As I start typing this, my heart rate is still elevated and I'm so angry that we have to wait until next week for the next episode. By now you all know the drill. Blah blah blah spoiler alert blah blah. So let's dive in.
Holy. Shit. I'm gonna start with the ending here. In season 5A Mike referred to Walt as the time bomb- and he kind of was when he killed Mike in a moment of pride and anger- but that was nothing compared to the bomb Jesse turned out to be. Not long after last week's episode ended I was talking to my friends about how I hoped Jesse would find out about Walt's involvement in Jane's death and Walt poisoning Brock. We all agreed that the latter was much more likely, and lo and behold, that happened here. I absolutely love the way it was done, with Jesse making the connection between Huell lifting Jesse's pot and the missing ricin cigarette, with Saul finally admitting to it; it was the second major confession in this episode. Part of what made that moment so great for me is I actually didn't know what was going on at first and then I had my epiphany moment and realized how perfect it really was. From the moment that scene with Jesse in Saul's office started, my whole viewing party and I started to feel uneasy. Something just felt...off about that scene, and I was extremely relieved that Jesse chose not to go with the "disappearer." Then after seeing Walt rush to the car wash and grab a gun he had hidden in the soda machine, I was expecting the episode to end with Jesse showing up there. Instead we got Jesse breaking into Walt's house and dousing the entire living room with gasoline. For a moment my friends and I thought that that explained the condition of the house in the flash forward teaser scene from "Blood Money," but after thinking about it a bit, the interior of the house wasn't singed or anything, so I don't think that's what drove the family out. Something is clearly going to stop Jesse somehow, but what?
Now for the other story aspect I've been waiting to be addressed and the first confession: the fact that Marie used Walt's drug money (thinking it came from gambling) to pay for Hank's medical bills and rehab, revealed here to be $177,000. With the episode titled "Confessions," I was expecting one of those confessions to be Jesse talking to Hank, and I was genuinely surprised that he didn't. So to see the first "confession" come from Walt, in which he accused Hank of being Heisenberg and essentially blamed Hank for almost everything that's happened in the entire series while claiming all he did was cook, was astonishing. In my mind, that is one of the worst things Walt has done in the entire series, and my mouth was literally hanging open in shock during that entire scene. Granted, Hank and Marie are the only ones who have seen the DVD, and as Hank rightly pointed out, it was pure blackmail and Walt had no intention of showing anyone else unless Hank kept up his investigation. Yet what makes it even worse is that paying for Hank's treatment actually adds credibility to the story! Now that Hank finally knows about the money, that's definitely going to change the way he handles the situation. Just goes to show that even if Walt is out of the meth business, Heisenberg is who this man is now.
Also great in this episode was when Jesse finally called out Walt on all of his bullshit. He is fully aware of the fact that Walt has done nothing but manipulate him for the longest time, and poor Jesse has had enough of it. Then Walt gave him a (VERY awkward) hug and he broke down crying. Maybe that made Jesse start to doubt his convictions a little bit, but any hint of doubt was immediately washed away when he later realized that Walt poisoned Brock. During a commercial break my friends and I had a big discussion about whether or not Walt was sincere in that scene. We all knew he wasn't, but I really WANTED to believe there was some sincerity there. Alas, that's just not who Walt is anymore. I just know that I hate this show and AMC for making me wait a week between episodes, but I absolutely love it and these last five episodes are bound to be one hell of a ride.
Now I decided to add something to my reviews that I'm basically shamelessly stealing from the great TV reviews done over at A.V. Club: their stray observations, random thoughts about things in the episode not discussed above, but I'll come up with a different name for them next week. Probably "Random Thoughts" or something like that since I'm lazy and I'll be balancing the next five reviews with my fifth year of pharmacy school.
Holy. Shit. I'm gonna start with the ending here. In season 5A Mike referred to Walt as the time bomb- and he kind of was when he killed Mike in a moment of pride and anger- but that was nothing compared to the bomb Jesse turned out to be. Not long after last week's episode ended I was talking to my friends about how I hoped Jesse would find out about Walt's involvement in Jane's death and Walt poisoning Brock. We all agreed that the latter was much more likely, and lo and behold, that happened here. I absolutely love the way it was done, with Jesse making the connection between Huell lifting Jesse's pot and the missing ricin cigarette, with Saul finally admitting to it; it was the second major confession in this episode. Part of what made that moment so great for me is I actually didn't know what was going on at first and then I had my epiphany moment and realized how perfect it really was. From the moment that scene with Jesse in Saul's office started, my whole viewing party and I started to feel uneasy. Something just felt...off about that scene, and I was extremely relieved that Jesse chose not to go with the "disappearer." Then after seeing Walt rush to the car wash and grab a gun he had hidden in the soda machine, I was expecting the episode to end with Jesse showing up there. Instead we got Jesse breaking into Walt's house and dousing the entire living room with gasoline. For a moment my friends and I thought that that explained the condition of the house in the flash forward teaser scene from "Blood Money," but after thinking about it a bit, the interior of the house wasn't singed or anything, so I don't think that's what drove the family out. Something is clearly going to stop Jesse somehow, but what?
Now for the other story aspect I've been waiting to be addressed and the first confession: the fact that Marie used Walt's drug money (thinking it came from gambling) to pay for Hank's medical bills and rehab, revealed here to be $177,000. With the episode titled "Confessions," I was expecting one of those confessions to be Jesse talking to Hank, and I was genuinely surprised that he didn't. So to see the first "confession" come from Walt, in which he accused Hank of being Heisenberg and essentially blamed Hank for almost everything that's happened in the entire series while claiming all he did was cook, was astonishing. In my mind, that is one of the worst things Walt has done in the entire series, and my mouth was literally hanging open in shock during that entire scene. Granted, Hank and Marie are the only ones who have seen the DVD, and as Hank rightly pointed out, it was pure blackmail and Walt had no intention of showing anyone else unless Hank kept up his investigation. Yet what makes it even worse is that paying for Hank's treatment actually adds credibility to the story! Now that Hank finally knows about the money, that's definitely going to change the way he handles the situation. Just goes to show that even if Walt is out of the meth business, Heisenberg is who this man is now.
Also great in this episode was when Jesse finally called out Walt on all of his bullshit. He is fully aware of the fact that Walt has done nothing but manipulate him for the longest time, and poor Jesse has had enough of it. Then Walt gave him a (VERY awkward) hug and he broke down crying. Maybe that made Jesse start to doubt his convictions a little bit, but any hint of doubt was immediately washed away when he later realized that Walt poisoned Brock. During a commercial break my friends and I had a big discussion about whether or not Walt was sincere in that scene. We all knew he wasn't, but I really WANTED to believe there was some sincerity there. Alas, that's just not who Walt is anymore. I just know that I hate this show and AMC for making me wait a week between episodes, but I absolutely love it and these last five episodes are bound to be one hell of a ride.
Now I decided to add something to my reviews that I'm basically shamelessly stealing from the great TV reviews done over at A.V. Club: their stray observations, random thoughts about things in the episode not discussed above, but I'll come up with a different name for them next week. Probably "Random Thoughts" or something like that since I'm lazy and I'll be balancing the next five reviews with my fifth year of pharmacy school.
- Starting with that scene. It was tense and actually very funny with Trent the waitor. Then Marie telling Walt to just kill himself was ice cold and a wonderful moment.
- It was also nice to have the "disappearer" brought up again to remind the audience that this guy exists since the flash forward teaser scenes suggest that Walt used this guy to change his identity. Also pretty funny that one of the updates in the Breaking Bad Story Sync was all about the vacuum cleaner that's used as code for contacting this guy.
- I assumed that someone or something would stop Jesse from lighting the White house on fire, but the "fix" for next week in Talking Bad just now makes me think maybe the inside of the house does burn: apparently the White family takes a "staycation" and the image made it seem like they were in some sort of hotel room or something. Maybe a temporary place to stay while the house is fixed up? It's probably not that obvious, but we'll see.
- Also just as I predicted last week, minus the teaser scene, this episode picked up immediately where "Buried" left off, and after that ending, it seems very likely that "Rabid Dog" will pick up immediately where "Confessions" left off. One continuous story indeed.
- Last thing I'll mention before I shut up: the opening scene with Todd. He told the story of the train heist back in "Dead Freight" and surprisingly left out the detail of how he killed Drew Sharpe. I was honestly expecting that little detail to surface, but nothing. And now the new meth operation spearheaded by Todd is on its way back to Albuquerque. Clearly this can't be good for Walt. Sooner or later this is one more thing that will catch up to him and bite him in the ass.
As you can see, I had a lot to say about that fantastic episode and I rambled on for way too long (seriously, a big thank you to anyone who actually read this whole thing). So as long as no one burns down your house, I'll see you all next week for "Problem Dog"!
