I declared that last week's episode of Breaking Bad, "Problem Dog," was both the turning point for the season and my favorite episode of Season Four thus far. Well, I have a new favorite episode of the season now, thanks to "Hermanos." In fact, it's in the running for my favorite episode of the entire series. It was a tremendous hour of television, and here are some thoughts on it.
Gus' story
This episode was as much about Gus, and in particular his back story, as anything else. During his interrogation, Hank brings up Gus' mysterious past in Chile. Gus brings this up with Mike later, as he is clearly trying to hide something. Around this time, I thought to myself how I'd like to hear more about Gus' background. Well, this episode did me one better by giving us an extended flashback to a young Gus, before his hair was greying and he needed spectacles.
We learn that Gus and his close friend Maximiliano were the men behind Los Pollos Hermanos down in Mexico, and they started selling crystal meth on the side. Very potent crystal meth, as Max was apparently an excellent chef when it came to meth as well as chicken. This brought Gus and Max in front of the cartel for the first time. There sat a younger Tio and Juan Bolsa, who at the time just henchmen for Don Eladio, and the boss himself joined them. Gus and Max are led to think that Gus is going to be killed, since as the businessman of their operation he's expendable, but it is Max who gets shot in the head, and Gus is only spared because of his Chilean connections.
This scene obviously explains a lot, particularly Gus' animosity with the cartel. It is of no surprise he'd try and cut ties with them or that he'd have the cousins and Juan Bolsa killed. On the surface, he's a calculated businessmen, but he still has some thoughts of revenge clearly lingering within him. Twice in this episode we see him visiting with the now incapacitated Tio Hector. The first is in a flashback, when he tells Tio in so many words that he's responsible for the deaths of his family members. At the end of the episode, he visits again with what seemed to be the implication that someday he's going to turn the violence toward Tio himself. Until then, he just lets the old man twist in the wind.
I really enjoyed the flashback scene, and not just because we learned so much about Gus. It was really well executed, and the parallels between Gus and Max's relationship and Walt's and Jesse's were a nice touch. I presume eventually all this talk about Chile will lead somewhere. All things considered, and remembering another flashback in which Tio calls him "the Generalissimo," my guess is that he played a substantial role in the military dictatorship that used to run that country.
More Gus!
I still have more to say about Gus, because the interrogation scene was also excellent. He has an answer to every question asked of him, and his alibis and stories about why he was in Gale's apartment are believed by everyone except Hank, so now Hank is working outside the purview of the DEA. Unfortunately for Walt, Hank wrangles him into his plans, asking Walt to place a tracking bug on Gus' car. Walt refrains from doing it, but then suddenly he finds himself confronted by Gus inside Los Pollos Hermanos, who tells him to put it on the car in no uncertain terms.
Now, Walt's got another issue on his plate. He's worried about getting killed by Gus, but now he has to also worry about Gus killing Hank or, perhaps worse in his eyes, Gus getting caught and then he and Jesse getting caught in turn. So now he's trying to push the timetable on the plan to kill Gus, but he also now has reason to suspect Jesse isn't on his side. Last week, it looked like Gus was in a tricky situation. Suddenly, Walt's position is even more precarious. All he wanted to do was go to a mineral show with Hank. I also enjoyed Walt talking about the minerals he used to own. That guy still loves science.
Walt's speech
I also really enjoyed Walt's speech to his fellow cancer patient as they awaited testing. Not just because he dropped more science knowledge, but because he got to give one of his belligerant polemics, this time about always having control over your life. This was then undercut with a shot of him suiting up for work in the superlab, as Gus watched the security feed on his laptop.
Jesse's gift
Meanwhile, Jesse is doing some good with his blood money, as he's put his ex-girlfriend Andrea and her son into a nice home in a nice neighborhood, with plenty more money where that came from. However, he's got Saul doing the delivieries, as he does not seem up to facing either of them. I enjoyed the scene between Jesse and Saul in the car, because I like when Saul gets to be sort of reasonable and serious. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy him when he's funny, and he is the comic relief on the show, but he's not a complete goofball or idiot. He wouldn't be where he is if that was the case.
"Hermanos" was marked by great performances by Giancarlo Esposito and Bryan Cranston, and it was an excellent, exciting, engaging episode of television. If Esposito somehow manages to wrangle an Emmy nomination, which he would deserve, he should definitley submit this episode. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for him, not to mention the rest of the cast of characters and including our protagonist, Walter White. He's been sort of on the sidelines this season, but I bet eventually the course of events are deterimined by his actions.
So much going on in this episode chris, great job tracking down it all !
The scene at the cancer clinic was great, and I loved the dynamic of Walt giving a firey speech about taking control of his life, followed by him entering a superlab where he's reduced with negotiating with a security camera! Indeed Walt has less control over his life than ever before -- as Skyler, Jesse, Mike, Gus, and Hank essentially have him pinned in on all sides.
Indeed, we see a dynamic where both Walt and Gus have multiple enemies and complications penning them in. This is an exceptional launching point toward the end of a fantastic fourth season.