal has to live with having lost his status/loved ones" is getting a bit played out as a resolution?  I was going to run through some examples, but realized that I would basically be completely spoiling a bunch of stuff just by mentioning their names.

 

Regardless, I expect Breaking Bad to end with very definitive finality.  If Walter is still breathing when the credits roll I'll be shocked.

Plus, Walter White has already been in the "loss of status/privilege/money" camp before.  See the past 15 years of his life.  He had his shot at fame/money/power with GreyMatters and the Elliot/Gretchen backstory.  His whole journey has been about him wanting to reclaim that status that he feels like he is owed, under the guise and cognitive dissonance of "wanting to help the family." Remember that speech back in s1 where the family wants him to do cancer treatment and he says he doesn't want to because that's the only way they will remember him? Weak, scared, and out of control. 

Walt has been a selfish prick since the get-go, he was fucking offered free treatment for God's sake, and turned it down.  He's an egomaniac, and that will prevent him from accepting any sort of resolution that ends with him living in exile/estranged.  He might have been forced to move to NH for any number of reasons (if he had too, which I think he did) but he's probably coming back because he learned the cancer was back.  He can't die alone, unrecognized, and unwanted, and if he gets backed into that corner, he'll force himself to come back so people will remember him.   Hence, that big fucking gun.

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Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd 

That's great. And it's actually everyone's fault it didn't happen, not just Walt. Tres cool.

 

It certainly makes sense for Walt to die at Jesse's hand. That's an appropriate ending for his story. But it's a bummer ending for Jesse's story. I'd like to see Jesse thrown clear of the shit and finding some measure of peace, and short of a very atypical Hollywood finale, I don't think that includes killing off Mr. White.

See I don't think so.....I don't think Jesse is clean. He made many bad decisions along the way. Even with Walt's manipulations he isn't clean at all. He made those same shitty decisions alongside Walt. He might not be as bright and he may have more compassion but he also chased that dollar into bad territory. 

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Originally Posted by Doc Happenin 

Compelling theories all but I just...can't...conceive of a scenario where Walt dies. Not because he's a sonofabitch who doesn't deserve it, he does in many ways, but because forcing him to live with everything he's done but to do it alone, on the run, with only his money to comfort him is a far worse fate than the momentary satisfaction someone would get from offing him, even if that someone is Jesse.

Well from what I understand they've pretty much confirmed that his cancer is back so if he's not killed best case scenario is that they end the show with him having an extremely finite amount of time to live. Personally I think having the cancer take him would be the right note for the show to go out on - left with nothing but the realization that in the span of 2 years he's managed to fuck his and every person he loves' life beyond repair - but that's just me.

I kind of like Walt realizing he's destroyed everyone's lives around him and then realizing he doesn't even care. Fucking black nihilism.

What's great about the show is it really could go either way. Before the finale, I was certain Walt was 100% super villain from now on. But there came a point in that Crystal Blue Persuasion montage where he's just...tired...miserable...unhappy...even though he's gotten everything he's ever wanted. Money. Power. Respect. His family. Cancer free. And yet none of it brings him joy. 

That's why I'm still hoping the M-60 is purely for the purposes of rescuing Jesse from someone nefarious clutches. It's his one moral blind spot; no matter what, he'll always look out for Jesse, even if it means nearly killing a child to get him back on team Walt. 

Another thing I think we should all consider: We all assume that Walt has a new identity thanks to Saul's vacuum cleaner repair guy, right? That's what we all assume, right, because they set him up, right? What would we assume if that vacuum cleaner repair guy WASN'T set up? We'd be assuming witness protection. It's something none of us are considering, because hey, why would they set up this vacuum cleaner repair guy if they weren't going to use him? Unless they set him up for the purposes of making us THINK it was him and to have us NOT assume its witness protection. Classic misdirection, mark my words! 

I change my mind every day about the context of Apocalypse Denny's.  The "broken man coming back for one final act of good intention" scenario always seemed the obvious one, and I definitely still buy it, but I'm starting to groove to the version where Walt's just flat-out there to massacre people for some incredibly petty reason about which we feel zero ambivalence.

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Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd 

I kind of like Walt realizing he's destroyed everyone's lives around him and then realizing he doesn't even care. Fucking black nihilism.

Something really bad will have to happen for him to reach that level, but who knows. 

This whole Denny's scene is pretty remarkable if you just look at it, plot wise.  I mean, why give the audience this knowledge of future events, especially when so little information is given, (NH, gun purchase, birthday) yet so much dark pathos is presented.  I can't think of another show that has done this.  Lost had the flashforward episode, and that's the only thing I could come up with

This year long wait has been so brutal, all for just 8 episodes. 

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Originally Posted by Costco Mike 

This whole Denny's scene is pretty remarkable if you just look at it, plot wise.  I mean, why give the audience this knowledge of future events, especially when so little information is given, (NH, gun purchase, birthday) yet so much dark pathos is presented.  I can't think of another show that has done this.  Lost had the flashforward episode, and that's the only thing I could come up with

This year long wait has been so brutal, all for just 8 episodes. 

The genius of the Denny's scene is that it robs us of any joy we might have taken in Walt's success. It's taken the guy 4 seasons to get to a place where he's WON, and instead of giving us even one episode to relish in his achievements, the way you'd expect a Scarface-style show to do, the scene places us in a position where we're constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Here's the thing: at this point, if Walt lost his family and/or Jesse, he would probably go on an outraged, suicidal rampage, depending on the circumstances--and he'd probably revel in the chance to do so, since it's essentially everything that's happened to him since the cancer writ large. Walt's happiest (even when he's outwardly miserable) when he's in consequence free, burn-the-world-down mode.

If he somehow survived that--or was in a situation where there was no one to specifically take vengeance on--he'd mourn and then keep going as Heisenberg until it killed him.

I just do not see him going back to being milquetoast Walt no matter what happens. I mentioned the Sopranos parallels upthread; now that I've seen the finale of that show I can see how it would sync up with these ideas about Walt getting trapped in a miserable life, having lost his chance at redemption...but it just doesn't feel right with the character we've gotten to know. Heisenberg's a ticking time bomb, and if there's nothing to set him off, I think he'll create something. At the end of the day, it's not success and power that drives him, it's that sense of living on the edge. While losing his family might actually be enough of a shock to finally bring him to his senses, it's also too obvious an opening for Heisenberg to emerge again. It's an excuse.

Ironically, I think the only thing that could cause Heisenberg to wither away is if nothing happens to Walt for a long, long time, and he gets comfortable and finds the self-loathing dying down. Now that would be edgy of them. Hank gets hit by a car in the next episode, and the rest of the show is Walt's regular, stakes-free life in the suburbs.

We don't know near enough about Denny's Walt to really infer anything. Maybe Walt looks exhausted because he's spent the last three months chasing someone down.

Well, since Walt in prison, Walt dead, Walt on the run, Walt triumphant but losing his family, Walt betrays Jesse, Jesse betrays Walt, and Jesse kills Walt have all been suggested, I'll throw a new one out there: Walt and Jesse end the show standing side by side, guns drawn, as the cops/bad guys/whoever prepare to storm in, ready to go out in a blaze of glory, refusing to truly turn against each other til the bitter end.

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Originally Posted by The Prankster 

 

Ironically, I think the only thing that could cause Heisenberg to wither away is if nothing happens to Walt for a long, long time, and he gets comfortable and finds the self-loathing dying down. Now that would be edgy of them. Hank gets hit by a car in the next episode, and the rest of the show is Walt's regular, stakes-free life in the suburbs.

That would be an interesting statement, but boring as all hell to watch for 7 hours.  We got a bit of it in the last finale, but it was confined to a montage so we could skip to the next big development.

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Originally Posted by TonyB79 

Well, since Walt in prison, Walt dead, Walt on the run, Walt triumphant but losing his family, Walt betrays Jesse, Jesse betrays Walt, and Jesse kills Walt have all been suggested, I'll throw a new one out there: Walt and Jesse end the show standing side by side, guns drawn, as the cops/bad guys/whoever prepare to storm in, ready to go out in a blaze of glory, refusing to truly turn against each other til the bitter end.

This show has never stopped surprising me, but I would bet my bottom dollar against this outcome.

Maybe facing down the cops coming down the road, a la the first scene of the pilot.

It's more about Jesse and Walt ending up on the same side.  The show has spent too much time setting up potential bombshells and demonstrating how poisonous that relationship is to end on that note.  Butch and Sundance those two ain't (even if I currently calculate at least a 40% chance that the entire Bolivian army will be gunning for them by the time the finale comes around).

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Originally Posted by Schwartz 

It's more about Jesse and Walt ending up on the same side.  The show has spent too much time setting up potential bombshells and demonstrating how poisonous that relationship is to end on that note. 

I don't see them ending up facing the law together, but I could imagine Walt making a final attempt to set something right in Jesse's life. Has it been confirmed or is it just a rumor that the gun at Denny's is for saving Jesse?

As far as Jesse-centric endings are concerned, there seem to be two or three basic possibilities:

Jesse kills or betrays Walt, thus resulting in Walt getting his ultimate comeuppance.

Walt kills or betrays Jesse, thus symbolizing his final loss of humanity, as he's always shown SOME degree of loyalty/attachment to Jesse (often to both their detriment).

Jesse ultimately sides with Walt (as he's done many times before, and ALWAYS to his own detriment), cementing the bond between the two for posterity (screwed up and dysfunctional as it may be).

Perhaps the strangest thing about this last half-season is that Jesse and Walt's relationship seems to have been moved to the background, somewhat. The focus was much more on Walt stepping into the role of supervillain, with Jesse actually taking a subordinate role to his interactions with Mike and Skyler, in many ways. Before this year I would've said that the ending MUST speak to Walt and Jesse's relationship in some way. Now I'm not feeling that so much.

I think at this point Walter's only hope for even a modicum of redemption would be if he's coming out of hiding and bringing the Big Ass Gun to somehow rescue Hank.

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Originally Posted by Schwartz 

 

That would be an interesting statement, but boring as all hell to watch for 7 hours.  We got a bit of it in the last finale, but it was confined to a montage so we could skip to the next big development.

Well, yeah, I wasn't seriously suggesting they would do that. Man, you think people complain about the ending of Lost, imagine how that would go.

Though I believe Gilligan has said the last 8 places are going to try to take the audience places they don't necessarily want to go, so...

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Originally Posted by Evi 

 

The genius of the Denny's scene is that it robs us of any joy we might have taken in Walt's success. It's taken the guy 4 seasons to get to a place where he's WON, and instead of giving us even one episode to relish in his achievements, the way you'd expect a Scarface-style show to do, the scene places us in a position where we're constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Good point, all of his successes this season, buying the car, making millions of dollars, establishing empire, etc... They've all just been empty victories for us, and ultimately for him.   Just a horrible sense of dread throughout the first half of the season. 

And no, the gun hasn't been confirmed for Jesse, total speculation.

Alright, my current theory for how the final eight play out (Theory #971, for those keeping score at home), given the "No Redemption" theme of Cranston's remarks:

1) The implication that Walt's cancer is back is made explicit.
2) Hank successfully nails Walter by teaming up with one or more of the following: Jesse/Saul/Skyler.  This does not necessarily take more than a few episodes.
3) Correctly or incorrectly assuming her betrayal, Walt murders Skyler.
4) Walt is forced to assume a new identity (taking his wife's maiden name) in New Hampshire either via witness protection (given a scenario where he is actually nabbed and makes a deal to rat out others) or Saul's end game.
5) On his 52nd birthday, Walt returns to New Mexico to take his revenge on Hank and Jesse for forcing him away from his children.
6) Walt successfully kills Hank; Jesse escapes.  Walt waits to be taken away by the police and live out the remainder of his abbreviated life behind bars.  Writers potentially indulge in a contrivance that enables Walt's pants to sail through the air.
7) Jesse is killed by Declan's faction who, having folded in Todd when Walt left the business, simply want to ensure their monopoly on the Heisenberg blue formula.
8) Saul gets away scot-free.
9) Marie, who becomes the White kids' guardian with heavy support from Gomez, vows that Holly will grow up knowing exactly what kind of monster her father is.  Walt's legacy is toast as far as his surviving family is concerned, but ironically lives on in the form of his 99.1% Blue Sky which continues being manufactured by the Phoenix/Madrigal operation.
10) The baby shower video from 107 is replayed.
11) Post-Credits: While on parole, Hugo the janior performs the Heimlich maneuver on the jerk whose car Walt blew up while he's choking on a teddy bear eyeball he found in his Grand Slam (now available with veggie bacon!). Ted and Jane's dad simultaneously emerge from a coma to work for Gray Matter during a hiring frenzy; Gretchen and Elliot have tripled their billion dollar revenue after investing in minerals, Hank's beer and Tampico Furniture. Brock and Gus' unseen kids grow up to collude with Skinny Pete, Badger, and the kid Walt flunked in chemistry to adapt Jesse's super hero doodles into an obscenely successful animated series. Saul represents Jesse's parents when they immediately stake a claim to the IP.

Cut to the White household, several months or even years from now. A broken, feeble, perhaps injured Walter White is standing outside the door. He knocks once. Calls out to Holly. No response. Knocks again. No response. He knocks again. No response. Cut to black. One last knock.

Since we're speculating....a lot was made out of the fact that it seemed way too easy for Walt to just quit. My theory? He left Todd in charge of cooking, but unfortunately, as eager a student Todd is, his meth just isn't up to stuff. Only 81% pure,  a B minus. Declan demands a better product. As does Lydia, as her buyers threaten to kill her if it's not as pure as it used to be. The only person they can turn to? Jesse, who is now owner of and runs the Lazer Tag place, with Skinny Pete and Badger working the arcade. 

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Originally Posted by Evi 

 

I don't see them ending up facing the law together, but I could imagine Walt making a final attempt to set something right in Jesse's life. Has it been confirmed or is it just a rumor that the gun at Denny's is for saving Jesse?

Bryan stated in Rolling Stone last summer that Walt is saving "someone" in that scene. Actually I have the magazine right here, hang on:
 

Issue 1163 >> August 16, 2012
 

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Originally Posted by FatherDude 

Alright, my current theory for how the final eight play out (Theory #971, for those keeping score at home), given the "No Redemption" theme of Cranston's remarks:

 

1) The implication that Walt's cancer is back is made explicit.
2) Hank successfully nails Walter by teaming up with one or more of the following: Jesse/Saul/Skyler.  This does not necessarily take more than a few episodes.
3) Correctly or incorrectly assuming her betrayal, Walt murders Skyler.
4) Walt is forced to assume a new identity (taking his wife's maiden name) in New Hampshire either via witness protection (given a scenario where he is actually nabbed and makes a deal to rat out others) or Saul's end game.
5) On his 52nd birthday, Walt returns to New Mexico to take his revenge on Hank and Jesse for forcing him away from his children.
6) Walt successfully kills Hank; Jesse escapes.  Walt waits to be taken away by the police and live out the remainder of his abbreviated life behind bars.  Writers potentially indulge in a contrivance that enables Walt's pants to sail through the air.
7) Jesse is killed by Declan's faction who, having folded in Todd when Walt left the business, simply want to ensure their monopoly on the Heisenberg blue formula.
8) Saul gets away scot-free.
9) Marie, who becomes the White kids' guardian with heavy support from Gomez, vows that Holly will grow up knowing exactly what kind of monster her father is.  Walt's legacy is toast as far as his surviving family is concerned, but ironically lives on in the form of his 99.1% Blue Sky which continues being manufactured by the Phoenix/Madrigal operation.
10) The baby shower video from 107 is replayed.
11) Post-Credits: While on parole, Hugo the janior performs the Heimlich maneuver on the jerk whose car Walt blew up while he's choking on a teddy bear eyeball he found in his Grand Slam (now available with veggie bacon!). Ted and Jane's dad simultaneously emerge from a coma to work for Gray Matter during a hiring frenzy; Gretchen and Elliot have tripled their billion dollar revenue after investing in minerals, Hank's beer and Tampico Furniture. Brock and Gus' unseen kids grow up to collude with Skinny Pete, Badger, and the kid Walt flunked in chemistry to adapt Jesse's super hero doodles into an obscenely successful animated series. Saul represents Jesse's parents when they immediately stake a claim to the IP.

I think almost all of these are likely, and I especially want a scene in the final episode where Holly watches that video as an adult or near-adult.
The blue sky must live on.
Not sure about 5) through 7) although they are certainly possible, but the rest are pretty likely.
Skyler is definitely going to die.
In regards to number 4), those are the only possibilities short of some insane curveball (which of course is not unprecedented for this show)