Breaking Bad

[MacGuffin]

Oliver Stone Slams "Ridiculous" Violence In 'Breaking Bad' Finale
BY THE DEADLINE TEAM
      
[SPOILER WARNING!] Not every Breaking Bad-watcher had glowing praise for last week's historic, ratings-grabbing finale. Oliver Stone jumped on the Bad wagon just in time to see Walter White's saga conclude in its fifth season. "I happen to not watch the series very much, but I happened to tune in and I saw the most ridiculous 15 minutes of a movie — it would be laughed off the screen," he said while promoting his Showtime docu series The Untold History of the United States. Then the director went off in detail on the episode's violent culmination.

Said Natural Born Killers and Savages helmer Stone, playing pop culture critic on the show's bullet-ridden "fantasy violence": "Nobody could park his car right then and there and could have a machine gun that could go off perfectly and kill all of the bad guys! It would be a joke. It's only in the movies that you find this kind of fantasy violence. And that's infected the American culture; you young people believe all of this shit! Batman and Superman, you've lost your minds, and you don't even know it! At least respect violence. I'm not saying don't show violence, but show it with authenticity."

[Frederico Fellini]

ALL ABOARD THE IRRELEVANT TRAIN!

[mogwai]

He's been irrelevant since NBK. The violence in the last scene of Scarface is ridiculous. And a fucking overrated movie as well.

[Mel]

Criticizing violence in Breaking Bad? Go back to season 3 and the Cousins - characters almost taken from cartoon and going about killing people in silly ways. I could listen to that, but Stone is just searching for limelight right now.

"I happen to not watch the series very much, but I happened to tune in and (...)" - this screams trolling.

[socketlevel]

He's been irrelevant since NBK. The violence in the last scene of Scarface is ridiculous. And a fucking overrated movie as well.

any given sunday is the tits. he didn't direct scarface.

[Alexandro]

Nixon is also a masterpiece. Yes, it's not considered "relevant", but it's a masterpiece.

About the finale.

Obviously no one read the article I linked. I don't fully agree with it but some of the things that are mentioned haven't, so far, been mentioned here.

The two most important things are:

*Walter asking Jesse to kill him.
The most common reading of this action is that Walter is aiming for redemption by first saving Jesse and then giving him the chance for revenge. First, to me, yes he saves Jesse, but that's not part of the plan. It's a spur of the moment thing. He goes there expecting to kill him, he believes Jesse is an associate of the nazis and cooks for them. When he sees him beat up and turned into an animal, he understands what happened and tries to save him...or is he just using him to make his movie and create chaos while the M60 fires in all directions? Then he asks Jesse to kill him. Now, this is your standard Walter White asshole move regarding Jesse, which is manipulation for his own benefit and dragging Jesse down to his evil intentions. All through the series Walter is the devil tempting Jesse to be bad, and Jesse always ends up coming back to him and directly or indirectly, helping him out. When Jesse says no here, it frees him forever of Walter White.

About Walter, this is not a sympathetic move at all. If the aim is to make him look endearing, you would have to be as nuts as he to see it that way. Walter is a sociopath (I said this before), which means all he does is to satisfy his own needs and desires, and he doesn't care about anything or anyone else. Yes, he does all these "good" deeds in the last episode, but they're only good if you are crazy and no one enjoys their happening more than him.

*The second thing the article mentions is the self realization of Walter in the finale, which for him is heroic, but looked from the outside is pathetic. Walter believes he is a criminal mastermind. Heisenberg and shit. But he isn't. He never was. One of the things that always bothered me about the show (but now I admire) is that Walter never fully became a gangster. Every time he tried to act like one in the same scene with other real criminals, he looked like a geek. When he asks the Nazis to kill Jesse and is there negotiating a fee, you never get the sense of him having the upper hand, it always feels like he's too lucky because if any of the criminals who are after him see through him, they will kill him. In the last episode we see Walter as he truly is: just a lowlife criminal doing lowlife criminal things. As the article points out, he does this small time criminal acts, stealing a car, breaking in a residence, poisoning an associate (redemption!)...Walter White is a man who has spent his life being a victim of his bad luck, when he gets cancer, he decides to act as the master of his own destiny and forge a dignified ending for his life. This is his arc as a character. In the end, he achieves it. But this image he made for himself and which makes him smile as he dies is not that great anyway. What he sees at the end is that he was only really good as a meth cook. He failed as a father, as a husband, as a teacher, and of course as Heisenberg. He did not win anything. He smiles because he dies in the only place where he could function. Whatever Vince Gilligans says, this is the real image of the guy. When the cops arrive at the end, I notice in the overhead shot that Walter is lying there and the cops pass him, they keep going to look for something else. Well, he's dead, but he's also already forgotten. There is no legacy here, no one cares about blue meth or anything of the sorts.

Now, about the money. Can someone explain to me please why is such a sure thing that those two will make good on their "promise" of delivering the money? When Walter shows up dead why would they care? Because he told them "no matter what happens with me tomorrow these two hitmen will be following you" or whatever? Really?? That's been bothering me since the episode aired. That's no plan, not in this series or in any criminal story. They can simply wait on it and then burn the money, they can keep it, they can give it to other charities...I don't know...when this happened I thought "well, I guess Walt is not really thinking this one through".

I saw the whole series and never read a review or comments from anyone except here at xixax. Never listened to podcasts of course. I was unaware of how in love some fans are with Walter White. In the article when the writer says Walter is pathetic for dying like that, some commenters get offended and see the guy as a hero. This makes me understand why there is such concern among some people here that Walter's final actions and the series conclusion are interpreted as heroic, or that "actions have no consequences". I understand but really, who cares what those people think? As I said, you really have to be crazy or just not see things with clarity to see Walter as something other than a very very very disturbed individual. His selfishness never gave way to something more meaningful. in fact, his moment of clarity is recognizing that he is a selfish bastard.

[mogwai]

He's been irrelevant since NBK. The violence in the last scene of Scarface is ridiculous. And a fucking overrated movie as well.

any given sunday is the tits. he didn't direct scarface.

I know but he wrote the screenplay.

[socketlevel]

he's talking about violence depiction and believability, for all we know the screenplay said "Tony montana exits his bedroom with a gun, shoots and it gunned down." then depalma made it the speghetti western crazy shit show it became.

[polkablues]

he's talking about violence depiction and believability, for all we know the screenplay said "Tony montana exits his bedroom with a gun, shoots and it gunned down." then depalma made it the speghetti western crazy shit show it became.

Or Oliver Stone could just be a hypocritical scrotum, as the case may be:

There's been a steady pounding and calling now on the door     
      of the office. Tony finally hears it, looks up, then over
      at the monitors.
      One of them reveals Chi-Chi standing there outside the door
      pounding it.
                                      CHI-CHI
                Boss !    Hey boss.     Open up!

      On the monitor we see Chi-Chi suddenly spin and open fire
      down into the foyer. Return fire decimates him. A grenade
      goes off, blows him up against the door.

                                      TONY
                Cheeee!

      He now seems to come out of his catatonia, runs to his
      sideboard, hauls out a rocket shoulder-fired rocket
      launcher and straps an Uzi across his shoulder. He looks
      up at the monitor.
      On the monitors, the hitters are now darting across the
      foyer and coming up the left and right hand stairs.
      Three of them are already huddled outside the door, around
      the corpse of Chi-Chi, motioning to-each other, laying a
      grenade at the base of the door to blow it out.
      Tony loading his rocket, ihtends to beat them to the punch,
      talking to himself.

                                 TONY
                 So you wanna play hunh, say hello                 
                 to my little friend here.

      Karroooomph!
      The rocket tears down the door and blows the Columbian
      punks off the landing into the foyer. It sounds like
      Armageddon, one of the hitters screaming, smoke billowing
      wildly.
      Tony, at the height of his mad glory, steps out at the apex
      of the stairs, firing his machine gun and yelling.
                                                   CONTINUED

      #02X4                                166-A
                                                              Rev. 12/21/82
226   c0NT1NuED-      3
                                                                              226
                                    TONY
                   Whores!  Cowards!   You think you                         
                   can kill me with lousy bullets hunh?

      He                                                               CONTINUED

           #02154                        167
                                                       Rev 11/26/82
                                              226   CONTINUED - 3
f-                                                                             22
           Another hitter tumbles down the right-hand stair.

                                        TONY
                       Who you think I am? I kill all you
                       fuckin' assholes.  I take you all to
                       fuckin' hell!

           Left.    Right
           Another hitter   drops,   screaming, off the stairs into the
           pool below.
           A grenade goes off. Tony is hit again, but keeps on firing
           away.  Laughing like a madman.

                                        TONY
                       You need an army you hear!    An army
                       to kill me!

           Behind him we see the remainder of the pound of cocaine go
           up in a burst of wind, whipping around the office in auras
           of white.  It is a ghostly effect out of which now appears
           the face of the Skull moving from the terrace towards    _
           Tony's back with a sawed-off shotgun.

                                        TONY
                       Ha ha ha ha ha! You whores, you
                       scum, I piss in your faces !!!! Ha
                       ha ha ha ha!!

           The Skull, now inches from Tony's back, pulls   the   trigger
           and blows Tony's spine out his belly.
           Tony crashes forward over the bannister into the interior
           swimming pool below.
           He floats quietly face down in the lit blue waters.
           As the titles begin their crawl up, the music theme is
           expressive salsa with a dash of gaiety.
           The camera moving off Tony to catch the reflection of the
           lit sculpture on the surface of the still waters.   It says:
                              "THE WORLD IS YOURS"
           And so, for the brief moment, it was.

[MacGuffin]

Anthony Hopkins Gushes Over 'Breaking Bad' Star Bryan Cranston in Fan Letter
"Your performance as Walter White was the best acting I have seen -- ever," Hopkins writes.
Source: THR

Count Anthony Hopkins among the legions of Breaking Bad fans who couldn't get enough of the show.

Just over two weeks after the AMC drama aired its series finale, a letter surfaced that Hopkins wrote to star Bryan Cranston, in which he gushes over the actor's performance. Hopkins says he just finished watching a marathon of all five seasons of the show (he refers to a sixth season, but the fifth season was actually split into two).

"A total of two weeks (addictive) viewing," he writes. "I have never watched anything like it. Brilliant! Your performance as Walter White was the best acting I have seen -- ever. I know there is so much smoke blowing and sickening bullshit in this business, and I've sort of lost belief in anything really. But this work of yours is spectacular -- absolutely stunning. What is extraordinary, is the sheer power of everyone in the entire production."

Hopkins also goes on to praise the rest of the cast as well, and asks Cranston to "pass on my admiration to everyone."

"Everyone gave master classes of performance," he writes.

He also praises the Vince Gilligan-created show's overall arc and storytelling.

"From what started as a black comedy, descended into a labyrinth of blood, destruction and hell," he writes. "It was like a great Jacobean, Shakespearian [sic] or Greek Tragedy."

The letter first surfaced over the weekend on Breaking Bad co-star Steven Michael Quezada's Facebook page, according to Gawker, but the post has since been deleted, as has a tweet he wrote about the letter. But The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Hopkins is indeed the author and that the letter is authentic.

The Breaking Bad series finale aired Sept. 29, drawing a record 10.3 million viewers.

While many in Hollywood tweeted their enthusiasm for the show and especially the series finale, Oliver Stone and Britney Spears recently expressed their displeasure with the events of the final episode.

Read Hopkins' full letter below.

Dear Mister Cranston.

I wanted to write you this email – so I am contacting you through Jeremy Barber – I take it we are both represented by UTA . Great agency.

I've just finished a marathon of watching "BREAKING BAD" – from episode one of the First Season – to the last eight episodes of the Sixth Season. (I downloaded the last season on AMAZON) A total of two weeks (addictive) viewing.

I have never watched anything like it. Brilliant!

Your performance as Walter White was the best acting I have seen – ever.

I know there is so much smoke blowing and sickening bullshit in this business, and I've sort of lost belief in anything really.

But this work of yours is spectacular – absolutely stunning. What is extraordinary, is the sheer power of everyone in the entire production. What was it? Five or six years in the making? How the producers (yourself being one of them), the writers, directors, cinematographers.... every department – casting etc. managed to keep the discipline and control from beginning to the end is (that over used word) awesome.

From what started as a black comedy, descended into a labyrinth of blood, destruction and hell. It was like a great Jacobean, Shakespearian or Greek Tragedy.

If you ever get a chance to – would you pass on my admiration to everyone – Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Aaron Paul, Betsy Brandt, R.J. Mitte, Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Steven Michael Quezada – everyone – everyone gave master classes of performance ... The list is endless.

Thank you. That kind of work/artistry is rare, and when, once in a while, it occurs, as in this epic work, it restores confidence.

You and all the cast are the best actors I've ever seen.

That may sound like a good lung full of smoke blowing. But it is not. It's almost midnight out here in Malibu, and I felt compelled to write this email.

Congratulations and my deepest respect. You are truly a great, great actor.

Best regards

Tony Hopkins.

[Tictacbk]

I did most of my post-Breaking Bad reading here so I wasn't even aware of this until a friend asked me what I thought about it... Apparently Norm Macdonald thought the finale was much too satisfying for Walt too.  His theory is that Walt died in that car when the cops surrounded him and the rest is Walt's fantasy, and he was tweeting a LOT about it: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/10/04/norm-macdonald-tells-you-how-breaking-bad-really-ended/

Would be kind of an interesting theory if Vince Gilligan didn't basically say it's not what happened.

[Frederico Fellini]

I like this theory.  I especially like this quote:

"Sean, you must never trust what an author says about his work. What he has to say is all in the work. If he had more, he would include it." - Norm MacDonald.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I've heard that theory, and I don't like it. Actually it was debunked (with logic) in the Slate's Spoiler Special podcast. I'll paraphrase:

If he died in the car, how would you explain the flash forwards? It's very unlikely that the show flashed forward to events that will never happen. That violates every rule of narrative and common sense. Not even Lynch would do that. It would also be dumb.

[Mel]

He's the most wanted man there is, but he eats at a diner and chats with a waitress and appears wherever he wants. - Norm

He is already dead by then. He died from cancer in the cabin, all alone. Moreover everything later on isn't Walt's fantasy. Jesse is imagining an escape from impossible situation - in the end it was speciality of Walt. Didn't you notice how similar wooden box made by Jesse and cardboard box with money carried by Walt are? Start from there and you will find more clues.

He/she died and rest is fantasy - one of he cheesiest scenarios I can think of. I don't see how such theory could be improvement of any kind.

[xerxes]

I think The New Yorker ran with that theory a little in their review as well.