By Price Zimmer ’14 | Entertainment Editor
The journey of Walter White, his family and his “business associates” has reached an ultimate conclusion, in an excellent series finale titled “Felina”.
To avoid major spoilers, I’ll go a little soft on the plot coverage, but suffice to say, Walt, the chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin, does his best to try to right the wrongs he has committed and end his meth empire. It resolves Walt’s story completely, there truly is nothing left to tell in the tale of Walter White. Seeing how far he and the other characters have come, the finale is a real treat, however bittersweet it might be.
As usual, the attention to detail, from the most dramatic of sequences to the shortest of shots, is the best attribute to the series, which separates this show from so many others. The writing on “Breaking Bad” is some of the finest to ever grace the idiot box. Series creator Vince Gilligan and his team should be very proud for the way they handled the end of this show: going out on top.
Right behind the writing on this show, is the acting. Cranston is as fantastic as he’s ever been, even when he doesn’t say a word, it is impossible to tell that this is an actor acting on a television show. Anna Gunn as Walter’s wife Skyler also has a standout scene, her last of the series that sums up her entire role in the series, old dynamics are still in play even in this very different world.
The lack of dialogue is fitting in this episode, it’s almost as if the show is trying to tell it’s audience how little left it has say and would prefer to show us, as it always has, the ending of this story. This is highlighted by Aaron Paul’s final performance as Jesse Pinkman, a fan favorite for how much he has regretted being in the meth business, only has maybe two lines at most the entire episode, yet the raw emotion he has toward Walt and the neo-Nazis is palpable.
The final episode was directed by Gilligan and he does a solid job finishing this show, which was truly his metaphorical baby. The camera work is well-done and the series symbolism, so often over analyzed by die-hard fans, is still in play. Yet, he still made time for some lighter moments and fun shots to keep his viewership entertained right till the very end.
There isn’t much else to say, “Felina”, an anagram for finale, was one of the very best series finales to ever be made, concluding the tale of Heisenberg with gumption and usual excellence.
A on The Z-Scale
