Another amazing episode in a long line of them, but this one was equally great and hard to watch. A perfect title for the episode because you see Saul truly break bad. Great idea to intersperse scenes from its predecessor to motivate both shows. Just heart breaking to watch this character that once had a heart to abandon it. I'm going to miss this show.
The first five episodes, taken individually, were quite watchable. They painted the picture of a group of rich people at a hotel and the employees who had to fawn over them. The main characters were all distinct and interesting, the acting was very good, and the production value was really high. As a whole, though, when taking the finale into account, the show doesn't work either as drama or satire. As drama, it's hard to root for any of the characters, and the ones that I was rooting for botched my sympathy in the final episode. Additionally, there was very little change or growth in the characters. They all left the finale the same way they entered the premier. As satire, it was only occasionally funny, and I have a dark sense of humor. The satire wasn't sharp enough to make up for the lack of drama. That being said, if you want a show where bad people don't know they're bad and pretend to be good, and learn nothing about themselves, watch this.
The flow of this episode detracted from its dramatic effect. There were many good pieces in this episode, but their order and the editing of them reduced their impact. Naomi's rescue, the battle with the Rocinante, the battle at the gate, and the reunion with Avasarala, none of these hit with me the way they could've.
Firstly, the nice speech Avasarala gives during the reception would have been much better as the last scene of the episode. After the belters and Martians have taken over the ring, we would be concerned about the future, then Avasarala gives us hope.
The other development that didn't resonate with me was the dissolution of Drummer's team. I understand that they were torn between supporting Marcos and not, but that turmoil was caused by a threat of destruction, not a desire to work with Inaros. The ties between the crew were shown to be extremely strong, emotionally and otherwise. It should take an enormous conflict to break them. The crew knew that the agreement with Inaros was made under duress and so should have understood how fragile it was. The crew faced two options: cooperate with Inaros and do things they did not want to, or risk their lives and their family's lives by defying him. Both options would be reasonable and acceptable to the crew, and it doesn't resonate with me that the crew would be that upset by Drummer making the decision everyone thought she'd make in the first place. I could accept a decision by some of the crew to leave temporarily because their brother was killed, but to blame Drummer for this (and not Inaros) and completely break their bonds is a stretch given their relationship.
