"Breaking Bad” Season 5 Finale Review Roundup: Big buildup, big payoff. "Breaking Bad" changed TV, but will the networks learn?

"Breaking Bad" Season 5 Finale Review Roundup, probably spoilers, but is there anyone who hasn't seen it? I'll keep them at a minimum.

Breaking Bad's Walter White finished all family business last night. Yes, the ending was completely satisfying, the acting was top-notch, the writing and direction was 99.6 percent pure blue. But I wasn't happy. I wanted Walter White to thrive. I wanted him to get the remaining $69 million that Todd's uncle had buried on his compound and retire to Tahiti or something. I wanted Walter White to get away with it. Yeah, I know he did. But I wanted him to thrive. Was happy to see Jesse Pinkman go speeding into the distance.

"Breaking Bad" ruined television for me. Besides what they run on HBO, it redefined what you could do on TV. How far you could push your villainous heroes. The depth of misery they can sink to. The depths of depravity they can resort to. I always prefer criminal shows to cop shows, and "Breaking Bad" was the ultimate criminal show. He could have given Tony Soprano a run for his money.

But don't take my word for it, here are some official Breaking Bad Season 5 Finale Reviews:

Entertainment Weekly said "Felina" is jam-packed with almost everything a Bad fan could want. (Though we don't know if Huell is still waiting for Hank.) Walt outsmarts everyone, gets the money to his family, kills Lydia and the Nazis, and saves Jesse -- who gets away. Then, Walt dies in the one place he feels at home -- a meth lab."

Britain's The Telegraph said,The final scene, played out at length, was the showdown from that western, involving a high-powered machine gun, the killing of Walt's enemies and the freeing of Jesse. Oh and the vial of ricin, over which there had been so much speculation, turned out to be for Lydia, and was beautifully administered. But Jesse and Walt's final nod to one another, of having lived through this together, before the police closed in and Walt lay dying in the meth lab from a gunshot wound, felt shallow and unconvincing. Jesse, the heart of the series, played a bit part in the finale, which simply didn't reach the heights of what had gone before. Breaking Bad has been utterly electrifying television, weird, funny, emotionally rich and endlessly surprising. but in the end, the finale of this great American series turned out to be one of its lesser episodes."

Huffington Post said "The last two episodes, for all their good moments and sturdy attributes, feel like mopping-up exercises, to some extent. Perhaps the choices made at the start of Season 5 ultimately constricted and constrained what the last hours could do. I wasn't expecting another "Ozymandias," but a finale that was often concerned with logistical details and a plot to get rid of minor characters wasn't quite what I was expecting either."

Den of Geek US said, "There's no telling how long it will be before another show like Breaking Bad comes along. Expertly written, virtuosic with its direction, and flawlessly performed, Breaking Bad is everything you could want in a drama. Critics will spend the next decade dissecting and arguing about what made it great, but the reasons are endless and already well documented. Breaking Bad went out at the top of its game, and for that, I'm thankful, but it's the ultimate bittersweet goodbye. Thanks for the memories, Vince Gilligan. Have an A-1 day."

Variety said "In today's hyper-caffeinated age, precious little lives up to its hype. But the "Breaking Bad" finale - perhaps appropriately - got the chemistry just right." And "Everything that happened before and after that was just routine cleanup. Splendidly accomplished to a rattling good soundtrack with lovely grace notes throughout, but nothing like that moment of true confession."

TV Fanatic said, "Breaking Bad owns a place in the pantheon of all-time television shows for a number of reasons, from its acting to its direction to its attention to detail. This wasn't a jaw-dropping finale, but that's largely because it was a jaw-dropped television show. Gilligan didn't save any rounds for the concluding episode. He emptied them as he went along. Episodes and seasons weren't crafted with a bombshell reveal in mind; there was never anything contrived to tease the following week. The series was logical and detailed and precise, taking viewers on the journey of a chemistry teacher who believed he worked the same way. Unlike The Sopranos and unlike Lost, this isn't a finale we'll be talking about for months and years to come. We'll be talking instead about the series as a whole. Much like Walter White on everyone he touched, it left a significant mark on the TV landscape."

Have an A1 Day.