Granite State (2013) User Reviews (53)

How is it going to end

[WalterSoprano · 10/10 · 22 September 2013]

In this episode there is more shock of course not as shocking as the previous episode but this episode shows that this last episode is going to be legendary. There is so much to be concluded. This episode is easily described with one word heartbreaking. Jesses life is at an all time low I won't say what all happens but it is all showing how great this last episode is going to be.

I'm just hoping to god that this last episode has complete closure. It's been a long journey and it saddens me that it is going to end only a week from now, may everyone know this is the greatest television show of all time and will remain in my heart and mind for the rest of my life. Thank you for reading my review.

Rock bottom

[Mr-Fusion · 9/10 · 9 July 2015]

One of my favorite "Breaking Bad" scenes occurs in the closing moments of "Granite State". Walter White sits there at the bar, weakened by chemo and utterly hopeless, witnesses his former business partners smearing his only remaining legacy on "Charlie Rose". It's bad enough he's stuck in the New Hampshire mountains, can't get his money to the people that need it, and the police are on their way to arrest him. But that one last blow to his ego is just the right spur to reignite his will. And you can just see the fires of an exploding sun behind Cranston's eyes, it's a hell of an image. And it does a fine job of teasing the final episode where who-the-hell-knows will happen.

If "Ozymandias" was about violently razing the Heisenberg empire, "Granite State" is about the very depths of that pit of despair; not felt just by Walt, but almost everyone around him. It's sad on a very different level.

9/10

THE BEST ENDING OF AN EPISODE IN TV HISTORY

[umutkahraman-1994 · 10/10 · 25 May 2020]

This episode was insane, especially the ending. Its script is a real gold. The main theme of this series is played in just one scene in the whole 5 seasons, and that scene had to be one of the greatest moment of TV history, just as it is. I really don't know what to say about it, but I know that I can not forget this episode (and the last scene) for a long time. Breaking Bad should be teached at the movie schools. While most of the other shows gets worse, BB gets better with every new season until the very last second of the series.

Holy....

[jagar4321 · 10/10 · 22 September 2013]

That's all I really need to say. IMDb wants me to say more, so I will. Breaking Bad will end as one of the greatest if not the greatest show of all time. It is flawlessly written in a very poetic way that grips the audience. Every episode has its purpose in bringing to life a story that ravages the emotions of the audience. To'hajiilee added fear to my existence. Then Ozymandias ripped away my emotions. And now Granite State....Do I recommend this show? No, I don't recommend it, because that would be a disservice to the show. I tell people they should make watching this show part of their bucket list. It is something that any and every movie/show/TV watcher must see before they die.

The reason was there from the beginning..

[shineon91 · 9/10 · 23 September 2013]

This episode couldn't be mastered in a better way..Just before the end, Vince Gilligan wants to show us something that we may have forgotten through the seasons.. So,as we have suspected from a long time ago, the series is going towards a thrilling finale and there are many things that need to be concluded(Walter's last act, the future of his family and Jesse) and arguably this is gonna be done in such a way that there won't be any vacancies..But, isn't there a bigger question,one that the writer had to answer so that we would feel that all our expectations have been fulfilled? In my opinion, such a question exists and this is it: "What's the deeper,underlying reason of Walter's breaking bad, of Walter's radical change of character?". For me the answer was never his cancer or his anxiety for his family's future..These were only the causes, important but yet not satisfying to be reasons for such a character alternation.. Well, the answer was there from the first season from the very first episodes: The fact that Walter was not involved in Grey Matters, was not recognized for his great contribution to this company's growth, was not receiving a share of its profits and was doomed to work like a chemistry teacher, like someone who's just a quiet,insignificant person..Well, Walter found the best chance to appreciate his self again, to regain respect and to make up for his poor living by breaking bad.. But he seemed to have forgotten the two people who brought him to the edge of the self-construction..And these two people are coming back again at the last episodes of the last season, just to remind us that they are Walter's curse.. That's what I'm thinking of this episodes purpose and that's why I loved the series writing even more! Can't wait till next Sunday, when the last pieces are being put together and the great puzzle, that's called Breaking Bad, is completed!!

"It's over"

[Rolo994 · 10/10 · 22 September 2013]

I have been an avid IMDb user for over three years. Rarely will I watch movie or show without first reading IMDb user reviews. Having said that, I never wrote a review until this one, because I never really felt the need to. But after watching this episode, I need to talk about it, or at least just write about it. I feel lost and alone, much like how I imagine Walt felt in his cabin. Spoilers ahead.

Last weeks episode was what this entire series was building up to, and in my honest opinion the single greatest 46 minutes in television history. This weeks episode is the aftermath of it all. I won't go into much details of it as you should experience it all for yourself. This episode felt like the writers were giving the viewers a hug for having taken this journey with them. So many scenes hold such a deep emotional connection to the entire series; you had to have seen it all to understand it.

I found my self standing and unable to breathe watching Jesse attempting to escape. I felt as I was rooting for someone I actually know to escape from that type of situation. The reason many think this is the greatest show to ever grace television is the strong bond many of us feel with the characters. They have been written and acted in such a way, that many times they seem real and the situations they are in feel real. Watching Walter ask the relocator to stay with him was one of the most guy wrenching things I've ever seen. He did this all for his family, and his entire world has collapsed and all he has left is himself and his money.

The last 5 minutes of this episode might be the best 5 minutes of the entire series. It's the show coming to a full circle; Walter white sets out to break bad one last time because of the reason he started down this road in the first place(grey matter). The background breaking bad theme music playing was absolute perfection.

I found m self in tears and emotionally drained as the credits began to roll. Thank you breaking bad for having taken me on this journey. I don't know how I will cope with the series finale.

Ps. I still want Walter to win in some way, I always have.

True Brilliance...

[ljs3799 · 10/10 · 23 September 2013]

This is, I think, my 6th review of a Breaking Bad episode. I have to say it is one of the most difficult tasks ever. There are so many thoughts racing through my head; theories, losses, intense moments. I try to keep it as vague as possible, but frankly I'm beginning to run out of ideas.

The sheer shock after every single episode of this brilliant series is close to unbearable. The shearing intensity that makes your heart race like crazy just gets me every time.

This show is not just a piece of entertainment, its a legacy, it teaches people, it educated us, but still at the same time entertains us to the point where it becomes the only thing we talk about.

I wish there was a higher rating than 10/10 for this episode, but there isn't so I guess its 100% from me.

they never run out of ideas...

[siray · 10/10 · 22 September 2013]

Whatever can be said about tonight's episode whatever words can be written, they won't do justice to this hour of television, which is without a doubt the hardest episode of TV I've ever watched.

Every time you thought things couldn't get worse, they did. Every time you thought the lowest point had been reached, it hadn't been.

There was more. It kept coming. It kept finding new ways to be mind- bendingly, soul-churningly devastating. ... So that was stomach-turning to witness, even as I could appreciate that the first third or so of Granite State was one of the most well-written, well-directed and seamlessly edited things I've ever seen.

This ending is EASILY the best episode's ending of all time.

[ayysaad-67795 · 10/10 · 16 March 2021]

I have nothing to add and no words to describe this greatness.

Just ,WOW!

Expertly written penultimate episode.

[daniellouthain · 10/10 · 22 September 2013]

"Ozymandias" was the greatest episode of Breaking Bad so far, but "Granite State" solidified Breaking Bad, for me, as the greatest work of episodic cinema ever.

Most TV shows miss the concept of pacing (the one's with continuity). They tend to sprint towards the finish in an effort to keep the audience as pleased as possible. They see a final season as, perhaps, the grand finale of a fireworks display. Breaking Bad doesn't do this. Vince and the writers take their time. They know how to pace a proper story.

"Ozymandias" is the total destruction of the protagonist as all he cares about is gone, his enemies seize the upper hand, and he's forced to sanctuary. "Granite State" is the calm before the storm, the protagonist nurses their wounds, they grieve their defeat, they plan their retaliation, they go to the brink of surrender. Then something happens to them. They hear something, they see and then they think something. Something deep within their character, something which drives everything they've done so far, emerges from what was broken and takes it's place. For Walter White it is a legacy, an empire. "Felina" will be the final act prepared perfectly by "Granite State."

This episode used the Jesse scenes to continue the spirit of "Ozymandias" while setting up Walter's scenes (or should I say Heisenberg's) for the finale. They delivered expertly crafted build mixed with shock, disgust, and excitement while maintaining status as the most maturely plotted show ever.

10/10. If you expected an explosive episode topping "Ozymandias" going into "Felina" you got it. Sometimes an explosion can be more subtle than you'd expect.

Supremely depressing and great just because of that

[stillworkingfortheknife · 15 February 2014]

In comparison to the masterpiece of an episode preceding this one, every positive thing I have to say about "Granite State" seems like an exaggeration, but I won't take "Ozymandias" as a threshold and instead focus on the multiple features that make the penultimate of all Breaking Bad episodes a brilliant one, just not the all-time best.

Regardless of where I start, every last scene or even shot of "Granite State" is heart-wrenching to watch and thereby continues the pall of tragedy and lack of any form of humour that is clouding the series since "Ozymandias", although this time, this is done through subtlety and (mostly) mental distress, conjuring up a reaction in me that was close to the shock I felt whilst watching the aforementioned episodic predecessor. Both major characters are imprisoned at the moment, albeit with a significant comfort distinction between these two forms of confinement, and both Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul step up to Emmy- worthy performances as they illustrate their characters' desperate situations in tremendously affecting, nearly wordless acting.

Yet the misery doesn't end there and writer/director Peter Gould makes sure that the supporting cast gets its share as well, further decreasing the cheer and increasing emotionally powerful scenes (one shot of Marie gazing into space and one of her vandalised house are all it takes to showcase that her life as well is at an absolute nadir) in an episode that really leaves you depressed as the end credits roll. As the Breaking Bad theme song is played in full length for the one and only time on the series and a paper swan on the bar felt like a Prison Break reference to me (though nobody else seemed to have interpreted it this way), "Granite State" has reached its ending and makes audiences ready for the final episode not with a cliffhanger of "To'hajiilee" or "Gliding Over All" proportions, but with what is the darkest outlook possible.

What happens next ?!

[Den-Callanan · 10/10 · 23 September 2013]

After this outstanding episode of Breaking Bad we will have friends and colleagues disputing over what will happen in the final episode. How will it end? What is Walt's purpose with the gun in the trunk of the car? Did Walt's previous partners and founders of Grey Matter push him to his tightly bound limits?

Then we will have an extensive amount of people who'll just watch with admiration and observe the fact that this series is one that sits confidently as one of, if not the finest series ever written.

From the dawning of the series to the imminent final climax I have been left astonished countless times, by elegantly cunning plots, unforeseen developments and breathtaking acting.

This episode once again delivers all. Answering many of my previous questions yet opening doors to so many more. As a build up to next weeks series finale it couldn't have been shaped better.

Frustrating!

[mm-39 · 7/10 · 24 September 2013]

Frustrating! Granite State is all build up and no release! I believe the director's intent is to show the slow lonely existence Walter's life of crime has led him to. The life style which causes Walter's family to reject him. Walter is burned out and ready to give up until Walter's old business partners stir the angry man back in Walter. I believe Walter taking no help from his former business partners was because his friend stole his girl and business ideas. Walter is driven by his frustrations to prove himself. I believe we will experience Walter's frustrations in the last episode. I give Granite State a seven out of ten. I feel more frustrated watching Granite State but maybe that was the director's intention.

No evidence against Walt or Saul

[mrwb77 · 5/10 · 8 October 2022]

It's all well and good Walt running, there's absolutely no hard evidence against him at all fir drugs, murder, anything. Nor against Saul.

DEA got nothing, book would be inadmissible. Money is gone, Jessey gone, Skyler can claim spousal privilege. Hank is in the ground in thousand of square miles of dessert and won't be found.

Walt can just take the 5th and there's nothing they can do, on drugs charges anyway. Best they could do is go after the car wash.

Its poor writing, they should have factored in something to make it make sense. No reason for him to leave or make the call to Skyler to "help" her either.

Walt is supposed to be super intelligent!

Why TV was worth invented

[mauricioc-158-529631 · 23 September 2013]

its hard to put it in words, since I am a TV lover freak. and I have watched the best over recent decades. complete series. The Sopranos, Dexter, Seinfeld, Nip/tuck.. and then this particular piece of art make its way. a TV gem nobody expected. I started watching the series when it was on its third season. and what called my attention first was Mr Cranston's Emmy award winnings. A former average actor, similar to Mr Gandolfini fairy tale (so sad we lost him). and when I saw the pilot, I just fall for it. an amazing acting on both main characters. totally Emmy deserved. though I have to say, I can predict an easy Emmy award for Dean Norris's Hank character for 2014 Emmy's. by far the best performance this current last season.

as for Granite State. the phone call scene father and son poem. my goodness.its so natural. it showed Walt's only intention all the series: his family well being. I would do the same for mine.

All Hell is Ready to Break Loose

[tristanp25 · 10/10 · 22 September 2013]

Another episode, another gut wrenching experience watching this fantastic television series. This show never ceases to amaze its viewers, and they did it again tonight. In this penultimate episode, they offered up content that crushed us emotionally yet again and it seems they were aiming at saving all the greatness of the epic showdown for the very last episode of Breaking Bad.

I just want to touch on how I thought they perfectly executed the scene involving Jesse. I mean not only was his escape very intelligently written, but the moments to come after it were so gripping. I felt so empathetic to see Andrea get wiped out like that by an increasingly psychopathic Todd and Jesse's reaction to it completely sold it. It ripped a piece out of me.

The father-son phone call between Walt and Flynn where Flynn said "why aren't you dead" to his dad was just wow. I don't know how the creators do it, because I was personally despising Walt after what he did to his family last week, but now here I am feeling sympathetic for him once again. He truly values his family and will do anything to ensure their comfort and security after all the wrong he has done, but he really got his wake up call tonight.

Next week marks the end, guys. This is it! One of the greatest television series of all time is going to rest in peace. But you can guarantee that next week's episode, "Felina", is not going to be for the faint of heart. All hell is going to break loose, all conflicts will be solved and all resolutions will be seen for the final time. It's all going out with a bang!

You can feel the intensity in the air....

[marrioo5 · 10/10 · 23 September 2013]

If there were any more words to describe the show after 'Ozymandias', they vanished. I'm not going to spoil anything, but this is going to be another one of those episodes where you'll be asking yourself at the end 'Now what?'.

Gilligan just showed us why the show deserved an Emmy last night. He proved that you don't need any fancy Hollywood explosions to get someone really attached to the screen. Breaking Bad is probably the best drama series yet and so it shall be for at least a decade, I would say.

'Granite State' really does make you gasp and suffer another week for the series finale.

Will Walt's work all be for nothing? Will Jesse set himself free?

Very well done Gilligan. Really.

Thank you for reading my review.

Granite State

[auuwws · 10/10 · 4 February 2021]

I deeply mourned Walt and the bad life that he's leading in the episode. I was deeply saddened by the inhuman torture that Jesse was subjected to, but the most saddest thing for me was when Walter's partner at their former company said Walter had no role in it other than choosing the company name even though their money was from Walter. Effort and search, I hope Walter will take his revenge on him, an evil revenge. She mourned the death of Andrea and possibly her son Tod, and saw Jesse her death one of the saddest scenes in the series

Breaking Bad Sets a World Record

[readjacksonporter · 9/10 · 22 September 2013]

I waited in full-blown anticipation all week long for this episode "Granite State". I was so excited. It was all I could talk about. I cut out pictures from a few EW issues ago of Breaking Bad and taped them on my walls, I read theories and watched some parts of episodes. I was obsessed with finding out what happens next.

I found out it came on at 7:00, so I waited and waited . . . and woke up at 7:30. Angry that I missed it, I waited until 9:30 to watch it, in which point I sat down in front of the TV with a bowl of ice cream, and watched television reach its finest point.

"Granite State" may not be the best episode of the series, it definitely is not as good as Ozymandius, but it was a necessary, highly- entertaining, emotionally-inducing, and character-evolving episode.

I'd read a theory that it was all coming back to Gray Matter. That Walt wouldn't only take down the Nazis, but would destroy the billion-dollar company that screwed him over years ago in his life. When Gretchen and Elliot appeared on the news and they mentioned Gray Matter, a grin stretched across my face. It was happening. This is what it was coming down to.

Vince Gilligan stated that the ending of Breaking Bad is somewhat of a victory for Walt. I couldn't really figure how until this episode. Maybe he finally receives (steals) the money he always deserved from the company he helped build at its inception.

So as Walt watched the news angrily, as the DEA tracked Walt to his secluded location in New Hamsphire, the theme song of Breaking Bad began playing, and it was a moment of cinematography that directors, producers, writers, and actors live to produce. It all ties together. Every last end of this enormously addicting thread finally ties together. As the final scene closes in on Walt's alcohol and tip, and we see the empty chair he had moments ago occupied, we don't know whether to laugh with incredibility, shout out with despair, or stare in absolute shock at the familiar credits that fade in and out of our vision, eventually leading into a teaser for the final episode of the greatest show that has ever aired on television.

One more week. (Oh yeah, and Guinness Book of World Records listed Breaking Bad as the highest rated TV show of all time.)

-Jackson

Emotionally cold experience!

[and_mikkelsen · 10/10 · 30 April 2023]

This episode just left me feeling empty! After what happened in Ozymandias, you just feel hopeless, like nothing matters!

This episode sees both Walt and Jesse strugling as thry slowly breaks and become a shadow of their former selves! They both feel like they have lost everything and are just looking for that purpose to keep fighting! Both actors are phenomenal as well! Aaron Paul does a haunting and emotional scene of someone who completely shatters!

This episode made me feel sad for Walt more than ever! All he ever wanted was to take care of his family! That is his one goal now! All that matters!

This episode is also last time we see Saul! You wanna know what happens to him? Go watch Better Call Saul!

"The sweet, kind, brilliant man that we once knew, long ago, he's now gone"

[FirstBlood3 · 9/10 · 23 September 2013]

So once again Breaking Bad proves that it is worth the wait,worth the hype and most of all worthy of the praise.

Ozymandias was a great episode (on of the best) and obviously it is hard to expect an equally enthralling episode but here comes Granite State.

Too bad we have Jesse's life getting worse.We have probably seen the last of Saul as well. Walter's health is getting too bad having lost so much weight that the wedding ring falls of. The phone call scene directly tells us about the resentment of his family - the most fundamental reason for Walt's involvement in this adventure of his (or should I say misadventure?). The best part IMO was the above dialogue and Walt's yet to be seen reaction to it. Add the theme music in the end and there Mr Gilligan has made the wait for final episode even more terrific.

Overall a great episode.

9.5 on ten

And congrats to Breaking Bad for winning the Emmy!

yep were ready!

[kingjado_9 · 10/10 · 23 September 2013]

the greatest show on earth will give us the greatest finale next week. and just if you think that breaking bad didn't deserve to finally win the outstanding drama series Emmy, well this is another example of its greatness! amazing writing, directing, progression, acting. and that amazing feeling when you literally cant wait till next week. Jesse is in some deep sh*t, Walt gets a new identity, Todd scares the hell out of me like always and amazing ending for the episode. however, i say to Vince Gilligan and the breaking bad team that were ready..ready for the finale. hit us with your best and don't worry about us not being able to take it. amazing episode 10/10.

I'm Glad It's Going to Be Over

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 13 May 2018]

Yet another gripping episode. Walter seems to have been dropped in an sort of Yukon environment, living in a bleak cabin alone. He is visited by the man who set him up. His cancer has reached a breaking point. His sole thought is to get money to his family. In the corner of his cabin is that industrial tub full of seven million dollars in cash. But it's of no use to him. Where is this going? I am just glad that I made it through because the whole series has been one of pain and regret, and, in Walter's case, obsession and psychosis.

The characters show themselves for what they are

[silverton-37959 · 7/10 · 19 October 2020]

This is a very well acted and directed episode with some fine scenery. It's satisfying to see the characters reveal their true nature, with Jack's gang revealing their brutality, Jesse showing some inner strength, Saul showing his strength of will and acceptance of the facts of his life, Walt Jr. showing himself as a spoiled, self absorbed little twerp, and Walt showing how his obsession with his own self image is at the real center of his character.

Saul never struck me as being a slimy shyster the way the creators seemed to be building his character. Saul is competent, kind of like Mike, though not nearly on the same level as Mike. The way Saul faced Walt and tried to show Walt that what he wanted was impossible, was an illustration of Saul's superior perception. Walt is a murderous, narcissistic psychopath, obviously, so having Saul stand up to him and say, "It's over" gave the viewer a view of Saul that could change the way they view Saul.

Robert Forster (RIP) was a good choice for the Ed the Vacuum Man character. He turned in his usual solid performance. I also have to say that this episode was a relief in that the bloated dumb fed character, Hank, wasn't a source of annoyance. I hated that character from the first scene he infested. Dean Norris is a good character actor and he did a good job of bringing the fat, arrogant, egotistical DEA agent to life, though I was happy to be rid of Hank.

Having a scene in which Ed gives Walt a chemotherapy treatment was pretty stupid, I thought. The idea was that chemo might help Walt live a little longer, but one treatment in all the time he was at the cabin made no sense.

create bad taste for the complete season 5B

[sohail-sadaqat · 1/10 · 17 August 2014]

This episode didn't needed at all. Walter could have easily planned and went on revenge of hank straight away or even after a little planning. Actually this episode alone craps the whole 5B season for me. It turns a dark, comedy and good series into torture porn and gore level. Never in the whole series they goto this level of brutality just for the show and without any good reason. I get it they wanted to create hateful characters(jack,todd,lydia) to end the series in high by killing them but that was already established after (Shi*ho* jack and Todd kills hank and beats the hel* out of jesse) and Lydia was already a Bi*ch(sorry she don't derserve a word of loyal animal) piece of sh* but this episode turn the whole experience of breaking bad into a bad taste. breaking bad was based on good story line but this episode just *uck it up for me. I still love the series and it is definitely my top TV series but because of this episode alone, season 5 is at the last now. Top season ware 4&3