But enough about Walt, for the time being. I have no regrets whatsoever in devoting 2000 words to the final scene, but “Felina” was excellent throughout, and there are plenty of other topics to touch upon before saying goodbye to this great, great show.
As noted before, this was a highly reflexive ending, with Walt’s knowledge of his own impending demise coloring not only every aspect of the hour, but the specific ways in which supporting characters were sent off. Nearly every major (surviving) character earned some form of ‘poetic justice,’ and while that could easily come across as a tad too contrived or tidy, I feel it all stems naturally from Walt’s self-aggrandizing desire to end the story on his terms. So when it comes to Gretchen and Elliot, for example, Walt does not kill them, but forces them to carry out his will, not only using them as a means to an end – whether Walt Jr. wants it or not, he will have that fortune soon enough – but making them submissive and cowering in the process. Whatever they say about Walter White in public, Gretchen and Elliot will now be forced to do his bidding in private, and live in fear of him for the foreseeable future (even though they will likely hear of Walt’s death on the news, I assume that encounter will keep the two shaken for a long time to come).
For Lydia, Walt uses his knowledge of her obsessive-compulsive habits to poison her with the ricin, and for Uncle Jack and the Nazis, Walt unleashes the same heavy-weapon hellfire they directed towards Hank – and in the process, wipes out everyone who had been peddling his precious blue meth.
For Skyler, Walt just wants to say goodbye, and to help in some small way to clean up the mess he left her with. It is one of my favorite scenes in the history of the series, operating on several different levels – Walt’s legitimate guilt versus his drive to end this relationship on his terms, Skyler’s hatred for this man mixed with the grief over the love she has lost, etc. – and building to the absolutely devastating exchange – “I did it for me” – quoted above. This is most likely something Walter White has been thinking for some time – ever since Hank’s death, with plenty of time to mull it over in the cabin – but for Skyler, it is a revelation, not because she can’t see Walt’s selfishness on her own, but because hearing him say it does allow for some small measure of closure. Skyler will always be scarred by what her husband did, and probably never fully recover from the horror of these past two years, but she is an immensely strong person, and especially after hearing Walt finally give a straight explanation for why he did what he did, I do believe that she will be okay in time.
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