Breaking Bad, "Felina"

**SPOILERS HEREIN!**

Well, the answers to all our guessing games about who would survive and what would happen are now revealed. Turns out I was wrong about Walt (Bryan Cranston) shooting the neighbor lady, but my eventual assumption that the machine gun in the trunk was going to be used on the Nazis proved to be correct. My rumination on Skyler’s (Anna Gunn) interrogation scene last week turned out to be for naught. And one personal thought I didn’t blog on—that the series’ very last scene would be a funny one finding Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) adjusting to his new identity—also, incorrect.

As for the episode itself, I’m a little torn. Last week I used an analogy about how the show was setting up every loose end like bowling pins. Well, this episode didn’t level them all in a strike, but seemed to instead  knock each one down individually, in order, so as not to leave any loose end untied. It resolved everything, but it didn’t exactly have the explosive impact desired for a finale.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy how some of the loose ends were tied up. I loved the sequence where Walt paid a visit to Gretchen (Jessica Hecht) and Elliot (Adam Godley). I loved the way it started off tense and had us thinking Walt was going to do horrible things to them, then seemed like he really was only there with good intent, then revealed that no, he hadn’t gone soft, then twisted yet again to reveal he’d lost so much of his clout he could only bluff at this point. I also got a great deal of satisfaction seeing the Nazis get blown away, and Todd (Jesse Plemons) getting spared momentarily for Jesse (Aaron Paul) to finish him off.

Parts of it were very good, and the slow, deliberate way each scene built to its end, and every scene built to the climax, reminded me of the very tense tone in the final two episodes of season four, during Walt and Gus Fring’s endgame. But I couldn’t quite get past the fact that from a story standpoint, it basically runs down a checklist of every loose end and crosses them off, instead of building toward a conclusion organically. Some of the tie-ups were a little disappointing, too. For instance, Skyler deserved a lot more resolution than just a single scene. So did Jesse, especially after the Hell he went through this season.

So, that’s how I feel about this episode structurally speaking. As for the ending, I’m going to need some time to let it sink in and think about it.

One little element I loved, though: Todd’s ringtone for his apparent unrequited crush Lydia (Laura Fraser), a very big laugh coming just after the most climactic moment. This is one of the things I’ll miss most about the show, how it injects humor into spots where we’re not even thinking about humor. And it works. Whether it be casting a character like Saul or a throwaway scene like a pizza on the roof, it always worked.

Coming later this week: Final thoughts on season five, and the series.