TV Recap: Breaking Bad Season 5, Episode 13: “To’hajiilee”

The Overthinkers talk about “To’hajiilee,” frustrating expectations, and the power of branding.

Peter Fenzel, Shana Mlawski, and John Perich recap Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 13, “To’hajiilee.”

Audio Version

[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/OtiRecapBreakingBadS05e13/oti-recap-breaking-bad-s05e13.mp3]

→ Download The Breaking Bad Season 5, Episode 9 Recap

Shoulda Been Goooone

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6 Comments on “TV Recap: Breaking Bad Season 5, Episode 13: “To’hajiilee””

  1. Redem #

    The title rabbit dog from last week got me thinking. Actually Walt is the rabbid dog infecting other people with his ruthlessnes (Hank, Jesse, Mary, Skyler etc) like rabies rather than Jesse

    Is that me or the final scene up to the shoot-out seem to playing off cliché from cop show

    -Walt admiting everything on the phone over an elaborate trick by the cop
    -Hank reading the miranda right to walt to show he is the good cop
    -Some of hank banter with Gomez

    I like to think that breaking bad is a reference to actually how actually how thing goes constantly go wrong they break down badly

    Reply

    • Redem #

      Sorta feel stupid that now that I realise that you mention the cliché thing in the first minute of the podcast.

      Reply

  2. Agam #

    Loving the recaps, so glad you guys are doing this! Ok. Uncle Nazi: Identifying the Nazis as stormtroopers kind of does come full circle in a way, as the original “Stormtroopers” were, well, Nazis. (The Brownshirts were also known as S.A, “Sturmabteilung, “Storm Division,” etc.) As for the dilution of their “brand” as Shana points out: I agree with that, but I don’t think it’s so much their ineffectiveness that signifies said dilution as much as what we see of their motivation. Given their track record in the show so far, they seem pretty effective. They were the ones really responsible for one of Heisenberg’s signature feats – the well-coordinated jail killings which communicated a key feature of the Heisenberg mystique (or brand), that his reach is boundless. And then they were also the ones who did the trigger-work in offing “that Wolverine-looking guy” and his crew – characters who themselves appeared as relatively tough customers themselves. So I don’t think that this is a case of bumbling Keystone Nazis. They seem pretty good at what they set out to do. The corruption of their brand seems to have more to do with the fact that rather than coming off as the more ideologically-motivated sort we see in stuff like “”American History X” or even the Henry Rollins season of Sons of Anarchy, Uncle Jack makes a couple of throwaway lines against Hispanics, but ultimately seems just in it for the money like everyone else. “Let’s make some money, kid.”

    Reply

  3. Agam #

    durgh, I typed ‘themselves’ twice. Durgh.

    Reply

  4. Chris Morgan #

    I think, in part, what is important to remember about Breaking Bad is how pulpy it is. It does not strive for verisimilitude. It is the show where a dude’s head was grafted onto a tortoise. As such, when people accuse it of straining credulity, I wonder what show they feel like they are watching. I say this, in part, to defend why I was cool with Hank’s call to Marie and all that “cliche” stuff.

    Plus, from a character perspective, it kind of made sense for Hank, and not because of “branding” or what have you. It more speaks to Hank’s obsession with catching Heisenberg, only increased when he found out it was Walt. It was genuinely all he cared about, it seemed, toward the end. When it happened, he reveled in it, he took the time to call the love of his life, he did the Popeye Doyle wave, and in the end his obsession will lead to his downfall. It feels sort of fitting right after Walt’s Achilles heel was exploited in order to catch him, that Hank’s is going to take him down.

    Additionally, I think Shana’s “Brock sensed Walt is evil” assumption, which she considered a negative on the episode, was completely off base and a total projection not based in the actions of the show. There is nothing about that scene that indicates that. A child didn’t talk to a stranger, that’s all. The whole reason he was there was to generate tension in the scene, since we know what Walt did, even though Brock doesn’t.

    Hey guys, give Todd a little credit. He’s not some alien from Star Trek asking Captain Kirk “What is ‘kiss’?” He has a thing for Lydia and he is a creepy dude so he drank from her cup right on the lipstick mark. Sure, he is a monster, but he contains multitudes! Also, in the podcast, the logistics of that stuff playing out was a little muddled in the detail, but it mostly involved music and stuff, so it isn’t an issue. Lastly in regards to Todd, his ringtone being “She Blinded Me With Science” was one of my favorite moments in the show’s history. I know that sees like a strange thing to be so smitten with, but it is what it is.

    Oh, also I really enjoyed the way Laura Fraser said, “You burnt it? Like a cake?” She has a sort of way of clipping her dialogue, perhaps because she is hiding her natural accent.

    In regards to the shootout, I feel like, based on what I know about guns, and that’s mostly from what I have seen on Mythbusters, it is a lot harder to shoot somebody than movies and TV would indicate. If anything, Todd’s dead on shot in the desert after the heist was the more implausible thing. That being said, probably somebody should have been hit during that hail of bullets. Maybe they were, and we didn’t see it. The reality of what “would have happened in real life” is somewhere in between everybody being an ace and what we saw.

    Prediction, because predictions are fun: Jesse is going to end up stuck cooking for the Nazis and Walt’s gun is to save him. Or, I could see Jesse and Todd ending up facing off in some way as well. I noticed that when Walt said Jesse was like family (oh and all that “Hulk” stuff in that scene was clearly Uncle Jack being sarcastic. A cutting wit that one) the camera was focused on Todd, who looks up to Mr. White and wants to be seen in his eyes like Jesse was. Todd probably hates Jesse. Jesse definitely hates Todd. Walt’s two surrogate sons fighting it out!

    Looking forward to the next episode, and to seeing what Rian Johnson does with it. Aside from “Fly,” Johnson did direct another episode that was fairly straightforward, so let us not all get our hopes up for something experimental. Lastly, this episode was Michelle MacLaren’s last as a director for Breaking Bad, and she went out quite well.

    Reply

    • Shana Mlawski OTI Staff #

      We should sell a t-shirt that says TODD CONTAINS MULTITUDES.

      Reply

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