Is “Felina” the Secret to the Breaking Bad Finale?

The Internet goes crazy trying to find clues that might reveal details about this weekend's big TV event

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Frank Ockenfels/AMC

Breaking Bad ends its dramatic run this Sunday and the Internet is overflowing with theories as to how the show’s creator Vince Gilligan will end the series. Will Jesse kills Walter White? Will the neo-Nazis kidnap Skyler, forcing Walt’s hand? Will people remember Walt’s name?

While some of the theories floating around are hilariously unlikely (Jesse saves the day with magnets!) over at Previously.TV, a site known for crafting some of the best crackpot theories around, someone has stumbled onto what may be an actual clue. According to the writer, the finale’s title “Felina” is not an anagram or a reference to a feline-like character, but an homage to a Marty Robbins song called “El Paso.”

According to the site, “the song ‘El Paso’ is about love, revenge, consequences, and redemption,” which, admittedly, sounds like a familiar story arc to anyone who has watched Breaking Bad. It turns out “El Paso” features a character named Felina. In the song, a cowboy spends his nights in a bar called Rosa’s Cantina, watching his love, Felina, dance. The cowboy kills a man who hits on Felina, forcing the cowboy to flee town (perhaps to New Hampshire?) out of fear for his life. While he’s away, the cowboy desires to return to the town and to his love, Felina. Per Previously.TV:

Felina is a metaphor for Walt’s double life. As Heisenberg, Walt becomes obsessed with the power and money that a being a drug kingpin brings. This power is his Felina, his weakness. But its backbone is the obsessive (destructive) love he also has for his family.

The author goes on to make a compelling case, laying out her case stanza by stanza, that the secrets to Vince Gilligan’s finale lie within the song. Including the fact that “that Walt is on a mission when he decides to flee the coming police at the end of “Granite State,” and that mission involves Gray Matter.” It’s interesting to note that in the song, when the cowboy returns to town, he is gunned down and dies in Felina’s arms. So who will be the instrument of Walt’s demise? The author has a theory.

While the argument is persuasive, it’s not the only possible outcome. The Net is filled with predictions about how Gilligan will wrap up the drama that has had America on the edge of its seat every Sunday night. The only hint he’s given so far is “woodworking,” which he mentioned on an episode of Talking Bad, AMC’s post-BB wrap show. Some theories breakdown “Felina” to it’s chemical elements (“Felina” = FeLiNa = Iron, Lithium, Sodium = Blood, Meth, Tears) or that perhaps “Felina” alludes to Schrödinger’s Cat. A personal favorite theory is that when Breaking Bad ends, Walter White will enter witness protection, changes his name to Hal, marry a nice woman named Lois and kick off the events that lead to the show known as Malcolm in the Middle.

The only way to know is to tune in to the finale, which airs on Sunday at 9/8c on AMC.

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