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[frelling_tralk]

Vince Gilligan Talks ‘Breaking Bad’ Regret, Hints at Mike’s Return in ‘Better Call Saul’

[W]hen I heard anecdotally that a lot of people were of the belief that the whole thing had been a dream, then I was kind of scratching my head because that to me as a fan of storytelling, that to me, is the antithesis of a satisfying ending. [...] It

Comments

[eowyn_315]

I can't see the question Gilligan was asked (for some reason, that link just gives me a blank page), but I don't recall ANYONE saying they wanted "the whole thing" - by which I assume he means the whole series? - to be a dream, just the final episode.

The point wasn't "that nothing they’ve accomplished happened to be real" - it was that Walt's (somewhat unrealistic) victory in the last episode was actually just a figment of his imagination, that actually he froze to death in the car in New Hampshire. I think that says a LOT about Walt as a person, without negating anything that's come before, that he would envision this big "out with a bang" ending for himself that never happened.

I think it also makes a statement that's relatively consistent with the rest of the series - that he still views himself as the hero, but what he actually deserves is to die alone and never accomplish what he set out to do. It says that there is no easy way to fix all the wrongs he's committed, and that the people he loves just have to live with the consequences of his actions, even if they didn't deserve it.

Don't get me wrong - I love the ending as is. However, I do think the dream theory was pretty fascinating. Breaking Bad, as a whole, and this final string of episodes in particular, has not been the kind of show that pays off with a happy ending - so the idea that the happy ending is all in Walt's head kind of makes a good deal of sense. I can see why some people would think it's MORE logical and in keeping with the series' themes than what actually happened.

[frelling_tralk]

Hmm I took Vince as meaning the finale when he talks about 'the whole thing' being a dream, but if he did misunderstand and think that anyone wanted the entire series to be a dream then no wonder he was confused about how satisfying that would be!

And I agree with what you're saying that the show could have ended on a quite poignant and interesting note if the finale had made you believe that Walt was getting some closure and heroically rescuing Jesse and taking out the Nazi's, only to have it all end on it being a dream or fantasy of his. I guess that I had a knee-jerk reaction to the critics saying that could have been a good ending because I saw the actual ending as so perfect that it was hard for me to visualise it going any other way and being as satisfying

[eowyn_315]

IDK, like I said, I couldn't read the article, but the way he talks about it - "these people I’ve invested all my care and close attention to for years on end, that nothing they’ve accomplished happened to be real" - that seems a little overdramatic if they're just talking about the final episode?

I mean, really, it's just the things that Walt accomplished in that episode that would turn out not to have been real... and since a lot of people wanted him to suffer or be punished, Walt basically getting everything he wanted before he died is probably "the antithesis of a satisfying ending" for those people.

It's really weird that Vince wouldn't get that?

[frelling_tralk]

There were a sizeable number of people who couldn't stand Walt's character by the end, but I don't know how much exposure Vince had to that? The fandom that he seemed the most aware of were the Walt stans, so maybe he was assuming that most of the audience were rooting for things not too end *too* horribly for Walt after all of the drama and heartbreak in Ozymandias, that would fit with him wondering why the audience would instead want Walt's final moments to be a dream instead

The link isn't that much more detailed btw regarding the finale, it's those comments from Vince that I copied here, with just a quick intro from the interviewer about Vince being confounded by theories on it all being a dream

[infinitewhale]

That's actually what I loved most about it. Not that Walt 'wins' because he's the bad guy, but I think it's more satisfying that he does get what he wanted in the end. That always seemed more realistic to me than Version 542162 of the Crime Doesn't Pay trope.

I don't think I'll watch Saul unless it's completely different from BrBa. I like him as a side but I don't know how much I'd like his act as the main course.

[frelling_tralk]

From what I've heard i do get the feeling that it will be pretty different from BB, but yeah I'm not sure how interested I'd be in a show that's all about Saul's dirty dealings

And honestly I was relieved that BB didn't end with some horribly depressing moral ending, it gave me chills at the end when 'Baby Blue' started playing as Walt fondles the equipment in the meth lab, and then you see him peacefully pass away before the police get there

[infinitewhale]

Well, I guess depressing is in the eye of the beholder.

But yeah, I liked that Walt 'won' 'cause that happens in real life. Crime does pay, the bad guys sometimes get away and good doesn't win. I get a little tired of the Santa Claus-esque suggestions in movies that try to say otherwise.

[frelling_tralk]

The scenes with Walt and his family did end on a very depressing note so it wasn't a happy ending exactly granted, I liked though that he found some measure of peace in his final moments.

And yeah some people argued that it was all too convenient in the finale, but Walt had always been so good at outsmarting everyone that I didn't really find it implausible that he came up with the plans that he did and managed to carry them off with a little bit of luck, it was like that for all of the series pretty much and it made sense that he would have been determined to come up with some way of still getting the money to his family. It would have felt a bit cheesy and unsatisfying to me if it had just ended on Hank arresting Walt and Jesse and them paying for their crimes