"Breaking Bad" recap: Showdown at "To'hajilee"
"Breaking Bad"fans were on the edge of their seat during the epic climax in Sunday night's episode, "To'hajilee," the name of the isolated Indian reservation where Waltand Jesse (Aaron Paul) first began cooking meth.
It's also the place where Walt (Bryan Cranston) buried his millions earlier this season. In this week's installment, To'hajilee served as the scene of a massive gunfight, from which it's almost certain that at least one major character won't be walking out alive.
The calamitous standoff involving Walt, Jesse, Hank (Dean Norriss), Todd (Jesse Plemons), Todd's uncles and their Neo-Nazi henchmen was so compelling that The Daily Beast has even deemed this the finest episode yet of the Emmy-winning AMC series.
The episode kicked off with more disappointment coming from Lydia (Laura Fraser) about Todd and his uncles' cooking methods. While the product may have improved in purity, the color is no longer blue -- a break in consistency for their Eastern European customers.
Todd seems to put the moves on Lydia, placing an arm on one of her shoulders while offering to have his uncles speak to her buyers.
"I'll pass," she says, in more ways then one.
Todd's "She Blinded Me with Science" ringtone than goes off as he gets a call from Walt, who was seen making the same call in the final scene of last week's "Rabid Dog."
We know from that episode that Walt is calling to ask Todd to have Jesse killed. Even though we've seen Todd's sociopathic nature on full display in previous episodes, it's still chilling to hear him reply "You got it," as if Walt is asking for nothing but a small favor.
"Better Call Saul" Goodman's henchman Huell (Lavell Crawford) gets picked up by the authorities and taken to a safe house, where he's confronted by Hank and his partner, Agent Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada).
Using a doctored image of Jesse lying on the floor seemingly shot dead in the head, the agents are able to trick Huell into revealing that Walt had previously buried his fortune.
Meanwhile, Walt meets with Todd's uncles to plan Jesse's demise. The gang assumes that Jesse has turned rat and is working with the DEA, but Walt (wrongfully) insists that isn't the case. Walt also asks that Jesse's death be quick and painless.
"He's like family to me," Mr. White explains.
The men agree to the terms, but only if Walt cooks with Todd "one last time" in order to improve his skills.
Jesse is still MIA, so Walt decides to "flush him out" by going to Andrea's house. It is there where Walt again encounters young Brock, the boy he once poisoned and nearly killed. Children can be highly perceptive, and Brock seems to have an awareness of Walt's true sinister nature.
Andrea doesn't know where Jesse is but leaves a voicemail on his Hello Kitty phone. The voicemail gets intercepted by Hank, and a fateful plan is set in motion.
Walt gets tricked into believing that Jesse is about to set his fortune on fire in the desert, causing Walt to nervously scramble to To'hajilee in an effort to prevent everything he's worked for from going up in flames.
Pulling up to the scene, Walt discovers that it was all a trap. Hank, Agent Gomez and Jesse soon show up to arrest him. The jig is up, at least it seems.
Hank calls Marie (Betsy Brandt) to tell her that their monster has been captured, or so they think (the tone of this conversation seems to imply that this could be the last time husband and wife will speak to each other).
It's then that Todd, his uncles and the rest of their armored gang arrive, and the episode ends with guns ablazing. We'll have to wait till Sunday to see who survives.
With just three episodes left to go in the series, "Breaking Bad" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.
Tell us "Breaking Bad" fans: How do you think the gunfight will end?
