Breaking Bad fans with an hour to spare might want to sit down and watch the panel Conan O'Brien hosted. The panel took place before an Academy of Arts and Sciences audience and has the red-headed TBS late night talk show host Conan O'Brien talking about the series and its final eight episodes with showrunner Vince Gilligan and the cast about the series and the final eight episodes, which we recently learned will begin airing this August.
August seems like an eternity away, but on the bright side, it does give us plenty of time to speculate and theorize over how the show will end, especially after that amazing cliffhanger at the half-season finale, when (spoilers if you aren't caught up!) Hank was last seen reading the note inside the Walt Whitman book and finally puts the W.W.-Heisenberg connection together. Brilliant. Even months later, it still seems so brilliant. That's one of the first things discussed in the video above, as O'Brien asks Gilligan about the choice to use the book as a way of revealing what's been in front of Hank's face all this time.
The conversation goes on to discuss the sympathy some viewers have for Walt's character. Cranston has some interesting things to say about that and the various checkpoints for his character. He thinks the biggest turning point for his character happened in the first episode. "When he attempted to become someone he wasn't. And once you do that, it's a slippery slope. He lost his soul, and he allowed it to just drift away. He's in trouble," Cranston says. He goes on to promise that the last 8 episodes will be a surprise. "I think, personally and honestly, it's going to be very satisfying to the fans."
Meanwhile, Dean Norris, who plays Hank in the series, says he doesn't think Hank would've given up the search, even if he hadn't come across the book. The conversation about Hank not locking the door when he went into the bathroom at the White House makes me think we're in for a real treat when the Breaking Bad talk show Talking Bad debuts. These are the things fans like to nitpick between obsessing over what's going to happen next! I love hearing the cast debate and discuss their characters and the show. Even they don't have all the answers, but they're passionate about the subject. For another example of that, watch the first video in this article to see Jonathan Banks, Bob Odenkirk and Aaron Paul debate Walt's feelings for Jesse.
Breaking Bad is set to return August 11 at 9:00 p.m. ET on AMC.
