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| Left to right: Bob Odenkirk and 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 13
"To'Hajiilee"
"Baby, I got him. Dead to rights."
-Hank (Dean Norris)
It is revealed that Walter's (Bryan Cranston) big plan was to have Jack (Michael Bowen) kill Jesse (Aaron Paul) after believing that he has given up all hope of reaching him. The payoff is that he has to cook for Jack and Todd (Jesse Plemons) to please Lydia (Laura Fraser). Meanwhile, Jesse is trying to come up with a plan to capture Walter with Hank (Dean Norris) and Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada). After staging some photos and convincing Huell (Lavell Crawford) that Walter is out to kill him and Saul (Bob Odenkirk), they begin their final investigation. Walter tries to convince Andrea (Emily Rios) to call Jesse to track his phone and lure him closer. Knowing that the barrels are in the desert, Jesse calls and traces Walter's cell phone and trick him into driving out there to capture him. Walter simultaneously asks Jack and his men to come out and kill Jesse. When it turns out that Jesse was a rat for Hank, Walter becomes miffed and cancels the operation. As he sits, arrested in the back seat of a car, Hank and Gomez have a shoot-out with some surprise visitors.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
MVP: Walter (Bryan Cranston)
This is the end of the line for Walter, and this time he accidentally goes out literally guns blazing. While starting off wanting to kill his former partner, he soon feels a modicum of regret and wishes that everything that happened would stop. The most intense and gripping scene of the episode relies on him reacting to a cell phone call from Jesse in which even their voices are unnerving and reflect a sense of dread not too far off. Of course, Walter was probably not going to leave so easily, even if he now has probably resulted in a massive shoot-out that kills some law enforcement officials and leaves a bunch of white supremacists with the knowledge of where his money is. Walter doesn't know when to quit, and his reaction to discovering that Jesse was a rat is tragic. Also, it seems funny that more and more, he is pinning the money's use on his family, almost as if he wants no responsibility for it.
On a side note - Does anyone else thing that the "money in the barbecue" picture is reminiscent of "No Mas."
Best scene: This looked like the end of the road for Walter and his meth empire ways. He may have been retired long ago, but with everything catching back up to him, there was a sense that his capture would be something cyclical to the series. It is almost impressive that he goes through with very little resistance. The look on his face with the Jesse reveal is also poignant and makes him seem like Walter is now alone in the world. The scene also feels like Hank's turn to do an "I won" (from "Face Off") type of line as he calls Marie (Betsy Brandt) with the great news. Still, with everything set in motion, the capture and thrill of five seasons worth of cat and mouse chasing leads to Walter being unable to take back what he said, literally, and putting family in the way. The question is, how seriously is he concerned about Hank's death? The reaction did seem a little much, but then again, there is little understanding of Walter at this time.
Predictions: Next up is "Ozymandias," which has probably been the closest to a reveal as the promos have given us. As most of the readers are aware, there was an advertisement floating around in preparation of the new season in which Bryan Cranston recites the titular poem. With Rian Johnson directing and potential for many familiar, dead faces to return, this feels like a reflection episode of a man whose empire is officially destroyed. First he was arrested, but now, he must look back on what he has done. While I would like to see Jane get the same respect they gave Brock, I feel like this is just going to be one intense episode recapping everything and Walter going into exile. I do personally think that someone major is going to die. From the sound of things, Hank's phone call would suggest it is him. It could be a double whammy with Jesse also biting it, but that would be too wild for the plot (even with three episodes to go). Either way, I believe that somehow the supremacists get hold of Walter and force him to cook for them as a plea bargain, only for him to fall in with a bad crowd.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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| Cranston |
This is the end of the line for Walter, and this time he accidentally goes out literally guns blazing. While starting off wanting to kill his former partner, he soon feels a modicum of regret and wishes that everything that happened would stop. The most intense and gripping scene of the episode relies on him reacting to a cell phone call from Jesse in which even their voices are unnerving and reflect a sense of dread not too far off. Of course, Walter was probably not going to leave so easily, even if he now has probably resulted in a massive shoot-out that kills some law enforcement officials and leaves a bunch of white supremacists with the knowledge of where his money is. Walter doesn't know when to quit, and his reaction to discovering that Jesse was a rat is tragic. Also, it seems funny that more and more, he is pinning the money's use on his family, almost as if he wants no responsibility for it.
On a side note - Does anyone else thing that the "money in the barbecue" picture is reminiscent of "No Mas."
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| Left to right: Cranston, Dean Norris, and Steven Michael Quezada |
Predictions: Next up is "Ozymandias," which has probably been the closest to a reveal as the promos have given us. As most of the readers are aware, there was an advertisement floating around in preparation of the new season in which Bryan Cranston recites the titular poem. With Rian Johnson directing and potential for many familiar, dead faces to return, this feels like a reflection episode of a man whose empire is officially destroyed. First he was arrested, but now, he must look back on what he has done. While I would like to see Jane get the same respect they gave Brock, I feel like this is just going to be one intense episode recapping everything and Walter going into exile. I do personally think that someone major is going to die. From the sound of things, Hank's phone call would suggest it is him. It could be a double whammy with Jesse also biting it, but that would be too wild for the plot (even with three episodes to go). Either way, I believe that somehow the supremacists get hold of Walter and force him to cook for them as a plea bargain, only for him to fall in with a bad crowd.
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