Breaking Bad: To'hajiilee Review

 
Abhijeet Singh ’15
The following review contains full spoilers for the Breaking Bad Episode To’hajiilee.
With four episodes left of AMC’s epic series Breaking Bad, the stakes are higher than ever and Walter White’s ultimate fate is still up in the air. His conflict with his Jessie, Hank, and his inner demons have reached a high point that culminated in perhaps the most tense 15 minutes of television I’ve seen in years.
The episode progressed cohesively for the majority of its duration, as Walt and Jessie, teamed up with his former enemy and Walt’s brother in law, Hank, each took moves and went from the offensive to the defensive and back again. Walt’s failed manipulation of Jessie, who he tried to lure through an old girlfriend, shows how level the playing field has truly become, and how Walt has lost the control he has maintained so perfectly for so long. Hank, on the other hand, successfully alienated Huell into becoming his instrument, and abandoning Saul Goodman, who finds himself in a more paranoid and frenzied position than usual. While it seems that the two sides are in a stalemate throughout the episode, all of this changed when Jessie turned the tables in what paved the way for an amazing finale. By tricking Walt to confess his crimes over the phone, lure him to the location of his money, and into the hands of Hank and his partner Gomez, it can be considered that Jessie has finally won. But this is Breaking Bad, and living true to that name it always has a surprise up its sleeve. The Neo-Nazis that Walt had originally hired to kill Jessie showed up on the spot where Walt was arrested and pull their guns out. A tense and heart-stopping standoff ensues, until it is broken by the crack of a bullet, and a full-out gunfight takes place. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that this was some of the most intense television I’ve ever seen.
This episode combined all of the best elements of Breaking Bad, from amazing acting to brilliant writing and a tense payoff following great plot development, and just like the show itself, it continues to surprise and shock the viewer. This episode was an exemplar of what makes Breaking Bad so addicting.
Three more episodes are left, and I can’t even begin to expect what we will see.
Edsman Rating: A+