Shall we anticipate the FIFTH SEASON of the AMC series "Breaking Bad"? I think I may.

ehh, not 'many' itt, nor in my circle of BB friends

just a lonely Josh in Chicago, thinkin 'baout things

guys remember what kanye said. when an artist makes something there are only two words you need to be saying

THANK YOU

Thank you, Kanye.

xpost But some pretty prominent critics! Frankly, that any would humor it, the most hoary of TV/movie cliche twists, is telling.

I thin kthat speaks more to the prevalence of media that have used that trope more than any such *desire*

I will say it's yet another sign the final episode didn't do much for many when there are so many people actually openly expressing a preference for an "it was all a dream" ending.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, October 2, 2013 8:55 AM (2 minutes ago)

i LOVED the final episode and this theory makes me love it even more

yeah how about an epilogue where s1 walt wakes up from a nap after his diagnosis and says no way I'm going to even consider meth manufacture etc

My favourite theory like this is that all of BB was a book Skyler was wrote after Walt's cancer diagnosis, since during season 1 it was mentioned she was writing a book. This would explain why the story is so pulpy, and also the book'd be a not-so-subtle way for Skyler to tell Walt he should be more open and communicative.

I think the dream explanation would otherwise work, except that Walt didn't know Jesse was being kept as a slave, so it'd be weird that was able to know that in his dreams.

(I'm not saying that's it'd be a good solution, but the Jesse thing is the only detail that stops it from being plausible.)

― Tuomas, Wednesday, October 2, 2013 9:52 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah thats why i was asking, i think as a theory its super lame but you could at least argue it if the entire episode took place from walt's perspective. i do think there was a strong dreamlike quality which used to be a regular feature of breaking bad and was something they had gotten away from a bit, but theres a difference between "dreamlike quality" and actually asserting that the episode was a dream.

my whole point is that it WASN'T hoary and cliche

its on some removal of the 4th wall shit not some "its a twist!"

There are a lot of things that wouldn't work if it were a dream/ghost Walt. But per one of (the often oddly perceptive) comments on the New Yorker piece: Of course Walt couldn't dream this. It should be admitted though that Nussbaum's observations on the extreme un-realism of the events in "Felina" are absolutely correct. That's what a few pro critic pals of mine have a problem with as well: that the ending somehow does not stay true to the moral universe set up by the series, to a surreal, dreamlike extreme.

But hey, it was competent and satisfactory, so the fact that it fell short of greatness really shouldn't be held against it. Good enough is better than 99.9% of TV.

the same way the music gearing up in the final scene is meant to trigger a pavlovian "hell yeah one last badass cooking montage" reaction, but nope just as its over for walt its over for you the viewer too

I'm impressed by how many people, including me, totally forgot about Jesse's previous woodworking monologue, and didn't get the reference of his slave fantasy. I wonder how many folks remembered that Lydia has a daughter? I can't even remember how long ago Lydia was introduced.

It should be admitted though that Nussbaum's observations on the extreme un-realism of the events in "Felina" are absolutely correct. That's what a few pro critic pals of mine have a problem with as well: that the ending somehow does not stay true to the moral universe set up by the series, to a surreal, dreamlike extreme.

do these ppl not remember season 3, or season 4?

My favourite theory like this is that all of BB was a book Skyler was wrote after Walt's cancer diagnosis, since during season 1 it was mentioned she was writing a book. This would explain why the story is so pulpy, and also the book'd be a not-so-subtle way for Skyler to tell Walt he should be more open and communicative

Except we'd need another book within this book to explain why this plot was even more pulpy.

but theres a difference between "dreamlike quality" and actually asserting that the episode was a dream.

If you take the dream theory to be true, though, you could continue on the Lynch tip and draw parallels between Felina and Mulholland Drive. In both movies it's a key and a song that signifies the transition between the real world and the dream world, and in both movies the reason the protagonist is responsible for the death of a loved one (via a hired killer), can't deal with the guilt, and dreams of place where he can right his/her wrongs.

I think the question should be less "does the final episode stand up against the greatest episodes of television ever?" and more "does the final episode stand up against all of the final episodes of television shows ever?". The answer to the final question is a resounding YES for me, particularly in terms of being a satisfactory resolution to a story.

http://media.salon.com/2013/08/david_lynch.jpg

Breaking Badass.

I'm impressed by how many people, including me, totally forgot about Jesse's previous woodworking monologue, and didn't get the reference of his slave fantasy. I wonder how many folks remembered that Lydia has a daughter?

But does Lydia really have a daughter, did we see her onscreen? Or was that just some bullshit appeal to Mike's pity? I legit can't remember - only saw that episode once and my memory ain't great. (I remembered Jesse's woodworking monologue, though.)

we saw the daughter in her fancy schmancy house one time

ah, thanks.

xpost - that ugly guitar looks like something Spock would play in a Star Trek band of Badger's fanfic fantasy

http://breakingbad.wikia.com/wiki/Kiira_Rodarte-Quayle

But hey, it was competent and satisfactory, so the fact that it fell short of greatness really shouldn't be held against it. Good enough is better than 99.9% of TV.

wtf are you talking about

even if there were some objective way of measuring these things there is a surprising amount of agreement that this finale was tremendous

not that that is important, what the "critical consensus" is, i mean my god. who gives a shit about how conventional wisdom will view this finale in the pantheon of blabbity blah????? good god!

WHERE DOES IT RANK, IS IT NUMBER 4 OR NUMBER 5 BEHIND ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

also ppl who hate the sopranos finale are idiots

I am an idiot. I also did not like The Sopranos show, because I am an even bigger idiot. In fact, I would say I am at least a top 10 idiot, maybe up there in the top five.

The image of David Lynch wielding a Parker Fly has forever ruined David Lynch for me :(

At least it isn't a Steinberger, I guess.

The biggest problem I have with Nussbaum's piece is she claims she would have given it a rave review if it was all a dream. Bullshit. She would have torn it to shreds - and it would have gone down as one of the shittiest hack moves of all time. I get pointing out that it had dream-like qualities, or that a New Yorker critic could whip up a nice little blog post on how it can be seen as a dream, but to say it would have been better if it had explicitly been all Walt's dream as he froze to death? Come on now.

My favourite theory like this is that all of BB was a book Skyler was wrote after Walt's cancer diagnosis, since during season 1 it was mentioned she was writing a book. This would explain why the story is so pulpy, and also the book'd be a not-so-subtle way for Skyler to tell Walt he should be more open and communicative.

― Tuomas, Wednesday, October 2, 2013 9:00 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

taking 7 years to write a book to point out that someone should be more open and communicative is not very open and communicative

walt responds by writing chemistry textbook on his deathbed

Skylar's 7-year memoir We Need to Talk About Cancer

Our Cancer Eternity

the book thing would be like the last episode of Roseanne, right?

"hi walt, i know you have lung cancer and are dying, but i thought you'd like to read this book i wrote for you. in it, i imagine you become a murderous drug dealer, our marriage disintegrates, we have a knife fight, and ultimately you die alone, estranged from our kids. i was hoping this could make you see some of the problems we've been having lately."

"we didn't actually win the lottery. my husband died a year ago and I wrote this book to make myself feel better."

"i added extra chapters at the end because i felt that if my husband were alive, he'd have wanted me not to tell the stories of my son, walt jr, my sister marie, and myself. i did not feel that was right."

"I also wrote a book about our lawyer."

it'd be cool if as well as the entire series being a book skylar wrote, she also had written another harry potter.

hey...what if...Skylar was NEVER MARRIED

taking 7 years to write a book to point out that someone should be more open and communicative is not very open and communicative

??? Who said anything about it taking 7 years?

xpost and was an old, 60 year old alcoholic with a failing liver that concocted her dream life, only to narrate how it would inevitably fall apart due to meth to make her feel better about being all filthy and alone

Ends with Walt yelling, "SKYLAAAAR! You got some 'splaining to do!"

what if Breaking Bad was actually a fantasy written by Roseanne, who had always wished her parents had named her Skyler

The Skyler's The Limit; or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Drugs

Whole series was actually a concept album by Twaughthammer.

Anyway, I didn't say I'd think "Skyler's book" ending would've been particularly good, just that it was my favourite among the various goofy "it was all a dream" scenarios I'd seen on the internet, because at least there was some minor clues supporting it (Skyler's writing career that was mentioned during early season 1, and never referred to after that), and it would explain why in this "dream" Walt keeps failing so often.

taking 7 years to write a book to point out that someone should be more open and communicative is not very open and communicative

??? Who said anything about it taking 7 years?

― Tuomas, Wednesday, October 2, 2013 11:18 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh like skylar could write this book in real time. please, tuomas.

the whole series happened inside a dollhouse made by a carpenter named Jesse

They only mentioned Twaughthammer during early season 1 too! Never referred to it after that either!

Now I don't know what to think.