Okay, we have about five days, how will Walt end?

Nothing about this show says typical Hollywood ending.

What does Walt want? He wants to get even with his former partners (the legitimate ones) and he wants to kill the Aryan Brotherhood types. Does he still want to get over on Jesse? or make up his wife and son? I think his family is dead to him after Walt Jr. went off on him. I think he will discover Jesse and remember their past. Jesse will become his alternate son.

What does Jesse want? He wants to kill Todd and he wants to escape. He also wants to rescue Brock and I think he wants all this to end.

What does Skylar want? I haven't the faintest idea and I don't think she does either.

What does Marie want? She wants some payback on Walt and maybe her husband's body.

What does Saul want? He is gone from the series just like he took a bullet and no one noticed.

What does Todd want? Of course he wants Lydia and to be a big man.

What does Lydia want? Who really cares?

What does Vince Gilligan want? I think he wants more than a typical Hollywood ending. He wants an ending that matches the series in originality, grittiness, and creativeness. Walt has to die but as a monster or hero? I think a little bit of both. He will rescue Jesse, he will mess up the Brotherhood, and he will mess up his former business partners. The rest is a mystery.

Jesse will get his revenge and Brock. I think he will ride into the sunset...alive.

Skylar and Walt Jr. will get NOTHING.

The rest we will see Sunday night.

The point is that it is going towards no one winning, Walt broke bad to provide for his family and now the money is useless. They're ending up worse off than if Walt never tried to fight the cancer.

Thus the message of crime doesn't pay gets across. Unhappy plot twists and deaths of likeable characters is nothing new at all. No matter how it is done, if everything ends badly and broke for the White family, it will be sterotypical Hollywood.

If this series is to remain unique, then evil must triumph over good completely, and not only that, it has to be a happy ending for the evil.

When watching the episode where Walt is begging for Hank's life, I was screaming at the tv "No! Walt tell the Aryans to kill him so you can take your money!".

This isn't a mafia boss anyone is cheering for like in The Godfather or in The Sopranos, it's a completely horrible, psychotic killer, drug lord.

It order for it to steer clear of a Hollywood ending, he must win without question and go off into the sunset a happy and satisfied man with no regrets. Crime must pay and pay handsomely, and the money must buy happiness. Anything less and the show will be less interesting.

I don't think the overarching message had anything to do with "crime doesn't pay." It's more along the lines of "pride cometh before the fall."

Walter White's tragic flaw is his pride. That's why he left/was forced out of Grey Matter, and why he refused their help when he got diagnosed with cancer. Walt's pride poisoned his relationship with Gus Fring and led to its inevitable conclusion. Had Walt been able to shut the fuck up and do his job, that immensely profitable relationship had the potential to last for a very long time.

Remember the dinner scene, when Hank was suggesting that Gayle could have been Heisenberg? Walt stopped just short of telling of telling Hank the he himself was Heisenberg. Why? Pride. Walt couldn't stand the thought of someone else being credited with his own work.

A couple of other examples come to mind, like the way Walt needed to control Jesse, and quotes like, "I am the one who knocks."

Actually, I think the message should be "Crime would have paid if Walt weren't such an asshole."

This was a fitting ending. Appropriate IMO. It may have not satisfied everyone COMMPLETELY, but at least it didn't completely ruin the ending like Dexter. Vince Gilligan set the new standard for excellent TV drama.

Cliff really got this right. Walt's admitting in the end that he did it for himself, not for the family, was amazing. I think he had been lying to himself for the entire series.

It was great to see Badger and Skinny Pete playing the roles of the two best hitmen west of the Mississippi.

The only loose end the writers didn't clean up was Huel. Is he still waiting in that DEA safe house?

I don't think the overarching message had anything to do with "crime doesn't pay." It's more along the lines of "pride cometh before the fall."

Walter White's tragic flaw is his pride. That's why he left/was forced out of Grey Matter, and why he refused their help when he got diagnosed with cancer. Walt's pride poisoned his relationship with Gus Fring and led to its inevitable conclusion. Had Walt been able to shut the fuck up and do his job, that immensely profitable relationship had the potential to last for a very long time.

Remember the dinner scene, when Hank was suggesting that Gayle could have been Heisenberg? Walt stopped just short of telling of telling Hank the he himself was Heisenberg. Why? Pride. Walt couldn't stand the thought of someone else being credited with his own work.

A couple of other examples come to mind, like the way Walt needed to control Jesse, and quotes like, "I am the one who knocks."

Actually, I think the message should be "Crime would have paid if Walt weren't such an asshole." Originally Posted by cliffbeefcake

The only loose end the writers didn't clean up was Huel. Is he still waiting in that DEA safe house? Originally Posted by R. Stone Jr.

Yes.

Sorry but that ferrot snitch needed to go, Jesse should not have been spared, and he should have given something to his bitch as soon to send him to never never land.

That was a helluva ending. Cudos to the cast, crew and writers for 5 specatular seasons.

Just got through watching it today. Fantastic ending! It wrapped most of the plot lines and was very fan friendly. One of the top series finales...compared to Seinfeld which was one of the worst...or as mentioned above, Dexter!