Some great comments on last night’s Breaking Bad finale:
– Todd VanDerWerff: ““ABQ,” like seemingly every drama since The Sopranos debuted, was more of a contemplative hour than the episode that preceded it, aside from the plane crash at the end (which, I’ll admit, is the most hilarious qualifier ever). The Sopranos model of having the penultimate episode be the one where the major plot stuff goes down followed here, where “Phoenix” saw the death of Jane, the birth of Holly and Walt’s deal with Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) go through to the tune of $1.2 million. “ABQ,” then, was about Walt getting a moment to truly feel the human toll of what he’s embarked upon.”
– Alan Sepinwall interviews Bad creator Vince Gilligan: “Walt really has, in our minds, too, turned into something of a monster, throughout this whole 20 episodes we’ve done so far. The conceit that he’s doing this all for his family, has gone by the wayside quite a long time ago. To me, that’s what’s interesting about the show, and makes me get out of bed every morning, enthused to be a part of it, is we’re not leaving this character static. We’re changing him in increments, sometimes small, sometimes large, and we don’t know exactly where he’s going to end up.”
– Maureen Ryan provides a contrarian, or at least contrary, view: “Maybe it’s a guy thing. So many TV shows these days are about men who, on the surface, have conventional or at least acceptable lives, but secretly (or not so secretly) are breaking the rules. And they get away with it (despite the presence of scolding women who attempt to keep them in line). Is this a fantasy wish-fulfillment scenario for dudes?”