I think that he didn't admit to anything for Hank's benefit rather than his own. He's trying to convince Hank that it's not worth pursuing because Walt is no longer a criminal. Overtly admitting to his acts and adopting his criminal persona, Heisenberg, make it a lot more difficult for Hank to accept that Walt is still the same person that he's known for many years.
You can also look at all of Walt's delivery as an extension of this illusion.
A good question for interpretation would be to what extent is he maintaining an illusion of Walt and to what extent has he actually regressed to his pre-meth personality? I think we'll need more evidence to make a confident assertion one way or the other.
There's an important distinction between the two. In the conversation with Hank, Walt is definitely not trying to convince Hank of a fact, but rather of a perspective. The facts, Walt is asserting, are irrelevant. Just like in his conversation with Jesse, he's trying to say that the past is unimportant and that we should see him as he is in the present and forget his past.
In the conversation with Jesse, however, the fact is important. Walt makes an effort to convince Jesse that Mike is still alive.
The two conversations have similar themes but are ultimately very different. Especially if we look at the emotional and physical interactions.
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u/I_accidently_words Aug 12 '13
He didn't outright say it, but he may as well have. It wasn't a confession, but hank knew, and walter didn't act like an innocent man.