History Recap / BreakingBadS5E16Felina

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Walt insists that Elliot and Gretchen not spend a dime of their own money in transferring Walt's drug money to Walter, Jr., and if the pile is a little smaller by the time it is delivered, so be it.

* PyrrhicVictory: In the end, Walt successfully eliminates everyone who could be a threat to him or his family, he ensures the money he earned will reach them, and goes out on his own terms. Nonetheless, his actions ruined the lives of countless hundreds of people, including his own, he's been disowned by his family and friends, is known as a violent, hateful, and two-faced criminal by all but a small handful of close individuals, and dies alone, and is completely unapologetic about his actions (with the implication that, if he had the chance, he'd do it all over again). Him getting his remaining money to his family is the only factor that prevents it from being AllForNothing, and even then nobody besides Gretchen and Elliot will ever know that the money actually came from Walt.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Walt administers the ricin to Lydia by placing it inside the stevia bag that Lydia poured inside her chamomile tea. In real life it would not work that way since ricin, being a protein, would denaturate at once if put in hot water, unless Lydia took her tea cold. Additionally, she could probably have been saved by doctors if she rushed straight to the ER, given that it had only been 12 hours.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: The White family's financial future is secured, Jack, Lydia, and Todd got their thoroughly deserved punishments, Jesse escapes the drug compound, and the lottery ticket gives Marie and Skyler a chance to give Hank a proper funeral and keep Skyler out of prison. Walt dies, yes, but 1) [[KarmicDeath he definitely had it coming]], and 2) as Jesse's conversation with him makes clear, [[DeathSeeker Walt welcomed it]].
* EndingTheme: Music/{{Badfinger}}'s "Baby Blue" plays in the final scene as Walt dies from his injuries.

* ShoutOut: Walter, in order to force Gretchen and Elliott to stick to the bargain, has Badger and Skinny Pete aim laser pointers at the rich couple to trick them into believing they're being targeted with gun laser sights by snipers. Walter tells them that he used $200,000 of his own money to hire "the two best hit men west of the Mississipi" to make sure they honor the deal. It's a nod to ''Film/ThingsToDoInDenverWhenYoureDead'', when Mr. Shhh is described as "the most lethal contract killer west of the Mississipi".

* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Walt, when Elliott grabs a fruit knife from his and Gretchen's kitchen and brandishes it at him.
-->'''Walt''': Elliott, if we're gonna go that way, you're gonna need a bigger knife.

** Doesn't it seem odd that the camera holds on a shot of Lydia adding that sweetener to her tea?

** The Stevia getting mixed in the tea.

** "How are you feeling? A little under the weather, like you've got the flu? That would be the Ricin I gave you, I slipped into that Stevia crap that you're always putting in your tea".

** Todd, who had enslaved and tortured Jesse into cooking meth, and murdered an innocent kid and Jesse's ex-girlfriend [[ForcedToWatch right in front of him]], is ultimately killed by Jesse himself ([[HoistByHisOwnPetard using the same chains that Todd used to enslave Jesse]], no less).

* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: When Walt finds a car with the keys still in it and starts it up, the song playing on the radio is "El Paso". The episode is essentially a WholePlotReference to the song.

* GrandFinale: For the show, tying up all the loose ends and even allowing Walt to find a way to secure his family's financial future.

* PyrrhicVictory: In the end, Walt successfully eliminates everyone who could be a threat to him or his family, he ensures the money he earned will reach them, and goes out on his own terms. Nonetheless, his actions ruined the lives of countless hundreds of people, including his own, he's been disowned by his family and friends, is known as a violent, hateful, and two-faced criminal by all but a small handful of close individuals, and dies alone, and is completely unapologetic about his actions (with the implication that, if he had the chance, he'd do it all over again). Him getting the money to his family is the only factor that prevents it from being AllForNothing.

* InternalHomage: The final shot where the camera pulls up from Walt's dead body recalls the ending shot of "Crawl Space". Fans often point to that episode as the moment when Walter White died and [[VillainProtagonist Heisenberg]] was born, and this episode represents the moment when Heisenberg died too. However, instead of closing his eyes, Heisenberg's eyes are kept open.

Upon arrival in Santa Fe, he tracks down Gretchen and Elliot Schwartz's address under the guise of a reporter asking for an interview. After revealing himself to them, Walt demands that the couple deposit his remaining $9.72 million into a trust fund for Flynn which he should receive upon turning 18 -- and that the money must appear to be coming from them, not from him -- to which they agree. As added motivation, laser sights are directed at the Schwartz' chests from afar, with Walt threatening the couple that should they renege on their agreement, his highly skilled and very expensive assassins will kill them both without any hesitation. After Walt returns to his car, it is revealed that the "snipers" are in fact Badger and Skinny Pete with laser pointers. Walt learns from them that Uncle Jack's crew has taken over the distribution of Blue Sky and deduces that Jesse is still alive and is now cooking for them. Meanwhile, Jesse is shown cooking in Jack's superlab, daydreaming about [[Recap/BreakingBadS3E9Kafkaesque indulging in his hobby of woodworking]], only to wake up to the stark reality of being chained to his workstation.

The next day is Walt's 52nd birthday. He goes to Albuquerque and then heads to a Denny's for a meeting with Lawson, where he gets the [[Recap/BreakingBadS5E1LiveFreeOrDie M60 machine gun, ammunition, and car we previously saw him purchase.]] He later drives back to his old home, now abandoned and in ruins, to [[Recap/BreakingBadS5E9BloodMoney retrieve the ricin he had hidden inside the bedroom switch plate.]] Before leaving Walt stops in the middle of the empty living room and reminisces about [[Recap/BreakingBadS1E1Pilot his 50th birthday two years ago]], where his journey into the meth business began with Hank inviting him for a DEA ride-along.

Lydia enters her usual café to get her usual cup of tea and meet up with Todd, who awkwardly attempts to hit on her shortly after he arrives. Walt suddenly appears in the café and pulls up a chair to their table, telling them he has an offer. He wants to sell them an alternative meth recipe that doesn't require methylamine in exchange for $1 million. Lydia asks Walt how he knew to find them at the café and he points out that Lydia is a creature of habit and that [[Recap/BreakingBadS5E8GlidingOverAll they used to have this same meeting at this exact spot, the same time every week.]] Lydia tells Walt that he can meet with the neo-Nazis to discuss the subject of the new meth recipe further, asking Todd to arrange for the meeting to take place in the evening. As Walt leaves, Lydia tells Todd that they can't indulge Walt's request for their own safety. Lydia insinuates that the best thing to do is to kill Walt, which she claims would be doing him a favor, considering his physical condition. She then goes about drinking her tea, adding the packet of sweetener that she found on her table.

Now alone in the New Mexican desert, Walt is seen putting together some sort of contraption in the trunk of the car he got from Lawson, using the M60, a car battery, and a garage door opener. With a press of his car lock remote, the device springs to life and starts rotating back and forth. Walt smiles in approval at this, before he turns his attention to his wedding ring, still hanging from his makeshift necklace...

Skyler, who is living in a cramped apartment with Flynn and Holly, receives a call from Marie, warning her that Walt is back in town. As Skyler hangs up, it is revealed Walt is already in the apartment, and she gives him five minutes to talk to her. Walt gives her the lottery ticket with the coordinates to where Hank and Gomez are buried, telling her to use it to negotiate a plea deal with the DEA, and tells her to claim that she got it from Walt forcing his way into the apartment and forcing her to make breakfast for him. Walt finally confesses that his involvement in the drug trade was never about helping his family, but because Walt enjoyed the power and prestige that came with it; it made him feel alive. Skyler agrees to his request to see Holly one last time. As Walt leaves he sees Flynn enter the apartment from afar, but only watches, not disturbing him.

Walt drives to Jack's hideout where he repeats his previous offer to Jack, which he rejects whilst ordering his men to kill Walt. Walt then insults Jack for betraying him and partnering up with Jesse, only for Jack to call for Jesse to be brought up to prove that they never agreed to a partnership. When Jesse is brought in, Walt tackles him without warning and uses his keys to remotely open the car trunk, revealing the M60 rigged to his car. The M60 guns down most of Jack's crew and wounds Jack and Walt. Todd manages to get in cover and gets through the shooting unscathed, but Jesse uses the confusion to sneak up on him and chokes him to death with his handcuffs. Walt picks up Jack's dropped gun and he approaches the wounded gang leader. Jack attempts his darnest to play it cool and begins bargaining for his life, telling Walt he'll never find his money if he pulls the trigger on him. But Walt's only response is to nonchalantly shoot him in the head.

With Jack and his gang dead, Walt gives the gun to Jesse and says he knows Jesse wants to kill him. Jesse angrily replies that he'll do it only if Walt confesses it's he who wants Jesse to shoot, which Walt does. Jesse realizes Walt is wounded and bleeding badly, and refuses to indulge his final request, telling him to do it himself as he goes for Todd's car. Todd's phone rings, prompting Walt to answer the call, revealing a visibly ill Lydia who is calling Todd to confirm Walt's death. Walt tells her he is still alive and informs her that her business partners are dead and he spiked her tea with ricin (remember the sweetener?) during their meeting before hanging up.

As Jesse prepares to leave, he and Walt share one last look of gratitude as they bid each other farewell. Jesse then drives away from the compound, laughing and crying hysterically. After seeing Jesse off, the adrenaline in Walt's system subsides, and he finally realizes that he is dying as he feels the pain from his gunshot wound. With the police approaching the compound, Walt tours through Jack's lab, admiring some of the chemical equipment and Jesse's final product: A perfect batch of meth, a sign for Walt that he has succeeded as a teacher. Finally succumbing to his wound, Walt smiles at the knowledge that his family is safe and financially secure. He collapses, and dies as he stares serenely at the ceiling. The final scene showing the officers storming the lab and two officers standing over Walt's body, ironically, in the same kind of place where he felt so alive.

* AlasPoorVillain: Walter in his last moments. He is now left a broken man desperately trying to make up for the damages he has caused. Throughout the episode, he ensures his family's future will be financially secured, makes sure his wife will be free from charges, takes out the remaining bad guys, and pulls a HeroicSacrifice to save Jesse at the [[DeathEqualsRedemption cost of his own life]]. He then dies in a meth lab, surrounded by the things that brought him joy.
* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Walt administers the ricin to Lydia by placing it inside the Stevia bag that Lydia poured inside her chamomile tea. In real life it would not work that way since ricin, being a protein, would denaturate at once if put in hot or boiling water, unless Lydia took her tea cold. Additionally, she could probably have been saved by doctors if she rushed straight to the ER and gave the right info given that it had only been 12 hours.
* AssholeVictim: Let's just say Jack, Todd and Lydia thoroughly deserved their fates. Also the rest of the Neo-Nazis killed by the machine gun.

* BrandishmentBluff: The "snipers" that Walt uses to intimidate Gretchen and Elliot into following through their end of the deal turn out to be Badger and Skinny Pete with laser pointers.
* BittersweetEnding: Walt dies, having finally dismantled his drug empire and giving Jack, Todd and Lydia their comeuppance. Jesse is freed from the drug trade for good, Skyler has information on where Hank and Gomez are buried, implying she will use this info to avoid trial and Walt ensures that Gretchen and Elliot will help secure his family's financial future through Flynn's trust fund. However, everybody that survived the series still has to live with the devastation Walt caused by getting involved in the meth trade, and he remains unapologetic about his actions. Walt also still [[DyingAlone dies alone]], has had his reputation completely destroyed, and is hated by his family, meaning the White family will never know that the money from the trust fund came from Walt instead of one of the Schwartz's acts of charity.

** Walt's stated motivation for going into drug dealing, from the very first episode, was to earn enough money via the trade that his family could live comfortably without him. In this episode, the last villain of the series and the last distributor of the blue meth (Jack) tries to bargain with Walt by offering him his lost drug money. Walt [[MoneyIsNotPower completely ignores the offer]] and kills Jack anyway, finally ending the business.

-->'''Walt:''' I did it for me. [{{Beat}}] I liked it. I was good at it. And I was...really, I was alive.

** Walt [[Recap/BreakingBadS1E1Pilot recalls his 50th birthday party]] as he is walking through his old house, two years prior to the day, when Hank showed a news report on a drug bust he conducted. In particular, he remembers Hank quipping "[[MeaningfulEcho It's easy money...'til we catch ya!]]" before offering Walt the fateful ride-along that would reunite him with Jesse and begin his career as a meth cook. Also a TearJerker.
** The final shootout brings in mind two scenes from season 2:
*** When Walt and Jesse are [[Recap/BreakingBadS2E2Grilled held prisoners by Tuco]], Jesse suggests that Walt attacks him while he goes for his gun, as Walt is dying from cancer and thus the best suited to make an HeroicSacrifice. Walt is predictably indignant at the insensitive suggestion. Nearly two years and four seasons later, as cancer has definitely taken its toll on Walt and he's got nothing to lose anymore, he does end up TakingTheBullet for Jesse.

* ChekhovsBoomerang: The lottery ticket which contains the coordinates to the buried drums of cash. Walt gives it to Skyler so she can use it for a plea bargain and the authorities will be able to locate the bodies of Hank and Gomez that are now buried in the same location.

** Thanks to the White family not wanting any of Walt's drug money, he decides to coerce the Schwarzes into setting up a trust fund Flynn will receive on his 18th birthday with the remaining cash he has to make it look like the money came from a philanthropist couple's act of charity. Then during Walt's final meeting with Skyler, he claims he spent the rest of his money getting back to Albuquerque. This means that the White Family will believe that Walt's actions were AllForNothing, even though the audience and Walt know that their financial future will be secured in less than a year.

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: Skyler, Jesse, Elliot, Gretchen, Badger and Skinny Pete are the only people who'll ever have an inkling of what Walt's final day was really like. To the police and the rest of the world, it'll look like Walter White died alone in a meth lab after gunning down a group of neo-nazis.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Lydia, Jack, Todd and Walt.
** Lydia is done in by the ricin in the Stevia powder she always takes to sweeten her tea.

** Todd is garroted with a pair of handcuffs by Jesse, who Todd had held prisoner for months.
** Walt was shot by his own rigged machine gun which killed the Neo Nazis except Todd and Jack.
* InternalHomage: The final shot where the camera pulls up from Walt's dead body recalls the ending shot of "Crawl Space". Fans often point to that episode as the moment where Walter White died and [[VillainProtagonist Heisenberg]] was born, this episode represents the moment where Heisenberg died too. However, instead of closing his eyes, Heisenberg's eyes are kept open.

* {{Irony}}: Walt refused Elliot and Gretchen's offer to work at their company at the beginning of the series because he didn't want to depend on their "charity". Now the only way Walt can get the money he recieved through his crimes to his family without them rejecting it or the police confiscating it is to coerce the Schwartzes into taking the nest egg and giving it to Flynn once he turns eighteen so it looks like the money came from one of their philanthropic acts.

** Walt finally confesses to Skyler that he went into the drug business because he liked it and was good at it. Probably one of the few times the admission has ever been put in a positive light.

** Jack's whole crew are killed by the M60 machine gun rigged in Walt's car. Considering their specialty is in arranging surprise attacks and mass murders, them being gunned down all at once without warning is quite fitting for their end.

** Jack is killed by Walt in a very similar (if reversed) manner of when he executed Hank, even using Walt's money to try and barter for his life to be spared, only to be [[BoomHeadshot shot in the head]] [[KilledMidSentence mid-sentence]].

** Even Walt's death, [[DyingAlone bleeding out alone]] in a meth lab [[HoistByHisOwnPetard from a bullet shot by his own gun]], can be seen as such, as the first verse of the song that plays over his final scene is "Guess I got what I deserved". As for the "bleeding out alone" part, Walt had alienated every single one of his friends and family through his crimes and sins; so it's rather fitting (and pathetic) that the only thing he still has left to give him company in his final minutes of life, is the infamous Blue Sky meth he created (and which sealed his fate).

* MortalWoundReveal: see WhamShot below.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Though Walt went to the compound intending for Jesse to go down with the neo-Nazis, once he actually sees him enslaved, he realized just what kind of hell he condemned him to and decided to save his life.

* PyrrhicVictory: In the end, Walt kills everyone who could be a threat to him or his family, he ensures the money he earned will reach them, and goes out on his own terms. Nonetheless, his actions ruined the lives of countless hundreds of people, including his own, he's been disowned by his family and friends, is known as a violent, hateful, and two-faced criminal by all but a small handful of close individuals, dies alone, and is completely unapologetic about his actions (with the implication that, if he had the chance, he'd do it all over again). Him getting the money to his family is the only factor that prevents it from being AllForNothing.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: For Walt, somewhat. While he dies being honest with people, having come to terms with, and admitting his mistakes and sins and fixing as much of the damage that they had done as possible, along with saving Jesse, he was also very unapologetic about them. He more regrets the consequences to himself and his family as opposed to the actions themselves.

* SpitefulSuicide: Walt intends to commit suicide to fulfill his boast to Hank that he will never see the inside of a cell. First, he tries to place himself in the firing range of the M60 as it massacres the Neo-Nazis, but ends up sacrificing that opportunity to save Jesse. Then he asks Jesse to shoot him, but his former student refuses to be manipulated anymore. Luckily for Walt, a stray bullet has fatally punctured his lung, allowing him to die just before the police arrive on the scene, getting the last laugh as he got away from justice for the final time.

* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Jack tries to {{invoke|d}} this when Walt is about to kill him, saying Walt won't get his money back if he dies. Walt shoots him anyway, showing he didn't care about the $68 million Jack took from him anymore, not least because he wouldn't have lived long enough to use it.

* TogetherInDeath: With Jesse free and Todd dead, Walt has ensured that his beloved blue meth will die with him, and he chooses to go in the lab with the last batch ever made.

* XanatosGambit: Walter's plan was two fold: 1.) Eliminate Lydia, which would irrevocably cripple Jack and Todd's burgeoning meth empire and force the gang to go further underground. 2.) Kill Jack and his Nazi goons. Which would accomplish the goal of, y'know, killing Jack. Lydia was most likely insurance as Walt would've figured there was a good chance he wouldn't be able to get in a position to kill the Neo-Nazis.

-->'''Walt:''' I did it for me.

* SeriesFauxnale: The episode was originally written as the GrandFinale for the series, but not too long after, it turns out that the story isn't quite over for Saul Goodman or Jesse Pinkman, with these loose ends being tied up in ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' and ''Film/ElCamino'', respectively.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: What happened to the barrels of money? Where Jack put it and who eventually found it is never revealed.
* XanatosGambit: Walter's plan was two fold: 1.) Eliminate Lydia, which would irrevocoably cripple Jack and Todd's burgeoning meth empire and force the gang to go further underground. 2.) Kill Jack and his Nazi goons. Which would accomplish the goal of, y'know, killing Jack. Lydia was most likely insurance as Walt would've figured there was a good chance he wouldn't be able to get in a position to kill the Neo-Nazis.

->Written and directed by Creator/VinceGilligan

* BondVillainStupidity: Walt confronts Jack and his white supremacist gang. Jack quickly decides to kill Walt, who then accuses him of having gone into partnership with Jesse. Instead of shooting him, Jack acts all offended, and then has the chained-up Jesse dragged into the room just to let Walt know how wrong he is. Walt then activates a home-made automatic turret in his car's trunk, which ''kills the entire gang'' (and mortally wounds Walt), leaving Jesse as the only survivor.

* BondVillainStupidity: Downplayed. Jack doesn't consider Walt's offer at all and pretty much immediately orders his goons to take him out back and shoot him, but when Walt then accuses Jack of working with a snitch, it wounds Jack's pride enough for him to put Walt's summary execution on hold and have Jesse brought in just so he can clarify the point to Walt that Jesse is not actually working ''with'' him, but being forced to work ''for'' him. This hesitation on Jack's part is what allows Walt to retrieve his car keys and pull off his plan.

* ArtisticLicense: Walt administers the ricin to Lydia by placing it inside the Stevia bag that Lydia poured inside her chamomile tea. In real life it would not work that way since ricin, being a protein, would denaturate at once if put in hot or boiling water, unless Lydia took her tea cold. Additionally, she could probably have been saved by doctors if she rushed straight to the ER and gave the right info given that it had only been 12 hours.

** When Walt secretly met up with Jesse in the pilot, Jesse was about to get in his car and leave before Walt proposed a partnership in the drug business. In this episode, all Walt can do is silently nod to Jesse, letting him go free in a stolen car. TO further the comparisons, Walt is even wearing the same outfit in both scenes.

* CatharticScream: Jesse screams like a madman as he drives away from the neo-Nazi compound.