MW03 said:

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That was really pretty masterful, especially as a "universe" finale. I appreciated that they gave Marie closure as well. That was a good moment for the BB fans.

I loved the of flashbacks, punctuated by his moment with Chuck. "If you don't like where you're headed, there's no shame in going back and picking a new path." He had to prove to himself that he could beat the government and give Slipping Jimmy closure as well before he went back and took Chuck's advice. I don't know that he ever had regrets before the end of the series, and I think he was somewhat confused by people who did.

I think the line of the series was him on the phone with Kim, saying that they were both too smart to throw away their lives for nothing. It's almost like he thought he was in it with Kim, and that the two of them were kindred spirits. It took Kim risking everything just to do the right thing for him to come to grips with his own regret because it's wasn't him and her anymore. It was just him by himself. I think up until the moment the ADA told him in the negotiating room, he was planning to take the deal and go on being one of a pair in the world that understood how it really ticked.

But when Kim came clean, she showed him that coming clean was not a "nothing" and worth giving up your life. For the first time, he didn't like where he was headed, and he decided to go back and choose a new path.

Crazy that Breaking Bad debuted in 2008. There were so many times it felt like that series was going to be cancelled. Somewhere along the way, it found itself in the zeitgeist, and theaters were holding watching parties for episodes as they aired. Now here we are, 14 years later, and we're saying goodbye to that universe after two fundamental series. Both very different, both intertwined. It's truly remarkable, and I can't think of another story in entertainment like it.

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OldShadeOfBlue said:

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Seven Costanza said:

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I'm guessing that Anna Gunn didn't want to make a cameo because everyone hated her character so much. She complained about it quite a bit at the time.

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it just doesn't make sense to involve her. She had no connection to Saul. She's estranged from her sister. If anyone would be there maybe it's Flynn supporting his aunt.

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fc2112 said:

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And do Super Max prisons have yards where you can see outside people walking in and out and play basketball like they showed at the end?

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oragator said:

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2 things.

First, in the end, against all odds it was a love story.

Second, BB had some of the worst female characters written. It was like they had no clue had to write a competent impactful female. To go from that to Kim is really remarkable.

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oragator said:

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Skylar could have been written out of the show, Walt as a single guy raising his son as the premise, and almost nothing would have changed (assuming you made Marie his sister). She was maybe the sixth most important person on there despite being the wife of the lead. They gave her almost nothing to do until they bought the car wash other than to nag Walter, and even then she was monotone. Then they brought in Lydia who was an executive and successful and made her an airhead. Critics say "misogyny" was behind it, but Kim is universally loved despite kicking Sail to the curb. The difference is in the depth Peter and Vince gave them comparatively. Kim had the law, a full history, was strong publicly and privately, had ambitions on who she wanted to be, a complex moral code…What did Skylar really have other than her family? We never sympathized with her because the writers never gave us a real reason to.

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Belton Ag said:

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fc2112 said:

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And do Super Max prisons have yards where you can see outside people walking in and out and play basketball like they showed at the end?

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There is no ADX Montrose as in BCS but there is an ADX Florence in Colorado, which I suspect is what the TV prison is modeled after.

ADX Florence is where the worst offenders not on death row are housed. El Chapo, the Unabomber, and some Al Qaeda guys are there.

I think there are different levels of security in the main prison where some inmates can congregate, but in the ADX portion I doubt you'll see El Chapo and the Unabomber playing basketball together in the yard. I don't even think those guys can get visitors alone like in the show.

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Belton Ag said:

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fc2112 said:

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And do Super Max prisons have yards where you can see outside people walking in and out and play basketball like they showed at the end?

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There is no ADX Montrose as in BCS but there is an ADX Florence in Colorado, which I suspect is what the TV prison is modeled after.

ADX Florence is where the worst offenders not on death row are housed. El Chapo, the Unabomber, and some Al Qaeda guys are there.

I think there are different levels of security in the main prison where some inmates can congregate, but in the ADX portion I doubt you'll see El Chapo and the Unabomber playing basketball together in the yard. I don't even think those guys can get visitors alone like in the show.

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Tobias Funke said:

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Quote:

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Anyone else notice Marie wasn't wearing purple? She's never worn purple since Hank was killed. And anyone notice the only color in the Gene timeline was the tip of the cigarette when they were smoking in prison? A cigarette is the only light in a Super Max.

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These two questions kind of contradict each other, no?

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TCTTS said:

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On a less emotional note, one thing I kept thinking during these final three or four episodes, but especially tonight, is how cool it would be to actually watch the entire franchise in chronological order, either as a virgin or veteran to the world, where you could take *all* the black and white scenes/episodes and watch them together as one long "movie" of sorts at the end. Keep all the other flashbacks where they are - anything with Gus and his history, keep the Breaking Bad flashbacks exactly where they are in the black and white story, etc - but basically go...

- BETTER CALL SAUL - S1-S6 (minus all black and white scenes/episodes)
- BREAKING BAD - S1-S5
- EL CAMINO
- BETTER CALL SALL EPILOGUE - All black and white scenes/episodes edited together (w/ Breaking Bad flashbacks intact)

Then the entire franchise is basically bookended by the Jimmy/Kim story, with an epic crime drama in the middle.

I just think it would be really cool to see something like this offered as an alternate option on Netflix or AMC+ or wherever the franchise ultimately ends up streaming.

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Quote:

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Finally, though, after mostly avoiding spoilers for 24 hours (save for one prominent outlet using a black-and-white image of Marie in a courtroom, in a tweet linking to their review, so I unfortunately knew she was back and where we'd end up), we watched it tonight and...

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