[*here there be spoilers*]
As
Breaking Bad, almost indisputably one of the best teevee shows ever, winds up as strongly as any series could hope for, it behooves us to do what everyone else is currently doing, and provide some deeper insight to the ongoing proceedings.
Having watched the show first-run from the very start, but not having Netflixed in between seasons, it's actually somewhat difficult to draw from memory specific threads from early episodes to these amazingly intense homestretch episodes. But catching a few episodes from the first two seasons in last week's marathon brought back many fine details and nuances -- the unrelenting madness of Tuco and the consequences of dealing with it; the gamesmanship between Walt and Fring; the professional (professorial?) distance Jesse always kept between Walt and himself; the way Hank seamlessly morphed from blustery jock-cop to determined bloodhound. You could go on and on and on.
But really, both eight-episode "halves" of the final season were constructed and paced nearly to perfection, culminating in the now-infamous
third-to-last episode, whose title said it all, the same way its
Sopranos episodic counterpart used a related poetic reference as an anticipatory framing device.
Feel free to correct my dumb ass, but I think the trend to instant meta-criticism came to fruition with
The Sopranos. By the time that series neared its close, technology had enabled anyone with a connection to inform the rabble of their deeper insights of each episode. This persisted not only to the more obvious, narrative-driven salient points of the scene or episode, but to the apparent visual cues and
MacGuffins contained therein.
With high-stakes series such as
The Sopranos,
The Wire, or (in this case)
Breaking Bad, this makes sense, and it has only accelerated with the vaunted advent of social media. But it has also cemented the
observer effect on such shows, as they navigate through their respective narratives, and ultimately determine the "right" way to eventually come to a satisfying conclusion.
The ability and popularity of binge-watching (and I've done that as well, especially with Showtime series such as
Dexter,
Homeland, and
The Borgias) has a similar effect, I think, in that you no longer spend a week or even a day digesting the layers of the episode you just viewed; you move on to the next one, right away or tomorrow. You don't have to wait anymore. This too will affect the production and writing of future series, guaranteed. Another trend with these critically acclaimed series is the decisions by their creators to end strong, after five or seven seasons, resisting the urge to milk a premise to death, to a limp-dick end watched only by die-hards who sat it out for a sense of completion.
A big part of the magic of
BB, the show and its finale, was that so many threads were pulled, and while so many were left to be resolved, the major threads
were resolved, and in a way that didn't leave people on a ledge the way the
Sopranos finale did. As with
Sopranos or
The Wire, there have always been clues in the episode titles, and
Felina did not disappoint on that account. From the Marty Robbins reference to the blood (Fe), meth (Li), and tears (Na) chemical breakdown to the playing out of all the elements, the episode rang true to Walt's statement in the pilot about chemistry being the science of transformation. I defy you to find any dramatic work -- including Shakespeare -- where every single character transformed so tremendously, so catastrophically.
I'll probably Netflix the entire series over the winter, and I have no doubt that I'll catch any number of catalyzing scenes and events that more fully inform the final half-season. In the meantime, what transpired was nothing short of rare, true greatness, the kind of "dramatic Halley's comet" folks were lucky to catch once or twice in a lifetime.
Like the aforementioned shows as well as
Game of Thrones and past treasures such as
The Shield, these shows are obviously rare confluences of spectacular writing and strong ensembles, catalyzed by one or two "force of nature" type performers who are enabled by the overall strength of the cast. In an endless ocean of dross, these are things that give you a sliver of hope, and maybe even a reason to watch.
