# Breaking Bad 5.11 "Confessions" 8/25/13 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959 "2013-08-23T13:02:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/61 "2013-08-26T03:11:30Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Not too sure about that. Jesse’s first move was to go commit some good ol’ fashioned arson (or start to, as something apparently interferes). I don’t think he’ll be able to get over his history with Hank. > > Todd and his boys… they’re a wild card, but Todd’s put into their heads the notion of just how awesome this Heisenberg is. Sounds like the kind of man they’d like to have on their team, whether he wants to be or not. Jesse now understands how Walt manipulates people, he’ll let it go I think. Todd and his crew needs to come back into relevancy and they aren’t going to be on the side of the law. ---
**Author:** ![Breen11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@Breen11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breen11)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/62 "2013-08-26T03:20:56Z")
Great episode. Jesse is coming hard & fast at Walt. I dont think he’ll team with Hank. Hank is at a dead end for now or forever. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/63 "2013-08-26T03:21:09Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Jesse now understands how Walt manipulates people, he’ll let it go I think I hope not. While I don’t know if I’m still exactly on the “YEAH, MR. WHITE! YEAH, SCIENCE, BITCH!” team, I’m definitely not on Team Hank either. He’s a basically decent human being, but he’s got too much of the Jerk Cop mentality for me to cheer for him. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/64 "2013-08-26T03:25:32Z")
I’m probably forgetting what happened but doesn’t Jesse know that Brock was poisoned by Lilly of the Valley and not ricin? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/65 "2013-08-26T03:31:21Z")
I kinda sorta called the whole framing Hank thing a year ago. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15246964&postcount=28](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15246964&postcount=28) It struck me that the writers seemed to be setting Hank up. Although at the time I didn’t see it as Walt deliberately framing Hank. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/66 "2013-08-26T03:31:23Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I’m probably forgetting what happened but doesn’t Jesse know that Brock was poisoned by Lilly of the Valley and not ricin? Surely someone can explain it better, but before that, Walt had to orchestrate a whole big thing with Huell lifting the cigarettes so he [Walt] could convince Jesse that Gus stole them from the changing room and poisoned Brock. (Actually, I think that’s exactly what happened). But when Huell picked his pocket just now, he realized it must have been him the first time as well. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/67 "2013-08-26T03:32:40Z")
Jesse knows that Brock was poisoned by consuming Lilly of the Valley, but he thought it was just an unrelated accident. Now he knows that Walt did it intentionally to manipulate him. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/68 "2013-08-26T03:35:56Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I’m probably forgetting what happened but doesn’t Jesse know that Brock was poisoned by Lilly of the Valley and not ricin? Yes, and he’s now deduced that it must have been Walt. Why else would Walt have the ricin stolen? The one thing I’ve never figured out is how Walt got Brock to consume the Lilly of the Valley. Did they ever give us any clues on that? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/69 "2013-08-26T03:38:25Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Yes, and he’s now deduced that it must have been Walt. Why else would Walt have the ricin stolen? > > The one thing I’ve never figured out is how Walt got Brock to consume the Lilly of the Valley. Did they ever give us any clues on that? Walt stopped over at the house the day he got sick (earlier in the day), he had a little bit of interaction with Brock but we never saw them touching and I don’t think they were ever off screen together. I think the implication is that he put it in some of Brock’s food or possibly just handed it to him or left it laying around so he could find and eat it on his own. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/70 "2013-08-26T03:49:27Z")
According to [this article](http://emiliajordan.com/2012/07/31/breaking-bad-how-walter-white-poisoned-brock-and-what-happened-to-the-ricin-cigarette/), Gilligan has explained it and had even dropped us a clue. > [@](#): > > At the 2013 Comic-Con Vince Gilligan explained exactly how he and the writers imagined Walt got the poison to Brock, and it wasn’t, as I had thought, through Saul. Instead they pictured Walt as the “Evil Juice Box Man” going into Brock’s school and giving him a juice box that had juice from the poison berries. And if you’ll look closely at episode 413 “Face Off” (thanks to Greg below for pointing this out), when Walt busts into Saul’s office, Francesca is shredding school schedules. It’s a big spreadsheet of classes and times but there are notes on the side that seem to be one student’s personal schedule, most likely Brock’s. So, kudos to the writers on including that little detail, and again to Greg for noticing that what’s was being shredded. ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/71 "2013-08-26T03:59:15Z")
Has Jesse put together what really happened, Lily of the Valley and all, or does he now think that Brock was poisoned with the ricin despite what the doctors said? What I’m wondering is, theoretically (from the flash-forward it doesn’t look like this happens), if Walt showed him that he still has the ricin and made up some story about why he stole it, could he say “see, I didn’t poison the kid” and have Jesse believe it? Maybe I need to listen again to whatever Jesse said about this when he was yelling at Saul. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/72 "2013-08-26T04:04:50Z")
> [@PigBoy](#): > > Has Jesse put together what really happened, Lily of the Valley and all, or does he now think that Brock was poisoned with the ricin despite what the doctors said? What I’m wondering is, theoretically (from the flash-forward it doesn’t look like this happens), if Walt showed him that he still has the ricin and made up some story about why he stole it, could he say “see, I didn’t poison the kid” and have Jesse believe it? > > Maybe I need to listen again to whatever Jesse said about this when he was yelling at Saul. He knows it was Lily Of The Valley, the end scene in that episode was Walt spinning his gun in the backyard and it pointing to the LotV plant on his patio. The assumption being that Jesse would see that at some point. I have assume that was either a dropped storyline or they did that in case they wanted to go there at some point. I mean, he could have just walked to any garden store and snagged a few flowers or berries or whatever the poisonous part is, but they chose to have it in his backyard AND they chose to have him not get rid of it. ETA Wait, I get what you’re saying. He knows it was Lily Of the Valley and not ricin, but that’s moot. As he’s putting together how manipulative Walt is, he just realized that all that time when he thought Gus stole the ricin that it was really Walt. So even if it wasn’t ricin that made Brock sick, it was probably still Walt’s fault and just a way of getting him to turn on Gus. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/73 "2013-08-26T04:07:19Z")
I was thinking that Jesse’s sudden pyromania could have to do with the state of the post-apocalyptic White house in the flash-forwards, but looking at episode 509 again now, the house doesn’t look torched, just trashed. Well, there might have been a teensy-weensy fire involved, I suppose… ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/74 "2013-08-26T04:08:17Z")
I can’t see why Jesse would disbelieve the doctors. It’s been shown repeatedly that Jesse is a lot sharper than he appears on the surface. If the doctors were wrong then they wouldn’t have used the right treatments and Brock would have died. Surely Jesse would realize this. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/75 "2013-08-26T04:12:42Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I mean, he could have just walked to any garden store and snagged a few flowers or berries or whatever the poisonous part is, but they chose to have it in his backyard AND they chose to have him not get rid of it. He did get rid of it, in 501. He went back to the house to load up all of his poison- and bomb-making paraphernalia and then he went back for the plant. (Unless I’m misremembering.) ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/76 "2013-08-26T04:14:17Z")
I’m not sure how brilliant Walt’s confession was. I think Hank could easily take this to Ramey and it won’t go well for a while, but the video clearly seems like b.s. Hank is acting stupidly if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/77 "2013-08-26T04:16:46Z")
Sweet Jesus that was brilliant! They set up the idea of Jesse confessing to Hank and Hank confessing to his bosses. Instead we got Walt confessing to his son that his cancer is back, his fake confession implicating Hank - with a brilliant reversal of the first scene of the series, right down to giving his full name and address - Marie confessing to Hank where the rehab money came from, and Saul confessing to Jesse about the ricin. And Jesse’s speech to Walt wasn’t a confession exactly, but it was an unburdening. The tension for the last 15 minutes or so was incredible. The shock of realizing what Jesse was thinking when he looked at that pack of cigarettes and the look on his face when he broke into the house… wow. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/78 "2013-08-26T04:24:05Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > I hope not. While I don’t know if I’m still exactly on the “YEAH, MR. WHITE! YEAH, SCIENCE, BITCH!” team, I’m definitely not on Team Hank either. He’s a basically decent human being, but he’s got too much of the Jerk Cop mentality for me to cheer for him. Police officers have a very necessary but difficult job, if they mess up someone’s rights are violated or someone gets hurt. Still, I don’t trust inside what makes someone want to do the job outside of a handful born into it or who have just a burning desire to be the guy that returns solen bicycles and such. But Hank is the only GOOD person in this entire show. He’s a smartass no doubt, glory is part of his drive as well. But he is a good person that at every turn has gone out of his way, selflessly, to do good for its own sake. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/79 "2013-08-26T04:25:13Z")
Too bad Jesse can’t control his temper. It’d have been better for him to take the new identity and let Walt and Saul think he left town. Give himself some time to figure out how to take Walt down. What I’m worried about is who stops Jesse from setting the fire. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/80 "2013-08-26T04:25:16Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > He did get rid of it, in 501. He went back to the house to load up all of his poison- and bomb-making paraphernalia and then he went back for the plant. (Unless I’m misremembering.) That’s sounds right, but Brock got sick a few episodes earlier. In our time, that was 7 or 8 months probably, but in their time, he still left it there for far longer then he should have. A week or so probably. > [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I’m not sure how brilliant Walt’s confession was. I think Hank could easily take this to Ramey and it won’t go well for a while, but the video clearly seems like b.s. Hank is acting stupidly if you ask me. But the problem is Hank has _nothing_ and Walt has _everything_. Walt has Lydia/Madrigal, he can give inside knowledge of Gale (even more then the DEA knows), he can point them to a train car with a Methlamine shipment that was screwed up and a buried tank (if it’s still there) as well as the dead boy that Todd killed and probably quite a bit more…and he’s proven to Hank that he could make it seem like Hank forced him to do all this. I wonder if that picture that Hank took with that guy in the junk yard will come into play? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959.md?page=5)