Breaking Bad series finale recap: 'Felina'

The AMC drama let a triumphant Walter White end the story on his own terms. But is that a good thing?

Breaking Bad finale 1
(Image credit: (Ursula Coyote/AMC))

I had imagined a darker ending for Breaking Bad — a version of this story in which Walt's money remained, Ozymandias-like, in a hole in the desert, serving as a reminder of how meaningless all his terrible crimes really were. A version in which Skyler, the woman who has been forced to carry the weight of Walt's crimes around like a ball-and-chain, would end up serving time in prison for her reluctant role in them. A version in which Breaking Bad dutifully followed the arc of the classical tragedy it seemed to be for so much of its five-season run: The story of a desperate man attempting to save his family, who ends up destroying it instead.

Instead, we got tonight's "Felina," a series finale in which everyone we care about got exactly what they wanted — or, at the very least, the best they could hope for at this very late stage of the game. Skyler now has enough leverage to cut a deal with the DEA and make a clean break. Marie will get to recover Hank's body and give it a proper burial. Jesse got to kill Todd and escape to whatever kind of life he can piece together now. Walt managed to ensure that his own children would actually benefit from the fruits of his labor and — perhaps most pivotally, for a man who's been dying of terminal cancer since the series began — got to end his life on his own terms.

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Scott Meslow

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.