Breaking Bad (season 5)
"I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really -- I was alive." - Walt
release year: 2013
genre: drama
viewing setting: home DVD, 4/21-23/14
synopsis: Everything falls apart, as Walt finally gets caught and the consequences of his actions start to pile up.
impressions: Season five was actually broken into two parts, and this is the second: 8 episodes, from 2013. The series ends here. This half-season starts with Hank realizing that Walt is the elusive drug kingpin, and very quickly deciding that he's the lowest form of scum on the face of the earth. His wife Marie imemdiately adopts the same viewpoint, and their attitude bothered me. Wouldn't family at least be willing to listen before dubbing someone a "monster" and wishing they'd die? Well, I would, but I'm not Hank or Marie. Anyway, things move pretty quickly from there; Walt hides his money, Jesse throws his away and gets arrested and questioned, then goes on an emotional rampage that results in a price on his head...it just spirals downhill from there. Suffice it to say that Walt's actions - direct and indirect - end up impacting and in most cases destroying the lives of everyone who knows him, and he ends up going into hiding...after which he returns to his hometown to settle various matters of legacy and revenge. My thoughts now thats it's over can be summarized in one key point. Up until the very end, Walt remained oblivious of the biggest truth of all: despite his best intentions for his family, his actions and their consequences will never be accepted by that family. Once Walt finally gets this, he realizes the futility of most of what he's done, but still manages to fix a few last things.
acting: Bryan Cranston is Walt, the regular guy who changed for the worse and finally admits it. Anna Gunn is Walt's wife Skyler, who in the end was too weak to cope with Walt's actions. RJ Mitte is their handicapped son, whose love for his father finally runs out. Aaron Paul is Walt's former student and partner in crime, whose lack of a goal or vision in life has led to failure when there should have been success. Betsy Brandt is Skyler's bitchy sister. Dean Norris is her husband, a DEA agent whose drive to beat his nemesis destroys him in the end. Bob Odenkirk is the lawyer involved with most of the criminal activity, and one of the few survivors.
final word: Ongoing saga of a boring loser who briefly gets to be something more, but at great cost to himself and almost everyone he comes in contact with.
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