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<\/a><\/p>\nOne of the reasons Breaking Bad<\/em> is such a great series is that it somehow manages to feel surprising while also entirely inevitable. Most narratives implicitly follow the law of cause-and-effect, but few showrunners actually hold to it as tightly as Vince Gilligan has with his tale of Walter White\u2019s fall from grace. This is why it\u2019s emerged as one of the most profoundly moral shows on television: it\u2019s a show in which actions always<\/em> have consequences.<\/p>\n Author and playwright Anton Chekhov famously said that you should never show a loaded rifle on stage if you\u2019re not going to fire it; Breaking Bad<\/em> isn\u2019t about Chekhov\u2019s gun, it\u2019s about Chekhov\u2019s arsenal. These weapons can take the form of seemingly innocent objects that suddenly become instrumental to the plot\u2014a box cutter, a cigarette, a tap bell\u2014but they more often show up as bits of knowledge, or secrets waiting to be exposed. A typical episode juggles several of these elements, and a great deal of the show\u2019s tension derives from the careful balancing act Gilligan and the writers have maintained when crafting each season, figuring out which rifle to fire at particular points and which to leave until later. Breaking Bad<\/em> is a structural symphony, and Chekhov\u2019s gun is the notes.<\/p>\n \u201cConfessions,\u201d the eleventh episode of the fifth season\u2014or the third episode of the sixth season if you\u2019re thinking of this last batch of episodes that way\u2014would have made Chekhov proud. It\u2019s an episode in which several figurative guns were finally fired and others (including one actual gun) were set on stage. The slow burn of Season 4 is a thing of the past. We\u2019re in free fall now, and the show is hurtling towards a definitive conclusion.<\/p>\n It all feels so methodical and obvious in retrospect. Of course <\/em>Jesse wouldn\u2019t tell Hank anything, given their history. Of course <\/em>Walt would find a way potentially turn Hank into the fall guy. Of course<\/em> he wouldn\u2019t kill Jesse, his pseudo-son\u2014he tends to only resort to murder out of a last grasp for self-preservation. Of course <\/em>Jesse can\u2019t dig himself out of his spiritual hellhole until he\u2019s discovered the truth about Brock\u2019s poisoning (though the circumstances of Jane\u2019s death, Walt\u2019s final secret, remain unspoken). And of course<\/em> once he realizes the extent of Walt\u2019s deception, his immediate reaction will be a wild dash for revenge.<\/p>\n The scene where Walt confronts Jesse in the desert takes their relationship to its only logical conclusion given the elements in play. There is no explosive act of violence, no sudden reversal or unexpected twist. The only thing that changes is Jesse\u2019s willingness to say what\u2019s on his mind. He\u2019s done paying lip service to Walt\u2019s lies, and he lays it all out on the table, from his certainty that Mike died at Walt\u2019s hands to his understanding that Walt only really cares about himself. But just as he did two episodes ago, Walt doesn\u2019t break character. He\u2019s become such a master manipulator that he himself can\u2019t separate truth from falsehoods, so he takes the lie to its breaking point, embracing Jesse like a prodigal son. I think there\u2019s a part of Walt that really does love Jesse, and it\u2019s that side of him that ironically allows him to take Jesse further down the rabbit hole. As much as he\u2019s willing to kill and cheat his way to the top, he also wants to deny that he\u2019s that kind of person. This is one of life\u2019s great paradoxes: No matter how evil we become, we all still want to believe that we\u2019re good.<\/p>\n Walt\u2019s lies have now so affected everyone around him that there appears to be no hope to take him down. The confession tape he gives Hank reveals the full extent of his moral bankruptcy\u2014he\u2019s so determined to get away with it, to die without facing a jury, that he\u2019s willing to frame it all on his arch nemesis, the show\u2019s moral core. He has subverted the very essence of a confession; he hasn\u2019t atoned for his sins, he\u2019s only transferred them to someone else. Because his medical bills were inadvertently paid for with drug money, there\u2019s likely no way for Hank to come out of this unscathed. Like the ricin, the DVD is Walt\u2019s last resort, the simpler version of Saul\u2019s escape plan\u2014if he can\u2019t become someone else, he\u2019ll turn someone else into Heisenberg.<\/p>\n With Hank out of the way, the only apparent wild card is his former prot\u00e9g\u00e9. But even if he takes care of Jesse (one way or another), there\u2019s still another party that could ruin Walt\u2019s plans: Todd. This episode opens with Lydia\u2019s new cook recounting their train robbery to his uncle like he\u2019s speaking about a folk hero\u2014Heisenberg has once again become the stuff of legend. He views Heisenberg as a role model rather than a cautionary moral tale, and he\u2019s so captivated that he can barely leave a voicemail message informing Walt of the \u201cchange in management.\u201d This subplot involving Madrigal and the continuation of Walt\u2019s meth enterprise continues to play out largely in the background, only taking up a scene or two each episode, but I suspect it will soon play a major role in how Breaking Bad <\/em>ultimately ends.<\/p>\n After all, once you\u2019ve shown us the rifle, you can\u2019t just let it sit there.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n What did you think of this episode of\u00a0Breaking Bad<\/em>? Let us know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n Read More:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Breaking Bad Season 6 Episode 1:\u00a0Blood Money<\/a>.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Breaking Bad Season 6 Episode 2:\u00a0Buried<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Breaking Bad Season 6 Episode 4: Rabid Dog<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Breaking Bad Season 6 Episode 5:\u00a0To\u2019hajiilee<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Breaking Bad Season 6 Episode 6:\u00a0Ozymandias<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n