Breaking Bad

[PeaceBaby]

@ the last few posts ... maybe you guys should spoiler tag part of your stuff? I suspect there's more than a few folks who haven't seen the ending yet.

 

[Lady_X]

oh maybe...i just assumed people would avoid this thread like i did until today because i hadn't watched it yet.

 

[SensEye]

This ^. It's a dangerous business to read anything Breaking Bad related right now (here or anywhere) if you haven't watched all the episodes.

 

[Ivy]

I think what we all want to know is...

is Huell still waiting in the safehouse?

 

[Stigmata]

I think what we all want to know is...

is Huell still waiting in the safehouse?

This video has brought me more amusement than I'd care to admit publicly.

 

[Ivy]

That is perfect.

 

[Lady_X]

This video has brought me more amusement than I'd care to admit publicly.

that's hilarious! is it an hour of that?

 

[Stigmata]

that's hilarious! is it an hour of that?

Yep.


Todd is definitely on his way to becoming my new favorite meme.

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

oh maybe...i just assumed people would avoid this thread like i did until today because i hadn't watched it yet.

This ^. It's a dangerous business to read anything Breaking Bad related right now (here or anywhere) if you haven't watched all the episodes.

Same. I watched it a day late and didn't visit the thread until then.

 

[Ivy]

I thought it was a good, not great finale. The predictability (aside from Walt's reason for visiting the Schwartzes) doesn't bother me, because most of the endgame of the plot had been played out in the previous two episodes. To me, it felt like "Ozymandias" was the truest finale. We all knew what the last few cards were that this episode had to play; it was more of a denouement.

What was more important here than clever plotting was that Walt (presumably assisted by months of solitude) finally came to terms with both the horror of his actions and the true nature of his motives. In the previous episode, when Walt, Jr. refused the money, a newly self-aware Walt was happy to finally surrender because he could no longer do anything to redeem himself. But after seeing the Schwartzes on TV and figuring out a way to truly help his family instead of using family as an excuse for his ego-driven behavior, he then methodically set about making that happen. His motives for wiping out the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight were likewise genuinely family-oriented - he was protecting his family from retribution. This was made clear when he refused Jack's offer to trade the $70 million for his life. The finale wasn't about wowing anyone; the flash forwards had seen to that. It was about Walt's realization and motives.

I did have problems with the finale - chiefly, the cartoonish effectiveness of Walt's remote control gun and Jack's Bond-villian-like insistence on dragging out the confrontation instead of just shooting Walt already - but predictability was not among them. I questioned whether Walt deserves to be redeemed in even the minor way he was, but he is really only redeemed in his mind. Walt gets to die secure in the knowledge that he's arranged everything, but only because he doesn't have to live to see whether his rather precarious plans come to fruition (Will Skyler really be able to trade Hank's body for immunity? Will the Schwartzes really follow through? Will Walt, Jr. accept the money without suspicion?) Everyone else will go on living diminished, broken lives because of his actions.

The only thing I really want to know is where those barrels of cash are and if anyone will ever find them! I kind of love that the point of the whole thing from the very beginning - the money - becomes irrelevant and vanished in the end.

I agree with you for the most part, but I still think it was awesome. I actually really appreciated that the true climax occurred in Ozymandias. It can be disconcerting to me when the television medium eschews the usual storytelling landmarks of rising action/climax/falling action to force an "exciting conclusion" in the final episode. And I thought that was done well in this case.

I liked what Zack Handlen on the Onion AV Club said about it:

As the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad ran down to a close, it was hard for me to think of much else beyond the show: getting caught up in the story again, being terrified for certain characters’ lives, trying to second-guess Vince Gilligan and his writers (and failing every time), and hoping the last episode would, for want of a better word, fit. Finales are always important, even when they aren’t designed to be. We look for meaning in structure, and read significance into context, so that the last hour (or half hour) of a show has inherent weight to it. “Felina” was designed as a conclusion; what’s more, it was a conclusion to one of the most intensely serialized narratives in the history of the medium, a story that built on top of itself week by week, year by year, until it came to a closing point. If the finale had been weak—if Gilligan and company has strained plausibility too much, if they’d tried to force in one last shocking twist, if they’d made it too happy or too dire, if they pushed in an ironic twist that offered a conclusion without closure—it would’ve been impossible to remove it from the rest of the show. To balance this seemed nearly impossible to me. Long stories are difficult to pull off; perspectives change, personalities shift, and no plan is a perfect plan. The idea that anyone could’ve known exactly where Walter White’s adventures in chemistry were going to end up is absurd, because television is not a static medium. It’s not a novel where an author can go back and fiddle with the first chapters to make sure everything is to his or her liking. “Felina” is simple, sad, and a little goofy. It has its lumpy bits, its moments of inelegance, and it failed to make some grand final statement on power and greed, but that’s fine. “Ozymandias,” the series’ antepenultimate hour, was the true slam-bang climax, the moment when all the horrors came home to roost. The last two episodes are just the slow, lonely shuffle of a man who is finally forced to see who he really is. He gets one last chance to do some good with the only tools he has left. I think I knew it was perfect when I saw Cranston back in the clothes he wore in the pilot. No more Heisenberg. He’s just Walter Hartwell White. And then he’s gone.

 

[Stansmith]

My main gripe is that I felt no grudge towards the Nazis or Todd; there wasn't enough of a sense of closure in seeing them die for me (we were essentially given 2-3 episodes to 'hate' them). Certainly not enough to end the series on a climatic note, but I'm content nonetheless.


As for Jesse's fate, it seems unlikely that he'll suddenly go from severe, soul crushing, dehumanizing, psychological trauma to suddenly living a life drastically different from the one he's been living for the past decade or so. Can't say I'm happy for him.

 

[Riva]

Yep.Todd is definitely on his way to becoming my new favorite meme.

after all the cruel things he has done; why can't I hate todd? I guess because - like someone said it earlier - he is like a child doing what he does to get approval. It all made sense: when he killed that boy he was looking for white's approval, when he spared jesse's life he was looking for lydia's approval, when he spared walt's life he was sparing someone's life he was seeking approval from, etc.

 

[Samvega]

I can't say I loved how the last season played out but, it did right by the viewers for sure. They got you revved up for vengeance and started heading towards a cliff only to take their foot off the gas and allow things to coast to a slow and relatively anti-climactic stop. The gave you the "holy shit" moment before you were expecting it and wrapped up the details to conclude the show and offer it finality. After reading some of these comments and thinking more about it, I think they did a really good job with the show, better than Dexter for sure, better than most multi-seasoned shows. Hell, the fact that they even offered a conclusion is something I'm starting to see as a network courtesy these days!

 

[violet_crown]

There, there. Walt's in a better place now, y'all.

 

[leafonthewind]

The best summary of the series I found so far.

 

[Elfboy]

Walter White: INTJ 6w5>9w8>?w? Sp/So (maybe Sp/Sx)
Skyler White: E?FJ 1w2>6w7>2w3 Sx/So
Walter Jr: ISFP 9w8>6w7>2w3 Sp/Sx
Hank: ESTP 7w8>8w7>2w3 So/Sp
Jesse Pinkman: ESFP 6w7>8w7>?w? Sx/So

PS: only on episode 6. opinions may change

 

[The Great One]

Walter White: INTJ 6w5>9w8>?w? Sp/So (maybe Sp/Sx)
Skyler White: E?FJ 1w2>6w7>2w3 Sx/So
Walter Jr: ISFP 9w8>6w7>2w3 Sp/Sx
Hank: ESTP 7w8>8w7>2w3 So/Sp
Jesse Pinkman: ESFP 6w7>8w7>?w? Sx/So

Walter White: INTJ 6w5>9w8>?w? Sp/So (maybe Sp/Sx)

Yeah I agree with this. I also agree with the 9w8 gut fix as well. I thought that he had an 8w7 subwing as well. His reaction style is to first avoid confrontation, and then to explode crazily.

Skyler White: E?FJ 1w2>6w7>2w3 Sx/So

I do think that she's an ENFJ. However, I don't agree with the sx/so typing at all. She is so/sp in my opinion. Also, there is no way in hell that she's self-pres last. In the later seasons she is constantly afraid of things that can hurt her. She constantly fears that drug dealers will come and kill her or her family. She's self pres as fuck dude. Also, I think that she's a core reactive type. Plus, I'm pretty damn sure that her image fix is 3w2, and not 2w3.

Walter Jr: ISFP 9w8>6w7>2w3 Sp/Sx

I agree with everything in this, except I don't think that he is sp/sx. I think that he is so/sx.

Hank: ESTP 7w8>8w7>2w3 So/Sp

I agree with everything here, except I'm pretty sure that his image fix is 3w2, and not 2w3. He tends to be very goal-oriented and wants to be praised for his accomplishments. He doesn't just want to be liked.

Jesse Pinkman: ESFP 6w7>8w7>?w? Sx/So

I agree that he is a core 6w7 sx/so. However, is gut fix is 9w8(sw8w7). He actually isn't that confronational, he just is so fucking reactive that it makes him look like he has an 8 fix. Also his image fix is clearly 2. You will see that very clearly when you watch the later seasons.

 

[Riva]

Hank: ESTP 7w8>8w7>2w3 So/Sp

PS: only on episode 6. opinions may change

Hank: ESTP 7w8>8w7>2w3 So/Sp

I agree with everything here, except I'm pretty sure that his image fix is 3w2, and not 2w3. He tends to be very goal-oriented and wants to be praised for his accomplishments. He doesn't just want to be liked.

Hank is an esfp people. in the first few episodes - maybe even in the first season as a whole - he was an estp but as the show proceeds/the character develops he clearly indicates that he lacks Fe - the Fe based manipulation ETPs are capable of especially - and that he has obvious Fi. Also his analytical pattern isn't Ti and I would bet it's mostly Se + Te.

Elf I guess since you've watched only 6 episodes I/we should exempt you from criticism for confusing Fi and Fe?

 

[Elfboy]

Hank is an esfp people. in the first few episodes - maybe even in the first season as a whole - he was an estp but as the show proceeds/the character develops he clearly indicates that he lacks Fe - the Fe based manipulation ETPs are capable of especially - and that he has obvious Fi. Also his analytical pattern isn't Ti and I would bet it's mostly Se + Te.
Elf I guess since you've watched only 6 episodes I/we should exempt you from criticism for confusing Fi and Fe?

I could buy that (you make a good point about the Se-Te investigation style)
I mostly think ESTP because his laugh and expressions are very Fe-ish.

 

[Riva]

I could buy that (you make a good point about the Se-Te investigation style)
I mostly think ESTP because his laugh and expressions are very Fe-ish.

If SW heard that he would scream folk typology, add you post to his folk typology example thread and follow you around for the rest of your life.

However I kinda agree with you on that point. I took entjs' famous laughs as an example - I pray to god that he doesn't see this - and realized that ETPs have a different sort of a laugh as the laugh of ENTJs have a Fi prideful touch to it; where ETPs don't. Then again - I believe I have posted this before - the Fi of ESFPs more so than any other Fi type could have an Fe touch to it due to their Se expressiveness.

Watch the rest of the season - and all the seasons of course - and tell me whether you still think he is an esfp.

Edit -

Add to ^ I think Jesse could be an estp. Not entirely sure. He does show Ti sort of analysis and Se Fe anger. My typing would be a litte bit more justifiable if he was an e6 as you've typed him and not a 7w8 as I assumed him to be.