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I think the questions of how he got it into the packet, and how he got her the packet, fall under the category of reasonable suspension of disbelief. Remember that Walt is the same guy who, the shows asks us to believe, erased a laptop hard drive in a police evidence room using a magnet, pull of a heist of chemicals from a train, and orchestrated the hits on ten (or was is 11?) inmates in three separate prisons all within two minutes of each other. In the world of Breaking Bad, if such a man can do all that, why is it such a stretch to assume he figured out a way to tamper with a packet of artificial sweetener?

What I'm more interested in knowing is, could Lydia survive? If she's just starting to become symptomatic, and because she knows the poison is ricin, from the cursory reading I've done, she could have a shot if she went to a hospital, and received treatment 1) to expel what remains of the poison from her stomach using activated charcoal and 2) receiving treatment for the complications that arise from the poisoning. Because it's not the ricin per se that kills you, but rather the complications that arise, namely organ failure stemming from the ricin's inhibition of protein synthesis. She could have a shot, but in doing so she'd of course expose her connection to Walt and the meth ring. But here too, I think she could have a shot at immunity if she gave up her European connections.

So with that in mind, the one thing I might change about the finale, is I would have changed Walt's line, and not have him reveal it is ricin she took, but rather be intentionally vague..."Feeling ill Lydia? That's the poison I slipped in your drink. No hints as to what it is..."

Brianruns10 wrote:I think the questions of how he got it into the packet, and how he got her the packet, fall under the category of reasonable suspension of disbelief.

It's not that I don't believe he could have done it. It's that there isn't an intuitive, straightforward explanation for how it could have been done, so the plot could have stood to be fleshed out a little more regarding this one point. As it stands, it's kind of like if the last 20 minutes had been replaced with a title card simply saying "And then Walt killed everyone."

I think you meant to post that in the Shield thread, swo.

I seriously feel worse than Vic Mackey at the end of The Shield about that.

Didn't the waiter say something about how they were out of Stevia? Walt could have guessed the approximate location of her table and just thrown out every packet from every table but hers

Well, we don't see her die. She may just be very sick from the denaturated ricin right?

This was the highest-rated series finale in basic cable history, and third highest if you include premium cable (behind the Sopranos and Sex and the City)

As bad an idea as the kill-Jesse torture-in-the-basement scenario is, it would have had an interesting rhyme with Walter's compassion towards the guy in the basement just at the beginning of the series, and worked as a reminder of how low he'd dropped. Interesting too to note that the writers didn't even really know whether they were going to make Walt a totally irredeemable monster or give him the modicum of redemption he wound up with- though I think the fifth season, more than any since perhaps the second, feels like they're kind of making it up as they go along.

matrixschmatrix wrote:As bad an idea as the kill-Jesse torture-in-the-basement scenario is, it would have had an interesting rhyme with Walter's compassion towards the guy in the basement just at the beginning of the series, and worked as a reminder of how low he'd dropped. Interesting too to note that the writers didn't even really know whether they were going to make Walt a totally irredeemable monster or give him the modicum of redemption he wound up with- though I think the fifth season, more than any since perhaps the second, feels like they're kind of making it up as they go along.

It's funny you'd say that, since Gilligan has said that Season 2 was made with a firm plan in mind, while season 3 and 4 were more improvised.

But I agree, the fifth season certainly had that feel!

I agree with your observations, matrix and admit I was a bit surprised that they wrote the M60 in before they knew who it was for.

On the other hand, it wasn't terribly surprising to find out that they essentially made up the Nazis in order for Walt to have some nasties to mow down.

Maybe it's the specific thing of having an end point and working backwards to get to it that seasons 2 and 5 have in common- one of the reasons Breaking Bad seems to have stuck the landing so much better than a Lost is that it never really painted itself into a corner, but the M60 and the pink teddy bear are as close as they got.

And yeah, Nazis are what you put in when you want someone everyone's ok with doing practically anything to. Though I maintain that within the show, it's Walter's fault they get involved in the first place, so he's as responsible for everything they do as he ever was for, say, the jet crash.

matrixschmatrix wrote:And yeah, Nazis are what you put in when you want someone everyone's ok with doing practically anything to. Though I maintain that within the show, it's Walter's fault they get involved in the first place, so he's as responsible for everything they do as he ever was for, say, the jet crash.

What interests me about Jack and his crew is that basically we just know they are Nazi's by their tattoos (the most effective use of the swastika was when we see him shake Walt's hand in "Ozymandias"). If they were a biker gang instead, I think we might not view them as venomous otherwise. The character of Jack Welker is interesting in that we know he's a bad man but he has a kind of common sense (albeit in a very askew way) about things. I love the scene where he tells one of his associates to put a barrel in Walt's car ("what's with all the greed here?").

Wish Breaking Bad was in Spanish and looked like it was shot on an iPhone? Well, have I got a show for you!

Actual obituary that appeared in an Albuquerque newspaper this week:

I can feel your eyes rolling reading that, dom.

And they didn't put a spoiler tag! Was Swo writing it?

(Sorry Swo! Couldn't resist! )

flyonthewall2983 wrote:I can feel your eyes rolling reading that, dom.

I mean, it's not very well written, but it's a cute idea, so nah

jindianajonz wrote:And they didn't put a spoiler tag! Was Swo writing it?

(Sorry Swo! Couldn't resist! )

for a show you are in the middle of watching

You are a jerk.

I refuse to believe the last episode takes place on his birthday. The scene in Denny's is probably the first time he'd had bacon and eggs in awhile and did the 52 thing as a yearning for his previous life.

He told the waitress it was his birthday.

He also told Skyler to tell the police that he came in rambling about wanting his birthday bacon and eggs too.

I'd say since he expected Skylar to get what he was alluding to without any preamble that it really was his birthday. Which strains credulity and was totally unnecessary. But a minor point.

Good(?) news for UK TV viewers (without the DVD boxsets) in this week's Radio Times:

The latest news on cult US drama Breaking Bad is that the BBC is keen to acquire the rights to show it in full when the current licensing deals run out, just as it did with that other cult hit The Wire. But even if that happens it will be two years before it airs, probably on BBC2...

(Flagrant use of the word "cult" has been italicised for your amusement)

So, do we add Felina to the ledger with Laura and The Spirit of the Beehive?