All good things must come to an end, and for the viewers of AMC’s Breaking Bad, that end came Sept. 29 at 9 p.m. An estimated 5.2 million viewers watched the finale, including a significantly large number of students here at Saint Anselm. Many students watched the finale from their respective rooms, but the show’s finale also sparked a few viewing parties on campus.
The series ran for four years, producing five seasons. The show was highly influential and addictive, and so many students were hooked from the first episode. In the days leading up to the finale, as well as the days that followed, it was difficult to go anywhere on campus without hearing students abuzz with excitement for the final episode.
Sophomore fan Marisa Feijoo said, “It’s suspenseful and intriguing because you always want to know what happens to Walter so you are always teetering on the edge!”
Another commented, “Once you start watching, it’s difficult to stop.”
The series follows Walter White, a chemistry teacher struggling to make ends meet for his family, with a diagnosis of inoperable lung cancer. In attempts to support his pregnant wife and disabled son, not to mention pay his own hospital bills, this chemistry teacher transfers his skills for something a little less academic than teaching, and begins making and selling methamphetamine.
While his intentions are good, he inevitably loses sight of what is important and forgets why he needed the money in the first place—for his family. This transformation of Walter White is one of the major themes of the series, and like any chemical reaction, it is ultimately irreversible. The Walter viewers grow to love and sympathize with in the first season is not the same as the Walter seen in the show’s final episode.
Senior Kiran Ganguly said, “Throughout the first season you truly empathize with why he is doing what he does, but as time goes on you lose that feeling and begin hating him for all the people he hurts. By the end of the series you aren’t even watching the same person.”
Despite its dark ending, the series produced a generally positive reaction from students on campus.
One student raved that the finale, while unexpected, wrapped things up perfectly, and could not imagine the show ending another way.
Ganguly said, “The last season tied up all loose ends while still keeping you interested and created an ending that no one saw coming. I think anyone who has watched the show will agree that Walter deserved everything that was coming to him.”
Many critics are calling Breaking Bad one of the best shows ever.
Saint Anselm’s own sophomore Kelsey Fair said, “I think it’s really one of the best written, directed, and acted shows of our time. It’s thought provoking and entertaining at the same time.”
With the bar set so high, many are wondering what is next for AMC. It is difficult for viewers to imagine a more influential show, and so many members of its wide audience on campus felt truly transformed by the series.
Ganguly commented, “Now that I’ve seen the show from beginning to end, I can say that Breaking Bad was the most powerful show I’ve watched on television.”
The season’s endpoint does not mark the end of its influence, however,, and it is likely to be a hot topic for a while to come.