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| Bryan Cranston |
Are you tired of long, tedious accounts of Breaking Bad episode recaps? Then look no further than Breaking Half: a weekly column that takes the good and bad from each week's episode of Breaking Bad and dilutes it down to the core necessities. Each Monday, Breaking Half will attempt to take a few key moments from the episode and boil it down to one juicy paragraph.
Season 5, Episode 15
"Granite State"
"I understand. I am in terrible trouble."
-Skyler (Anna Gunn)
With Walter (Bryan Cranston) about to head off to New Hampshire, he runs into Saul (Bob Odenkirk) at the hideout of the relocation expert Ed's (Robert Forster) place. Saul doesn't go along with his plan to leave town. Skyler (Anna Gunn) is being interrogated for evidence regarding Walter's whereabouts, but providing nothing. It also results in the White residence being put up for sale. Todd (Jesse Plemons) reveals that he broke into Marie's (Betsy Brandt) house, stole Jesse's (Aaron Paul) confession video, and is showing it to his unsympathetic friends. He has also convinced Lydia (Laura Fraser) to keep doing business with him because the purity ratio is 92%, thanks to Jesse, who is still locked up and forced to work. When he refuses, Todd decides to go on a road trip to kill Andrea (Emily Rios) and tells him to do his job. Todd also goes after Skyler because Lydia references their brief meeting. He doesn't kill her, but suggests that she doesn't talk. Walter is all alone in New Hampshire, convinced that if he leaves, he will be caught. Months go by and soon he decides to send a care package to his son Walt Jr. (R.J. Mitte), who now goes by Flynn full time. He refuses to accept his father's cash on the account that he killed Hank. Moments later, Walter sees on the TV that his former Gray Matter coworkers are diminishing his efforts by saying he was only involved by coming up with the name. Walter calls the D.E.A. and confesses, but leaves town before they could catch him.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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| Jesse Plemons |
MVP: Todd (Jesse Plemons)
With this episode, Todd has officially moved into the big leagues alongside Gus Fring and Tio Salamanca. He is a stone cold killer who pretty much orchestrated most of this episode. He tore down Jesse and convinced Lydia to stay in business with him. His sincerity and politeness manages to be almost too haunting for those moments when he reminds you that he is evil. It is tough to pin point a moment in this episode where he wasn't downright impressive. In fact, with this episode and the justification that Walter is going after the neo-Nazis in the next episode, I am almost fine with admitting that this is the villain that the show deserves to go out on. Anyone that can kill a woman who likes looking after her kids clearly won't have a problem shooting a former coworker if given the chance.
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| Aaron Paul |
Best scene: Maybe if the show has one thing that is unnerving going for it, it is the final stretch of Jesse's existence. Where his brief partnership with Hank may have seemed like a silver lining, the last two episodes have made it seem impossible to give him a happy ending. Todd will just continue killing his loved ones and even if he makes it out alive, he still has to face the guilt of knowing every last detail. At very least, the death of Andrea was one that felt unexpected though also marked the perfect moment when you knew that Todd was the most insincere villain that this show has ever had. It was painful to watch and makes it hard to want Jesse to live simply because he'll never be happy if he does. I just want him to escape the drug world for good, but these repercussions for his past seem a little unfair.
Predictions: Next week is the big ending. The one that connects the opening scenes involving Walter's machine gun and ricin. We already have a strong clue as to what these all stand for, but what is the big payoff for the show? Now that Walter has lost it all, including his son's respect, what does he have to lose? I imagine that "Felina" is still referencing the Marty Robbins' "El Paso" song. He is coming back to town and I believe that if the lyrics match the atmosphere, Walter will die in the hands of Skyler doing an attempt at a noble deed. Jesse will probably not make it out alive either. It is a tragedy played out in which the legacy is destroyed and Walter will die not being the hero for his family, but some drug kingpin who has no business being remembered.
Also, please come back all week for my countdown of the Top 50 Best Breaking Bad Characters to commemorate the show's end.
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