September 3, 2013

Breaking Bad - Confessions

Going into these last eight episodes Breaking Bad is my favorite television show of all time. This title was previously held by LOST, which totally broke my heart in its final season. I had a little bit of concern that I had built Breaking Bad up so much that is couldn't do anything but let me down. “Confessions” was proof that the Vince Gilligan and the other writers knew what they were doing. This was an amazing episode. I can only hope the last 5 are as good as “Confessions”.

First off, the “confession” was nothing close to what I thought it would be. I loved the call back to the pilot episode. If you don't remember that, Walt thinks he is going to be caught so he records a confession video back then, starting it off the exact same way. I genuinely thought Walt was going to confess everything he did in that video. When he handed over to Hank I didn't know what was going on. Then when Hank & Marie stood there and watched it I was floored. I doubt Walt had been planning this, but it sure did work out well.

In the cold opening to the episode we see Todd and Uncle Jack sitting in a diner. It was really strange, and consisted mostly of Todd talking about Walt like he was some sort of super hero. There is this strange shot that lingers on the waitress that makes you think bad things are going to happen to her. They crew casually converses as they wipe blood off their boots in the bathroom, then ominously head back into New Mexico… presumably to give Walt even more trouble.

While the last episode “Buried” was Skyler's episode, “Confessions” was Jesse's episode. Initially I thought the title referenced the fact that Jesse told Hank what was going on. That was clearly not the case. Jesse was not interested in helping out Hank at all. Jesse also is tired of getting “worked”, and isn't going to take anymore of Walt's crap. He goes out for a meeting in the desert with Walt and Saul. At this point I was worried for Jesse's well-being. Everything is blowing up in Walt's face, and he seems like he is willing to do whatever he need to do to make sure his family comes out of this deal. Jesse poses a huge threat to that. He is a wildcard.

Of course Jesse comes away from that meeting unscathed except for an emotionally confusing embrace from papa Walt. He is convinced to get lost with the help of Saul's guy. However, in a last second discovery Jesse puts together the pieces that Walt was behind the missing ricing cigarette that Jesse had, and Jesse decides he isn't going anywhere.

“Confessions” started our race to the finish. There is a lot of things to get cleared up, and this was the beginning. The relationship between Jesse and Walt is as bad as it has ever been, and who knows what is going to happen between them. It should be good.

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