Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 13: "To Hajiilee" Review

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This review contains MASSIVE spoilers, yes I used all caps because having this episode spoiled would make you hate life. You have been warned

Is it even possible to write a coherent review about this episode? After watching it would you care what happened for the first 40 or so minutes? I would personally skim past everything and try to analyze the way this episode finished for hours. So let's do that. Let me start off by saying that the ending absolutely sucked. Not that it was bad or anything, but when it spawns tweets like this, this, and this and also causes one of my friends (the one who tweeted that last bit of genius) to say things like: "That episode was a half-measure" you know that they fucked up. You absolutely cannot leave us with a cliffhanger in this specific situation and I am about to go into detail as to why.

First of all, assuming Hank and Gomie meet their end, their deaths would be WAY less meaningful and/or shocking because we will have had a full week from the airing of this episode to deal with it and think about it. On the other hand, if they somehow survive (my beacon of hope is that Hank is two for two in shootouts and situations like these) it would be an incredible reach by the writers, very "Hollywood" if you will. Worse yet, they could opt to just skip the shoot out and show us the aftermath and move on. I think that last option would cause riots. Its a no-win situation. We are either heavily disappointed, or are rolling our eyes at a miraculous escape. Sigh. Despite the ending of "To Hajiilee" I must say that it is an absolute gem of an episode, a true Breaking Bad classic that had all the aspects of what made this show so good over the years.

We had Walt being his despicable self with his ploy to lure Jesse to Andria's house. We had Hank finally displaying the type of police work that we saw him display when he was on the hunt for Gus. Taking Jesse's phone, figuring out that Walt buried his money, and fleecing Huel were all really good moments and were very fun to watch. The cream of the crop however, was tricking Walt into revealing the location of his buried treasure. Hank created a way in which Walt would have absolutely no chance to call for back-up or see the trap coming. Really good stuff.

Next week literally can not come fast enough. Only. Three. Left.



Overall Rating For This Episode: The tension in this episode was unbearable, the plot was fantastic, and as we round the corner and come into the home stretch; I could not imagine a better way (despite the ending). There is absolutely no doubt that this episode receives a 10/10.

Note: The Ending itself received a -092138120983/10 but it really could not ruin the overall brilliance. 

Best Scene: Everything from the point that Walt saw the picture which he thought was his money all the way through to the gunfight. Absolutely the most dramatic moment of the series to date.

Best Quote: "Walter White... You are under arrest" In what may be some of his last words, there can only be one choice
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Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 11: "Confessions" Review

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As always, this review will contain spoilers. If you have not seen the episode yet and do not wish to have it ruined, stop reading now and come back once you have seen it. You have been warned.


How good was this episode? It was so good that the last few scenes made you forget about the one that the title is about! That's how good.

The formula of the last three or so episodes has stayed the same: A quick scene of characters not central to the main story at the time, followed by things picking up exactly where last episode left off. In this case it was Todd explaining the train heist to his Nazi crew (leaving out the part where he shot a kid) and said crew asking him if he can handle the Meth cooking load. A ho-hum scene just to keep the story of the empire Walt left behind going so that we can focus on the truly good stuff, the battle between Walt and Hank. After realizing that Hank and Marie would not stop their pursuit of their children, Walter and Skylar decide that the best course of action would be to make a confession tape... with a twist!

Realizing that Hank had no real evidence against him, Walt completely turned the tables on him with his confession tape, which was not really a confession, but rather it was a bunch of intricate lies that painted Hank as the bad guy of the series and Walt as a victim. Amazing. It was the equivalent of Walt adding two random queens to this ongoing chess game between him and Hank. Hank and Marie's reactions also just added to the fun. There have been moments this series where Walt has been an absolute Boss in weaseling out of a jam and this was no exception. Heck, it might have been his best one yet. Poor Hank was so defeated that he did not even try to continue investigating, almost looking like he accepted defeat. Almost.

We expected that confession tape to be the highlight of the episode, with things winding down at the end. This is not the breaking bad style however. Instead of a calm ending to an episode I would have chalked up as further "set-up", we got fireworks. Jesse, all but forced to hit the reset button on his life by Walt and get a new identity with Saul's guy had the sort of revelation that we have been waiting for for almost two years. After meeting with Saul and agreeing to the disappearance, the seemingly minor detail of having Huel lift some marijuana off of Jesse to ensure nothing goes wrong turned into a cataclysmic mistake by Saul. It took the sudden disappearance of his drugs combined with Huel bumping into him when he did not have to, mixed in with a feeling of deja vu for Jesse to connect all of the dots and for the truth to hit him like a train. Walt. Poisoned. Brock. Now, I discussed whether or not the fact that Brock was poisoned by the Lily of the Valley (and NOT ricin) represented a massive plot flaw in the series and we came to a modest conclusion. Jesse knows that ricin was not used, but he also knows that Walt for sure poisoned Brock and that it was not an accident or Gus doing so. This realization was really cleverly foreshadowed earlier in the episode when Jesse broke down and exposed Walt for constantly manipulating things.

The episode ended with Jesse storming into the White residence pouring gasoline all over the place. Like I said, fireworks. Only five episodes remain.

Overall Rating for this episode: 9.4/10 Beautifully acted, beautifully executed, left us wanting more, classic breaking bad right there.

Best Scene (tie) Hank and Marie watching the confession tape, and everything after Jesse realizes that Huel lifted the drugs off of him.

Best Quote: "Can you for once just ask me to do something without trying to manipulate me?" 
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Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 10: "Buried" Review

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As Always, these reviews will contain spoilers. So if you have not gotten the chance to watch this episode and do not wish to have anything ruined, stop reading now and come back once you are caught up. You have been warned.

It was always going to be hard to top "Blood Money" (The episode preceding this one) and I feel like a lot of episodes would seem worse when the bar had been raised so high the week before. Having said that, I probably liked this episode more than most of the people I discussed it with after watching it. In every sense, "Buried" is a set up episode that needs to exist to string us along to the next major event of the series. It contained a lot of substance with very little flash.

After a brief scene of a lucky individual finding the cash Jesse was distributing, Robin Hood style, across Albuquerque, and seeing Jesse in his patented 'down on the world' state, the episode picked up literally where it left off last week. Now, I do not know if they plan on having all of the episodes this season directly pick up where the last one ended, but I will say that I really enjoyed it and the way in which it was done. Hank wastes no time in trying to gather the evidence against Walt and immediately calls a shell-shocked Skylar to recruit her to testify against Walt's crimes. Fearing for her own freedom, Skylar refuses to be interrogated and creates great tension between herself and Marie (who is obviously upset that Skylar wont help close the case on why Hank was shot, although I think trying to take the baby was a but much).

The rest of the episode is a classic Walt-scrambles-to-cover-his-tracks episode that was a staple of the early seasons. He recruits Saul's 'security' to transport the money over to him in a van so that Walt can bury it in the desert. After that, he and Skylar agree that the best course of action would be to stay quiet, as Hank does not have concrete evidence against Walt. Problem solved right? Not if Lydia (dime) and Todd (child murderer) have anything to say about it. Lydia takes the meth quality problem into her own hands and visits Declan's meth enclave in the middle of nowhere. Now, even though Declan's crew was smart enough to blind-fold her, they were not smart enough to make sure she did not have anything else on her, say a tracking device, that could cause their enclave to be found out. So Lydia's solution to the poor meth quality? Kill everyone on this side of the business in an attempt to re-instate Todd as the main cook, so that her Czech Republic buyer will continue to buy the meth from her.

This is where we could have gotten an awesome scene of Todd and his crew having a gunfight against Declan's crew. Sadly, we got no such scene. The scene we did get was: Lydia cowering in a corner of the underground Meth lab and then refusing to open her eyes for the carnage once it was over (might be time to rethink your life choices Lydia). Yeah, can't really blame anyone for being disappointed here. We did get an amazing cliff-hanger at the end of the episode however, as Hank entered an interrogation room that was holding Jesse. What happens from this point is anyone's guess, I would really like next episode to open with Jesse and Hank in the interrogation room, which would continue the trend of an immediate continuation that we have seen over the last three episodes. One final thing: There is a very cool theory circulating on the internet that points out that Walt takes on the traits of people he has killed (cutting the crust off his sandwiches like Crazy-8, Driving a Volvo like Gus, taking his hard liquor on the rocks like Mike used to). I will just leave you with the fact that in the flash-forward scene from last week's episode he was wearing Jesse's jacket and using an ID with Skylar's maiden name. Six episodes left.

Overall score for this episode: 7.9/10 Nothing spectacular, something tells me this will be the lowest rated episode of the season.

Best Scene: Let's go with Lydia orchestrating the desert massacre

Best Quote: "Please don't let all I have done... be for nothing" - Walt

Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 9: "Blood Money" Review

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As always, these reviews will contain major spoilers so from this point on its on you.

Well that was one hell of a way to kick off the last eight episodes of the series wasn't it?

For starters, I really enjoyed the fact that, following another flash-forward scene, "Blood Money" picked up literally moments after the end of last year's mid-season finale. The writers produced a truly intriguing sequence that was all kinds of fun to watch. From Hank hiding the book in his bag, to the awkward getaway from the lunch, to his episode (of what I am assuming is his post traumatic stress disorder acting up again) in the car, everything about the scene reminded me of why I missed this show so much. The episode only got better from there.

We quickly saw that Walter could never truly be out, and that his 'Heisenberg' persona would always weigh heavily on his life. First it was Lydia coming to the car-wash in an attempt to get Walter back into the game, something Skylar (was this her first truly great moment of the series?) was having none of. Then it was Jesse attempting to give money to the families who have been affected by Walter White's rampage of evil, something that Walter quickly tried to stop by visiting Jesse again. Following those events, Walter realized that Hank is onto him which culminated in their tense confrontation at the end of the episode (something I will discuss in more detail shortly). So now we see that things were not so neatly tied up as we thought. A particularly intriguing aspect of this episode was Jesse spiraling down into an endless pool of guilt. He knows Walt well enough at this point to correctly assume that he took care of Mike. The way Aaron Paul acted out the scene where Walter "needed" him to believe tells me that Jesse did not in fact believe him, but rather Walt's lies only confirmed Jesse's suspicions. I am really interested in seeing how Jesse will (if at all) snap out of his latest funk and how it will impact the final seven episodes.

"Blood Money" was filled with many small scenes that only served to add to the entertainment of the episode. Jesse smoking in Saul's waiting room, Walter discussing expanding his car-wash empire with an indifferent Skylar, Skinny Pete and Badger having baked discussions about star trek, Hank re-opening the W.W. investigation were all small scenes that felt way bigger in the grand scheme of things just because of the way they were shot and acted. Without bogging this review down with too much details, lets get to the jewel of this episode: the match-up we have been waiting for all series: Walt vs. Hank (suffice to say round one did not disappoint at all). The beauty of Breaking Bad is that you never exactly know what is about to happen. When Walt found the tracker on his car and asked Hank about it, all bets were off. Was Hank about to arrest him? Would Walt kill him in cold blood and go on the run? Was the tracker maybe Lydia's? Well some of those questions were answered right away and some still linger. Bottom line, the face to face discussion between the brothers in-law was not only one of the most tense moments of the episode, but of the series as well. Once the scene ended and credits started rolling, there was an ominous silence in the room (I viewed the episode with a couple of friends) basically everyone trying to wrap their mind around how awesome that moment was.

That silence after an episode is when you know that it is a great one. Only seven left.

Overall score for this episode: 9/10 A fantastic opener to the final eight which added even more great moments to an already fantastic show.

Best Scene: Come on. Can it really be anything other than the immediate aftermath of Hank closing the garage leaving him and Walter isolated for one of the best lines of the series? Speaking of which.

Best Quote: "If you don't know who I am, then maybe your best course would be to tread lightly"

That is it for this week, man it is good to be back.

Breaking Bad Mid-season Finale Review

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Spoilers below as always!

Finally the stage is set for the conclusion of Breaking Bad. Its just a shame that we will have to wait more than half a year to see it. I already complained about AMC splitting this season into two parts (way back in the first review of this season), but now having seen where they left us, and where things stand, can you blame me for bitching about it again? Thank God that the NFL kicks off this Thursday, otherwise this would have been a really depressing stretch of television. But anyways, on to my thoughts about the episode.

'Gliding All Over' really felt like a simple episode to me. Not that this is a necessarily bad thing, but I can't help but feel a bit disappointed by it. The gem of this episode; the prison killings were really well done. We got to see each and every one of Mike's "nine guys" plus the lawyer become the latest victims of W.W.'s reign of terror. From the music, to Walter's indifference at the very end of the scene, it was easily the best 3 minutes of the episode. The rest of the episode? Underwhelming to say the least. In the past, Breaking Bad would have methodically showed us the expansion of Walt's new-found empire into European territory, here we got to see it all in roughly five minutes, with a little montage to guide us through it. I don't know about you, but I expected more from an episode that will be the last one we see for a while.

Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 7: 'Say My Name (FKA Everybody Wins)

Tweet As always, there are going to be spoilers below, do not continue reading past this until you have seen the episode.

"Shut the f*ck up and let me die in peace" - Mike's last words of the series... very fitting of such a great character.

We knew after last week's set-up episode that something drastic was going to happen in this one. Unfortunately for Mike (who probably grew to be one of the more liked characters of the show) that drastic occurrence was his death. Before we talk about it, we should see how the episode set up Walter white's latest victim.

Firstly, we picked up right where the last episode left off, with Walt delivering on his promise to pay Mike and Jesse their share (technically, only Mike got paid as Walt tried one last time to draw Jesse back in) while retaining his growing 'empire'. I have to say that this scene was really enjoyable, Walt has really mastered weaseling his way out of death to the point where you are excited to see how he does it. From standing up to Tuco all the way back in season one, to orchestrating Gale's death at the perfect time (right as Mike was about to kill him) was there a doubt that he would escape unharmed from the meeting with the guys who wanted to buy the methyl-amine? Bonus points for the "Say my name" line, it really gave a nice finishing touch to an already good scene.

From that point things slowed down a bit. We had a few more awkward exchanges between Walt and Skyler, we saw Mike and Jesse both leave the game officially, the former taking care of the legacy fund, and the latter being fed up with all of the killing. It was really nice to see Jesse stand up to Walter and flat out refuse to continue cooking with him. Jesse even turned down an offer of five million dollars and endless taunts by Walter that were aimed at drawing him back in. Jesse, as a character, has shown the most development since season one and of all the characters in the show, the only one the audience may legitimately be rooting for (other than Hank) at this point is Jesse, and I hope he wins in the end. As for Mike, after leaving (and destroying all evidence of criminal activity) he starts to live a normal, boring, old man life, enjoying spending time with his granddaughter (whose legacy fund is fully re-filled). However, Hank's instincts led him to one last attempt at catching Mike (by following his lawyer, and it was the final attempt because if that had not worked out, Mike would never have been caught) and they catch the lawyer red-handed. To make matters worse, the lawyer is absolutely ready to flip and gives up Mike right away, dragging Mike back into the thick of things (including a truly sad scene where he could not even say bye to his granddaughter).

From there, everything was set up for Mike's demise. Saul's refusal to get Mike's bag (which had his remaining money and his gun in it) followed by Mike's refusal to let Jesse get it for him left only one person who could: Heisenberg. As soon as we saw the gun inside the bag, I think we all knew what was going to happen. After an inevitable and heated confrontation, Walt shoots Mike. For a brief second after the shot, it looked as if Mike managed to get away, but tragically, that was not the case. Walt immediately realized that he could have easily got the names from Lydia, prompting Mike to utter his excellent last words. We keep waiting for the mistake that will inevitably do Walter White in, this may have been the one.

Overall score for this episode: 9.7/10 - Almost perfect, Mike's death was a bit rushed, and it feels like the writers wanted to get it out of the way to set up the half-season finale twist that inevitably looms. Also, last week's episode was not officially reviewed, but would have received a 7.8/10 if you are wondering.

Best scene: Mike dying, a not so fitting end, to a phenomenal character.

Best quote: Mike's last words, which lead off, and end this review: "Shut the F*ck up, and let me die in peace"

Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 5: 'Dead Freight' Review

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Blonde guy kind of resembles Matt Damon, am I the only one?

As always, this review will contain spoilers so if you have not seen the episode and don't want anything ruined, stop reading now.

Well, we were waiting for this season to give us our first '10' episode. The episode that would just make you think about it (not even about specific things, but just... think) long after it ended, that would shock you with a surprise twist, and leave you wanting to see the next episode tomorrow. 'Dead Freight' is absolutely that episode.

From the very opening scene, where a young boy is just riding his dirt bike out in the desert (and collecting tarantulas, which is something I would rate right behind commuting to school on my 'least favorite hobbies' list) we knew something was up. As I have said in the past: breaking bad does not waste scenes, as soon as I saw this one, I began trying to figure out what it could mean, or where it was going. The answer to that question would not come until the final scene of the episode, a point at which I long forgot about the boy because the rest of the episode was just that good. I will talk briefly about what happened, then get into that last scene.

Firstly, we have our new trio of meth lords bugging Hank's new office (he accepted his promotion) through some diabolical fake crying by Walter. The purpose of the bug was to check whether or not Lydia was telling the truth about the GPS trackers on the barrels. You wont believe this, but she actually was! I was really surprised at this, it was a really nice curve-ball that threw me completely off. Lydia (now a lot more safe from danger) then offers a tip on 'an ocean' of methyl-amine that the crew pretty much has to take up because a) they can't go back to Germany for it b) the legacy fund needs to be re-filled and c) Walter's ego needs to be fueled, and a spectacular heist is just the way to do it. From that point, the episode became a really fun 'Ocean's Eleven' type of story. A ridiculous plan, a hastily put-together team, with each person being responsible for a different job, something going wrong, and then a spectacular finish that came out of left field.

I mean, every part of the heist; from not taking everything, but just diluting the methyl-amine with water so no one would really notice, to the execution (the truck was a really nice touch, but a flat tire might have been an even better idea) was spot on. Even Todd, the henchman Walt took notice of earlier in the season (and who looks a lot like Matt Damon), said "You guys planned for everything". The actual heist was well-filmed and intense, giving us some nice angles on the action and providing legitimate drama. Would Walt risk everything just to fill the barrel up a bit more? Was someone going to die if the plan went awry?  As it turns out the heist  was completed with no major consequences and everyone started to celebrate wildly. Wildly that is, until they noticed the boy from the first scene watching them. Here is where I thought they would end the episode, a nice twist, a truly innocent by-stander, with a variety of ways they could have gone in the following episode, had they done that, this would have gotten a 9.5. However, they chose to go 'full measure' on us with Todd giving the kid a wave, then killing him in cold blood.

Just a pivotal moment. We know Walt is unafraid to put children in danger (see risen, Brock) but this is the first instance where a child legitimately died because of Walt's actions. There is no way that Jesse takes this lightly, and there is no excuse for Walt to have. I cannot wait for next week's episode.


Overall score for this episode: 10/10 just one of those episodes that makes you think for about 2 hours after you've finished watching it.

Best scene: Basically the entire train heist, but the best moment is definitely the poor boy getting caught in Walter White's path of destruction.

Best Quote: "There are two types of heists. Those that succeed, and those that leave witnesses" -Mike A perfect quote for this episode.

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Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 4: 'Fifty-One' Review

Tweet One of the really good things about writing reviews about shows you love, is that you get to watch some episodes multiple times. In the case of breaking bad, second (and sometimes even third) viewings of the same episode will often enable the viewer to spot something that he or she may have missed initially. 'Fifty-One' was definitely one of those episodes you had to watch multiple times in order to catch all the details. The episode itself was significantly slower and less explosive than the ones preceding it, making it easily the worst episode of this season so far. However, being the worst episode in this season is not a bad thing at all. In fact, the episode was actually really good, its only 'flaw' is that it was not as good as the three that came before it. One of the reasons that breaking bad is such a good show is that it is remarkably consistent. Yes, some episodes like 'Problem Dog', or 'One Minute' leave us in shock and awe at how brilliant they are, but the set up leading to those episodes is just as good. Breaking bad rarely has bad episodes, just ones that are not spectacular.

So what were the aspects of 'Fifty-One' that made the episode good? For one, it gave us a nice reference point to the show in general. It has been exactly a year since all of this began, as we have come full-circle to Walt's fifty first birthday. Unlike his fiftieth birthday however, things are very different for Walt. His only present came from his meth-cooking partner, his relationship with his wife has deteriorated to a point that is beyond repair, and most disturbingly of all: Walt is doing nothing to change these facts. He is healthy enough to continue his teaching career, he and Skyler own a car-wash that he could manage, and his son is about to graduate high school and go to college. Given the fact that Walter was only given a short time to live the year prior, you would think that he would jump on the chance to be able to lead a normal life again. Breaking bad however, is a show where you slowly deteriorate to the point that you may never be good again, and it looks like Walter White has reached that point. Everything from the arrogance of selling his car for $50 to his chilling conversation with Skyler (where he shot down every single idea she had to stop him) is both a testament to Bryan Cranston's acting (seriously... this was the dad in Malcolm in the middle!) and the fall from grace of Walter White. At this point, everyone who watches this show expects him to die, we are just waiting to see how it will happen.

I also just realized that I am more than halfway through this review and have not even touched on other things about this episode. Lydia planting the GPS tracker on the barrel (and Mike figuring it out in the time it takes you to read this sentence) was a nice twist, although I wish we could have seen what Walt's suggestion was at the end of the episode. It looks like Lydia will be spared (and honestly, Mike broke through with his 'half measure's' speech in season 3, and since then he has done nothing but half measures, he needs to step things up) and with each episode that she stays alive, the more likely it is that she will be the one that eventually leads to Walt's demise. I don't really have much more to add other than to share some theories that I heard while discussing the show with colleagues. The ticking clock at the end of the episode stops at exactly '52', you may remember that the first images of the season was a flash-forward to Walt's fifty-second birthday. Is this the day he will die? Seems like a cool way for the writers to set us up: "We know that you know Walt will die, but do you know how?". Another interesting theory I heard is that Skyler took up smoking again to try and get Walters cancer to return (I love this theory and will discuss it more in the future).

That will be it for this week, next week there will be a more in-depth review. Enjoy your week everybody!

Overall score for this episode: 8/10
Best scene: Walter asking Skyler how she intends to stop him

Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 3: 'Hazard Pay' Review

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As always, this review will contain spoilers, you have been warned.


Another solid episode in what is shaping up to be an excellent start to Breaking Bad's final season. This episode featured less action than the ones preceding it, but it more than made up for it with superior storytelling. The other two episodes showed how Walt was covering his tracks, in this one we got to see how Mike would go about covering his now that he is back in the game. What we got was an interesting scene of Mike talking to one of "his guys" about "making him whole" (this episode featured so many great quotes it was hard to count) with hazard pay; hazard pay is basically money provided in return for keeping one's mouth shut about an illegal operation. As far as characters go, you have to appreciate Mike, he is fiercely loyal, intelligent, and careful. You get the sense that, if he wanted to, Mike could be the kingpin of his own empire. What started off as a minor character (at best) has evolved into one of the main figures of the story.

Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 2: 'Madrigal' Review

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As always, there will be spoilers  in this review, you have been warned.


Now that was a really good episode. The pacing, tone, story, and acting (acting has never actually been in question with this series, but it still warrants mentioning) were all top notch. I don't think that it is merely coincidence that the formula: less Skyler = better episode came into play here. As I have stated before, Skyler's story-lines only seem to get in the way of the main plot, while at the same time managing to be horrendously boring and uninteresting. Less Skyler means more Mike, a really under-rated character in my opinion, I get that what he does is popular among breaking bad fans, but his actual character might be the best one on the show. I will touch on that point as I go through the episode in more detail.

Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 1:Live Free Or Die Review

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Be warned, there are spoilers ahead. So if you have not seen the episode you should probably stop reading this right now... unless you like spoilers in which case keep reading.
Quick tangent:  AMC decided to split season 5 into two parts. As if it wasn't bad enough that we had to sit through endless promos for the garbage that is 'small town security' throughout the season premiere. Finding out that this 'season' will only have 8 episodes this summer, then conclude with 8 episodes next summer did not make for a fun night, but I digress

After a long wait (seriously, it felt like forever) we can finally watch Breaking Bad again. The season premiere wasted no time and quickly picked up right from where we last left the show but not before treating us to a scene from the future. We know that Breaking Bad is not afraid to flash forward and show glimpses of where the current plot may be going (remember the pink teddy bear from the plane collision in season 2?) and the scene they showed was very interesting indeed. Seeing Walt buying an M-60 on his fifty-second birthday using an alias in New Hampshire obviously brings up a lot of questions, but those are probably questions that we wont have answered until the summer of 2013 when part two of season 5 is set to air.

Following the flash-forward scene, we got to the immediate aftermath of last season's finale.The writers did their best to answer many lingering questions from last season, including what happened to Ted. The answer to that one probably made many fans let out an audible groan. I've hated all story points involving Ted and Skyler so far and that trend continued in this episode. I really hate to start the review here, but I really want to get this out of the way before moving on to the good stuff. I pointed out before how incredibly stupid it was for Skyler to support Ted and try to save him from the IRS precisely because of what happened in this episode. Obviously Ted is going to be blackmailing Skyler which is just going to bring more complications (ones they easily could have avoided). At this point I hope Mike sneaks into the hospital and cuts his head off.

Whew!, now on to the story lines you actually care about. Walt quickly moves to destroy any remaining evidence that could be used against him. He cleans up the materials he used to make the bomb that killed Gus and he gets rid of the 'Lily of the Valley' plant that he used to poison Brock (and his involvement in the poisoning was confirmed by Saul later in the episode). This is what I like to see: characters acting logically! Unfortunately for Walt, he forgot about the cameras from the meth lab; the same cameras that had been recording him and Jesse cooking meth for months. To make matters worse for our favorite anti-hero, the hard-drive that stored the videos is in the hands of the police. Realizing that they could be done for, Jesse and Walt convince Mike (nice to see that he has recovered nicely) to help them destroy the evidence. The scenes with these three were really fun to watch. From the tense confrontation where Mike wanted to shoot Walt (stopped only by Jesse), to the scene where they were arguing about how to destroy the evidence (where Jesse of all people had the best idea on how to do it, "magnets") there never was a dull moment.

I wont get into too many details about how they managed to destroy the evidence (it has been an extended hiatus from writing for me, I need to warm up a bit) but long story short: their elaborate plan appears to have worked. What will be really interesting to see though, is what was written on the inner frame of one of Gustavo Fring's photos. Scenes from the next episode revealed that Walt will try and recruit Mike into a partnership, will it work? Mike is not exactly Walters number one fan (ironically, Mike openly questions Jesse's loyalty to Walt while he pretty much has the same exact allegiance to Gus, it doesn't really add to this, but it is interesting to point out) but if that means more scenes of them together, then sign me up. Overall, this was a very fast paced episode that looked to answer a lot of remaining questions, while setting up future plot points. We are only 15 episodes away from seeing just how far Walter White will fall and if this episode is any indication; it will be a fun ride.

Overall score for this episode 8.1/10 It was a very entertaining and fast-paced episode, but nothing too drastic happens that would warrant a higher score.


Best scene: Mike and Walter arguing over how to destroy the evidence room, while Jesse yells "Magnets" about 9 times before they listen to him.


The AMC decision to split this season: -12/10 


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Breaking Bad Season 4 Episode 13: "Face Off" Review

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Full spoilers below you proceed once you have seen the episode.


Wow, who would have thought that the episodes title would have such a double meaning. To be honest with you, I have no idea how to do this review, I have gotten so used to good episodes (we have been spoiled from episodes 4 through 11) that I am not sure if this episode was actually bad or just bad compared to the ones preceding it (which actually wouldn't be a bad thing). What I am sure of is that this episode is most definitely not a 10, or a 9, and might be lucky to get an 8. The initial reaction from most fans has been very positive and I can't understand why. Gus's death was nicely executed up until the end, I can't believe that someone allowed the writers to kill Gus off in such an unrealistic way. I'm not saying Walt's plan was unrealistic, but Gus being able to walk out, adjust his tie one last time and stand still for a solid five seconds was just blasphemy.

If you described what I just said to someone who has never seen the show, then asked them to guess how he dies these would probably be the responses: sniper, someone shoots him, etc. Then you would tell them "actually no, he JUST had a bomb go off one foot from his face, which by the way is half missing" The person talking to you would say something like "man that's unrealistic, how can he walk out of the room and adjust his tie... or even stand?". I have two explanations: firstly, the second season of 'the walking dead' is coming out soon and this was a good way to show how good their make-up artists are, and secondly the writers really wanted to send Gus off with a scene that would be iconic. The only iconic thing about it is that it destroyed any chance that Breaking Bad had of being remembered as a great TV show. Watch the scene again, it killed the beautiful build-up, acting, and music (man was the music good, I think it saved the episode) really disappointing stuff. Other scenes in the episode like Jesse being investigated by the FBI and being kidnapped in front of a police station just added to the unrealistic feeling of this episode. The FBI and Saul was a nice touch, as was Walter sending his neighbor into a very dangerous situation, but overall it felt as if this season could have done with 12 episodes instead of 13. Realistically, all the things that happened in this episode were just a dragged out version of last episode without anything dramatic. We didn't even get a nice plot twist! I kept looking at the time and knew that there was 15 minutes left when Gus died and 6 left when Jesse and Walt destroyed the lab. I kept waiting for something but it never came, oh wait it did! It turns out that it wasn't Risen that Walt poisoned Brock with; it was some berries off of the plant in his back yard. This would have been great had the entire fan base not predicted it last week, and yes the last four or so lines are pure sarcasm. I find it really hard to believe that after such an incredible season that we went out with a whimper and not a bang. Don't believe me? I went back and looked at the ratings I have been giving these episodes, after an average score of 7.2/10 for the first 3 we got this stretch: 9, 8.2, 8.4, 10, 9.4, 9, 10, 9.2, 9.3. My goodness.

So what the hell is season 5 going to be about? A few candidates: Jesse vs. Walt when Jesse finds out Walt poisoned Brock (it has to happen), Hank connecting more dots and Mike, good ol' Mike (I really hope they show us a scene of him leaving Mexico and seeing the carnage Walt left) are the prime story lines I can think of, the good thing is I don't think we can go wrong here. All in all it is really a bitter end to a season that was brilliant as a whole, it is just a shame that the worst episodes were at the start and at the end and this is all made worse by the fact that we have to wait a year to see how this all ends. If this review feels mailed in to you, then I hope its the same feeling you got from the episode, because man did they mail this one in. Breaking Bad: you are better than this

Overall Rating for this episode: 6/10 (any higher would be insulting your intelligence)
Best Scene: Anything with Aaron Paul, I refuse to say Gus's death here because it was so 'Hollywood' and not realistic at all.


Overall Rating for the season: This was tougher than I thought because the final episode was so disappointing but overall the season was a solid 8.5/10
Best scene of the season: Let's go with the fight between Jesse and Walt, there were many worthy candidates but that one was the most intense.


A different take on things (from Jovan):

I cannot fully agree with the above review. I understand that there were some unrealistic scenes, as there have been throughout the entire show, but even though most people had already called some of the events beforehand, it was still acted out and directed extremely well. Hector got his revenge, and he had nothing left to live for, so I can't complain with his suicide. What I didn't like is how Gus did not realize that when Hector visited the DEA, it was set up. Why would Hector just suddenly decide to go and talk to the DEA? He clearly talked to someone first. Another problem I have is Gus not noticing the bomb on Hector's chair. It was in a visible area and when Tyrus turned around the chair, one of the two should have seen it. Lastly, Gus exiting the room before dying is somewhat unrealistic considering he lost half his face, but it made the scene that much better. The episode overall wasn't as good as some of the previous ones, but it was a good ending to a great season, and even though there were no twists (except the Lily of the Valley poisoning Brock - so why did Huell search Jesse in the last episode? I want this explained), there needn't have been any. What happened needed to happen and now we'll have to wait another year to see how Jesse will deal with Walt when he finds out that Walt was the one who poisoned Brock.

Episode Score: 8.5 (Season Rating: 8.8, while episodes 4-12 get a 9.5 average rating)


Look for some more Survivor thoughts in a week with some individual projects coming from each of the writers soon! Thanks for reading

Breaking Bad Season 4 Episode 12: 'End Times' Review

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Spoilers below, fair warning.

This episode of Breaking Bad was like watching a great athlete put the finishing touches on an MVP season.  Not sinse the third and fourth seasons of the wire (still easily the best show ever, this is not up for debate) have I had the pleasure of enjoying a television show this much.  Season 4 of Breaking Bad has really been a joy and it is a shame that there is only one episode left before a year of waiting.  This episode was not without its tense moments, but slowed down considerably from the last few.  This is a nice calming period before we get to next weeks finale (titled 'Face Off') and this episode felt more like a stage-setter much like the episode 'half-measures' was last year.

There is not really a point in discussing the minor happenings of the episode, because everyone on the internet is focusing on the question of who poisoned Brock?  The main theories are almost divided down the middle with one side saying Walt did it and the other saying Gus did it.  Before getting into that we have to acknowledge two more theories: first, Brock may have poisoned himself, very unlikely.  Second, Skyler somehow did it, again unlikely but not impossible; she has the connections with Saul, she was more sane than Walt as of last episode and seems to be cold and calculating so I do not put anything past her at this point.  Now that those are out of the way, lets get to it.

The Case that Walt poisoned Brock

Breaking Bad Season 4 Episode 11: "Crawl Space" Review

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Okay, lets all take a deep breath.  Exhale. Wow.

No matter what happens in these last two episodes, the fourth season of Breaking Bad is the show's best season hands down.  We could talk about how Skyler's decision to tell Ted that it was her who gave him the money backfired in a big way.  I have to admit, the scene of Skyler demanding that Ted pay off the IRS was actually very enjoyable, Anna Gunn even acted well enough to show us that she was not through with Ted as she walked out the door, brilliant stuff.  Her method to get him to pay?  Not the best, I would have just forged that check and been done with it but that's me.  Now for all we know Ted is now dead and you know that there will be an investigation and you know that Skyler will be investigated.  Whether the police will look at the shady accounting or the sending of thugs to Ted's house to sign that check remains to be seen.  We can talk about Gus's sheer coldness and planning ability, or his stupidity.  He is brilliant in his planning; he set up an emergency site where he, Mike, or Jesse could receive instant (well, almost) treatment for any wounds they could have picked up when obliterating the cartel.  He is ice cold when he tells Hector (old man with the bell) about how he killed all of the big players in the cartel, colder still when he informs him that the last of his family is left, and even colder when he presents Jesse to him as the guy who helped Gus do it all.  Despite what I just said about the guy,  for the first time in the series I am calling him stupid.  All he had to do was 'fire' or pay Walt off, guarantee his safety and he would be leading a much less stressful life right now.  But we need to have a fifth season, so he had to make a big show to Walt, taking him to the desert just to tell him to stay away from Jesse?  Of course Walt figured out that Jesse was still loyal to him and not to Gus and of course Gus (normally calm and collected, even when he finished the cartel off in Mexico) had to snap; threatening to kill Walt's entire family AND telling Walt that he planned to kill Hank!?  After many years of being careful, Gustavo Fring has finally made a mistake, a really big mistake (I will discuss this towards the end of the review).

Breaking Bad Season 4 Episode 10: "Sauld" Review

Tweet As always, this review will contain spoilers you have been warned

So much for Breaking Bad falling off.  After what many fans would agree was a very slow start, season 4 has blossommed into arguably Breaking Bad's best season to date.  Before we get carried away, we do have 3 more episodes, but its hard to believe that they will not be as good as the ones we are lucky to be watching now.  While you can't blame anyone for getting excited about the last scene, the reality is that the entire episode was incredible, from start to finish.  Before we get to the big finale, the other aspects of the episode should be discussed.  Firstly, Skylar is probably guilty of the worst mistake in the show so far (yes the worst) I still can't believe that she told Ted that it was her who sent him the money to bail him out of the trouble with the IRS.  How does the ONE person who has been the most careful and logical about covering up Walt's 'job' slip up so badly?  If she felt bad for Ted, that is still no excuse, Im sure anyone would have let the IRS have him after seeing how greedy he actually is.  Not only is he greedy, he completely ignores Skylar at first and even kicks her out of the office, only one episode after she bailed his ass out!  In my opinion, a greedy scumbag like this will want more and could easily start blackmailing Skylar, if that happens it could be the thing that finally ends (and we all know its ending somehow) Walter's run.  Enough about Ted and Skylar, I agree with Jovan's statement he had when we discussed this episode, this is what he said: "In all honesty, they never should have brought him back" Well said, we move on. 

It took 3 seasons and 10 episodes but at last Walter White admitted he was wrong.  It seems that Jesse's final words from the previous episode really hit Walter hard and for the first time in a long time he was human again.  It really did feel weird feeling sorry for him after all he has done but the acting performance Bryan Cranston put on was nothing short of incredible.  He not only gave an incredibly authentic "I made a mistake" line while crying, he had a monologue that could rival Mike's 'half measures' one.  I actually felt like the actors were father and son and could'nt beleive how into the scene I was, well done guys seriously.  The line that really stood out for me was Walt Jr's, when he said he did'nt mind seeing Walter like this, but he hated the monster he was from the time he got diagnosed.  What a wake-up call for Walter, I mean just wow.  Okay, now that I respected this episode with the minor scenes (if we can even call them that) let's discuss the main ones.  

Jesse, Gus, and Mike (how entertaining are they as a trio by the way?) travel to Mexico to meet with Don Eladio, you may remember him as the guy who ruthlessly had Gus's original partner killed.  After having Jesse show Eladio's cooks how its done, Eladio is so thrilled he decides to throw a party, opening it with everyone taking a shot of some liquor Gus was kind enough to provide.  Now, I do realize Eladio made Gus drink it first, but how stupid do you have to be?  Every single person I spoke to also though it was poisoned right away, but I digress.  Before the meeting we saw Gus taking some pills, which I think its safe to say were some anti-poison meds.  During the party, Gus excuses himself and promptly forces himself to start throwing up (I don't know how effective this method is, but James Bond did it in Casino Royal too, so We'll go with it).  Outside, where the party is happening, people start dropping like flies.  The whole scene is shot beautifly and is only ruined by the fact that we kind of knew what was coming, but that is my only gripe with this sequence.  Once everyone is dead, our (heroes?) characters start making their escape, where Mike is shot and saved again by Jesse.  So now Jesse has to drive a wounded Mike and a very ill Gus out of Mexico... Did I mention we still have 3 episodes left?  I can not wait.

Overall rating for this episode: 10  I debated between 9.9 and 10 due to the predictabillity of the last scene, but the other aspects of this episode more than made up for it.

Breaking Bad Season 4 Episode 9: Bug Review

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WARNING: Full Spoilers Ahead.

Breaking Bad continues to impress after its slow start to the season. Last week offered us a background episode on the show’s most secretive character, Gus, and gave us insight on why he’s such a badass and why he despises the cartel. In the latest episode, titled “Bug”, we were back on track with the current story. The title may sound familiar to the bottle neck episode (one with a lower budget) in season 3, “Fly”, and whether you hated or loved that episode, you should know that this episode is nothing like it. In that episode, Walt and Jesse were trapped inside their lab for the whole episode trying to catch a fly so that it does not contaminate their product (you can see how that episode could deal with a lower budget). In “Bug”, there is a lot of violence, a lot more blood, and it is overall a much better episode.

Breaking Bad Season 4 Episode 8: "Hermanos" Review

Tweet As always, this review may contain spoilers so if you do not wish to have anything ruined please stop reading now and come back after you have seen the episode.

Breaking bad is having a stretch of episodes that makes me openly question the fact that there are people out there who do not watch this show.  It amazes me sometimes that this show can sustain such a streak of quality episodes, even deep into season 4.  The only other show that I recall doing this is the Wire (which is also the best show of all time).  'Hermanos' features a lot of story lines and manages to flow very well.  I will discuss the smaller ones first, then the big ones after.

To begin, we have Saul dropping off Jesse's money to Andrea who has now moved in to a quality neighborhood with a nice house.  In breaking bad every scene is important and no scenes are wasted, which means that Andrea still has a role to play in the series and I am curious to see what it is.  On the Skyler front, we see her vacuum-sealing the stacks of money from Walter's earnings and concealing them with clothes, the money winds up underneath their house.  This is the first episode in a while that Skyler has not been a prominent part of and it was a little refreshing, don't expect it to last.  Finally, we got to see the immediate resolution of Hank's investigation on Gus.  As some of us feared, Gus turned out to be well prepared for the questioning and law enforcement sided with him over Hank.  At the way things are unfolding, Hank really is an awesome character and I really hope he catches his guy(s) at the end.

This brings us to our key plot developments.  Firstly, Hank is deciding to go with his intuition and enlists Walter to help him plant a GPS tracker on Gustavo's car.  There are a few tense moments where I wondered if Gus would decide to just get rid of Hank, but thankfully he does not plan on doing anything...yet.  It was interesting that Mike showed concern saying that they cannot fight the Cartel and Hank at the same time, so how they do decide to handle it should be some good television.  The second development is that Walt discovered that Jesse is now closer to Gus than he originally thought.  This is key because we know what a panic-struck Walter White is capable of.  How Walt will respond to this discovery remains to be seen but again, we know it will be good (at least for the viewers, not so much for the other characters).  We saw some of his ruthlessness when he was getting his scan, where he essentially told the guy that was with him that he was a pussy.  I have spent enough time praising the acting on this show so I wont waste anymore time, but really, the acting is incredible by Bryan Cranston, I cannot see anyone else in this role anymore.  There was one final development that was in this episode and as always, the best comes last; the story of Gus.  This is the first time we learned a bit about the man's past, where he came from, how he came to own a restaurant, and why he despises the Mexican cartel.  I wont talk about the scene too much, but after seeing it I do not feel bad for Hector (the old man with the bell) even slightly.  I will say that Gus's line at the end of the episode "Look at me" gave me chills.  Can not wait for the next episode.

Overall rating for this episode 9.4/10
Best Scene: 'Hermanos' Gustavo's past


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Breaking Bad Season 4 Episode 7: "Problem Dog" Review

Tweet These reviews may contain spoilers so please do not read them before having seen the episode if you do not want to be spoiled.

Let me break down how I watched the last 20 minutes of this episode: in disbelief.  Every season has 'that episode'  the one you point to and say "yeah, that episode was really good" and nobody really disagrees. 'Problem Dog' is that episode (at least so far).  I legitimately could not move for a couple of minutes after it ended, I just could not process what I had seen.  Now that i have calmed down a bit I will try to write rationally about my thoughts on this masterpiece of an episode.

We started off with a really dark scene of Jesse playing a zombie killing game, but each time he killed a zombie he just saw Gale's head jerk back.  Clearly he is still recovering from the guilt, and we can see this clearly.  The scene itself was shot beautifully, it had no talking and minimal movement yet it perfectly conveyed what Jesse was going through still.  The expensive car Walter bought for Jr. last episode is quickly burned away... literally.  After joy riding in it and getting it stuck on his way to return it, Walter decides just to burn the thing!  Not the smartest thinking on his part and Saul managed to get him off free (if free is $52000).  Other than a slightly emptier pocket, Walter came to the conclusion that the only person who can get close enough to Gus to kill him is Jesse.  Jesse did not need much convincing and agrees to do it with our time tested method (ironically, their go to method, or the 'best way' is 0/2 so far) of poison, which Walter created in the lab in a spot out of the view of the camera.  Jesse hides the poison into one of his cigarettes and vows to poison Gus at the first chance he gets.  It was kind of nice to see Walter and Jesse scheming together again, but there is some awkwardness to it now that was not there before.  Maybe Walt's B.S. has finally caught up to Jesse, maybe Jesse no longer wants to be Walter's hit-man, the truth is we can't know.  Skyler's only involvement in this episode was to complain about how they can not launder 7.5mil (Walter's drug salary) in one year, not her brightest episode, but she has had her fair share of screen time this season, any more in this episode, it would have received a lower score from me.

Breaking Bad Season 4 Episode 6: "Cornered" Review

Tweet Yes I do realize that this review is a little bit late, but that wont change the fact that there will be some spoilers but I seriously doubt that you have not seen the episode yet.


We opened up with another scene of a 'pollos' truck being attacked, this time the attackers were a bit smarter and the defenders were not Mike.  After a couple of minutes the truck is easily overtaken and the blue meth is stolen.  It took a bit of time to get back to this scene and what it meant due to other plot-lines but it was worth the wait.  The way the entire opening scene was filmed was very entertaining and well done by all parties involved.

Elsewhere, Skyler and Walt discuss Walter's behaviour at last night's dinner where Walt all but told Hank that Gale is not the guy he is trying to catch.  Walter attributed it to the alcohol but Skyler hit on an interesting point.  She theorizes that a small part of Walt wants Hank to catch him, just so all of this could be over.  I found this interesting because it offered up an alternate to the 'Walt wants to be in control' theory I made in the last review.  Could Walter secretly just be wanting this to end?  Another character also gave us something to ponder, Walter Jr.  It was refreshing seeing him get some screen time finally and he did not disappoint.  The scene where he compares Walt's 'gambling' to something he can not control, causing Walter to counter that whatever he is doing he is doing on his own free will was an excellent scene in my opinion.  I know that it is difficult to include Jr. more in these episodes but having him in periodically raises the quality of the show, he is the true voice of innocence and it is important to hear him.

We can't go on in this review without mentioning Skyler.  After seeing Walt's fury she decided to just run away... or at least it looked like she wanted to, but then she decided to head back and had a phenomenal line: "someone has to protect this family from the man protecting it".  At this point she is just like Walt from season one; willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that her loved ones will be safe.  Say what you will about her (and I still despise her as a character) but you have to respect the character (not like but respect) for the way she has grown this season.  Lastly we get to everyone's favorite plot: the growing drug war and Jesse.  Mike tracks down the stolen blue meth, and in a classic 'young gun does something reckless but succeeds causing his older, wiser partner to accept him more' scene Jesse helps Mike retrieve it.  I do find it cool that Jesse is proving himself to Gus and Mike (even receiving some props from Gus!) and that it may ultimately end the tension between them, but I can't help but think Walter's 'driving a wedge between us' theory might be right. We'll see.  On the war front, Gus tells Mike to set up a meeting with the opposing gang(s) so now it will be exciting seeing that unfold.  There are about a million ways the story could unfold, but we now know that Breaking Bad will not go beyond a 5th season.  So the end is coming, we just do not know how.  This was a very good episode and hopefully then remaining ones will be too

rating: 8.4/10
Best scene: The attack on the 'pollos' truck

Breaking Bad Season 4 Episode 5: "Shotgun" Review

Tweet You probably noticed that episode 4 was not reviewed.  This was due to some circumstances, but had I written a review for it, the episode would have received a 9/10 it was the best episode of this season hands down.  As always, these reviews may (probably will) contain spoilers so if you don't want to be spoiled go watch the episode first.

I have to admit, the last episode left me wanting to see this one quite a bit.  We were left with Jesse and Mike taking a drive to who-knows-where and Walter freaking out.  The writers did not disappoint us here, choosing to pick up right where last episode left off.  We are treated to some GTA style driving from Walt as he is telling Saul to leave all his money to his wife, followed by him leaving a very emotional message to Skyler at their voice machine.  This scene was done really well and more importantly felt realistic.  It was not just Walt weaving in and out of lanes, but cars were actually getting out of his way and pedestrians looked horrified.  The context of him leaving the messages told us that he was going to do something drastic and he did, getting out at the 'pollos' restaurant and demanding to see Gus.  But as we are getting accustomed to it this season, Gus was not there, instead we got the obligatory call from Mike assuring Walter that Jesse was fine and would not be in trouble.