Breaking Bad: 10 Reasons Why Felina Is The Perfect Series Finale
Peak TV series Breaking Bad did the impossible — it pulled off a stellar series finale. Walter White's saga wrapped up a hugely satisfying ending.
Yet, against all odds, season 5’s “Felina,” written and directed by series creator Vince Gilligan, was a stunningly satisfactory ending. Here are 10 reasons why Breaking Bad’s “Felina” is the perfect series finale.
Walt Got One Last Moment With Every Major Character
Walter White’s character arc has always been marked by his relationships with other characters, like his father-son bond with Jesse, his troubled marriage to Skyler, and his lie-riddled friendship with Hank. In “Felina,” Walt got one last moment with each of the surviving major characters.
He sees Walt, Jr. from afar one last time, tragically knowing it’ll be the last time he sees his son; he has one last conversation with Skyler, separated symbolically and literally by a wall; and he decides to save Jesse’s life at the last second.
It Tied Up All The Important Loose Ends
Some Breaking Bad fans have pointed out that a few loose ends, like whether or not Huell left the safe house Hank put him in, didn’t get tied up. But all the important storylines got resolved in the finale.
From poisoning Lydia via her stevia to confronting Gretchen and Elliott once and for all, Walt used his final trip into Albuquerque to tie up all the loose ends he left behind.
It Made The Series Feel Like A Complete Work
If Vince Gilligan and co. hadn’t managed to stick the landing with the series finale, then Breaking Bad would feel disjointed if you went back to rewatch it today. Like Dexter, it would be remembered as a great show, but wouldn’t hold up on a beginning-to-end binge.
However, with its spectacular series finale tying up the immense 62-episode narrative arc that began with the pilot episode, Breaking Bad holds up as a complete work, like a televised novel.
Walt Used His Genius To Come Out On Top
There are many reasons why Walter White has been hailed as the greatest character in television history. But one of the reasons he’s so interesting is that he’s a bona fide genius.
And in “Felina,” he uses his genius to come out on top, staying one step ahead of all his enemies and figuring out the perfect way to dole out justice. It was a brilliant swansong for the iconic character.
The Climax Of The Series Came Two Episodes Earlier
When a lot of TV shows are leading up to their final episode, the writers will save the climactic moments for the finale. However, Breaking Bad took an interesting approach. Instead of reaching its climax in “Felina,” Breaking Bad’s climax came two episodes earlier in “Ozymandias.”
This allowed for the penultimate episode, “Granite State,” to revel in the aftermath of the explosive moments in “Ozymandias,” giving Walt time to reflect on his actions. Then, “Felina” had a great setup to work from: Walt isn’t happy with how things ended, so he returns to New Mexico to settle his scores in a triumphant suicide mission.
Walt And Jesse’s Final Moment Pays Off Their Entire Relationship
Ever since Walt approached Jesse and asked him to partner up for a new meth empire, their relationship had been the heart and soul of Breaking Bad. Walt had plenty of other relationships, but since he had to lie to everyone else, Jesse was the one who knew him best, and the one who was most devastatingly affected by his actions.
In “Felina,” the two share a final moment in which Walt tells Jesse to shoot him dead after saving his life and Jesse decides not to do it. Vince Gilligan has said that this scene was inspired by The Searchers, and that raw emotion shows in Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul’s impeccable-as-always acting.
It Was Beautifully Foreshadowed Throughout The Season
Most TV shows leave their ending for the final episode itself, but Breaking Bad started foreshadowing its finale months before it actually aired. The fifth season of Breaking Bad begins with Walt celebrating his 52nd birthday with a new look and a new identity, before buying an M60 machine gun.
More flash-forwards throughout the fifth season foreshadowed “Felina” before the finale itself filled in all the blanks in an uncannily satisfying way.
Walt Isn’t Redeemed
It would’ve been easy to give Breaking Bad a cop-out ending in which Walter White is redeemed after 61 episodes of slowly letting his evil out of its cage. But Vince Gilligan didn’t go that way.
Even after Walt decides to save Jesse’s life, he isn’t redeemed. He’s made unforgivable mistakes, and even Walt himself knows it, hence the nothing-to-lose attitude.
Jesse Got The Happy Ending He Deserved
While Walt undeniably deserved to die (which is even reflected in Badfinger’s “Guess I got what I deserved…” lyric), Jesse deserved his happy ending. Walt was evil, but Jesse was just a misunderstood kid who got swept up in the wrong crowd at an impressionable age.
And after everything he goes through in the final episodes — getting enslaved as a meth cook and being forced to watch the love of his life get killed after a futile escape attempt — he deserves a happy ending more than ever.
The End Of The Walter White Saga Was Appropriately Bittersweet
In the final moments of “Felina,” when Walt uses his M60 to decimate Uncle Jack and his white supremacist gang, he takes a bullet in the torso. The wound proves to be fatal, but not immediately. Set beautifully to the sounds of Badfinger’s “Baby Blue,” Walt wanders through a meth lab, looking back on his cooking days nostalgically, before dropping dead as the cops raid the place.
It was an appropriately bittersweet ending to the saga of Walter White. Walt faces his fate, accepts that he deserves to die, and fondly remembers what a helluva ride it was.
