TV Recap: Breaking Bad, “To’hajiilee” (5.13)

09/09, 9:00PM, AMC

Let’s cut right to the chase. As Breaking Bad barrels to the finish line, it serves up “To’hajiilee,” an episode that only deserves to be placed alongside “Crawlspace,” “Fly,” and “Dead Freight” in the pantheon of great episodes.

This show has a tendency to walk a very strange line between satisfaction and subversion. It’s the only show I can think of where, as I’m watching, I’m enthralled, caught up in some chaotic narrative spiral – but when it’s over, I think, “well that all makes a whole bunch of sense.” I could level a bunch of petty complaints at Vince Gilligan and his berserk team of writers – for not controlling time well or being too often seduced by the attractive cliffhanger – but I’d end up laughing myself out of my own skin. This show is practically bulletproof, sporting a narrative that is honest and thorough in regards to both character motivation and plot engineering. “To’hajiilee” is the apex of this satisfaction/subversion model. And there’s still three hours to go.

This show is practically bulletproof, sporting a narrative that is honest and thorough in regards to both character motivation and plot engineering. “To’hajiilee” is the apex of this satisfaction/subversion model. And there’s still three hours to go.

I’m not even gonna bother chronologically walking through my shitload of notes. The end of this episode – and, presumably, the beginning of the next – will certainly be remembered as a Hall of Fame moment. There are a few others in “To’hajiilee,” but let’s start with the end. Walt, caught in a hellish wave of crossfire, helplessly thrashes around in Hank’s backseat like a frightened animal as his brother and surrogate son are waiting to be slaughtered atop his buried treasure. Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair? A cut to black.

It isn’t quite apt to compare this moment to the most famous smash cut in television history – the finale of The Sopranos – but it is manufactured to register the same amount of shock, ending not only mid-scene, but mid-shot. Michelle MacLaren directed the shit out of the final action setpiece, filming it with a mad confidence and only using a few tricks – freely channeling Sergio Leone’s practice of suspenseful time dilation and the long tradition of cosmic justice sprouting out of a dead, empty desert (see Greed, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, etc.). Neo-Nazi Jack has nothing on Breaking Bad’s preceding stable of colorful villains, but his arrival is exactly what the satisfaction/subversion model is built to support. During the whole drawn out sequence in the desert with the (very satisfying) reading of Miranda rights, and Hank’s tearful, valedictory phone call to Marie, I sat waiting for Jack and his horde of psychos to arrive. Looking back on it, what other reason was there for us to watch Walt’s entire ride out to the desert but to establish a believable time frame for Jack’s trip? Of course, it’s the mark of a damn good television program when they take a functional setpiece like that and twist it into one of the greatest moments in the show’s history – with Jesse’s brilliant wielding of the upper hand and Walt’s believable desperation.

“To’hajiilee” is dense with gripping moments. But I don’t think there has been a single word as potent as “Coward” in the entire series. Somehow, all of Walt’s ugly pride scorches through in his most flagrant display of hypocrisy.

Let’s pause a second and do some silly speculating. The only thing we know is that Walt survives and I think it’s pretty safe to assume that he isn’t arrested. (Let’s send the writers a basket of roses for the whole cake/eating it too thing with regard to Walt’s arrest – we get to see him finally give up… but it probably won’t stick.) I would venture a guess that Jesse doesn’t die in this particular showdown – I’m expecting a bigger reckoning than “Coward,” but this show frequently reminds us not to expect things. That said, I have no idea whether or not Hank will make it. His phone call to Marie was so clearly designed to prepare us for his death that it seems suspect – yet another example of the satisfaction/subversion model bearing tasty fruit. Hank was given his victory, but something still feels weak – he’s only really known about his brother-in-law for about 10 days of Breaking Bad time. Still, it would fit in the fatalistic universe and his relationship with Marie probably warrants such a tender, clichéd moment.

“To’hajiilee” is dense with gripping moments. But I don’t think there has been a single word as potent as “Coward” in the entire series. Somehow, all of Walt’s ugly pride scorches through in his most flagrant display of hypocrisy. Coming from a man who doesn’t sweat the murder of children if it protects his treasure and image, the word shouldn’t have been greeted with spit, but with acid rain.

The Roundup:

• * I spent most of this review talking about the final 20 minutes or so, but there were several brilliant moments before that as well. First among them is the interrogation of Huell. Maybe we won’t hear from him until Saul’s spinoff series where he is finally discovered, still in that safehouse, with a massive beard and buried under a mound of pizza boxes.
• * Also a fan of Saul’s visit to A1. Flynn starstruck, Skyler confused, Walt popping in with Holly. “Don’t drink and drive, but if you do – call me.”
• * Speaking of awkward moments, I always love seeing Walt interact with Brock – just so much weirdness. Enhanced by the terrible, but sort of mystical acting from the kid playing Brock. Like he knows all about Walt or something.
• * “Nice try, asshole.” I’ve always taken Breaking Bad to task for not handling time very well, but that’s something this batch of episodes seems to be navigating carefully. On rewatch, notice how the writers use phone calls to align different characters and setpieces on a larger chessboard. See: this week’s cold open and Andrea’s voicemail for only two examples.
• * Is this the first time that Jesse says “Walt”? Either way, it’s a great moment when he does – during the epic phone conversation.
• * “Fire in the hole, bitch.”
• * Favorite shot, pre-showdown: the long close-up on Walt as Hank calls out for him, “It’s over.”
• * I could devote another 1,000 words to the way Walt is being made a shade less antagonistic. His decision to call off Jack was the real twist of the episode – seeing Hank and realizing that Jesse was, in fact, a “rat,” but calling them off nonetheless.
• * Any thoughts?

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Matthew Zurcher

Staff Television Critic

Matt Zurcher is a writer, musician, and filmmaker based in Pittsburgh, PA. His criticism has appeared in the Pittsburgh City Paper, Indiewire, The Film Experience, and his personal blog, www.thefamilyberzurcher.com.

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