‘Breaking Bad’ Recap: Hank Discovers That Walt Is Heisenberg

Courtesy of AMC

Now that Walt’s brother-in-law knows his true identity, he faces the biggest threat of his life. Plus, we see another glimpse into Walt’s future and it’s NOT pretty.

In a flash forward from last season (the first half of season five, to be exact), we saw Walt (Bryan Cranston) one year in the future, celebrating his birthday at Denny’s. He was bearded, ragged, and carrying a New Hampshire driver’s license.

‘Breaking Bad’ ‘Blood Money’ Recap — Hank Discovers Walt Is Heisenberg

In the August 11 season premiere of Breaking Bad, we pick back up on that flash-forward. We see Walt return to his home, but it’s boarded up and fenced off — it’s completely abandoned. However, teenagers have turned the family pool into a skate park and spray-painted the inside with the likes of “Heisenberg.”

The episode then takes us back to present time and in case you forgot, Walt’s brother-in-law, Hank (Dean Norris), found the copy of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” inscribed by Gale Boetticher (David Costabile) to his “other favorite W.W.” leaving little doubt in Hank’s mind that Walt is Heisenberg.

Now, Hank is treading carefully (however, not without nearly suffering a heart attack on the drive home), mainly from the shock of the situation. Once he gets home, Hank buys some time, takes off of work, and starts building a case at home before he confronts Walt with what he knows.

Meanwhile, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) is still devastated by Todd’s murder of the dirt-bike riding boy, who was unlucky enough to witness the methylamine train heist. Jesse can’t seem to bring himself to enjoy his drug money. He’s disgusted by it. Jesse wants to get rid of the cash, but giving away $5 million isn’t as easy as it seems. After Saul (Bob Odenkirk) refuses to hand over the money to Mike’s (Jonathan Banks) granddaughter, Jesse basically throws his money away, tossing it out his car window onto random doorsteps.

Plus, just when Walt thinks he got rid of Lydia (Laura Fraser), she returns. Even though Walt has quit cooking, she’s pissed that the quality of his product, which is currently being sold overseas, is down and the future of Blue Sky meth is looking grim.

Walt’s Cancer Is Back

To make matters worse, Walt’s cancer is back and it’s when he’s throwing up in the bathroom that he notices his “Leaves of Grass” book is missing. Walt begins to worry that Hank has figured out his true identity. Upon finding a tracker on his car, he heads over to Hank’s house, knowing that his brother-in-law once presented the very same tracker to him to place on Gus’ (Giancarlo Esposito) Volvo.

Walt Vs. Hank: A Shocking Showdown

After a bit of small talk, Walt asks Hank if he knows anything about the tracker. Without saying a word, Hank closes the garage door (rather creepily) and punches Walt in the face before telling him what he’s discovered. Of course, Walt denies any suspicions and says that this accusation will rip their family apart. Walt also notes that even if Hank wanted to accuse him of being Heisenberg, he’d never see the inside of a jail cell because he’ll likely be dead in six months or less (thanks to the cancer).

Hank says that he doesn’t know who he’s talking to. Walt responds by saying, “If that’s true, if you don’t know who I am, then maybe your best course would be to tread lightly.”

What did you think of the season premiere of Breaking Bad, HollywoodLifers? Was it everything you hoped it would be?