Editor’s Note: For eight weeks, WarriorsWorld’s Jesse Taylor will speak to Harrison Barnes about each episode of their favorite current TV show, Breaking Bad, as it completes its fifth and final season. This installment covers Season 5-B Episode 5: To’hajiilee. WARNING: These are episode reviews, so there will be SPOILERS …
Jesse: Three episodes to go. Have you come to terms yet with Breaking Bad ending?
Harrison: No. I’m not ready for the show to go off the air. But this is the last season, and every episode has been on point. Especially this last episode on Sunday.
So is Hank dying in the desert?
I had this conversation with a few people. I think they are going to start the show with a flash forward to that initial scene from the very first episode this season where Walt is in the diner. With three episodes left and so much ground to cover, I think they’ll set up the flash forward better and then maybe go back and show what happens in the desert and to Hank.
I do think Hank dies. Mainly because of that phone conversation that he had with Marie when he caught Walt. Something about that call was off. It seemed like it was foreshadowing that Hank was about to die.
I agree. And I think that if this were a typical episode where the show wasn’t about to end, he would have died last Sunday. Both he and Gomez were right in the line of fire of six Nazi sharpshooters; well except Todd. Todd didn’t look very sharp with his shots nor is he Nazi-ish. But I don’t see how either of them gets out alive and the only reason we didn’t see it last week was because they wanted a cliffhanger going into the next episode.
Where do you think Jesse ends up? He looks like he’s about to get out of the car right before the gun fire starts, and then we don’t see him again. That was quite a bit of time for him to get away. But he also doesn’t have much cover to be able to escape.
I think they either take Jesse captive or he gets away. I don’t think he dies yet.
Either that, or they are about to kill Jesse and Walt comes up with something to save him. But they’ve been down that road before, where Walt saved Jesse’s life by convincing Gus that he needed Jesse to cook.
I still think at some point in these last three episodes, Walt and Jesse are going to cook together again. We haven’t seen much cooking this whole season. Besides Todd a little bit with Lydia.
Poor Todd can’t even get the color right. But you can’t feel sorry for a weird creep like that for very long. Up next, he’s making Lydia tea, rubbing her arm and massaging her lipstick stain with his fingers and then his lips. He’s a psychotic with a child-like mentality.
Todd is a different dude. He’s real interesting to say the least.
You expected that Walt was calling Todd to kill Hank, not Jesse. But even though we find out Walt actually is calling to have Jesse killed, it’s obvious he feels awful about it. He is doing it because there is no other choice if he wants to survive and get the money to his family.
I agree. You can tell how Walt really feels because he is so uncomfortable in that room with Todd and his uncle. He wants to make sure it’s done right and it’s clean. And he keeps protecting his reputation, saying it’s not rat control.
Note: I should have asked Harrison if he wished Jay-Z was in that scene and told Walt, “I got the rat patrol on gat patrol.” But I didn’t. Instead I asked:
We also learn that Jesse’s plan is about going after Walt’s money. Were you surprised by that based on how you expected it to be about going after Junior or Skylar?
I was kind of surprised. I thought it was real good execution on Hank, Gomez and Jesse’s part on how they went about it. The key was going after Huell and showing him the fake picture of Jesse with his brains blown out. You wouldn’t expect Huell to spill the beans and give up the information, but that photo put it over the top.
And it was all about Walt, because Huell believed that he could really do that. That Walt is crazy enough to do that to Jesse. If it was someone like Saul, Huell probably wouldn’t have fell for it.
The whole segment of Walt getting the photo of the money on his phone, getting the call from Jesse and speeding in his car to get the money was one of my favorite moments in the show’s history. Walt and Jesse were both extreme in their actions, and a small thing I really enjoyed was how Jesse stopped referring to him as “Mr. White.” He blatantly called him “Walt” in that scene. Exaggerating his tone when he said it. And he also called him “Bitch” about 10 times. But in this context, saying “Walt” was more disrespectful than “Bitch.” The respect for Mr. White was gone.
That scene was intense. The other thing I noticed was it seemed like Jesse was reading from a script. Comparing how Jesse normally talks versus how he was talking on the phone, it was like the tone and rhythm of how he was talking was like he was reading off a sheet of paper. Walt bringing up kids got him off the script, because then he started going off on the Brock stuff. But he quickly got back on script to make Walt think he was burning the money.
Not much worked out for Walt in this episode. The Nazis are making him cook again, his trick with Andrea didn’t work because Hank has Jesse’s phone, then he’s duped into leading the trio into the desert where his money is. How are you feeling about where Walt is at this point in the show? Can he recover?
Things won’t be the same. Someone’s going to die in that desert. Likely Hank. So from that standpoint, he’ll never be the same. Can he recover? I’m not sure.
On a lighter note, how much did you enjoy Walt Jr. running the A1 cash register and getting excited about meeting local celebrity Saul Goodman?
I really doubt it, but it made me think it was symbolism about how maybe someday Walt Jr. is going to be running the family business. And I don’t mean the car wash business.
I died laughing when he told him mom to make sure she wished Saul an A1 day.
It was also hilarious at the car wash how Walt questioned Saul about wearing a bulletproof vest.
A pretty brutal interaction between Walt and Jesse in the desert. Walt calls him a coward and Jesse spits in his face. You sad to see the legendary cooking duo at odds like this?
Even though Hank was there, it seemed like Walt wasn’t concerned with him or Gomez. He was solely focused on Jesse. He was in such shock and disbelief that Jesse had really turned his back on him. On the other hand, Hank is all excited through everything; reading Walt his Miranda rights, calling Marie. But Walt and Jesse are so focused and in disbelief. Jesse wants to smile, but he can’t believe Walt getting arrested is actually happening. Like he’s waiting for something to go wrong.
Then the six guys in the two cars pull up. Hank and Gomez not getting shot right away had some credibility issues. Did you feel the same way?
It did seem a little odd that all six of those guys are firing automatic guns with Hank and Gomez over there with their shotgun and pistol. They pop off a shot every once in a while. It’s like, “Really? No one is getting hit right now?” You’d at least think Gomez would have gone down. If they do keep Hank alive, they will have to pick up with that scene and show some kind of cease-fire. There’s just no way Hank or Gomez can walk away from that not dead.
Unless they’re like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. If Gomez dies, I’m not sure Breaking Bad can recover from losing such a critical, beloved character.
[silence]
Gomez is gone. And it makes sense for Hank to die tracking down Heisenberg. He’s been tracking the blue meth for so long. He’s been obsessed and consumed by this. And he finally gets that peace right before he dies. So that’s fitting.
Before we finish up, you’re getting tons of questions now that the Warriors have signed Andre Iguodala. Who’s starting? Who’s coming off the bench? Who’s finishing games? Do all these questions remind you more of how Marie annoys Hank with the non-stop questions about catching Walt? Or are they more like the buzz kill that is Skylar White?
Oh definitely Skylar, man. It’s kind of like, “You just won’t let me live, man.” It’s like when Walt is just trying to cook and provide for his family. I’m just trying to go out there and play.
Also, Bill Burr led you astray, saying there’s no Saul spinoff show. Reports now say they actually are going to do it.
Really? Wow. I guess Bill Burr won’t be involved. I think that would be good. I doubt Aaron Paul or Bryan Cranston will be involved. But if they can keep some of the other characters it could be really good.
Maybe Cranston and Paul came make some cameos once in a while.
Anything else we should touch on?
Make sure to link to that Jimmy Fallon skit on Breaking Bad. It’s a must watch for fans of the show.
Done. All right Harrison. Have an A1 day.
Thanks Jesse. You too.