REVIEW: Breaking Bad “Confessions”

Breaking Bad aired another final episode last night, so lets not waste any time deciding on drinks or guacamole and jump right in to your Major Spoilers recap and review! Remember: SPOILERS!

Previously on Breaking Bad: Hank has finally pieced together that his own brother-in-law, Walt, has been meth mastermind Hesienburg for over a year. Tempers flared between sisters r when Marie confronted Skyler about her knowledge of Walt’s side business. Jesse has been arrested on suspicion of… giving a neighborhood hundreds of thousands of dollars? Not really sure what he was brought in for, but he was and Hank was ready to get some answers when last week ended.

WHY DON’T YOU JUST KILL YOURSELF?

Before we get to the series of questions and statements between Hank and Jesse, let’s discuss the show opener of Todd talking to his Nazi Uncle and friend about the methylamine train heist in broad daylight, in the middle of a dinner. Actions like this and what Lydia pulled last week make these two wild cards that seem willing to do anything to make money off of a sub-Hesienburg cook and it scares me. Oh, Todd also conveniently left out the part of the heist when he shot a kid. Maybe he forgot about it in the wake of blood he has already left this season.

Now, back to an interrogation cell where Hank and Jesse come in private contact for the first time since Hank almost beat the life out of Jesse. Hank shows his hand early declaring his knowledge of Walt’s secret identity in hopes that Jesse will be frightened and willing to take a deal of freedom to spill the details Hank needs. Jesse quickly deduces that Hank doesn’t have all the pieces he needs, much like the previous people he has tried to convince

Hank’s lack of the final piece of evidence to nail Walt led to, what might be, Walt’s smartest move ever: taping his confessional. In a scene that harkens back to the first episode of Breaking Bad, Walt sits down and begins recording his incriminating story, which we saw Walt give to Hank at a tense sit down at a local restaurant.

Quick side note: if you still don’t believe in the color symbology (which how couldn’t you after last episode?) Walt and Skyler both wore light greys while the Schraders both wore Marie’s classic purple, showing their solidarity with their respective partner.

Back to Hank’s lack of evidence and Walt being a genius. Walt’s “confessional” essentially boils down to this: he says that Hank is the true mastermind behind the operation and he forced Walt to cook the meth. Let that sink in for a moment…Walt: the man who has proved time and time again that he wants all those involved to know exactly what he has done (Say my name.) recorded a message confessing that none of it was his idea. Walt is both a genius for tying all that has happened tightly back to Hank and also scared enough to record that in hopes that the situation won’t fall from his hands.

THAT’S WHY YOU BROUGHT ME HERE, RIGHT?

Now, you might believe that had to be the most shocking moment of the night? Well, I would argue that you are wrong. You might even think that Jesse, once again, thinking that Walt was going to kill him, “just like you did Mike,” in the words of Mr. Pinkman. But again, you would be wrong. The most heartbreaking/shocking scene was Jesse, standing on the side of the road ready to disappear under a new identity forever, realizing that Walt was behind the poisoning of Brock the whole time. He realizes this by noticing Hull was able to sneak pot out of Jesse’s coat without noticing, leading him to re-examine his pack of cigarettes that use to contain the ricin cigarette. Being quick on his feet, he puts two and two together, ditches the van to a new life and returns to Saul Goodman’s office in a fiery rage.

You have to understand, this comes directly after Jesse broke down in front of Walt demanding that he stops playing his former partner, with thoughts that he might dead in the dessert. This comes directly after Jesse was given a clean slate offer from Hank in exchange for info on Walt and firmly denied it. The hurt and rage inside of Jesse to learn that his belief that Walt was behind Brock being sick cannot be understood. We do know one thing: Walt is scared, which he should be, because he isn’t even aware that Jesse is about to burn his house down. Of course, we do know one more thing: Walt is alive in the flash forwards, but we have yet to see Jesse.

BOTTOM LINE: BEST EPISODE YET?

Confessions brought all the parts that make Breaking Bad great and, possibly, did them better than any episode previous in the series. The episode had moments of comedy with the restaurant waiter, showed the genius of Walt with the recording, brought tears to my eyes at the thought of Jesse leaving for good, and finished by leaving jaws on the floor with Jesse on a rampage. With five episodes left in Breaking Bad, the bar has been set extremely high, but I don’t doubt the crew will leave us satisfied every week left.