"One Minute" is the seventh episode of the third season of American television

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and comb ...

series ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited h ...

'', and the 27th overall episode of the series. It was written by

Thomas Schnauz Thomas Schnauz (born ) is an American television producer and television writer. His credits include ''The X-Files'', ''The Lone Gunmen'', '' Night Stalker'', ''Reaper'', ''Breaking Bad'', and ''Better Call Saul''. Personal life Schnauz was bor ...

and directed by

Michelle MacLaren Michelle Maxwell MacLaren is a Canadian television director and producer. She has directed episodes of ''The X-Files'', ''Better Call Saul'', ''Breaking Bad'', '' The Walking Dead'', ''Game of Thrones'', and ''Westworld''. MacLaren won two back- ...

. The episode follows

Hank Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nicknam ...

as he deals with a lawsuit against the DEA by Jesse after Hank physically assaults him. Walt tries to pacify Jesse and have him be his cooking partner. Meanwhile, the Cousins plot Hank's assassination and engage in a shootout with him in a parking lot. "One Minute" originally aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on May 2, 2010. It was watched by an estimated 1.519 million American viewers and received a 0.6 Nielsen rating among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode received universal acclaim from critics, with many considering it to be one of the best in the series.

Plot

A flashback in Mexico shows a young Leonel Salamanca complaining to his uncle,

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

, about a toy broken by Leonel's twin brother,

Marco Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish co ...

, with Leonel proclaiming that he wishes Marco was dead. In response, Hector shoves

's head in a tub of icy water despite Leonel's objections, and finally releases him after Leonel punches Hector, while proclaiming, "La familia es todo" (family is everything). In the present, Leonel and Marco light candles at a makeshift

Santa Muerte ''Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte'' (; Spanish for Our Lady of Holy Death), often shortened to Santa Muerte, is a cult image, female deity, and folk saint in folk Catholicism and Mexican Neopaganism. A personification of death, she is associa ...

shrine. In the center, the twins place a photo of

Hank Schrader Henry R. Schrader ASAC is a fictional character in the AMC drama series ''Breaking Bad'' and its spin-off series '' Better Call Saul''. He is portrayed by Dean Norris and was created by series creator Vince Gilligan. Hank's character developm ...

. Furious that he was tricked into believing that his wife was in the hospital, Hank goes to Jesse Pinkman's house and attacks him as he opens the door. He knocks Jesse out cold before realizing that he has gone too far. Paramedics come and wheel Jesse away to the hospital as Hank stands by in shock. Walt and

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

arrive at the hospital and meet Jesse. Walt notes that they would be in jail if they had not tricked Hank after Jesse blames him for his predicament. Jesse also claims that he will make Hank's life miserable, and, despite Saul's objections, threatens to hand Walt to the DEA if he or Saul intervenes. At the DEA, Hank makes a statement about what happened at the junkyard, but pleads the Fifth when it comes to his actions at Jesse's house. He is then informed that Jesse is filing charges for his actions. Skyler visits Walt at his condo. He initially believes she is mocking him, but she pleads with him to pacify Jesse so that Hank does not face charges. Walt refuses despite Skyler's assertion that Hank is his family and asks her to leave. Later, at the lab,

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Gus to make Jesse his partner again. At the hospital, Walt pitches the job to Jesse, who mocks it as a ploy to save Hank. He initially refuses, citing Walter's previous wrongdoings against him and his criticism of Jesse's meth. Walter admits that Jesse's meth is good and leaves. Jesse eventually calls Walt and says he agrees to the partnership. In the desert, Leonel and Marco meet with a trucker hawking an array of weapons. He gives them a free hollow point bullet and shows off his bulletproof vest, which Leonel and Marco test by shooting him point blank. When he survives, they purchase two vests and leave him on the floor complaining about possible broken ribs. At the DEA office, Hank admits to assaulting Jesse, resulting in him being suspended without pay and having his gun confiscated. As Hank departs, he learns Jesse is not pressing charges after all. Later, Hank is in an SUV in a parking lot when he gets a phone call and an electronically disguised voice tells Hank that he has one minute to leave before two men show up to kill him. At first, he wonders if it is a prank call, but after one minute Leonel and Marco arrive and ambush Hank. He reverses his car into Leonel, pinning him against another car and maiming him from the waist down, then flees with Leonel's gun. Marco empties his gun at two passers-by and reloads, dropping the hollow point bullet in the process, before eventually knocking Hank down with two shots. Rather than shooting him dead, believing that would be too easy, Marco decides to hack Hank to death with his axe and goes to retrieve it from his car. Hank then loads the hollow point bullet into Leonel's gun and kills Marco with a gunshot to the head. Marco's axe lands right next to Hank, who falls unconscious from massive blood loss.

Production

The episode was written by

and directed by

; it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on May 2, 2010. Schnauz received writing duties for this episode based on seniority. Originally there was a plan to have the Cousins killed as early as episode 2.

Reception

Ratings

"One Minute" originally aired on AMC on Sunday, May 2, 2010. The episode was viewed by an estimated 1.519 million American viewers, and received a 0.6 Nielsen rating among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. This means that it was seen by 0.6% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast.

Critical response

The episode was acclaimed by critics and is considered to be one of the best in the series. Donna Bowman of '' The A.V. Club'' praised the suspense and tension of the episode, giving it an "A" and writing that "I doubt you needed the threat of imminent natural disaster for this episode to put you on edge". Seth Amitin of '' IGN'' gave the episode a 10/10 ("Masterpiece") rating, saying that "'One Minute' was this show's finest hour, and maybe one of the best episodes of anything we've seen on TV in the last 20 years." In 2019, The Ringer ranked "One Minute" as the 4th best out of the 62 total ''Breaking Bad'' episodes.

Accolades

At the

62nd Primetime Emmy Awards The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, were held on Sunday, August 29, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT (00:00 UTC; August 30). Com ...

, "One Minute" received a nomination for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, while Maclaren received a nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. The episode was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Sound Effects and Foley for Episodic Short Form Broadcast Media at the 2011 Golden Reel Awards.

References

External links

One Minute
at the official ''Breaking Bad'' site * {{Breaking Bad episodes 2010 American television episodes Breaking Bad (season 3) episodes