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 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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