Episode of the Week: ‘Breaking Bad’ season 5, episode 13, ‘To’hajilee’

This edition of our Episode of the Week feature really was a tough call. For sentimental reasons, we really wanted to hand the trophy over to “Burn Notice” for a strong series finale that should be the closure that many longtime fans of the show have been hoping to see. However, when the dust settles you have to actually recognize the best overall episode, and there was almost no debate here at all as to what show ended up owning this: It was “Breaking Bad” a million times over for its greatest episode since “Box Cutter” back in season 4.

“To’hajilee” has quickly risen to our top three episodes of the year alongside “The Rains of Castamere” from “Game of Thrones” (otherwise known as the Red Wedding) and “Six Minutes” from “The Killing” (the Ray Seward episode) for good reason: It’s brilliantly-paced, sharply written, and it produces quite possibly the best feeling of dread we’ve ever had watching television. The moment that Hank starts to spend his time dawdling around while arresting Walt, you know that Uncle Jack is going to show up; yet, it was still gut-wrenching when he finally did.

Even the buildup to this moment was spectacular, whether you are looking at Jesse’s frenzy of a phone call baiting Walt, the trickery involved with Huell, and of course that last final conversation between Hank and Marie. We wrote in our Breaking Down piece for this episode that this felt like farewell, and if it is the last time that we see these two characters together, than it was a beautiful way in which to do it.

There are few other shows on TV that manage to create a tapestry so rich, and to give us characters on both sides that we really do care about. This is why we will really feel the loss of some of these people as the chips fall this year, and why we could be bracing for one of the greatest series finales in TV history.

Do you agree? Disagree? We want to hear your thoughts below.

Photo: AMC