<p>Honestly, it was better than I expected (and my expectations were high); totally satisfied here.</p>
<p>Great, great ending. Well done Vince & the gang!</p>
<p>Great ending. Will really miss the show. i can’t believe I just discovered Vince Gilligan’s Virginia background. Every time I heard him talk, I thought he sounded like people I know and it turns out he was very close to some people I know when he was growing up in Virginia. The little town of Farmville has produced some extraordinary talent.</p>
<p>I didn’t understand that scene of Jesse making the box. Like, that has never been a thing in the show. Why bring it in now?</p>
<p>He apparently made reference to it when he was in his rehab phase. This was something he’d done when he was younger. I think maybe it gives us an idea of the kind of life he will lead once he is free.</p>
<p>
The money? I think that Walt shooting Jack was really important because it meant that Walt’s intent was not to get the big chunk of money back, but just to die knowing that the really bad people had been revenged and he knew that his family had already been taken care of. There was no need for MORE money than that.</p>
<p>Interview with Vince Gilligan explaining how they arrived at the ending:
<a href=“http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-finale-vince-gilligan/[/url]”>http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-finale-vince-gilligan/</a></p>
<p>I think ironically Jesse’s time as a slave to the Neo-Nazis may allow him to forgive himself in a way he couldn’t do previously. He’s now done his penance, served his time, and can choose to start over.</p>
<p>
It was a telling scene in “Kafkaesque,” when Jesse is relating a story in rehab about a teacher (pointedly not Walt) who inspired him in high school to do his best work. In woodworking class, Jesse made a beautiful wooden box after many tries. He wound up selling it for drugs. It was one of the few times he was ever successful and so was a welcome break in his usual string of hard luck. The scene also recalled Jesse wanting to be an artist - he draws well, initially saw meth cooking as an art, etc. I thought it was a beautiful little snippet.</p>
<p>One of the many brilliant touches in last night’s episode - Todd changed his ringtone to “Lydia the Tattooed Lady.” That absolutely cracked me up (I wonder how many people in the BB audience have heard of the Marx Brothers). And so satisfying to see that shot of Lydia looking unwell and about to look worse.</p>
<p>What a series finale!</p>
<p>That was a fabulous ending. Can’t imagine a better one! And loved the Baby Blue at the end. Perfection!</p>
<p>Walt shooting Jack like that instead of keeping him alive to get the money was brilliant. Walt finally chose his family over the money. Killing Jack ensured his family’s safety.</p>
<p>And Jesse killing Todd was also very satisfying. I loved how Walt gave Jesse the gun and then Jesse realized he didn’t need to kill Walt - he was already dying.</p>
<p>WayoutwestMom, thanks for pointing that out about Walt dying in the lab so it looks like he was doing the cooking.</p>
<p>No, I never heard of that Lydia song by the Marx brothers. I didn’t know ricin took awhile to work, so when we didn’t hear of Lydia’s demise after the scene in the coffee shop, I wondered. So the phone call was great. Then when Todd survives the shoot out, gets up and looks out the window, I was thinking, oh, no way Todd gets to go on making meth. In the Talking Bad show afterwards, Aaron Paul said he was so happy his character was the one who got to kill Todd. Yes, that was fitting as well.</p>
<p>In case anyone missed this link embedded in the Gilligan interview Snowdog pointed us to…
[62</a> Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Breaking Bad’ (One for Each Episode) - Yahoo TV](<a href=“http://tv.yahoo.com/photos/62-facts-about-breaking-bad-1380308387-slideshow/]62”>http://tv.yahoo.com/photos/62-facts-about-breaking-bad-1380308387-slideshow/)</p>
<p>Indeed the ending was perfect. I had always hoped we’d get to see Badger and Skinny Pete one more time–but who’d have guessed <em>how</em> they would be worked into the finale! I am going to miss this show.</p>
<p>The money was no longer relevant. Walt knew he was shot. He had known all day he was going to die that night. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t get that money to his family. But his family would not be safe with Jack around and his “to-do” list included getting rid of Jack. I think Walter had said good-bye to that money already. And Jesse would have been poisoned by having the money. It was fitting to end the show with the money missing.</p>
<p>I know Lydia was awful, but I’m trying to recall what made her so awful that she deserved a worse death than everyone else. Walter chose to go into business with her. What does he blame her for? (I’m sure there is something, I just can’t remember it.)</p>
<p>I was not a fan of Lydia. She engineered quite a few deaths but didn’t like to get her hands dirty. Somehow it seemed less honorable that way (if one can call murder “honorable”).</p>
<p>Happy I watched it on Amazon, I feel like commercials would have detracted from the beauty of it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>She wanted to kill all of Mike’s “guys”. When Mike said no, she put a hit out on him and caused 2 of his people to die. She was unhappy with the quality of the meth Declan and his crew were producing so she brought in the Nazis to kill all of them (while having Todd guide her through the carnage while she kept her eyes closed to protect her dainty sensibilities). Worst (and most damning of all, IMO) while she begged Mike to spare her life because she was a mother (which he did, to his regret) she had no hesitation about asking Todd to murder Skyler, merely because she had seen her and ordered her out of the carwash. I really was glad to see how terrible she looked during her final phone call with Walt. </p>
<p>Walt was a bad guy, but no one ever got away with threatening his family. I really do think that he suffered more than any of the others whose deaths he caused, which was fitting.</p>
<p>I was hoping that somehow some of the money might get to Brock. I had visions of Jesse being able to do that.</p>
<p>I thought the finale was brilliantly done. Also very happy Jesse lived.</p>