Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyser
having a few days to think about it, im getting a bit less happy with the last season.
i know it was walts story all along, but jesse was a borderline afterthought in the final few episodes, and as much as we didnt care about skylar and walt jr for much of the show, their final fall out with walt was weak, too.
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There was too much to have a perfect final episode. The material covered was easily three episodes' worth. I see it more as a postscript to the story that essentially ended with Walt reaching the cabin in New Hampshire.
I think Jesse's story ended with the money going out the window. He might blame Walt for everything that happened around him, but he was merely the portrait to Heisenberg's Dorian Gray. His outcome was never all that important to the story. He became a minor character this season, simply a mechanism to give Walt a more heroic ending. His story was told. If we see him 20 years from now with a wife and family, it's an uncomfortable distraction.
I could see Jesse going out like that guy with cancer on The Sopranos who offed the bad guy, then crashed his car into a pole while coughing up blood (an homage like that to The Sopranos would have been great). But that ending for Jesse would have been more appropriate with the money out the window subplot. Gilligan chose instead to use it to set up Hank's death and the need for revenge finale against Jack/Todd. We couldn't have Jesse die in the finale because it's Walt's story.
As for Skyler, I think she was redeemed this season. That was her role this season. She accepted Walt's actions for what they were. That cost him her love - which is understandable considering the risk he exposed his family to (ultimately resulting in Hank's death) and ostensibly shown with Todd holding Holly hostage temporarily. She remained loyal to the family, a test Jesse failed. Because her motivation is Junior and Holly. She might have been a more minor character this season, but I think her story was well told. Junior is still just a kid. His role was always ornamental.
The genius of the final episode wasn't in the machine gun. It was in Walt's ability to both avenge his mistreatment by Gretchen/Elliott without violence, and, at the same time, figure out how to get the money to his family without anyone knowing how.
"If we're going to go that way, you're going to need a bigger knife."
There wasn't a better line in the entire series, and it perfectly encapsulated Walt's growth over the past two years.