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When Breaking Bad returns for its final eight episodes on August 11, series creator Vince Gilligan promises, "There are things in these last eight episodes that are going to surprise people. There are also things where people will say, 'I kind of saw that coming.'" He adds, "But maybe the obvious choice is the right one sometimes."
In a behind-the-scenes video of the final eps, star Bryan Cranston teases, "It's a roller coaster ride to hell."
What does that mean for our favorite Meth Kingpin, Walter White? Is he going down in a hail of bullets? Will he be the last one standing in a messy bloodbath? Will that ricin-laced cigarette ever get used?
Gilligan admits to Vulture that he didn't know where the show was headed when the episodes aired last year, ending on a major cliffhanger. "We knew very little as of last summer. We knew we had an M60 machine gun in Walt's trunk that we needed to pay off, and that was about it. We kept asking ourselves, 'What would satisfy us? A happy ending? A sad ending? Or somewhere in between?'"
Gilligan talks about the pressures of crafting the perfect finale and trying to avoid the backlash that occurred with Lost and The Sopranos. He says he's not sure how audiences will react to the much-anticipated wrap-up: "Right now, I am very proud of the final eight episodes. But we could put them on the air in a few months and people could say, 'Oh my God. That was the worst ending of a TV series ever.'"
So what can we expect in the final showdown between White, his increasingly suspicious former partner Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) and DEA agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris)? Gilligan doesn't spill any details, other than to say, "In my mind, the ending is a victory for Walt. You might see the episode and say, 'What the fuck was he talking about?' But it's a somewhat happy ending, in my estimation."
In a show where everyone is expendable, we'll take "somewhat happy."
Gilligan also talks about the Saul Goodman spinoff, why he shot the series in New Mexico instead of California, and why he's addicted to MeTV. Read the rest of the interview here.
