Season 5, Episode 13 “To’hajiilee”
It’s rare to see an evenly matched cat-and-mouse game play out so well in any medium. In most instances, one side always seems to have the upper hand on the other, constantly staying one step ahead. For most of the show, Walt has turned Breaking Bad into just that; he’s almost always the one with the plan and the one that has his machinations set in motion for things to go his way. This Sunday’s episode, however, showed just how evenly matched Walt and Hank are and how dangerous that can be for Hank.
This episode is all about the counter moves that lead up to the last fifteen minutes of this gripping episode. It all starts with Jesse and Hank’s plan to get Huell to crack under pressure and let slip the location of Walt’s money. Huell doesn’t know, but tells them just enough to get their next part of the plan in motion. On Walt’s side of the coin, he’s trying to lure Jesse out by not-so-secretly threatening Brock once again. Little does he know that Hank is the possessor of Jesse’s phone.
The game that each man is playing is a collision course that leads to the final fifteen-minute scene in the desert where Walt has stashed his money. Little does Walt know that he basically led Hank, Gomez, and Jesse right to the one thing that could spell the end of Walter White’s Wild Ride, but wouldn’t you know it, the Neo-Nazi cavalry arrives just in time to spell trouble for the DEA agents.
This was a fantastic episode, right down to the very last frame. With each twist and turn and move that each side did, it was nearly impossible to stay up on what each side knew and what they didn’t.
I love the idea that everything is coming full circle to where it all started, as evident in the name of the episode. Is the location where Breaking Bad filmed the first scenes in the desert in the first episode. The circular nature of the arc is some of the most poetic parts of the show and really pays back the loyal viewers of the show.
The Main Damie 