Jesse does not like Hello Kitty.
But seriously.
SPOILERS: Don’t Read if you have yet to watch the latest episode titled “Confessions” (but lets be honest, you’ve seen it).
Possibly the last time we see Walt and Jesse having a conversation not involving punches or M60s.
Five years ago we were introduced to a swirly Walter Hartwell White. As an audience, we donned our gazes upon an epic cluster-fuck of mishaps in one scene. A pair of flying pants, a busted up RV, gas masks, a video camera, corpses, and the ominous sounds of sirens tantalized our senses in the show’s pilot. Walter White frantically speaking into the camera, apologizing for his actions and fearing imminent death or capture, made us ask “what the hell is this on the tv screen”?.
Flash forward to last night, a much different kind of confession takes place. Tenors of fear and uncertainty don’t take hold, instead a cold, calculating machine is placed in front of us. As a society that prides itself in digging deeper into the human mind to find out “why” things happen, the term sociopath was born. If you struggle to come to terms with what that actually is outside of a textbook, “Confessions” eerily gave you a first-hand look. Hank stands in front of the television screen in horror as he witnesses for the first time the monster that his brother-in law truly is. I, like so many viewers, had been waiting not only for the initial Walt-Hank confrontation, but the moment when Hank finally takes a direct hit of Heisenberg himself. While this was not a physical act of violence, it was pure psychological warfare. Walt pinning the entire meth operation on Hank seems ridiculous to some, especially Marie, who pines for her husband to turn the disc over to his superiors. Hank automatically rebuffs, and digs deeper into the rabbit hole, discovering the truth about how his medical bills and physical therapy sessions were so easily taken care of. The Schraders are now in it too, they just hadn’t known about it.
Probably the most entertaining part of that gut-wrenching scene was the fact that I couldn’t stop thinking about the initial confrontation between Walt in Hank in “Blood Money”. Hank made it clear that he didn’t know who he was dealing with anymore, and Walt warned him to ease up. As iconic as that line will most-likely be once the show has ended, it was full of macho-bravado that I almost didn’t take it seriously at first. Only upon re-watching the episode did I realize how powerful it was. The look on Hank’s face as he gazes into the pixilated version of Walt on his tv screen is priceless. He was perplexed, angry, shocked, but almost coming to terms with what he was seeing. I’d be remised if I didn’t mention how fabulous Dean Norris has portrayed Hank this season. Being given difficult lines with such high expectations doesn’t seem to be a problem for Norris in his portrayal of Hank, but he has taken it to new heights during these last three episodes. This scene seems so important for the emotional development of the two characters going head-to-head. Hank knows that Walt is Heisenberg, and knows the crimes that Heisenberg has committed. But this is his first hand look at how Walt operates. He is swift, cunning, manipulative, and most of all ruthless. Hank was warned, and now a steaming pile of shit has been served to him, instead of that fresh guacamole that Trent so arduously pushed for.
While classifying Breaking Bad’s seemingly best episodes may seem like a formidable task, I will say that this one ranks as one of the most painful to watch. Seeing Jesse explode at the realization of what “that asshole Mr. White” has been up to was a heart-wrenching scene. These last three episodes have also been ground-breaking for Aaron Paul, not because of what he doesn’t say, but because of how he doesn’t say it. I swear I get depressed whenever Jesse comes on screen nowadays. A character once full of awesome one-liners and boundless energy has been degraded to a pathetic, guilt-ridden corpse, and I feel for him. He remains the one piece of morality left in this story. Hank wants to put Walt under the jail because its his job, lets not forget that. Jesse, after committing murder, cooking illicit drugs, and being completely manipulated by his adoptive father figure is left to pick up the shards of his life. Jesse’s devoid attitude towards a normal life can be summed up best by “Alaska…Alaska is good!”. As depressing as Jesse has been (understandably so), he still is wise enough to know that no former star meth cook and recent millionaire should be caught dead with a Hello Kitty phone (seriously?).
Some people were initially confused on why Jesse flipped out. Obviously he told Saul it was the fact that Huell lifted his ricin-laced cigarette on Walt’s orders, who then poisoned Brock in order to win the chess match between himself and Gus. However, since we know that Brock was not poisoned with the ricin capsule, and instead with Lily of the Valley, it is merely the full-realization of what Walt has been doing. It is in fact, the last straw. No more hugs will be had between these two as this season wraps up, but we also know that Walt’s house doesn’t get burned down, evident in the non-fire damaged White residence we are thrust inside of in “Blood Money”.
Tidying up loose-ends has been an important part of this show to date, and with a depleted cast (Lydia and Todd though…) the show has receded back to its core value of tackling problem dogs. It seems like we’re in for a bit of turbulence for the next month, because the train that has been going nonstop is about to derail, and in a hurry.
Other Notes
- So many conspiracy theories exist based onlittle things in this show, which makes it insanely enjoyable to watch. Someone conjured a theory about the bloody paper towel that Todd’s coworker throws in the toilet because of a “lingering camera shot”. You should google it, its hilarious and well-thought out.
- The music in this show is magical. Deep tenors and rattles >. The final scene when Walt realizes Jesse knows about his little ricin plan, and the subsequent gasoline “dispersion” upon his home uses some of the best music in the show’s history.
- Still freaks me out how Walter can simply fake-cry on a dime.
- Was that a darker shade of purple at the Mexican restaurant Marie?
- Seriously, so many conspiracy theories, check them out.