The penultimate episode of Breaking Bad’s final season –
'Granite State' – was a slow-moving affair, which really accentuated every facet
of the story that was in need of resolution. The episode showed the complete dissolution
of Walter White, as his solitary lifestyle broke his spirit and allowed for his
body to deteriorate. After all the terrible things he had done, it was
impossible not to feel sorry for Walt throughout the episode; the desperation
in his voice when he pleaded for an extra couple of hours of company; the image
of his wedding ring symbolically dropping from his finger; and most of all, the
expression of total defeat on his face when his son told him that he hated him
and wished he was dead. The man shown throughout ‘Granite State’ was most definitely
Walter White, and no longer Heisenberg.
The penultimate episode also left Jesse in a very bad state,
also broken down by his circumstances: brutally beaten and unshaved. A desperate
escape attempt only worsened his situation, as his ex-girlfriend Andrea was
gunned down right in front of him. He no longer cared about his own life, but
his captors knew exactly what would hurt him more.
A couple of glimpses of Walt’s last stand had already been
offered throughout the season – purchasing an M60 Machine Gun, and retrieving
the ricin from his former home – but this still meant that there was still a
lot to be resolved, and all in the space of a single episode. ‘Felina’ delivered
in a big way, addressing every storyline and giving each one enough time so
that the resolutions always felt satisfying.
After seeing his former business partners on the television
at the climax of last week’s episode, there was a very tense atmosphere
surrounding exactly what Walt’s intentions were as he snuck into their house. It
turned out that Walt had come up with an ingenious plan to make sure his son
would get the money after all. And then just as I began thinking “if Walt dies,
then what’s stopping Elliot and Gretchen from reneging on the agreement?” then
Walt’s insurance policy kicked in: the threat of assassination.
As Walt returned to his car it became very clear that his
associates were not master assassins, from the shambling manner with which they
ran towards the car, and sure enough they were revealed to be Badger and Skinny
Pete. As characters who tend to offer a more comedic (and less heavy) tone,
they have been largely absent for most of the fifth season, so it was nice to
see them make one last appearance.
Walt then appeared before Lydia and Todd as a desperate man,
offering the formula for a new brand of crystal meth, which required no methylamine.
After Walt left both Todd and Lydia revealed that they had no intentions of
going along with his plan. It appeared that not all of Walt’s plans would
follow through, but of course appearances (like Walt’s guise of a desperate
man) can be deceiving. This scene will be fascinating to re-watch with the
benefit of foresight, because there is a lot more going on than there first
seems to be.
Marie’s final appearance saw her on the phone to Skyler,
informing her that Walt had been seen, and that the police would not let him
get anywhere near her. Skyler listened to all of this with a look of detachment,
before she hung up the phone and the camera zoomed in to reveal that Walt was
in the room with her the whole time; a clever trick which was executed very
well. In this scene Walt gave Skyler the co-ordinates that would lead to police
to Hank and Gomez’s burial ground, and he dropped the pretence that he did
everything for his family, stating simply “I did it for me. I liked it. I was
good at it.”
Just before he said goodbye to Skyler, he got one last
moment with baby Holly. Unfortunately he had no such moment with his son, from
whom he had become far too alienated by this stage. He watched from a distance
as Flynn (formerly known as Walt Jr.) walked into his new home, blissfully
unaware of his father’s presence.
It was then time for Walt to make his last stand, driving
into the hideout of Uncle Jack and the rest of his neo-Nazi cohorts. This scene
was unbelievably tense to watch, as I had the constant feeling that something
would go wrong. The deaths of Hank and Gomez in ‘Ozymandias’ proved that Vince
Gilligan was not afraid to make painful decisions. I had a feeling that Walt’s
rigged up M60 plan would not be allowed to come to fruition because it might
seem a bit too dramatically convenient for the show. But once he had his hand
on the car keys I felt a little more at ease, and knew that Walt would shield
Jesse from the ensuing gunfire.
When I saw that Todd had survived the gunfire, I thought his
first instinct would be to shoot both Walt and Jesse, but fortunately he didn’t
and Jesse was able to choke Todd to death with his chains. Then of course there
was the death of Uncle Jack, who tried to barter for his own life with the same
money Walt had offered in exchange for Hank’s. Just like before, it didn’t work.
The bluntness of Uncle Jack’s death was very gratifying (much more so than the
death of Michael Bowen’s previous villainous incarnation in “Lost”).
Then finally it came down to Jesse and Walt, exactly the way
it was always meant to. Walt did the right thing and placed his life in Jesse’s
hands, offering him the gun and telling him to do it. Walt must have wanted
this to happen (why else would he have told the truth about Jane’s death?) but
Jesse refused to grant Walt’s wish, noticing that he was wounded and would
likely die soon anyway. Jesse then drove away from his prison (in more than one
sense of the word) at top speed, letting loose a yell of pure elation.
A phone call from Lydia to Todd’s cell-phone then came
through, and Walt answered it, revealing what he had done with the ricin, and
bidding Lydia an emotionless “goodbye”. This scene was almost comedic, proving
for one final time just how smart Walt really was.
Walt then made his way into the meth lab, taking one last
look at all the chemistry equipment. Then just as the police cars arrived on
the scene he collapsed to the floor, leaving a bloody handprint on the lab
equipment. Walt managed to do all that he set out to do, and then died before
he could get caught by the police.
The episode was brilliantly paced, it tied up all the loose
ends, it delivered retribution for Hank’s shocking death, and it brought as
much redemption to Walter White as possible (he could never fully make amends for all the terrible things he had done) before the end. This is exactly
what a series finale should be, and will likely set the benchmark for other
great television dramas going forward.
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