Breaking Bad - Season 5, Episode 11, 'Confessions' - Review

'We've got a big problem.'

I'll start by saying one thing; based on the main conflicts of this episode alone, we're in for a season finale that will have to try very, very hard to disappoint. 'Confessions' was just about as close to perfection as TV drama can possibly get. All of this praise is focused on two arcs in particular.

The first was Hank and Marie's conflict with Walt (and, admittedly Skyler). Before the four meet up we see a brief clip of Walt sitting before a video camera, apparently confessing his crimes, but before we can see the rest of the clip the two factions that are the White's and the Schrader's meet up for dinner, in one of the most sublimely executed scenes in the season so far. In a scene of this contextual magnitude there's obviously a lot of pressure on the director and the writer to pull it off, but it was done with spectacular control. The tension between the two sides was almost unbearable, made all the more hilarious by the frequently returning appearance of an innocent waiter who's just trying to be a genuinely nice guy. On a minor side note, that's three for three on the inclusion of a blackly comic moment in every episode of this season so far, the other two being 1) Badger's Star Trek script, and 2) Huell and Kuby's bed of money. But the scene quickly returned to it's deeply gritty nature with Walt pushing the disc across the table towards Hank and Marie. Of course, I was convinced; I genuinely thought Walt would be confessing, but no such luck.

No, Hank and Marie stand like tall in front of the television screen before effectively transforming into unwilling puppets. Walt's 'confession' consists of 'revealing' that it is, indeed, Hank who is actually the infamous drug lord that the DEA have been unsuccessfully chasing down for the better part of the last year. Not only this, but Walt makes this concocted story actually seem believable to someone out of the know - he cites supposed 'connections' Hank has made in the business, his own cancer diagnosis as a means of supporting his innocence, stating that the hit that was made on Hank was actually executed as an attack from one drug lord (Gus Fring) to another, as well as Hank's medical bills and even the bruise on Walt's eye as being caused by Hank. This is a moment of realisation on two levels; 1) We now know that Walt has Hank bang to rights without question, and 2) This is how television should be done. This is how plotting should be done. It comes across like Gilligan has had this planned from the beginning, rather than just having made it up while going along. The only question that remains here is this; what will Hank do next?

The second was Jesse's internal conflict. We see him in the interrogation room, with the episode picking up right where the last ended, although we get an interesting depiction of the passage of time from Jesse's perspective, as it speeds up during his conversation with the two detectives. Hank then enters the room and what follows is an understandably awkward conversation, although Jesse's comic delivery of 'Eat me' lightened up the good cop bad cop routine that Hank was attempting to pull off. A large part of Confessions concerned Jesse's loyalty to Walt as well as his moral standpoint when it comes to the actions that they have made singularly and in partnership. It's important to note the juxtaposition that was interestingly presented at the beginning of the episode, as Todd relayed the story of the train robbery to his Uncle Jack while omitting the part about shooting the boy on the motorbike, something he did without hesitation and which Jesse attempted to protest against in the split second before it occurred. Conversely, Jesse obviously has a set of morals when it comes to such acts, and as we see him suddenly realise what Walt has done, he doesn't hesitate in exacting revenge upon him. Just as we think Walt has saved himself by convincingly pinning the blame on Hank, another huge problem has reared it's head.

With regards to the intense cliffhanger involving Jesse's petrol-pouring antics, I will make some predictions. I don't know if he'll set the house on fire, even in light of the way it's depicted in 'Blood Money.' It just doesn't seem right, because that explanation is too easy, although I might just be over-complicating thing. However, I will predict that Jesse spray paints 'Heisenberg' across the living room wall. What better way to leave an insulting message, especially in a fit of rage?

Roll on Episode 12.