After this past Sunday’s third season finale of Breaking Bad aired, I was clearly not the only person with one big question on their mind: did Jesse really just shoot Gale? Did he miss? Was that not his gunshot we heard? The poll results show that 30% of the people who voted think Jesse missed on purpose. This was clearly going to be the biggest question we all had going into the next season (yes, there is a season four coming).
As it turns out, Breaking Bad creator — and director of the finale — Vince Gilligan wants us to know that there was no intention for that final scene to be ambiguous, and that Jesse did indeed shoot Gale. In an interview with HitFix.com’s Alan Sepinwal, Gilligan said:
“… in the editing room, my editor and some other people were saying that the way it counter-dollies around, it looks like he’s changing his point of aim before he pulls the trigger. For what it’s worth, I did not intend for it to feel that way. I’ve been hearing from the people who’ve already seen it that it looks like he’s changing where he’s aiming. That is not intentional. I did not see it that way when I was directing. It’s not wrong for you to think he shot this guy.”
By that quote, you may question whether Gilligan is trying to steer us wrong. It’s not wrong to “think” he shot this guy. But wait … he goes on later:
“We know Jesse, and we know he is a sensitive soul — which is surprising, that he’s much more sensitive than Walt, we wouldn’t have guessed that from the pilot episode — but Jesse very much is, and he’s very much not a murderer, and yet here he is, having shot an innocent man, for all intents and purposes, in cold blood.”
Well that pretty much sums it up then, doesn’t it? Jesse shot Gale. The only remaining question is whether or not Gale was shot dead, though in Gilligan saying, “He’s very much not a murderer, and yet…” seems to strongly suggest that Gale is dead.
But why the black screen at the gunshot? Why not show the smoking gun and Jesse’s slack-jawed face? Why not show Gale’s brains scattered about his teakettle? I also don’t get why Gilligan didn’t heed the warning from his editor and just go back and shoot that scene over again, if even he thought it looked ambiguous in his professional observation.
Don’t get me wrong — Breaking Bad is phenomenal, and in particular the final two episodes of the past season. I’m just sort of shaking my head at how Gilligan could think this was not ambiguous to us.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Jun 16, 2010 @ 16:13 EST5EDT
Love the picture. I laughed :-)
There’s an “h” missing in sentence three.
“But why the black screen at the gunshot? Why not show the smoking gun and Jesse’s slack-jawed face? Why not show Gale’s brains scattered about his teakettle?”
Dramatic effect? I certainly went WTF???? & Until I read other people talking about it I just presumed he did [shoot him]
I’m really late to this party, but I let BB pile up on my DVR and marathon watched episodes 3-13 over the weekend and last night. With the apparent shift in angle of the gun and the fade to black it was absolutely ambiguous. Keith, you were right to question why Gilligan didn’t listen to his editor.
My only conclusion after reading all this is that Gilligan is fracking with us. He knows damned well the end scene was anything but definitive.
My suggestion? Have Walter kill Gustavo and take his place with Gale and Jesse cooking. Gustavo might not have specifically ordered his thugs to kill kids, but he knew what they were capable of so he’s just as guilty and just as cruel.
Mike the detective/cleaner/finder seems to have an odd respect for Walter that makes me think he’d stand be him should Walter kill Gustavo. Walter knows his life is forfeit as long as Gustavo is alive, even if Gale is dead because a replacement can be found. Remove Gustavo from the equation and Walter removes the biggest and most immediate threat to his life. On top of that, he’d be making a buttload more money. So I say to Walter, “Break badder, dude!”