Summary: Everything we expected to happen to Walt happens, but in a way that still makes this one of the best episodes of the show.
If you have not seen this episode yet and don’t wish to be spoiled, tread lightly.
Review
One of the things Breaking Bad has been good at from day one is its ability to amp up the tension when leading up to a totally predictable climax. Well, perhaps “predictable” isn’t the best word for it; the details are often unexpected and unpredictable, of course. But in the grander scheme the show has always led up to what it should lead up to. Of course Hank would catch Walt here. Of course Todd’s Uncle Jack and the goons would show up regardless. Of course there would be a shootout. Honestly, could the episode have ended any other way and still been satisfying?
For all of Breaking Bad’s positive qualities that make it so widely well-regarded, this is one that’s the hardest for most other shows to replicate. It’s easy to play everything straight and be predictable. It’s a bit harder to throw in a red herring or misdirect. It’s hardest to throw in something completely out of left field to not be predictable but still make sense. All of these methods have a tendency to crash and burn hard when not done well, but are certainly effective when they do work. It would have been plenty shocking to end the episode with Gomez shooting Hank in the face and reveal he’d been working with the cartel or something. It’d be edgy, and we’d scream and speculate and be excited to see what would happen next week. But it would also be terrible, because, in addition to requiring a lot of convoluted exposition, it would just feel so wrong for the show to do. That’s an extreme example, but with the show this close to the end, it’s got to tread lightly (sorry) to be tense and surprising but not in a way that alienates the audience. ”To’hajiilee”, and Breaking Bad as a whole in a lot of ways, takes the least-treaded path of doing exactly what we expected it to do, but doing it so darn well that we’re still on edge throughout and in shock when the screen goes black.
How, exactly, does it pull that off? Well, there’s plenty to be said about how the show has a whole has done it, but this episode hones in on an obvious, but hard-to-master method: ever-so-steadily inching towards the conclusion, as slowly as possible. We knew from the end of last week and the teaser of this week that there would be a confrontation and Todd’s uncle would be involved. As soon as Jesse mentioned the money, we knew it would come to a head in the desert. It would be a letdown if it didn’t. But the show creeps towards that, making us wait in terror to see if these plans might collapse before they come together. How long could Hank’s charade continue before everything falls to pieces? Would Hank actually get to catch Walt before a confrontation or shootout begins?
Shows like The Walking Dead, for example, have gotten ample backlash in the past for abusing this method. The climax won’t come until the last few minutes, which is fine, but often that makes the preceding 40 minutes filler disguised as character development, for the most part. It’s arguable in that case, of course, but that’s the concern. ”To’hajiilee” doesn’t simply meander until the confrontation in the desert, though; quite the opposite. The entire first half of the episode is spent establishing the pieces, setting up the impending confrontation and making sure everything is in place. No scene feels like a waste. Walt gets Jesse’s phonecall not long after the episode’s midpoint, and the back half is spent stringing Walt along through every merciless beat, from the long drive to the frantic digging to the cautious hiding. It takes lots of time to get Hank, Gomez and Jesse out of the SUV. We walk through Hank’s entire process of humiliating Walt for his arrest. It’s slow, but it isn’t stretched out longer than it needs to be. It’s slow because we know something will happen, because all the pieces were in place from the first half. In a vacuum, these scenes surely wouldn’t work, but the clear trajectory throughout the entire episode creates a stellar momentum, and it makes it so much fun to watch even when it’s slow. By the time the gunfight starts, it’s almost cathartic–as Breaking Bad endings often are–because we’ve been waiting so freaking long for things to blow up.
It’s easy to fail at this, and fail hard, but Breaking Bad has been so competent in the approach that it’d be shocking if it didn’t work. And, as expected, it worked just fine this week, crafting one of the best episodes of the season, and probably series. The episode did heighten its chances to be good by throwing in a bit of misdirection, though; reintroducing Andrea and Brock was a smart move, and could have shaken things up. But it did well to showcase Hank’s cunning and dedication, as did the entire scheme to get Walt to reveal his money and give his confession. It was a simple plan, but Jesse preyed on Walt’s weakness, something he’d know best, and that hurt him the worst.
There’s just good stuff coming from every angle. Aaron Paul portrays this scheming, sinister Jesse so incredibly well, and it’s only improved when realizing that he’s the one we’re rooting for in the situation. The entire scene of Walt racing in the car was impeccably handled, as we never, ever see Jesse on the other side, we only hear his voice. Not only did that prolong the mystery, but it just amped the tension by rarely cutting away from Walt’s speeding. And there are little moments throughout, too; Walt considering Jesse like “family” is very interesting, and the dichotomy of putting a hit on him while wanting to “make it quick” is impressive. Even some smaller scenes, like Hank telling Marie he “got him,” or like the scene between Saul, Skyler and Walter Jr., were wonderful. RJ Mitte was particularly funny in that scene, with the silly dumbfounded smile on his face for meeting the town celebrity. It’s easy to feel bad for Huell, too, after being manipulated by Hank, but darn if that wasn’t one clever little ruse.
There really isn’t anything about this episode that doesn’t work. In a half-season shaping up to be more-or-less perfect, ”To’hajiilee” still stands out. It excels in putting the gas on the already heavy momentum, and driving it straight into the collision we were waiting for. It’s good TV, and that’s all there is to it.
Odds & Ends
- The official description for this episode was nothing more than “Things heat up for Walt in unexpected ways.” Let’s revel in the complete unspoileryness AMC presents that other networks could learn from.
- This episode was directed by Michelle Maclaren, who also directed season 3’s “One Minute”, another of the show’s finest episodes, which also featured lengthy, prolonged tension that led up to an amazing, cathartic and jaw-dropping climax.
- Todd’s ringtone was a nice touch, but what was with his creepy touching of Lydia’s lipstick on the mug? Not that he hasn’t been already shown to be a sociopath…
- Lydia watch: After that “blue color” argument, things are really heating up for Lydia. While that’s what prompted Uncle Jack to give Walt the ultimatum to come back and cook, there’s still got to be more that Lydia will contribute. But she’s quite the weasel, isn’t she? And the “burned it like a cake” conversation is great, as are the cooks’ conversation about artificial coloring in food. Every moment of this episode is wonderful
- We never did see how Walt slipped Brock the berries back in season four, did we? There’s a lot of potential implications of him coming face-to-face with Brock here, so you have to wonder how it happened.
