How 'Breaking Bad' Is A Big Winner From The 'Game Of Thrones' Series Finale - AT&T (NYSE:T)

The biggest winner from the final episode of "Game of Thrones" may have been "Breaking Bad."

Winter Came

HBO's "Game of Thrones" came to a close Sunday and the conversation on social media arose surrounding what's the greatest television show of all time.

After the final episode of "Game of Thrones" aired, Talkwalker says there were over 126,000 engagements on social media comparing the show to "Breaking Bad," which aired its final episode on AMC in 2013. Talkwalker is a social media data and analytics firm.

While the sentiment surrounding the final season for "Game of Thrones" may have been disappointment, the show still generated a tremendous response on social media. Talkwalker says there were over 6 million mentions and 25 million engagements across Twitter Inc TWTR, Facebook, Inc. FB and Instagram immediately following the airing of the episode.

Lofty Expectations

Pleasing an entire audience with an ending that does justice for a highly popular show is nearly impossible. This is even more of a testament to how beloved "Breaking Bad" is, with the majority of sentiment on social media arguing the show did it right with its ending.

“I think with 'Breaking Bad’s' final episode, fans felt like they did it right and it rang true," Cara Buscaglia, VP of Solutions at TalkWalker told Benzinga. "With 'Game of Thrones' everyone felt like overall it was bit rushed. Fans of the show support the characters and live for the character development and it all felt like it happened a little too quickly."

“There is a silver lining there. They didn’t want the show to end and they wanted the show to end in the right way,” she said.

Still A 'Special Ending'

Buscaglia says overall the sentiment was that the finale was worth watching, but was not the best episode. Of the final season, episode 3, "The Long Night," was far and away the most talked about episode, with 4.7 million social media and news mentions. With a run time of 82 minutes, "The Long Night" was the longest episode of the series.

"'Game of Thrones' ended and people were disappointed," Buscaglia said. "They felt the writing didn’t match up to the rest of the season. This season was different from every other season, but it still had a really special ending that it was still worth watching. It really left a lot of room for a spinoffs and characters available to do their own shows.”

The Incredible 'Game Of Thrones' Run Is Ending

Photo credit: 'Breaking Bad' episode 516 'Felina'

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