“Are you caught up on ‘Breaking Bad’?” It’s a question you either grew annoyed of answering or, like me, sick of asking. As I’m writing this, the last episode of “Breaking Bad” has aired. My Sunday nights are now free of blue meth mishaps in Albuquerque, N.M., and I confess I have mixed feelings on saying good-bye. I won’t spoil anything for those who haven’t yet taken a hit from the “Breaking Bad” pipe (how could I dare?), but there’s a definite sense of relief that comes with no longer having to be agonized by this fantastic and horrific show.

The early episodes of “Breaking Bad” were more in line with dark comedy than anything else. Sure, people were being killed and dissolved in acid, but there was at least something slapsticky about the ordeal. Walter White, the seemingly most unlikely of felons, and Jesse Pinkman, his former student, formed a twisted yet endearing odd couple. In a cable TV landscape checkered with anti-heroes from Tony Soprano to Dexter Morgan, it felt logical to root for Walt.

It didn’t feel like that at the end. Walter White had been stripped of every redeeming quality and existed solely as the show’s villain. While Tony and Dexter had their moral codes, however disturbing, Walt was reckless, inconsistent and relentless. “Breaking Bad” is as beautiful a show as ever, but the experience of watching it is excruciating. The comedic elements of the early seasons are gone, replaced by tortuous situations for supporting characters the audience has grown to love.

So why would anyone miss “Breaking Bad” at all? First and foremost, it’s good storytelling, plain and simple. The makers of the show have maintained an impressive level of quality over the last five seasons, both technically and artistically. Words like “best TV show ever” are casually thrown around when “Breaking Bad” is discussed, and not entirely without reason.

But one of the more interesting aspects of watching “Breaking Bad” for me has been the communal experience of watching the show shared by its fans. Aided by social media sites, “Breaking Bad” has spread almost virally over the past few years. As the show has grown darker and darker, the viewership has skyrocketed. There’s what can only be described as a collective schadenfreude as millions watch through their fingers as terrible things happen to fictitious people they care about. In a time when television shows kill off characters like they’re going out of style, the tension of “Breaking Bad” is unrivaled.

Now, at the end of this wonderful, terrible journey we’ve all been on, it seems fitting to thank the writers of the show. “Breaking Bad” has been a reliable source of personal anguish over the years, and I’m going to miss talking about it with my therapist every week. I can only hope that binge-watching “Malcolm in the Middle” will get me through this post-Heisenberg depression.

Noah Cannon is a junior majoring in telecommunication and film. His column runs biweekly.