(CNN) — “Breaking Bad” fans are staring into their post-Walter White life with mixed emotions.
There’s satisfaction for Sunday night’s well-executed series finale — appreciation for the inspiring and historic work from “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan, star Bryan Cranston and the rest of the team. But, ultimately, sadness that it’s all over. (Thankfully, “Breaking Bad” has spared its fans from the “rage” portion of the series finale roller coaster — unlike some shows we could mention.)
So if you’re mourning the end of “Breaking Bad,” and wondering just how you’ll fill that void, know that your misery has plenty of (famous) company:
For the most part, viewers have applauded the conclusion to “Breaking Bad’s” five-season run on AMC, but there are those who have been critical of its neat and tidy ending.
“I wish I’d been able to respond to how fundamentally sympathetic the finale was to Walt,” says NPR’s Linda Holmes. “Here, however, I could not escape the feeling that by earning anyone’s sympathy, Walt was getting away with one last self-aggrandizing con. … I didn’t crave a happy ending for him, and he got about as happy an ending as he possibly could have.”
Esquire magazine agreed, critiquing that while the final stretch of season five “had some great individual episodes,” Sunday’s series ender “was maybe the most conventional of the entire series. … We watched as a tarnished hero killed the baddies, set his captured sidekick free, and died. Endings don’t come much more Hollywood.”
Yet none of those who were disgruntled by the final moments of chemistry teacher-turned-meth kingpin Walter White could argue that the finale, and the series as a whole, was par excellence.
For what it’s worth, we’re with Variety’s AJ Marechal:
Good luck future writers!