Breaking Bad: "Confessions"

**Spoilers Below:**
 
Sometimes I feel it’s my goal in these little write ups to talk about theme and what makes Breaking Bad super effective and awesome beyond its super addicting action and plotting. And other times Jesse Pinkman douses the White residence in tons of gasoline prepping for conflagration, and I say “fuck it”. HOLY SHIT!

Of course, Breaking Bad zigged where I expected it to zag and Hank did not get the pertinent information he so badly desired from Jesse. This makes sense considering Hank’s history with Jesse (he did beat him up to the point of hospitalization) but it also left open the question of what happened with Jesse moving forward. His paperboy act with the millions of (illegally funded) dollars was never going to let him get a completely easy way out.

Jesse could have taken the new identity and gotten away from the poison that is Walt, but dramatically I’m not sure that would have been the most satisfying development. When Walt hugged Jesse out in the desert it was deeply uncomfortable and miserable. Walt is still deluding himself into believing he’s in control and that he can escape his past actions. But in the world of Breaking Bad actions always have consequences. Remember that this is a show that blew up planes in a reign of hellfire to judge its protagonist. 

Each episode this far in the last stretch of eight episodes has focused on a supporting character. On one level these episodes have been examinations of the role of the character in the series over its entirety, but they’ve also shown us where that emphasized character stood in the end game of the story. The premiere was Hank’s episode and placed him as the antagonist to Walt. “Buried” tested Skylar’s conflicted feelings over her duplicity and pushed her onto the side of Walt in the battle with Hank. And “Confessions” tackled the show’s currently most mercurial figure. 

“Confessions” at once refers to the fantastic, oddly astonishing and awful fake confession that Walt fabricates implicating Hank as responsible for all of his actions over the course of the year. It had never crossed my mind that this might be an option but it makes total sense; Walt will never give in (he’s too selfish, egotistical and hubris-driven to lie down) and he refuses to kill Hank so what better way to gain the upper hand then to counter corner him (of course, in typical Heisenberg fashion it comes in the form of a threat). 

The title, however, also refers to the information that Jesse learns from Saul after a fateful realization that Walt had Brock poisoned. Moments away from taking the criminal equivalent of witness protection, it dawns on Jesse just how deeply he’s been duped. The scene where Jesse waits for the car to arrive is shot largely from an extreme distance; he’s so tiny. He looks probably how he feels. 

And suddenly Jesse Pinkman goes nuclear. Does it make sense as a response? It’s extreme yet feels completely right and justified. But it also isn’t an action that Jesse can easily come back from, nor can the show. This isn’t to forget about the episode’s cold open which features Todd and his neo-Nazi uncle who are strolling their way into town. 

The revelations and cliffhangers keep coming. And if this is any indication we’re only just getting started. I for one can't wait.

Stray Thoughts:

- God, I love Dave Porter, who composes the music for the series. The music from Jesse's revelation to the end of the episode is gritty, pulse pounding and perfectly parallels the action.
- The dinner scene was hilarious. Walt would choose a highly public place and it would be the sort of place where the waiters are too chipper for their own good. 
- Walt's confession is terrible because it's an unexpected step further toward losing all redeemability.

Grade: A-