This is how it ends
Sep. 29th, 2013 11:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalIt's funny, I'm not as OMG FLAILY as I was for "Ozymandias," which might just be the best episode of anything ever. I did not even once feel like throwing up (although I did stop breathing a few times). Instead, I just feel very, very deeply satisfied.
In some ways, because of the flash-forwards, the finale was a bit paint-by-numbers? We knew the big-ass machine gun would play a role, we knew it would probably be for the Nazis. We knew the ricin would play a role, we could guess that it would probably be for Lydia. We could guess that Walt would probably end up freeing Jesse, and I even had a suspicion that Walt would want Jesse to be the one to kill him. I admit, I didn't expect Walt to leave his money with Gretchen and Elliott, so that scene was pretty tense, but for a show that has consistently defied expectations in the wildest ways, much of the finale was actually predicted by a lot of people ahead of time.
But ~what happens~ is almost beside the point. It's the character moments that matter - Walt FINALLY admitting that he did all of this for himself, Skyler finally getting to hear the truth, Jesse deciding to walk away from Walt. THAT is the moment of closure between them that I was waiting for. After everything, after all Jesse has been through, FINALLY he can stand up to Walt and not give him what he wants. I'm sure it's tempting, and lord knows Jesse deserves that revenge. But Jesse is just fucking done. How many more pieces of his soul can he stand to lose? Walt first made him a killer when he asked him to shoot Gale, but he's not going to put this death on Jesse's hands. The motherfucker is still going to die, and Jesse can see that, so he gets the satisfaction of knowing it without having to pull the trigger. And OF COURSE Walt dies in the meth lab. Perfect.
I am just blown away at how well-structured this entire series has been. THIS is how you tell long-form stories. It's like a master class in serial television writing. Every single moment is so deliberate. There are no "filler" episodes - transitional ones, sure, episodes that move pieces into place for a huge climax, but not a single second is ever wasted. Nothing is ever a "throwaway" detail. Vince Gilligan is, as a writer and a director, such an incredibly detail-oriented person that he can't help but create continuity porn, lol. And as perfect (and as necessary) as the ending is, part of me wishes it could go on forever, because OMG SO GOOD. Bring on the Better Call Saul spin-off! And the detective series! Basically, I will watch anything Gilligan does, ever, for all eternity.
So... I am going to go cry for a while and then pre-order the complete series on DVD. What did everyone else think?
In some ways, because of the flash-forwards, the finale was a bit paint-by-numbers? We knew the big-ass machine gun would play a role, we knew it would probably be for the Nazis. We knew the ricin would play a role, we could guess that it would probably be for Lydia. We could guess that Walt would probably end up freeing Jesse, and I even had a suspicion that Walt would want Jesse to be the one to kill him. I admit, I didn't expect Walt to leave his money with Gretchen and Elliott, so that scene was pretty tense, but for a show that has consistently defied expectations in the wildest ways, much of the finale was actually predicted by a lot of people ahead of time.
But ~what happens~ is almost beside the point. It's the character moments that matter - Walt FINALLY admitting that he did all of this for himself, Skyler finally getting to hear the truth, Jesse deciding to walk away from Walt. THAT is the moment of closure between them that I was waiting for. After everything, after all Jesse has been through, FINALLY he can stand up to Walt and not give him what he wants. I'm sure it's tempting, and lord knows Jesse deserves that revenge. But Jesse is just fucking done. How many more pieces of his soul can he stand to lose? Walt first made him a killer when he asked him to shoot Gale, but he's not going to put this death on Jesse's hands. The motherfucker is still going to die, and Jesse can see that, so he gets the satisfaction of knowing it without having to pull the trigger. And OF COURSE Walt dies in the meth lab. Perfect.
I am just blown away at how well-structured this entire series has been. THIS is how you tell long-form stories. It's like a master class in serial television writing. Every single moment is so deliberate. There are no "filler" episodes - transitional ones, sure, episodes that move pieces into place for a huge climax, but not a single second is ever wasted. Nothing is ever a "throwaway" detail. Vince Gilligan is, as a writer and a director, such an incredibly detail-oriented person that he can't help but create continuity porn, lol. And as perfect (and as necessary) as the ending is, part of me wishes it could go on forever, because OMG SO GOOD. Bring on the Better Call Saul spin-off! And the detective series! Basically, I will watch anything Gilligan does, ever, for all eternity.
So... I am going to go cry for a while and then pre-order the complete series on DVD. What did everyone else think?
