Well it's over, and it's not over.
I've been watching and reading the internet comments on Breaking Bad, for many years now and the complexity of the thoughts put into the comments, is amazing. Sometimes the lack of thought confounds as well! But that 'range' shows how powerful this show really is, and yes I said 'is' and I mean it.
Ozymandias was truly the first epiphany I had for BB, not that I didn't enjoy the entire five seasons, quite the contrary. But Ozymandias tickled me intellectually much more, before the episode was aired. Most of the fans picked up right away on the obvious inference to Shelley's poem, with Walter reciting the whole thing. The direct correlation of Ramses throne name, and the central theme which contrasts the inevitable decline of all leaders, and of the empires they build with the lasting power of art, the only thing that has any permanence. But where's Walter's art? The incredibly pure blue meth? I don't think so.
I kept running the name over and over and it hit me, Ozymandias was a comic book figure in the Watchmen series!
Ozymandias does not possess any inherent superpowers. He is incredibly intelligent, and has been called "the smartest man in the world", (Hank makes reference to that before he is assassinated). He appears to have exceptional attention abilities, utilizing many televisions playing at the same time in his lair to gain a better understanding of the social climate, and is a shrewd businessman and skilled tactician, managing to both build up a vast empire from nearly nothing, and manipulating even the likes of Dr. Manhattan, a nigh-omniscient demigod. If you read more about Ozymandias, the similarities to Walter are amazing.
The direct correlation to the episode is covered here: 'Ozymandias' is a very skilled fighter and acrobat (having received extensive training in Kung-Fu, among other martial arts) with feats including dodging gunfire by predicting where the bullets shall land, beating both Rorschach (Gomie?) and Nite Owl II (Hank?) simultaneously, and catching a bullet fired at him at point-blank range. I realize Walter is not a skilled athlete, and he didn't catch a bullet, but his mind takes up all the slack.
Vince Gilligan himself called "Ozymandias" the finest hour the show ever produced. He also admitted that BB was a sort of modern western for him. Vince you devil you, me thinks you deceive your audience.
Now to Felina and why Vince Gilligan is playing games with us, and why Felina was genius. Take note of the underlines.
1. Marty Robbins tape in the Volvo
a. We hear 'El Paso'
b. Marty Robbins was made famous by his gunfighter songs in the 50's
2. Walt, "Are we facing east here?" "You must have a lovely view of the Sangre de Cristo mountains."
a. Sangre de Cristo means Blood of Christ in Spanish
b. Gretchen and Elliott Schwartz must have moved to either Los Alamos, Taos, or Santa Fe. There is no way to view those mountains from Albuquerque, they are too far away.
3. Walt, "I've hired the two best hit men west of the Mississippi."
a. Not a completely 'western' way to say it but very very close
b. Notice how lucid Walt is when he's telling Gretchen and Elliott everything, not even a moment's hesitation.
4. Albuquerque is in a valley
5. A man the size of Walter White typically has 8-9 pints of blood in his body
a. That's not 8 pints of blood, even in the very last scene
b. Walter smears blood on the tank with his hand
6. Walter White wasn't hit with a bullet.
a. When he reaches up to press the remote, you clearly see his coat covering his side
b. His coat comes down to mid pocket
c. There is no hole in his coat
c. There are doctors blogging about the last scenes and why WW isn't dead: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/09/walter-white-is-not-dead/280119/
7. The last person Walter sees is Jesse, a much younger person than him.
It's a modern 'Shane' folks!
1. The theme song to Shane is 'The Call of the Faraway Hills.'
2. The famous gunfight in Shane is with 'Jack'
3. Shane calls Jack a low down liar before the gunfight
4. Shane tells Joey there are no more guns in the valley. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE3mHhpGV2A
5. I don't see a hole in Shane's jacket/shirt
6. The blood, coming from Shane in the last scene is the whole crux of the movie.
7. The last person Shane sees is Joey, a child.
8. Neither the movie nor the book 'ever' alludes to Shane dying.
9. Alann Ladd starred in The Blue Dahlia!
Go watch 'The Negotiator' with Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. They argue over whither or not Shane dies in the end, just the way we will with Breaking Bad.
Breaking Bad, a true masterpiece.
