AMC’s Breaking Bad
5×11: “Confessions”
Directed by Michael Slovis
Written by Gennifer Hutchison

* For a recap & review of 5×10, click here.
* For a recap & review of 5×12, click here.
Todd calls Walt to tell him about the change with Declan and their “difference of opinion.” He says there’s a “change in management” and just wanted to let Heisenberg know. Skip to Todd talking about the great train adventure he had with Pinkman and Heisenberg. Quite the wild tale and it makes Todd look good in front of his Uncle Jack. Jack and his fellow neo-Nazis get a good idea about how smart Walt is and what an asset he was to the meth operation that was going on before recent events. A “tight operation,” Jack notes. He’s now putting Todd in charge of a lab, hoping things will go smoothly for them and they’ll make lots of money.

Jesse finds himself in an interrogation room with Hank again. Quite a different circumstance, though. Hank shuts off the camera, particularly given that he’s there without the DEA knowing. He wants to have a private chat with his old pal Pinkman. He brings up Heisenberg and the fact he knows it’s actually Walt. He’s not so much interested in Jesse, especially if he gets a bit of help from the latter. He knows there’s “trouble in paradise” between the former partners. That doesn’t necessarily mean Jesse’s a rat. Hank gives it his all to try convincing Jesse to help him, trying to appeal to the part of Jesse that hates Walt after everything that’s gone down between the two. But soon Saul is in the room, busting up the conversation. When he’s alone with Jesse he’s angry about how things are going sideways. Jesse assures he said nothing to the cops or Hank.
Walt’s using makeup to cover his busted eye, courtesy of Hank and a fall to the floor, when he hears Walt Jr is about to go to Marie’s place. He sits his son down and tells him about his cancer returning. He doesn’t want Jr. to worry about him. He says they’ll get through things. At the Schrader home, Marie keeps telling Hank to go to his colleagues at the DEA or else it’ll look bad if they figure things out first. Yet Hank keeps insisting he’s not able to go with what he has, he needs a bit more.
At the very same time, Walt and Skyler are making a DVD. What’s on it? Well, they meet Hank and Marie at a restaurant where they hand it over, after Walt does a lot of cocky posturing in front of Hank while they’re occasionally, and hilariously, interrupted by a joyful server trying to do his job. Marie even suggests to Walt: “Just kill yourself.” Later, Marie and Hank watch the DVD, on which we see Walter make a confession, but not the one we might’ve imagined. He’s concocted a story with Skyler about Hank being obsessed with him and trying to frame him. Everything has been made to look bad for Hank, and to anybody on the outside of the situation it looks true. Not good for the Schraders. Very smart of the Whites, indeed.

In the desert, Saul and Jesse wait. They’re eventually joined by Walt, who first checks Saul’s vehicle for any possible GPS trackers. Walt asks Jesse what Hank knows and Jesse says it’s only the basics, really. Pinkman mentions what Hank asked of him. He says he doesn’t think Hank’s told anybody else in the DEA, he was acting strange and secretive. Walt doesn’t care about the money anymore. He wants Jesse to be okay. He says they need a change. He suggests maybe Jesse should leave and start a new life somewhere else. He mentions the Best Quality Vacuum guy who specialises in disappearing people like them, giving them “a whole new life.”
Walt thinks a “clean slate” could be what Jesse needs. He can’t do that with his family in tow. He also seems to think it’s easy to shrug off everything that’s happened, whereas Jesse can’t forget it all. Jesse thinks Walt is just working him like always, trying to manipulate him. He knows Walt just needs him gone to make life easier, whether it’s a new life or getting murdered like Mike. “Just tell me you need this,” Jesse says, and all Walt does is give him a hug, letting him cry.
Later, Jesse’s ready to get disappeared. He’s at Saul’s office while the calls are made to get things in motion. He decides to “fire up a doob” but he gets that extinguished quick. Saul says the vacuum guy won’t take anybody who’s high, so Jesse puts it out. He wants Jesse to give over the weed but there’s no deal. Sly moment when Huell and Jesse bump into each other, as Huell takes this moment to snatch the bag of weed off Pinkman. And while Jesse is waiting at the place where the vacuum man will pick him up to deliver him to a new life, he realises something: the weed was lifted off him, and the same could’ve certainly happened with the ricin cigarette.
Then all hell breaks loose.

Jesse violently confronts Saul about his new beliefs, beating the shit out of the lawyer and holding him at gunpoint. He’s positive what happened with the ricin cigarette, sure that Saul had Huell lift it. After Jesse leaves Saul’s office he descends into a bad place. Saul immediately calls Walt to warn him about what’s occurred, and Walt rushes over to the car wash frantically, worried that Jesse’s about to do something absolutely crazy. He takes this chance to grab a pistol stashed in the bottom of the drink machine. Simultaneously, Jesse goes to the White household, spreading gasoline everywhere, prepared to light the place on fire.