Spoilers below! Be warned… if you have yet to watch “To’hajiilee” the following will absolutely ruin it for you. Do not read if you don’t want to be spoiled. I highly suggest you do not read this if you have not watched the episode because the thrill of it will be lost on you once you do watch it… that being said… here is my recap and review.
So the above is pretty much my face after watching this episode. But before I get to that epic-ness, the rest of the episode is pretty darn important, too.
We start off in the meth lab the Aryans have made. Lydia is with Todd, his Uncle Jack and the other creepy white guy. Todd tests the meth he just made and it is at 76%. The best part of the two older Aryans interactions are their references to pop culture. They tell Lydia that the best the “Wolverine” look-a-like made was less than 70%, referring to Declan. I notice that Lydia is always wearing her blue jacket now-a-days. She represents “the blue” that she so desperately wants to attain again. Apparently she is dressing for the job she wants, not the job she has. The men all discuss that they believe the meth is tinted blue, even though Lydia has made it clear the product needs to be blue and it is not. The Aryans suggest they add food coloring to the mix, just like it is done to salmon. This just shows how little these men care about quality. Later on, Todd makes Lydia tea, addressing her politely as Miss Quayle, and then he tries in a very uncomfortable manner to hit on Lydia. Isn’t Todd like 18? It’s just gross. When she leaves, he rubs her lipstick on her cup and then drinks out of it. Before that, he receives the call (with the ringtone, “She Blinded me with Science”…is this only Walt’s ringtone on Todd’s phone, or everyone’s?) from Walt to kill Jesse. Todd asks no questions and offers to set up a meeting with his uncle.
Hank and Gomez meet up in a tunnel. Gomez then says that Jesse is safer behind bars than out in town in “open season”. I only note the importance of this because it becomes open season later in the episode. The tunnel they are in looks exactly like the one Jesse picks up his meth money from Victor. Oddly enough, Jesse then tells them his brilliant plan is to go after Walt’s money. That is where he really lives. I promised I would give a shout out to my friend Evan Lowe for getting that one right last week.
Back at Hank’s house, Gomez comes in with a brown paper bag. They have a cryptic discussion about another DEA agent not asking questions, but agreeing to “babysitting”. Gomez also lets Hank know that if “he” (at first I assumed he meant Jesse, but now I realize it is Huell) gets a lawyer, Gomez will put a stop to the whole thing. It is the first time Gomez has really stood up to Hank. It will probably be the last time. Hank takes out a brain (animal) and puts it on the kitchen floor. He turns to Jesse and says, “You’re up.” ‘What the hell does that turn out to be?” were my initial thoughts. Hank and Gomez go to an apartment where Huell is being babysat. They let Huell know, in a very large ploy, that he is on Walt’s hit list. They bluff and say Kuby is already missing. Hank also shows him a picture of “dead Jesse”.
Huell easily gives up that he moved the money to the barrels from the storage unit. He lets them know the details of the van, its dirt, where it came from, the shovel, and the exact description of the barrels. It seems that all this questioning of Huell and keeping him in the apartment is illegal. Even if it all worked out for Hank, would Huell’s testimony mean anything to a judge?
At the Aryan’s house, Walt, Todd, Uncle Jack and the other white guy discuss the price for killing Jesse. They assume Jesse is a rat and Walt states very clearly that “Jesse is not a rat.” Little do any of them know. He tells them that Jesse is “angry.” Again the Aryans and their pop culture references, asking if Jesse is The Hulk, Rambo or James Bond (ummmm is James Bond angry???). Walt tells Uncle Jack that Jesse is like family, so he can’t do it himself. When he says this Todd looks at Walt like he is hurt that Jesse is considered family. Uncle Jack agrees to the hit, but the price isn’t money, no matter how much Walt is willing to throw out there; it is to be their cook. Walt is very reluctant to agree, but eventually says he will do one cook after the hit is done. It seems strange that they would be so trusting that Walt would actually do a cook for them after the fact. They offer to do it that night, and Walt tells them he has to “flush him out” referring to Jesse. The tic-tac-toe game is in full swing. Who will flush the other one out first?
Walt goes to Andrea’s house and gives her the story that he can’t find Jesse. Andrea invites him in which seems odd because of her problems with Jesse and that she has only met Walt once at Jesse’s house. Walt greets Brock and Brock gives him one of these:
I think it is clear that Brock recognizes Walt as someone more than just Jesse’s friend. Andrea calls Jesse’s phone and leaves a message. Walt tells her that he will call her later because he has her number. If I were Andrea, I would wonder why he had my number. She seems pretty cavalier about it all. Walt then goes to his car and instructs Uncle Jack and crew to wait for Jesse and not to alarm Andrea or Brock.
Hank listens to Andrea’s message on Jesse’s Hello Kitty cell phone. I know I mention this phone in every recap, but who thought it would become the symbol of season 5b? It is a reminder of the pink teddy bear; a cute children’s toy that has its innocence destroyed. After Hank hears the message he says, “Nice try, asshole,” mimicking Jesse saying the same thing to Walt in “Rabid Dog.” Hank doesn’t tell them about Andrea’s message, but does say they are going to continue the game by making Walt think there was a GPS on the van he used to bury the money.
Walt Jr. and Skyler are at the carwash. Skyler is teaching him the cash register, but she is really keeping him away from the house in case there are more problems. Saul Goodman enters the car wash. Skyler is freaked out that he is there and Jr. is starstruck. Walt approaches Saul as to why he’s there. They discuss that Huell is missing and that Jesse is still AWOL. Saul tells Walt that Jesse isn’t as dumb as Walt thinks. Walt has yet to find this out for himself.
Walt goes back inside. He lightly touches his jacket pocket checking for his gun. He looks on at his family in deep thought. And then the beginning of the end happens. Walt gets a picture message of a barrel of his money, or so he thinks. Immediately he gets a call from Jesse saying, “Did you get my photo, Bitch?” Yes! A bitch moment! Walt runs out of the car wash and gets in his car. Jesse tells him he is burning the money unless Walt comes to him. It is surprising Walt fell for this. He believes the van had a GPS and that Jesse has found the money. It is strange that Walt never realized on the way there what was really happening. But it shows what Walt really cares about and how blinded he is by the money. In this moment when Walt is speeding like a maniac to the desert and Jesse is playing him on the phone, Jesse pulls out one of the best “bitches” in BrBa history, “Fire in the hole, Bitch. There goes 10 G’s. Ah, nice orange flame.” Walt later confesses on the phone pretty much everything he has done, including killing Emilio and Krazy 8, killing Gus and poisoning Brock all the way down to how he did it. He never mentioned cooking meth or Gale. If this conversation is tapped, it still wouldn’t be admissible in court. Hasn’t Hank watched The Wire!? Walt arrives to To’hajiilee and realizes it was a set up. Walt lets out his own “son of a bitch.” He takes the battery out of his phone and drops it. He runs to the top of a cliff and then when he sees a car in the distance he runs back down, gets the phone, puts the phone back together, and calls Uncle Jack. When Walt realizes that it’s not just Jesse, but his brother-in-law and Gomez he tells Uncle Jack to forget the hit and hangs up. Hank looks all around Walt’s car and calls out his name. And for once we see authentic emotion from Walt.
After the last commercial break, the shots of the desert linger on screen. It is very reminiscent of when the cooking was happening out there. Walt shows himself. He drops his gun and walks to Hank with his arms up. This moment reminded me so much of when Gus walked right towards the cartel with his arms in the air. And then the moment that we have all waited for since the first cook, Walt is arrested. It seems like such a moment of relief, yet we all know that it can’t end like this. It is too easy. And illegal still because Hank and Gomez don’t have a warrant for the things they have done. But it still felt good to see it.
Jesse mentions that this is the first place they ever cooked together. Every episode of season 5b has allowed the audience to come full circle with the first season and particularly the first episode. During this whole scene suspense builds. It isn’t quite clear what we are supposed to be anxious about, but with Jesse hanging out in the background, it was hard not to wonder if he would be sniped by Uncle Jack. Gomez searches Walt and takes his car keys. I feel that this will be very important next week if anyone ends up getting out and using Walt’s car to do so. As Walt is being read his rights he is staring at Jesse like he is filth. He finally calls Jesse a “Coward” with hate in his voice. Jesse approaches him and does what everyone else has wanted to do at some point…
Finally, someone spit on Walt. It must feel awful to have a drug addict spit in your face. After their confrontation, Hank and Gomez take Walt and Jesse to different cars. Walt is in Hank’s truck and Jesse is in Walt’s car. Hank gives Marie a call to let her know he got Walt. Marie answers the phone and says the best Marie line of all time, “Hank, why is there what looks like brains in our garbage can?” While Hank is on the phone with her, he foreshadows the outcome of the end of this episode. “It’s gonna be a rough couple of weeks, but it’ll get better.” He also says “It may be a while before I get home.” Does Hank die? Or does he get seriously injured like he did at Salamanca twin incident? I find it interesting that Hank is wearing an orange shirt here, similar to the one in the Tuco Salamanca shootout scene.
As Walt is looking out the car window, he sees the Aryan’s cars pull up. He starts to yell for Hank, but Hank ignores him. Unfortunately, this could have probably been avoided had Hank gotten the hint and they hit the road. But they don’t and the Aryan’s pull up. Uncle Jack, Kenny (the guy I’ve been calling “the other white guy”) Todd and really another white guy point their guns at Hank and Gomez. Hank has a pistol and Gomez has a rifle. They are outnumbered and outgunned, as the main two Aryan’s have assault rifles. Walt attempts to yell for Jack to stop, but Jack ignores him. When Hank and Gomez don’t show their police badges, all out war begins. The Aryans are not afraid to use their ammo.
They go for the car Walt is handcuffed in because it is the car Hank and Gomez hide behind. Jesse seemingly starts to get out of Walt’s car. Walt is forced to weasel his way in between the seats of Hank’s car. It seems dumb for the Aryan’s to shoot up the car that their new cook is in, but they haven’t ever been for details I suppose. And then it ends. What?! Why?! Who lives? Who dies?
I truly believe that Gomez will die at the least. Of course Walt doesn’t. It is getting so close to the end and even harder to figure out how all these loose ends will tie up.
Hush Comics gives Breaking Bad‘s “To’hajiilee” an A+. It was great to see who could outsmart each other better. Jesse and Hank are worthy adversaries. Walt finally was cuffed and cried. A likable moment for Marie And the cliffhanger ending was b-a-n-a-n-a-s. I have nothing to fault this episode for.
Before I end, did anyone else notice that Todd had the sissy gun??
written by Adrian Puryear
Hush Comics 