It's confession time, but are there more lies than truth? And will Jesse be too stoned to keep his cool under interrogation?
• A roundup of Vince Gilligan's talk at the Edinburgh TV festival
• Watch a clip of Vince Gilligan talking to Charlie Brooker
SPOILER ALERT: This blog is for viewers who have seen Breaking Bad series five, episode 11 – Confessions.
Click here to view Richard's season five, episode 10 blogpost
'Things have gone nuclear'
Poor Trent. Can't imagine he got much of a tip from this table, no matter how hard he tried to upsell them on the guacamole ("We make it right here at the table!"). This excruciating sit-down was up there with Jesse's attempts to make small talk with Skyler at the end of the first half of season five. Team White pushed Team Purple's buttons: think what this will do to Hank Jr if he finds out. They pass: you should have thought about your kids before you started this.
Walt's DVD "confession" is a masterpiece of Heisenberg spinning, turning the events of the past year back around to pin it all on one of the few people in the frame who could plausibly have pulled off a drug operation of this size. "Hank has been building a meth empire for over a year now." In this alternate reality it's Hank who spotted his brother-in-law's capacity for chemistry, meth-cooking and bomb-making; as a DEA agent he had the underworld connections, knew Gustavo Fring and teamed up with Hector Salamanca when he fell out with Fring ("I guess you call it a hit"). Then, in among the lies: a truth, and another confession, this time from a heartbroken, stunned Marie. Hank's medical bills were paid for by the Whites. For Hank in this moment, it's the final "nail in the coffin" – a fact that will be hard to explain away without making them look guilty. As we've seen with Aaron Paul's performance over the last two weeks, silence can be as powerful as any of Walt's silver-tongued monologues. Marie and Hank's reaction in this scene was equally moving: open-mouthed, lost for words. You could see the impact of Walt's compelling perversion of the events sinking in, his mock shock at the things he was "forced" into an even bigger insult on top of the bare-faced lies, and realisation that they were being set up to take the fall if Hank took his investigation any further.
'Mr Pinkman, how are you today?'
After his silence, it's time for Jesse to speak. Hank's turn in the interrogation room wakes him out of his stoned stupor. But as Hank makes his pitch – you're not the mastermind here, it's my brother-in-law I want – Jesse keeps his cool until Saul bursts in and gets him released on bail. Out in the desert with Walt and Saul ("always the desert"), Jesse confirms that he's no rat, and offers up his take on Hank: he doesn't have anything solid enough, and probably hasn't told the rest of the DEA. Then another of this week's confessions: Jesse has seen through his "concerned dad thing" – "stop working me for like 10 seconds straight". He says: "You need me gone, because your dickhead brother in law is never going to let up … Just tell me you need this." Walt walks over, the two partners staring into each other's eyes, while Saul shifts uncomfortably from side to side in the background. It's one of those moments where you feel like anything could happen – would Walt take him out right there? But he's still working him, pulling him in for a hug, as Jesse tries to breath through his tears, that shot of his legs giving way a moment that reminds you just how young he is, and how much he does need that "concerned dad thing".
And it nearly works. Right up until the moment when Saul's contact pulls up in a nondescript people carrier and Jesse reaches into his pocket and realises that Huell has lifted his bag of weed. If he could do that without Jesse noticing, then he could have swiped the pack of cigarettes with the ricin in. And as he stands there putting it all together, the dream of a new life in Alaska disappears, replaced by one thing: revenge. He beats the last of the week's confessions out of Saul – "you stole the ricin cigarette … he poisoned Brock – and you helped him" and drives over to Casa White with a can of gasoline: is this the moment the house gets destroyed?
Elsewhere in "the land of enchantment", baby-faced psycho Todd is bigging up his great meth train robbery with his Uncle Jack and Nazi buddy Kenny in a diner. Even though they did all clam up when the waitress came over, it still felt like a less-than-discreet conversation about running a meth business, especially as Todd insisted on using Walt's real name. To impress them? Coming after the not too subtle catch-up voicemail he left at the start of the episode ("Me and Declan had a few differences of opinion and it got a little messy"), he's shaping up for loose-canon duties.
Notes, observations and lines of the week
• Following on from last week's DEA tache-watch, here's an interview from Newscastic (via The Onion's AV Club) with the man behind that amazing walrus look: his name is Robert Sanchez, he's been in the DEA office before, and his character's name is Harry Lipenstein (hairy lip?). Never mind the Better Call Saul spin-off, who's up for Breaking Beard?
• "It worked and we're fine." Heisenberg looms in the shadows.
• Some great background music this week: A1's muzak keeping things breezy in the background as Walt fished around for the gun stashed in the Coke machine, while the Mexican tunes playing in the taquiera helped make the meal even more unbearable.
• "So long, Rocky, keep your left up." Saul keeps it light in the interrogation room.
• Was that a lilac-coloured shirt that Gomie was wearing? Come on Hank – he's on your side!
• This week's pop culture references: Burt Reynolds in Hooper; Hello Kitty (of course that would be the burner phone Saul gave to Jesse); Rocky; and Robert Crumb's beardy guru Mr Natural.
• Thanks to all the commentators who recommended AMC's talk show Talking Bad (also available on Netflix in the UK) – good to see Aaron Paul and Anna Gunn in something of a lighter mode in last week's discussion.
• In case you missed it, Vince Gilligan has been in the UK this week. Here's a roundup of his talk at the Edinburgh TV festival, here's a clip with Charlie Brooker and here he is on Front Row talking to Mark Lawson.
• "Why don't you kill yourself Walt? Just kill yourself." Marie's drama queen tendencies run riot.
• Blocked-up ashtrays in airplane arm rests? Kids with bicycle helmets? Meth Nazis aren't fans of the nanny state.
• "Goodbye, Mr Pinkman, hello Mr Credit To Society." Nearly.
• Read a roundup of Vince Gilligan's talk at the Edinburgh TV festival
• Watch a clip of Vince Gilligan talking to Charlie Brooker
Breaking Bad
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Richard Vine
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