Episode Title: “Confessions”
Writer: Gennifer Hutchison
Director: Michael Slovis
Previously on “Breaking Bad”:
When “Breaking Bad” wraps up in a few weeks, I think what I’m going to miss the most is the way that this show ratchets up the tension on a week-to-week basis. In the three episodes since “Breaking Bad” came back from its midseason break, the foundations of this series have come tumbling down as the truth came out.
At this point, almost all of the lies are out in the open. Almost. There are still a few hanging bombshells waiting to explode. But one of the biggest revelations went off in this episode.
There are full spoilers ahead for “Confessions,” so if you missed last night’s episode of “Breaking Bad” then you should probably skip this review… and skip the guacamole too.
The first thought of the night is that Todd (Jesse Plemons) is unbelievably dangerous. Not because of his propensity for violence (although there is that), but because he’s too dumb to keep his mouth shut. Walter White (Bryan Cranston) repeatedly told this dude that no one could ever know about the train heist. So what does “Ricky Hitler” do? He shares the story with his skinhead uncle Jack (Michael Bowen) and his associate Kenny (Kevin Rankin) at a local diner like it’s just some Tarantino movie and no one is going to overhear their discussion about a major crime he committed.
Not only does Todd embellish his role in the story, he refers to Walt and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) by their names! Todd didn’t even bother to give them fake names for the story. Although Todd does leave out the part where he killed a kid to protect the heist, perhaps because even his uncle would look down on that. To cap off Todd’s stupidity, he calls Walt and leaves a message informing him about the “change in management” after a disagreement with the drug lord, Declan (Louis Ferreira). Todd also refers to Walt and the late Declan by name in the recorded message!
So, if someone got a hold of Walt’s ‘business phone” and had a recording of Todd’s message, wouldn’t that be one of the first tangible pieces of evidence against Walt? For now, Todd and his uncle are only appearing to remind us that they are still out there in Walt’s old territory. Their role in the endgame of the series isn’t fully clear, but it’s coming.
In the meantime, Walt has much bigger problems with his brother-in-law, DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) and Walt’s former partner, Jesse. Both Hank and Jesse have reasons to hate Walt, but they hate each other more. Hank’s decision to speak to Jesse in the interrogation room may have backfired on him. If it had been anyone else, Jesse might have broken down.
Walt has not always been good at subterfuge, but he’s a master of emotional manipulation. When Marie Schrader (Betsy Brandt) tries to lure Walter Jr. (RJ Mitte) to her house, Walt gives his son a “heartfelt” discussion about the return of his cancer that clearly breaks his son’s spirit. Mitte’s facial expressions in that scene were terrific. And after that, there was no way that Walter Jr. was leaving the house.
In the desert, Walt deals with Jesse in much the same way. Jesse comes right out and accuses Walt of killing Mike and he practically dares Walt to kill him on the spot. By now, Jesse can see through most of Walt’s lies and he’s fully aware that Walt wants him to leave town just to protect himself from anything that Jesse might say or do. Jesse knows this, but he still breaks down in tears when Walt’s responds to Jesse’s words by embracing him in the way that a father holds his son.
Walt’s greatest deception is his taped confession; which was the show stopping scene of the week. I have to admit, I was initially fooled into thinking that Walt made that confession as a way to protect Skyler (Anna Gunn) from any prosecution. And perhaps to clear Hank of any possible suspicion. That would have been the noble thing to do.
Instead, Walt spins a tale about Hank being the real Heisenberg who forced Walt to cook meth for Gus Fring. Walt’s story weaves in and out of events that actually took place on the series while making Hank out as a monster. To anyone who doesn’t know Walt, his story is all too believable. Mr. “I am the one who knocks” even convincingly lets his voice swell with emotion about Hank holding his kids as leverage while also acting as if he’s unfamiliar with the criminal life that he’s been roped into.
Walt’s acting skills have clearly come a long way, but it’s the ultimate dick move he could have pulled short of having Hank killed. Setting Hank up for Heisenberg’s crimes would be one of the darkest ways that this series could end. All Hank has is his reputation as a heroic DEA agent. He’s willing to sacrifice that career to definitively take down Walt. But for now, Walt has the upper hand in their cat and mouse game.
On top of that, Walt’s tape let’s Hank know that his physical rehabilitation was paid for by Walt’s dirty drug money. A deflated Hank tells Marie that she’s killed him… that this is the final nail in his coffin. But it’s hard to blame Marie for this one. Marie would have done anything to help Hank recover. Taking the money from Skyler seemed like a good idea at the time. And Skyler was a much better liar than Walt.
It should be noted that Skyler is responsible for not only compromising her sister and Hank, but she also helps Walt film the fake confession that would implicate Hank if it got out. It’s a betrayal of her sister that goes far beyond anything else that Skyler has done to Marie. Skyler does seem reluctant and she also shows regret about what she did, but she still went along with it for the remote chance that her children can get the money that Walt buried in the desert.
Prior to Hank and Marie watching Walt’s “confession,” they reluctantly joined the Whites for dinner at a Mexican restaurant… and it’s probably the last time that they’ll ever get together as a family. Marie even hisses that Walt should kill himself to solve this problem and nobody eats. The intensity between the four of them was only broken by a few funny moments when a hapless waiter kept trying to sell them on guacamole as he tried to take their orders. It’s good to see that “Breaking Bad” hasn’t lost its sense of humor.
There’s a real sense of sadness in the office of Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) as Jesse declines the opportunity to say goodbye to his family or friends while latching on to Alaska as possible place to start over and build a new life. Saul even shows some affection towards Jesse as he sends him on his way.
But Saul overplayed his hand by getting Huell (Lavell Crawford) to lift Jesse’s joint. Once Jesse realizes that it’s missing, the pieces come together in his mind and he realizes that Huell must have lifted the ricin cigarette from him in the same way. And that means that Walt poisoned Brock.
Armed with that revelation, Jesse beats the crap out of Saul and gets him to admit that Walt was behind Brock’s poisoning. Of course, Saul immediately gave Walt a call after ratting him out to Jesse. That led to the last great comedy bit of the hour as Walt came up with a flimsy excuse to retrieve his gun from the car wash soda machine that Skyler barely acknowledged at all. It was also hilarious to see how nervous and frightened Walt was outside of the car wash, only for him to put on a front when he stepped inside to speak with his wife.
Meanwhile, Jesse breaks into the White home and starts pouring gasoline in the living room. Holy s***. Mr. Pinkman is done playing around. Knowing that Walt nearly killed Brock could be the thing that gets Jesse on the same page with Hank. From the flash forwards, we know that Walt’s house is still standing a year from now. But the more immediate question is this: was Walter Jr. home when Jesse came into the house? Will Walt’s actual son finally meet the surrogate son that Walt has alienated for the last time? Jesse was ready to kill Gus Fring when he thought that Gus was behind Brock’s poisoning. So imagine what he’s willing to do to the man who has betrayed him so badly?
This episode was nearly flawless and the story was riveting. Things are happening so quickly that this could have easily been the penultimate episode of the series. Instead, there are five episodes left and it’s hard to see how the creative team can keep this intensity going. But it would be a mistake to bet against “Breaking Bad” as it heads into the home stretch. The people behind this show clearly know what they’re doing and they do it better than anyone else.
