One of the reasons many of my friends watch Breaking Bad is the rush of adrenaline they get. While watching, they’re invested and completely into the stakes and consequences that are at hand. Many of these stakes and consequences are spliced into one single main character: Jesse Pinkman. As an avid viewer of wondering “when will the other shoe drop?” I’ve been curious on just when Jesse will learn about Walter’s lies from all this time, the lies that we all know would absolutely kill Jesse (either literally or figuratively). Well, “Confessions” gives us that payoff toward the end of its hour.

Breaking Bad has a tendency to push its character into revelations that may seem a bit contrived. Jesse’s realization that Huell likely took the ricin cigarette from him way back in season four after he unsuccessfully looks for his dope bag is a bit materialized, as if the writers were pulling strings to have our character figure out about Walt’s previous actions. But these tendencies, and minor structural problems, to have a character find out about a certain something feel absolutely paved away with what follows: the consequences of said certain action. When Jesse storms into Saul’s office and begins screaming in an angry tone, it feels incredibly earned. Push of realization + satisfying aftermath = A-OK in Breaking Bad.

Although Jesse’s actions after figuring out that Walt did poison poor Brock way back when don’t necessarily mean anything to us as the audience (we already know due to the flashforwards that Walt’s house is still fairly intact), it means everything to how Walt will react to it. His manipulative behavior was at a high in “Confessions.” Doing his best to tell his own son to stay with him by playing the cancer card, making up an excuse to Skyler so he could grab his gun, trying to fool Jesse to get a clean slate from Saul’s vacuum repair man, and most of all by making up the lie about Hank being the real Heisenberg.

See, the thing about this completely made-up story is that it feels so damn ridiculous, though that’s the point. Walt is out of excuses, exits, and lies for Hank to possibly fall into, so he goes the scapegoat route. This counter towards Hank is one of Walt’s lowest points in the show. Literally placing all the blame on an innocent man who found him out (and, on some level, wanted him to find himself) is just such a horrible move in terms of dignity and desperation. Especially when you factor in Walter’s own code from just an episode ago about not going after family members. The desperation and hypocrisy have been enhanced.

That’s what makes the question of Jesse’s fate such a great one. “When will the other shoe drop?” is no longer the overlying mystery on the show because it has dropped; Jesse knows practically all he needs to know. And Walt clearly is digging deep into his bag of lies and endgame behavior. The question now is “What happens after the shoe has dropped?”

Loose Ends:

• I definitely thought Saul was a goner there in that scene with Jesse. If that wasn’t the end of him, then I don’t know what will be.
• Sadly, like I said, the cliffhanger of gasoline being poured all around the White house is sort of lost once the flashforward is weighed in. But the possibilities of what might happen once Walt finds out about Jesse’s work could be terribly, terribly heartbreaking.
• Todd, his uncle, and his friend are definitely up to something peculiar. Him telling the good ol’ train story (that definitely didn’t end in a happy fashion) was a great way to let us know that Todd takes almost too much pride in what he’s done compared to Jesse and Walt.
• I knew that once Huell came into the picture that Jesse was likely going to die, or at least was on his way to death. I’m glad I was wrong! For now, at least.
• Five episodes left. Oh boy.