Breaking Badseason 5, episode 16, “Felina,” ended Vince Gilligan’s award-winning crime drama in 2013, and one member of an iconic sitcom cast has an unusual take on the installment. TheBreaking Badcastdisbanded after “Felina,” althoughcertain reunions did happen in both 2019’sEl Caminomovie and among theBetter Call Saulcast.
The episode is widely regarded as a flawless way of ending one of thebest TV shows of all time.Breaking Badfans are still discussing the show’s brilliantly-written scripts today, more than a decade after “Felina” first aired. However, while talking aboutBreaking Badis common, it’s not often spoken about in the way one sitcom star has.
Faison Made The Admission In a 2020 Podcast Episode
Donald Faison played Dr. Christopher Turkinevery season ofScrubs, and is now confirmed to be coming back for theupcomingScrubsrevival. The actor co-hosts a podcast,Fake Doctors, Real Friends, that focuses largely on rewatching the medical sitcom. While the podcast understandably pays a lot of attention toScrubs, other shows and movies are mentioned.
Faison has also admitted on the podcast that watchingBreaking Bad’s finale in isolation isn’t the only example of this unique viewing habit and that he has done the same thing with other shows.
Speaking with co-host andScrubsco-star Zach Braff, Faison admitted in a 2020 episode ofFake Doctors, Real Friendsthathe watched theBreaking Badfinale without any context of the other 61 episodesthat had preceded it. “Felina” is a fantastic episode, but the praise Faison gave theBreaking Badfinale doesn’t quite add up.
The Scrubs Star Believes He Knew All He Needed To Know Beforehand
While talking about watching “Felina” in isolation,Faison stated, “the Breaking Bad finale is a f****ing movie,“and that he was able to fully enjoy it with what little context the episode provides regarding past events. The guest star on the podcast at the time, Shea Serrano, tries to explain the amount of nuance that Faison was missing.
Still,theScrubsstar is immovable in his stance that “Felina” functions perfectly well as a standalone installment. He also goes on to explain that he can have a “hard time” investing in shows in case they’re canceled, or he finds the finale disappointing. While just watching an acclaimed finale certainly bypasses those concerns, it’s far from a perfect solution.
Donald Faison makes a few points during the episode ofFake Doctorsthat help me see where he’s coming from. While"Felina” could be an entertaining episode for someone who hasn’t seenBreaking Bad, there’s still far too much embedded in the installment for it to be fully appreciated as intended without seeing all the rest of the show to that point.
Furthermore,theBreaking Badfranchise actually did release a movie in 2019.El Caminois a feature-length story, but even that doesn’t make complete sense unless the viewer has seen the show. So, Faison’s argument about “Felina” falls apart even more when it’s considered that even the actualBreaking Badmovie shouldn’t be viewed in isolation.
