Television Breaking Bad

And what was that scene of Jesse building a chest supposed to show?


I vaguely remember something about Jesse telling a story about making a box in season 1 or 2.

Edit: Googled it. It was the from the group meetings:

Group Leader: Jesse, last time, you seemed down about your job at the Laundromat. Let me ask something, if you had the chance to do anything you wanted, what would you do?
Jesse Pinkman: Make more green, man. A lot more.
Group Leader: Forget about money. Assume you have all you want.
Jesse Pinkman: I don't know. I guess I would make something.
Group Leader: Like what?
Jesse Pinkman: I don't know if it even matters, but... work with my hands, I guess.
Group Leader: Building things, like carpentry or bricklaying or something?
Jesse Pinkman: I took this vo-tech class in high school, woodworking. I took a lot of vo-tech classes, because it was just big jerk-off, but this one time I had this teacher by the name of... Mr... Mr. Pike. I guess he was like a Marine or something before he got old. He was hard hearing. My project for his class was to make this wooden box. You know, like a small, just like a... like a box, you know, to put stuff in. So I wanted to get the thing done as fast as possible. I figured I could cut classes for the rest of the semester and he couldn't flunk me as long as I, you know, made the thing. So I finished it in a couple days. And it looked pretty lame, but it worked. You know, for putting in or whatnot. So when I showed it to Mr. Pike for my grade, he looked at it and said: "Is that the best you can do?" At first I thought to myself "Hell yeah, bitch. Now give me a D and shut up so I can go blaze one with my boys." I don't know. Maybe it was the way he said it, but... it was like he wasn't exactly saying it sucked. He was just asking me honestly, "Is that all you got?" And for some reason, I thought to myself: "Yeah, man, I can do better." So I started from scratch. I made another, then another. And by the end of the semester, by like box number five, I had built this thing. You should have seen it. It was insane. I mean, I built it out of Peruvian walnut with inlaid zebrawood. It was fitted with pegas, no screws. I sanded it for days, until it was smooth as glass. Then I rubbed all the wood with tung oil so it was rich and dark. It even smelled good. You know, you put nose in it and breathed in, it was... it was perfect.
Group Leader: What happened to the box?
Jesse Pinkman: I... I gave it to my mom.
Group Leader: Nice. You know what I'm gonna say, don't you? It's never too late. They have art co-ops that offer classes, adult extension program at the University.
Jesse Pinkman: You know, I didn't give the box to my mom. I traded it for an ounce of weed.
 
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A bit disappointing I thought. The first half of it was rushed, and the last scene I thought was poorly done and should've been a lot more powerful. The whole thing in fact should've hit a lot harder, yet there was almost a Hollywood-ish 'cool' secret agent type feel about it at times that stopped that sort of feel from properly developing. It was like Walt had become some sort of untouchable Daniel Craig type figure.

Another big gripe I have with the last half series as well is the atmosphere they created during two very key moments - Hank researching Walt, and Walt dying. The music they used killed both scenes, in my opinion. I like that he died in a meth lab, but that should've been tragic, sad, poignantly fitting, powerful, etc. At the very least, I thought it should've evoked a strong sense of karmic justice, but I didn't get that feel at all. It was more like "well, that was one hell of a journey, but it was sort of a laugh too!"...

Still, it was acceptable as a final episode. I liked the closure with Skyler, and it was a pretty good idea to use Gretchin and Elliot to get the money to Walt Jr really. I thought it would've been more in sync with the end of that last episode for them to die (maybe that's just me getting carried away with that episode's ending :drool:), but that was a fairly inventive way of dealing with the money issue.
 
The fact we had Ozymandias before (well, two before) made this one anti-climatic in a way. There was nothing that could top that. But I really, really liked it. Great fecking series.
 
A bit disappointing I thought. The first half of it was rushed, and the last scene I thought was poorly done and should've been a lot more powerful. The whole thing in fact should've hit a lot harder, yet there was almost a Hollywood-ish 'cool' secret agent type feel about it at times that stopped that sort of feel from properly developing. It was like Walt had become some sort of untouchable Daniel Craig type figure.

Another big gripe I have with the last half series as well is the atmosphere they created during two very key moments - Hank researching Walt, and Walt dying. The music they used killed both scenes, in my opinion. I like that he died in a meth lab, but that should've been tragic, sad, poignantly fitting, powerful, etc. At the very least, I thought it should've evoked a strong sense of karmic justice, but I didn't get that feel at all. It was more like "well, that was some one hell of a journey, but it was sort of a laugh too!"...

Still, it was acceptable as a final episode. I liked the closure with Skyler, and it was a pretty good idea to use Gretchin and Elliot to get the money to Walt Jr really. I thought it would've been more in sync with the end of that last episode for them to die (maybe that's just me getting carried away with that episode's ending :drool:), but that was a fairly inventive way of dealing with the money issue.

I think his death was so inevitable and required that it was difficult to evoke all of these emotions during that scene. I do agree that as a whole I felt like something was missing from the finale. I wanted more of Jesse really. Everything was so expected that it wasn't really as awe-inspiring or shocking as we would hope.
 
I think his death was so inevitable and required that it was difficult to evoke all of these emotions during that scene. I do agree that as a whole I felt like something was missing from the finale. I wanted more of Jesse really. Everything was so expected that it wasn't really as awe-inspiring or shocking as we would hope.


I just mean one of them at least. It's the death of one of the best TV characters ever! It just needed something more, whatever that more was. :)
 
You dont want shocks in a final episode, they've had 61 episodes to deliver those. This was always going to be about wrapping things up in a satisfactory way, which they did brilliantly I thought. How apt he died in a Meth Lab. I also liked the way Jack tried to do Walt's trick of offering him all the money.

I really am going to miss this show.
 
Yeah, it definitely didn't need shocks. Just needed to be better worked I thought, with more scenes of the standard of the Skylar/Holly one. There was nothing shocking about that but it hit like a train. As for the bit where Walt was walking round Elliot and Gretchen (the laser part)...I say that up there about Daniel Craig, but he was more like a Bond villain at that point!

Whatever though, it's a damn shame this has finished. Was an appropriate time to finish mind you, and I thought it was good that they kept it at that standard despite veering off in a completely different direction. The stuff with Todd's uncle could've ended up being considerably weaker than it was, really.
 
I edited that - thought it would be misinterpreted. Just mean in the sense that on the surface of things, it could've been seen as a bit weak to just introduce a plotline like that at this point. They probably had to do something like that though and I thought it could've gone a lot worse. It was a very good final season in the end even if the finale was a bit disappointing (in my opinion! :)).
 
Hmmm, not sure what I think of that...

It was a bit like the Anti-Sopranos. Instead of leaving things unanswered everything got wrapped up neatly. Maybe a bit too neatly? It was well done but quite predictable I thought. Machine gun for the nazis, ricin for lydia, Walts saves Jesse, Jesse kills Todd. Felt like every box was being ticked a bit too methodically, even Badger and Skinny Pete got to make a goodbye appearance.

I wanted to see more of Jesse as well, not sure how satisfying the conclusion of the Walt/Jesse relationship was. With everything else working out for Walt and being resolved, I expected more than just Walt saving Jesse and Jesse deciding not to kill Walt. Again, a bit too predictable.

It felt more like an epilogue than an ending, though maybe it was never going to match up to Ozymandias.

Edit: Also, how stupid was Uncle Jack? Actually putting Walt's execution on hold just so he could prove he wasn't a liar to Walt? Just shoot the fecker and get over it!
 
Really surprised some people feel underwhelmed with the finale, I think they nailed it. They resolved everything in a very satisfying way and (at times) with cathartic resolution, and yet despite the amount they had to get through, no scene felt rushed. The directing was also outstanding.

I really liked Jesse's laugh as he drove away too - simultaneous hate for Walt and yet admiration at what a genius he was.
 
Todd isn't an idiot. There's no way he wouldn't realise that Walt hit the ground right before the shooting started.


I don't know, he's always come across as a bit of an idiot to me. Constantly looked for advice off Walt, his Uncle or Lydia, never seemed to have any of his own ideas and was pretty much always doing what he was told, the only exception being shooting a kid and that was probably the wrong decision.

I can see why people may be underwhelmed but I thought it was a really good last episode. Like has been said a series finale isn't meant to be full of shock and I'm glad it didn't seem rushed and fast paced as that wouldn't really suit the show. The problem with having it any other way is it would seem a bit stupid. Walt can't go round shooting them all with a gun, he had to outsmart them to do that which he did, if he went in and shot them all him and Jesse would die, equally people were saying that would be ridiculous last week, the way he did it was fine in my opinion as it is something no one would see coming but I suppose plausible at the same time for his character to do it.

I liked the closure he had with characters, the relief from Skylar when he pretty much admitted to being selfish and enjoying who he was, the family stuff was all a front was good, the last moment with him and Jesse and I suppose him redeeming himself somewhat with him was good and it was the correct decision to get rid of Saul in the episode before I thought, obviously there was no use for the character here.

Enjoyed the last scene as well with the music being quite appropriate and emphasising how much he did enjoy the life he lived. Everyone is entitled to an opinion but I don't know why people seemed to want some kind of miserable ending where they all end up fecked, bit depressing really.
 
8/10 episode

It's extremely difficult to end long running tv shows, but they did as well as could be expected. Possibly because they did what was expected for the most part. I don't think predictability is always a bad thing, it just means that the writers lined everything up well and is probably going to be satisfying for the vast majority of people. As George RR Martin said, audiences are too sophisticated these days to get with 'twists' consistently, so it would take something extreme to throw everyone off.. and that would likely ruin the show.

I'd far rather this 'predictable' ending than some weird forced in last minute tangent that was only put in there because the writer wanted to feel 'original' or clever or whatever. I guess it's a disappointing episode compared to Oxymandias (most episodes of anything are, in fairness), but it would be unrealistic to expect another episode of that class so shortly after it. Other than the the only disappointment is that it had to end.

Thank god they didn't feck it up, and now the series can take it's place as a top 5 of all time
 
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You dont want shocks in a final episode, they've had 61 episodes to deliver those. This was always going to be about wrapping things up in a satisfactory way, which they did brilliantly I thought. How apt he died in a Meth Lab. I also liked the way Jack tried to do Walt's trick of offering him all the money.

I really am going to miss this show.
Hear, hear. I know it sounded predictable (though I foresaw none of the Elliott and Gretchen stuff), great to see Badger and Skinny Pete. I'd like to have seen what happens next with Jesse.

As Elvis said, it wasn't about the shocks it was about leaving it in a satisfactory way, and for me it did that. I'm incredibly unintuitive with TV and films, so didn't see that Lydia had been poisoned, and expected Walt to blow up the joint, rather than what happened.

All in all, excellent.
 
Felt like a proper ending to me. No loose ends and the build-up to this finale was outstanding.

The fact Walt and Jesse didn’t utter a word to each other (I don’t think) was spot on too.

It was all fairly predictable but I don’t think they tried to hide that. It just needed closure.


Only point I will make is, how did he get the ricin in here tea? The sugar sachet was not open was it?
 
Really surprised some people feel underwhelmed with the finale, I think they nailed it. They resolved everything in a very satisfying way and (at times) with cathartic resolution, and yet despite the amount they had to get through, no scene felt rushed. The directing was also outstanding.

I really liked Jesse's laugh as he drove away too - simultaneous hate for Walt and yet admiration at what a genius he was.


I thought it was just an outburst of sheer relief, joy and (the release of) pain as he finally escaped that hell-hole.

Good ending. As close to a happy ending as possible in Breaking Bad, plenty of dark humour that was somewhat lacking from the previous "ending" and a couple of lovely motifs. Was that death scene reminiscent of anything besides crawl space? It seemed particularly familiar. Nice way to kill off Lydia too, even if it was a bit of a stretch.
 
I thought it was just an outburst of sheer relief, joy and (the release of) pain as he finally escaped that hell-hole.

Oh yeah, that was definitely there, but there also seemed more to it to me. Though it was a short shot, his laughter seemed to go through a range of emotions, from disbelief to elation to almost maniacal. I think it was the latter aspect that made me think Walt was also in his thoughts at that point, and reminded me of Jesse's explaining to Hank that Walt was always a few steps ahead of everyone. On this occasion, those few steps had rescued Jesse.
 
Yeah, there was definitely some reminiscence of Walt's maniacal laughter in Crawl Space in that scene. Think I'll watch it again to see if I agree.
 
What an amazing piece of art this show has been!

fecking devastated that it is over :(
 
Honestly predicted most of what was going to happen correctly, but loved it nonetheless. The ending was planned from the get-go, and was always described as ultimately a victory for Walt, so I don't really see many other ways it could have gone without him "winning".
 
The biggest problem for the finale was the two flashbacks, basically because of them everyone was able to predict exactly what'd happen. We never should've seen him with the gun or ricin.

I still see Ozymandias as the real finale of the show, the last two episodes have been more of an epilogue.

Can't believe it's over :(
 
I loved it. Perfect finale. This time in the final shot unlike crawlspace he accepted his fate with peace of mind.
 
Thought it was great. It was predictable but there's no point having surprises for the sake of it.

In this show a lot of shit has gone wrong and bad for people. Sometimes stuff does go well.
 
It was rounded off perfectly and in my opinion because of that, because of such a tight and perfectly neat and framed ending, Breaking Bad overtakes the Sopranos.

My advice? Watch both!
 
Edit: Also, how stupid was Uncle Jack? Actually putting Walt's execution on hold just so he could prove he wasn't a liar to Walt? Just shoot the fecker and get over it!

All about pride. Walt accused him of working with Jesse, and Jack was certain the meth was being made without him. As he was certain about it he wanted to rub it in Walt's face before he finished him off. Pretty "common" reaction, I think.


And what was that scene of Jesse building a chest supposed to show?
Was explained in the Talking Bad after the show. As you found out by now, Jesse loved woodworking and was very proud of that box. Basically, it was his happy place and when we see the scene it's him daydreaming. His shirt then gets caught on something, and he snaps back to reality because he realises it's in fact his leash that got stuck.
 
I thought it was just an outburst of sheer relief, joy and (the release of) pain as he finally escaped that hell-hole.

Good ending. As close to a happy ending as possible in Breaking Bad, plenty of dark humour that was somewhat lacking from the previous "ending" and a couple of lovely motifs. Was that death scene reminiscent of anything besides crawl space? It seemed particularly familiar. Nice way to kill off Lydia too, even if it was a bit of a stretch.

Have you watched Lost? If you plan on watching it then don't open this.

The final scene where we see Jack on the island in Lost was almost identical to the final shot of Walt in the meth lab. Both were lying on their back, dying in a location which was very appropriate for their character, as the camera started close up to their face and zoomed outwards whilst sort of rotating around.

Both endings were incredibly similar. Although that isn't quite the last scene in Lost.
 
Hmmm, not sure what I think of that...

It was a bit like the Anti-Sopranos. Instead of leaving things unanswered everything got wrapped up neatly. Maybe a bit too neatly? It was well done but quite predictable I thought. Machine gun for the nazis, ricin for lydia, Walts saves Jesse, Jesse kills Todd. Felt like every box was being ticked a bit too methodically, even Badger and Skinny Pete got to make a goodbye appearance.

I wanted to see more of Jesse as well, not sure how satisfying the conclusion of the Walt/Jesse relationship was. With everything else working out for Walt and being resolved, I expected more than just Walt saving Jesse and Jesse deciding not to kill Walt. Again, a bit too predictable.

It felt more like an epilogue than an ending, though maybe it was never going to match up to Ozymandias.

Edit: Also, how stupid was Uncle Jack? Actually putting Walt's execution on hold just so he could prove he wasn't a liar to Walt? Just shoot the fecker and get over it!



This is why this show is not in the same league as The Sopranos as far as I am concerned. As far as entertainment goes, it's right up there with the best, but it always had a bit of a cartoony element to it, with some extraordinary coincidences and pieces of luck or misfortune that made it less drama and more soap opera. There was only ever going to be a neat ending. I prefer a Sopranos-type ending every time. It's why I was disappointed that Ridley Scott finally revealed that Deckard was a replicant. We didn't need to know that.

Still a brilliant show, and I will miss it.
 
This is why this show is not in the same league as The Sopranos as far as I am concerned. As far as entertainment goes, it's right up there with the best, but it always had a bit of a cartoony element to it, with some extraordinary coincidences and pieces of luck or misfortune that made it less drama and more soap opera. There was only ever going to be a neat ending. I prefer a Sopranos-type ending every time. It's why I was disappointed that Ridley Scott finally revealed that Deckard was a replicant. We didn't need to know that.

Still a brilliant show, and I will miss it.


The 'cartoony' element is because the show is set in a heightened reality, which was always a conscious style choice. Without it, the show could not have had the same humour, characters (such as Saul, Heull, Badger, Skinny Pete and even Gus) and visual style. The gravity of its character arcs and dramatic themes have not suffered from this, however. Breaking Bad has always been the Fargo to The Sopranos' Goodfellas, yet those are both recognised as great films in their own right.

On a personal level, I'd put The Sopranos below Breaking Bad. I felt the former ran thin on ideas later in its run, and actually veered towards soap territory more than Breaking Bad ever did, in part because it never really possessed a central narrative strand. It was a show that came to an end, rather than Breaking Bad feeling like the end of its story. That said, Breaking Bad's finale was the right fit for Breaking Bad, and The Sopranos' was the correct fit for The Sopranos. Mad Men is a whole lot more likely to get a Sopranos style ending (not withstanding the Weiner/Chase history).
 
Really didn't like the music at the end, feel like it would have been more powerful with silence but thats it other than that no complaints.
 
I never watched the Sopranos, but considering how bad the ending was supposed to be I watched it. I'd say that was a 'better' ending, but probably less satisfying. It was in no way ambiguous like people said, but Breaking Bad left absolutely no questions (well, maybe Jesse if you're being pedantic), but they made sure everything was wrapped up in the way that we all knew was going to happen.

Would people rather have had the surprise of Jack just finishing Walt there and then? I wouldn't have been happy with that personally.
 
Really didn't like the music at the end, feel like it would have been more powerful with silence but thats it other than that no complaints.
I'm not one to over analyse stuff etc but I thoughti t was good choice, quite an appropriate song, talking about his "one love" whilst stroking the machine, even the chorus of it, "my love for you baby blue" it was quite powerful, silence would of been a bit depressing and it didn't seem like it was meant to be that, I felt it was meant to be more "happy" if that's possible.

I never watched the Sopranos, but considering how bad the ending was supposed to be I watched it. I'd say that was a 'better' ending, but probably less satisfying. It was in no way ambiguous like people said, but Breaking Bad left absolutely no questions (well, maybe Jesse if you're being pedantic), but they made sure everything was wrapped up in the way that we all knew was going to happen.

Would people rather have had the surprise of Jack just finishing Walt there and then? I wouldn't have been happy with that personally.


I liked the Sopranos ending, I don't think you can compare the 2 of them though. There's loads of clues in the Sopranos throughout about if he dies or not and that was what was brilliant about it for me, the only frustration about it is the ending of Sopranos lead to speculation from people about a film which was never going to happen, that's the risk with an open ending though.

I agree about Jack though, I'm glad they gave everyone a kind of happy ending who deserved it, I'd of found it a bit disappointing if everyone just stayed miserable.
 
Massively disappointed by the final episode I have to say, I don't like all that Mac Gyver 'I can build anything' stuff. What Walt did with that big gun was among the most ridiculous things he's ever had (the magnet heist, the escape when he was imprisoned by Mike, etc etc ...)
 
Well initial reactions after that put me firmly in the 'meh' camp.

It all felt very contrived and predictable. Sort of went out with a whimper.

Great show though. Probably asking a lot to top the two episodes that preceded it.
 
Was explained in the Talking Bad after the show. As you found out by now, Jesse loved woodworking and was very proud of that box. Basically, it was his happy place and when we see the scene it's him daydreaming. His shirt then gets caught on something, and he snaps back to reality because he realises it's in fact his leash that got stuck.


That scene was sentimental wank though.

The more I think about that episode the less I like it. Like Randall said - how did he get the ricin in the stevia? Not only that but he knew they'd be there at that exact time because 'they always used to meet there'....whut? And then he must have guessed what table she'd sit at to get the ricin in the correct sachet which we still don't know how he did. Without going all comic book guy on it, that is way too many contrivances.

I didn't like him just wandering around without a care in the world either, visiting Skylar was unecessary and not very clever, the scene with Elliot and Gretchen whilst probably being the best bit of the episode was also quite silly (we need something for Skinny Pete and Badger to do), likewise the mechanised gun.

Poor ending to a great series imo.