And we’re back. After a year of waiting, I don’t think this mid-season return could have been much more satisfying. Hit the jump for a quick rundown of recaps around the web. Post your own links, give us your theories, and tread lightly…
Last night’s episode began with a flash forward, much like the first episode of this season. Allison Keene at Collider delves into why last night’s was so much more powerful:
What was so affecting about that moment was how strongly viewers might feel towards that house. Breaking Bad is one of the few shows where houses feel like homes. The White’s abode has been so central to so much that has happened with Walt. It’s a place of refuge as well as a place that grounds Walt, but also one that he uses to hide his immense lies (sometimes literally within the walls). To see it as a boarded up and forgotten ramshackle was heartbreaking because that, more than anything, really signifies the end.
When we caught up with Jesse, he was looking for any way to get rid of the titular blood money bestowed upon him at midseason’s end last year. Alan Sepinwall at HitFix said:
Jesse’s arc in this episode feels a bit like what he went through in season 4 after killing Gale, condensed into an hour, but it didn’t feel rushed. We know what Jesse has been through, and why he might be more desperate to find an outlet for his feelings of helplessness and remorse than he did back then, and also just how much he’s come to hate and fear his former partner. It’s not hard at all to understand what he’s going through, and how those bags of cash have begun to feel like an anchor pulling him into the abyss.
Many of us in the OT last night expressed surprise at the Walter/Hank confrontation coming so soon. Donna Bowman at A.V. Club had this to say:
I’ve written quite a bit over the years about my admiration for the way Breaking Bad handles pacing. Just when you think that there’s a lot that needs to happen before the next huge development, the show bypasses all the details and cuts right to the chase. . .And just when you think that everything’s set up for the inevitable confrontation, the show turns down the burner and takes its own sweet time. . .So you can imagine my delight at the way “Blood Money” depicts the aftermath of Hank’s epiphany. Just as we’re settling back to enjoy a few episodes of cat-and-mouse as Hank pieces together the clues and Walt bumbles along in blissful ignorance, Gilligan closes the garage door, punches Walter’s bullshit lies right in the kisser, and brings us to a skidding halt at the brink of Hank’s existential choice.
Alison Willmore at Indiewire wonders what may be waiting for Walter White at the end of Breaking Bad:
Walt really doesn’t deserve a happy ending. But death, as inevitable a destination as it seems, does feel like it might be too simple a fate for the man, in a drama in which karma has always come calling. Walt’s been prepared for death. It’s been his source of strength, what started him on this path to begin with — fueled by a genuine, despairing panic to leave money for his wife and children to live off of when he’s gone, mixed with a self-righteousness and increasingly large helpings of deluded hypocrisy.
What did you think of last night’s episode? Was it worth the wait? What other recaps are you reading? Join us in the comments!
Screen cap by the author.