Don’t ever confess to multiple murders over the phone. Bullet points on the latest “Breaking Bad” titled “Ozymandias”…

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT

• It begins with a reaction and we quickly realize we are in the old RV…in the past, in more pleasant times. Walt and Jesse take a break from their cook and head outside. Walt, some thought racing through his head, practices a lie he is about to tell Skyler so she’s not suspecting of anything. After deciding on the exact phrasing he calls Skyler. We cut to Skyler in the kitchen…phone to her left side, a knife set to her right. The camera lingers on the knife set just a little long. Skyler picks up. Walt delivers the lie convincingly enough. Skyler gets on the subject of the name for their unborn daughter. She likes the name Holly. Walt likes it too. They seem really happy on the phone. Walt gets off the phone has a moment and thinks about what he’s getting himself into and is erased from the picture. Jesse and the RV follow. This was a different time. I think seeing how peaceful these characters were in this scene makes what follows that much more devastating.

• From darkness we hear gunshots ringing out. We’re back where we left off. It is the same shot from the teaser, but now Uncle Jack’s crew, Hank’s SUV and Walt’s car come into picture. Very nice touch here. Stylish yet simple and effective.

• Uncle Jack and Co. have stopped firing their weapons. Silence. Hank has been hit by a bullet in the leg and has fired off everything he has from his handgun. Hank looks over and we see Gomez on the ground, dead. When we cut to black last week there may have been that 1/1,000 chance Gomez and Hank were going to somehow make it. But no. Hank crawls towards Gomez’s shotgun, but not before Uncle Jack puts a stop to it. Kenny has Hank’s badge and let’s Uncle Jack know he’s DEA. Before Jack can put one in Hank’s head Walt pleads for him to spare Hank. Walt tells Jack Hank is family, news Jack would have liked to have known earlier. Walt does almost everything he can to save Hank, but Hank knows how this is going to turn out. Jack points the gun once more at Schrader and Walt spills that he has money, $80 million in fact, that he’s willing to give up to allow Hank to go. But it’s just not going to work. Hank knows it. Walt’s too stupid to figure it out. And Uncle Jack made his mind up ten minutes ago. A single shot and our beloved Hank Schrader is dead as the gunshot echoes.

• Walt is in complete shock and simply cannot hold himself up as he falls to the ground. Complete despair washes over Walt.

• Back to business for Uncle Jack and crew. They have $80 million waiting for them less than one hundred feet away. You can tell Todd feels sadness for Walt’s loss. Meanwhile Kenny strikes barrel. Better yet, he strikes seven of them. They’re all taken out. In their place? Steve Gomez and Hank Schrader. That’s just cruel. All the while Walt is still paralyzed on the ground. At ground level he looks over at his car. Something’s a little off underneath it. Jack gives orders to have one of the barrel’s moved to Walt’s car. What a nice guy. $65 million+ will do. “What’s with all the greed here? It’s unattractive,” he tells Todd. Jack then talks to Walt and tells him how it is. Walt’s going to get in his car and leave. No hard feelings about killing your brother-in-law, you know. Uncle Jack then has the audacity to ask Walt if they’re “all square” and wants to shake on his terms. Walt, with seemingly little grip, shakes on it.

• Walt’s grief over Hank turns to anger towards Jesse. He outs Jesse from under his car. He wants Uncle Jack to hold up to his end from the previous episode. Jack’s goons pull Jesse out. Jack asks Walt, “Good to go,” as in am I good to pull the trigger and send a bullet through Jesse’s skull. Walt nods in agreement. That nod so freaking chilling. But just before pulling the trigger Todd interrupts with an idea. He’d like to extract some information from Jesse’s work with the DEA. Todd will get the information and afterward hold up to their end of the bargain and kill Jesse. Walt finds that agreeable. Jesse’s being taken off and is fighting to get away, which really isn’t going to work. Walt stops them from taking Jesse away, but why? Walt, looking at Jesse with sadness, drops a bomb on Jesse. He watched Jane die and didn’t do anything to save her. Holy! This was, for me, the number one callback I was waiting for. And I never thought that bomb would drop the way it did. I thought Jesse would find out and being enraged with Walt. No, it’s Walt who tells Jesse out of spite. That sadness on Walt’s face fades. In its place is pure Heisenberg head tilted confidence. Uncle Jack leaves with Jesse and Hank’s SUV in tow. It’s just Walt, his car, and a barrel full of $11 million or so. Good gracious. I mean, wow.

• Mr. White gets back in his car sees himself in the mirror and turns the mirror away from him. He can’t look at himself after everything that’s gone down. Walt drives off, but his car stalls out. A bullet hit his gas tank. Walt sets out on foot rolling the barrel of money across the desert. I must say, I loved the song that played over Walt rolling the barrel; it just fit perfectly. As Walt continues you can spot some pants in the foreground. Of course. That would have to be Walt’s pants that flew through the air in the pilot. Now that’s a callback. Walt finally gets to a home and buys a beat up truck to haul what remains of his fortune.

• The truck gate locks into place with the barrel riding in the back and quickly Marie shuts the front door of her car. Where is she? The car wash. Why? To tell Skyler it’s over. Hank has arrested Walt. Skyler calls Walt and leaves him a message. She’s worried about him. Skyler and Marie head into Skyler’s office to talk. Marie’s wearing very dark colors. Skyler’s dressed in very light colors. They’re clearly not on the same page. Marie tells Skyler that Hank has arrested Walt and that it’s over. Just another devastating moment in this episode. Marie came to the car wash to talk some sense into Skyler, but with conditions. She wants all copies of Walt’s “confession” and for Skyler to tell Walt Jr. the entire truth about his father. In this moment Marie has all the power. There is no bargaining Skyler can do.

• Next we see Jesse, chained up and beaten lying down at the bottom of a pit. Jesse pleads not be beaten more by Todd saying he’s given him what he wanted. Jesse’s taped confession. Which is located at Hank’s house. Well, that’s just great. Todd takes Jesse to ground level and his lab. I thought it might be headed here, but once the lights come on it’s pretty apparent that Todd is going to make Jesse cook blue. He ties his chains to a track so he can only walk near the lab equipment. Jesse walks over to a picture on a post. It’s Andrea and Brock. A reminder of what happens if Jesse doesn’t comply. Jesse, looking like a rich man’s Gustavo Fring post face explosion, is in misery. Todd on the other hand mutters very casually, “Let’s cook.”

• Skyler and/or Marie have sat Jr. down and are telling him the truth about his father. He’s not buying it. He’s in disbelief. Again, devastating to watch. Flynn’s world is crashing down. Marie gives Walt Jr. some advice I think everyone watching this episode could use, “Just breathe. Just try to breathe,” she says. I tried to take this advice, but it only helped so much. Skyler is a mess. Marie tells her to go home.

• Walt dashes into his bedroom suitcases held on either side of him. He grabs virtually any article of clothing he can for each family member. Walt is jetting with his family (or so he plans). Skyler with Walt Jr. and Holly in the car drive up to their house and see the beat up pickup in the driveway.

• Rushing out of the house with suitcases is Walt heaving them into the back of the truck. Walt Jr. tries to confront his father about who he is and in classic Walt fashion he brushes it off. Walt trying to get across the sense of urgency demands that Walt Jr. and Skyler grab anything important. Skyler, somehow rather calmly asked Walt what he’s doing here. He’s supposed to be in processing, right? Manipulation Walt comes out and tries to downplay his being a free man. But there’s just no way Walt can talk his way out of this one. Walt tries to tell his family they’ll be fine. This performance was just masterclass stuff from Bryan Cranston. There’s a mix of sadness and anger that he nails perfectly. It’s killing Walt what’s happened, but he can’t say anything and just wants to take his family away no questions asked. But Skyler presses, “Where is Hank?” Walt tries to sell Skyler on fresh new lives with the $11 million he has in a barrel just outside. Skyler puts together rather logically with the information she has that Walt killed Hank which he flatly denies. In an episode that was as gut-wrenching as any in this show’s run comes the most gut-wrenching line and delivery of all. Walt: “I tried to save him.” There’s realization, hopelessness, sadness, and loss all over that small moment. So hard to watch. Now Skyler and Walt Jr. know Hank is dead. Walt rushes down the hallway presumably to get more things and we cut to the same shot from the teaser. The phone and the knife set on the island. Skyler enters the frame and walks towards it. She seems to be looking at the phone, but grabs a knife. Walt now walks into the living room, Skyler knife in hand gets in front of Walt Jr. I already could barely breathe, but it was at this point that I really started feeling ill watching this. Walt continues to try to talk Skyler into leaving, but she’s not having any of it. He goes Heisenberg for a moment and takes a step forward and Skyler lashes at him with the knife splitting his hand open. Walt is in shock, but for a moment. He reaches for the knife and a full on physical fight ensues. I could barely watch. What I did see was through fingers covering parts of my face. The knife was going to kill someone, wasn’t it? Walt gets the upper hand, but Jr. dives and tackles him before anything else can happen. Walt gets up with the knife in hand and bellows, “What the hell is wrong with you?! We’re a family!” What we see next is essentially a POV shot of Walt looking back at his family as they look back terrified, his son protecting his wife from him. Walt Jr. reaches for the flip phone and calls the cops on his dad claiming he had a knife on his mom and may have killed somebody. A thousand things must be rushing through Walt’s mind at this point. He must do something. So, he grabs Holly and takes off in the truck away from his house as Skyler chases after him yelling. This is in the discussion for the most draining scene of all time.

• Walt calmly is changing Holly in a public restroom. He picks her up and she starts to call out for her, “mama.” Just kill me now. Too much to bear. Walt comes to his senses, it appears. He knows she’s better off with Skyler than him.

• We’re back at the White household, Marie and the cops there now at night. The phone rings. It’s Walt. Again, the same shot of the knife set and phone in the kitchen as Skyler picks up. Walt berates Skyler for her disrespect and for crossing him. I admit, I was late picking it up, but Walt is trying to clear Skyler of any wrongdoing over the phone. There is so much going on here. So many levels. Walt is building up the image of Heisenberg taking all the blame while making Skyler come off as the victim. and voice of reason. And Anna Gunn played the reactions expertly. The conversation eventually turns to Hank and it’s just dreadful for all involved. Walt is crushed as he says they’ll never see Hank again. Hank crossed him. Off the charts stuff from Cranston one more time. Oh and contrast this with the phone call from the beginning of the episode.

• Walt gives up Holly putting her in the passenger seat of a fire truck turning on the lights so she’ll be noticed.

• We cut to what looks like dawn. Three pieces of luggage and a barrel full of money. That’s all Walter Hartwell White has left. He’s lost everything else. It’s a familiar place, where Jesse was supposed to be picked up by Saul’s contact for a fresh start. It’s all silence. The maroon van stops. Walt gets in and takes a little glance in the mirror before the car heads off. A dog jogs across the street, off the leash, on the loose. Walt went into the meth business to provide for his family after he was gone. He thought he could do it with little to no consequence, with no collateral damage. In this hour that all came crashing down.

• This episode was written by Moira Walley-Beckett and directed by Rian Johnson. Unreal stuff from them.

• I laughed
  • Jesse playing around with the stick in the background while Walt is on his phone in the flashback teaser followed by Walt giving a, “am I really working with this guy,” look back with Jesse in the distance. There’s really nothing to laugh at in the present.

• The quotes…
  • Walt: “It’s Hank. His name is Hank.”
  • Hank: “My name is ASAC Schrader, and you can go fuck yourself.”
  • Hank: “What, you want me to beg? You’re the smartest guy I ever met and you’re too stupid to see, he made his mind up ten minutes ago. Do what you’re going to do.”
  • Walt: “Pinkman. Pinkman. You still owe me.”
  • Walt: “I watched Jane die. I was there and I watched her die. I watched her overdose and choke to death. I could have saved her, but I didn’t.”
  • Marie: “All I know. All I have been forcing myself to remember is that you are my sister and so I am here.”
  • Walt Jr.: “If all of this is true and you knew about it, then you’re as bad as him.”
  • Skyler: “Walt, why are you here?”
  • Skyler: “Where is Hank?”
  • Skyler: “You killed him. You killed Hank.”
  • Walt: “I tried to save him.”
  • Walt: “What the hell is wrong with you?! We’re a family! We’re a family.”
  • Holly: “Mama.”
  • Walt: “I’ve still got things left to do.”

• Overall – It’s hard to say since this episode is so fresh in my mind, but I really feel like this is the best episode of this series (I shouldn’t say things like that this early, but I’m going to). It was that incredible. It worked on several levels, it didn’t waste a single frame, and the acting hit some crazy highs. This is one of the most memorable hours of television I’ve ever experienced and the quality matched it.

• What’s to come? – I’m almost too drained to think about it. Something obviously draws Mr. Lambert back to Albuquerque. But, what is it? Simple revenge on Uncle Jack and the rest of the neo-Nazis? Probably not, but it’s been looking like that machine gun is meant for them for some time now. It has to be something significant. How does Jesse play in with all of this? How does Walt’s family play into this? And if Todd and those awful people try to get the confession video I just hope no one is home.

*Apologies for the late post. When I was finished watching this episode it was 1:45 AM Monday morning. This was really the earliest I could get to it.*