# 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:** 7
**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, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/121 "2013-08-26T06:13:03Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I think if he’d meant for Brock to die, Brock would’ve died. Oh, Walt didn’t mean for Brock to die. Doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a risk of it happening. It looked a bit touch-and-go there for a while. (By the way, what’s up with all the confusing Walt’s and Hank’s names in these threads? Walt is the gloomy-looking bald guy, who according to Hank was running a secret meth empire. Hank is the gloomy-looking bald guy, who according to Walt was running a secret meth empire. Jeez, it’s not hard.) ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/122 "2013-08-26T06:18:45Z")
TLDR of my previous posts, the Cartel wouldn’t kill Gus because they were scared of what would happen if they did. Walt did. I wonder if he will find out why they were scared. ---
**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, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/123 "2013-08-26T06:37:27Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Eh, part of the conceit of the show is that Walt’s some sort of super-scientist. I think if he’d meant for Brock to die, Brock would’ve died. Hank isn’t a doctor, and even the doctors didn’t know what he’d been poisoned with till he pulled through. Right, Walt didn’t want to kill Brock, but he was willing to take a risky chance with a child’s life in order to convince Jesse to help him. Other people are puppets to him. ---
**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, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/124 "2013-08-26T08:03:20Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > So Walt nearly killed Brock to manipulate Jesse. I wonder if Jesse will now manipulate Walt by threatening Walt Jr? Maybe Junior is home as Jesse douses the place with gasoline. X2. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/125 "2013-08-26T10:40:52Z")
> [@ZebraShaSha](#): > > Y’all are forgetting that Jesse figured out that Walt poisoned Brock right after it happened – he burst into Walt’s house and held him at gun point. Walter finally convinced him that Gus liked killing children so he let it drop, but Jesse never really believed him. Jesse also withheld his knowledge that it wasn’t ricin for awhile, presumably trying to catch Walter in a lie. Not only that, but Jesse figured out that somehow Saul lifted the ricin cigarette from him, but Walter said that it was a completely ridiculous idea. I think the phrase was that Huell had “hotdog fingers” and could never pickpocket. There’s no way this is true. Jesse would never have let Walt live if he had known that he’d poisoned Brock. Jesse was fooled - he was ready to go right at Gus after the meeting. When Walt planted the ricin in the Roomba, Jesse broke down and apologized for ever doubting him. Jesse definitely bought the idea that Gus had poisoned Brock. > [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > What evidence do they have that anything Walt says is true? Nothing. Meanwhile, here is a video of Walt confessing. Buys a Car wash, able to pay for expensive cancer treatment, new cars, shady lawyer, disappearing for days, video of him stealing chemicals. I guess I am alone, but I really think it wouldn’t take much investigating to realize Walt’s confession was full of shit. Well, Walt could’ve/would’ve been paid as the chemist for Hank’s meth empire, so that’s not really consistent. No, Hank looks really bad in all of this. People have highlighted the reasons in other threads. Hank’s obsession with controlling the blue meth case, refusing promotion to come back to ABQ, his obsession with Fring (and Walt implicates them as rivals), the hit on Hank, the treatment paid for, there are dozens of little reasons that add up to make Hank look quite guilty. ---
**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, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/126 "2013-08-26T10:50:05Z")
At least Jesse has snapped out of his depression. OK, so it’s been replaced with mad fury, but hey, baby steps, I guess. (I just had a bit of a :smack: moment by myself concerning Jesse’s sometimes, shall we say, unpredictable behaviour over the seasons. You know how it goes, “this is your brain on drugs”? Yeah, Jesse has been a heavy user of meth, and occasionally of heroin, for a number of years, with a not insignificant pot habit thrown in for good measure. I guess some twists and turns of temperament and a bit of odd decision making isn’t all that surprising.) ---
**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, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/127 "2013-08-26T12:27:34Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > No, Hank looks really bad in all of this. People have highlighted the reasons in other threads. Hank’s obsession with controlling the blue meth case, refusing promotion to come back to ABQ, his obsession with Fring (and Walt implicates them as rivals), the hit on Hank, the treatment paid for, there are dozens of little reasons that add up to make Hank look quite guilty. Except none of that adds up to much of anything. There is no evidence that Hank did anything wrong and plenty that he diligently pursued the case. Is there any that he actively hindered the case? No. It might be enough to require investigation, but they will find nothing worthwhile. And why would Hank, this supposed drug kingpin, need to borrow money from Walt? Where’s Hank’s money? Where is the evidence? There is none. Walt’s story falls apart quite easily with just the most rudimentary investigation. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/128 "2013-08-26T12:41:42Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Except none of that adds up to much of anything. There is no evidence that Hank did anything wrong and plenty that he diligently pursued the case. Hank has no direct evidence on Walt either except the money, and that’s gone. Anyway, hank doesn’t need to be convicted in order to destroy his career, just the accusation and the fact his rehab was paid with drug money would be enough to get him kicked out of the DEA. ---
**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, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/129 "2013-08-26T13:01:55Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Hank has no direct evidence on Walt either except the money, and that’s gone. Anyway, hank doesn’t need to be convicted in order to destroy his career, just the accusation and the fact his rehab was paid with drug money would be enough to get him kicked out of the DEA. Why? He (not even him, Marie) accepted money from his brother and sister-in-la, who later turned out to be drug kingpins. What is going to get Hank in trouble is not saying anything now that he knows, none of his actions up to this point are evidence of any wrongdoing, primarily because Hank has done nothing wrong. It is dramatic, and makes for good television, but Walt’s confession is completely empty. At worst Hank gets put on leave while there is an investigation and he looks foolish in front of his colleagues. ---
**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, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/130 "2013-08-26T13:02:01Z")
Marie wearing black this episode. I thought the “confession” was brilliant, just because it was so completely outrageous. I was reminded of Saul’s line from an episode way back when: “I once convinced a woman I was Kevin Costner, and it worked because _I believed it_”. ---
**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, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/131 "2013-08-26T13:02:06Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > There is no evidence that Hank did anything wrong and plenty that he diligently pursued the case. This came up in last week’s thread, but to a suspicious outsider, it could look like Hank went to great lengths to maintain control of the case and stop other agents from looking into it. Walt’s not planning to go to the DEA with this story anyway. The point is that from the outside it would look consistent with the facts, it would cause Hank a lot of problems, and (if Walt thinks he’ll be dead in five or six months - which of course he won’t) give Walt the time he needs. And it does give Hank a better idea who he was dealing with. You could see how disgusted Skyler was with this trick. Walt was trying pretty hard to come up with lies to explain the soda machine thing and then his other trip, and she didn’t care at all. She’s checked out. ---
**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, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/132 "2013-08-26T13:07:04Z")
> [@3trew](#): > > Wow. That was the best thing I have ever seen at least three times in one episode. > > That said, I need some wild mass guessing. > > Gus Fring was alive (unlike his partner) because the Mexican cartel boss knew who he was. Gus Fring was able to stop a full on assault by walking into it looking quite cross with the shooters. > > Gus Fring has been dead for a while. > > Is he going to be the interior decorator from The Sopranos who killed 16 Czechoslovakians and wandered off into the woods, or are we going to see one hell of a callback? On a recent episode of the Nerdist Podcast, Vince Gilligan stated that they had no intentions to explain any more of Gus’ past. They just wanted to flesh him out as a character and add some interesting mystery as to his backstory. I also thought that it was going go come up, but thinking about it, it does work better as a mystery (Darth Vader, anyone?). ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/133 "2013-08-26T13:11:04Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Except none of that adds up to much of anything. There is no evidence that Hank did anything wrong and plenty that he diligently pursued the case. Is there any that he actively hindered the case? No. It might be enough to require investigation, but they will find nothing worthwhile. And why would Hank, this supposed drug kingpin, need to borrow money from Walt? Where’s Hank’s money? Where is the evidence? There is none. Walt’s story falls apart quite easily with just the most rudimentary investigation. … but this is the same Hank that is/was afraid to go to the DEA. It’s very reasonable for Hank to be scared shitless of what Walt has on him … or may have on him that none of us even know. ---
**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, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/134 "2013-08-26T13:18:21Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > … but this is the same Hank that is/was afraid to go to the DEA. It’s very reasonable for Hank to be scared shitless of what Walt has on him … or may have on him that none of us even know. This is true, my point being is that Hank is acting stupid, because clear thinking would convince him Walt’s confession is toothless. But I do not find it unbelievable at all, Hank is kind of in shock and not thinking clearly. It is totally believable, but I don’t think it is a brilliant ploy by Walt, it is extremely high risk. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/135 "2013-08-26T13:18:21Z")
Another theory: Have we actually ever seen a shot in which a doctor tells Walt his cancer is back? IIRC, we saw him going into the PET scan and then he went around telling Skyler etc. that his cancer was back. Is there any evidence at all that’s true? Or is Walt planning to fake his own death? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/136 "2013-08-26T13:19:59Z")
We’ve seen him receiving chemo. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/137 "2013-08-26T13:22:42Z")
> [@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. Jesse doesn’t think Brock was poisoned with ricin - because Walt put the fake ricin cigarette in Jesse’s Rumba vacuum cleaner. Now, he may realize at some point that Walt staged this whole thing but I think for now, he’s just realizing that Walt had the ricin lifted off Jesse in order to make Gus look like a child murderer, and then of course, to have Jesse help Walt murder Gus. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/138 "2013-08-26T13:23:30Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > This is true, my point being is that Hank is acting stupid, because clear thinking would convince him Walt’s confession is toothless. But I do not find it unbelievable at all, Hank is kind of in shock and not thinking clearly. It is totally believable, but I don’t think it is a brilliant ploy by Walt, it is extremely high risk. Gotcha re Hank! re Walt… what might he have done differently? ---
**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, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/139 "2013-08-26T13:30:24Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Marie wearing black this episode. I didn’t notice that, but it made me go check something else. Saul had on purple socks (and possibly a purple pocket square, hard to tell on the online highlights). Saul is a flamboyant dresser, but I can’t imagine they go near the color purple lightly. Not so much because of it’s symbolism, but because it’s Marie’s color. Even some one who doesn’t read into the colors, may have picked up on the Marie=Purple thing and might still wonder if they’re trying to make a Marie/Saul connecting. The only reason I even looked at that was because I was thinking that he had a purple shirt on which would have been a much bigger statement, the socks, we can probably ignore, if the pocket square was purple, that’s a bigger deal, IMO. Also, I just ran across this when trying to find something about symbolism in the colors, which I’m terrible at picking up on. > **[Reddit - Dive into anything](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/1k0yoe/my_take_on_the_color_symbolism_on_breaking_bad/?rdt=60497)** ---
**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, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959/140 "2013-08-26T13:37:19Z")
There was a lot of purple in this episode. Hank was wearing a purple shirt at the Mexican restaurant and Gomie was wearing purple at the office. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-11-confessions-8-25-13/666959.md?page=8)