jmucke wrote:
Agreed, great ride, enjoyed the series a lot. Minor criticism about the finale is that the last big twists and surprises were dealt out in episode 14 while 15 and 16 were a bit predictable.
I agree. And it wrapped up as "nicely" (as in feel good) as it could have as well. Walt's family ends up with $10 MM (more than he ever dreamed of in the first four seasons; Gus' deal with him was for only $3 MM), Jesse gets his redemption and is freed, all the bad guys die and Walt dies while amongst his invention and admiring his life's masterpiece.
I definitely think the show jumped the shark when the nazi gang showed up. And that's in the literal sense that it wasn't as good as what came before it. It was still mostly an "A" show, but wasn't the "A+" show it was from midway through Season 3, when Walt started cooking for Gus to the point in Season 5 when Mike got killed. Roughly two A+ seasons.