Breaking Bad finale is the end of a television era.
With a penultimate episode that was a long calm before the storm to end all storms, Breaking Bad is set to end in epic fashion. “It’s apocalyptical,” said Anna Gunn at the Emmys, where she took home Best Supporting Actress for her role as Skylar White.
A legend is set to come to an end this coming Sunday with the series finale of Breaking Bad airing at 10 pm AST. The season-long slow crumble of Walter White’s empire, induced by a simple bathroom reading book, is reaching its climax and has its entire audience on the edge of their seats.
What began in 2008 as a show about a high school teacher simply trying to pay for his chemo and put his kids through college has led us on one of the most memorable journeys in television history. We saw him try and try again over five seasons, only to be met with small successes and desperate situations, forcing him to become more and more violent, but also more and more cunning. His final triumph came at the price of his soul at the halfway point of season five, turning that seemingly lovable, timid teacher into a methamphetamine-slinging monster willing to stop at nothing to protect his profits and his family. It also saw a seemingly amoral young man, one Jesse Pinkman, realize his morality in the most extreme of circumstances, costing him his sanity and perhaps his life. The journey also came with a truly in-depth critique of the nuclear family, seen in White’s own family, and the capitalist system America promotes in general.
After a five-year run, the series is now set to come to its conclusion in just three days. Over these years the trials and tribulations of everybody’s favourite (or perhaps most despised) high school chemistry teacher have garnered the series critical acclaim and the status of a legend of contemporary television. It has garnered a whole host of awards and nominations (forty-six in total). Its critically acclaimed writing and ability to remain so tense across weeks or even months, have earned it the reputation of a must-watch experience. The show also had a massive and dedicated following that only appears to be growing.
Last week’s episode brought the final season full circle and promised a memorable finale. That being said, it itself was not entirely eventful; it served to bridge the gap between the end of the previous episode and the flash forwards at the beginning of the first and eighth episodes.
The stage is set, and there is only one more episode to go.