It was shown in the flashback with Gus (pre Walter) at the beginning of the episode, when he was assembling the lab equipment. So it has significant information about Gus’s operation in it.
My guess (and I don’t think I’ve ever been right yet- one reason I like this show): perhaps Gale’s notebook is heavily coded and breaking the code will occupy some of Hank’s time while he’s bedridden.
Aside from the fact that he was on suspension, (and I don’t know if it was paid/unpaid suspension) it seems to me that he ought to be considered “injured on the job” by the fact that he was ambushed by people connected to the cartel he had been investigating, and they were after revenge for his on-duty defensive killing of a suspect.
Yeah, even if his notes just mention the specific equipment and chemicals (and approx. date of purchase?), that may give the cops some good leads to track down.
That’s one of those things where what it comes down to is “It can “seem to you” all you want, but it’s just not how it works” IIRC, it was discussed in one episode.
To the best of my knowledge, for worker’s comp to cover an injury, you have to actually be at work.
Or he might ask a professional chemist for help. I wonder if he knows anyone…
Oooh, I like that twist…
I didn’t make any claim that the way it seems to me is how it works in real-life or even in the show. I was just making the point that while he wasn’t “at work,” his work certainly came at him.
Though I would be curious to know the real life answer to this. Assuming a plain-clothes detective (who isn’t on suspension, for sake of simplicity) is carrying a badge and a gun and is confronted with two armed attackers, would that automatically make them be “at work” for purposes of workman’s comp? It doesn’t seem unreasonable that they would be, particularly if you considered that the attack was directly related to his “on duty” work.
I don’t think the work comp part was discussed, but Marie did go off on Hank’s boss about Hank being suspended and not having his gun.
A lawyer might want to fight it for him though, in the real world. At least get some media attention, maybe get someone to tweak the rules.
I think Hank’s minerals are going to come into play, but I don’t know how. Maybe he’ll kill someone with a jagged piece of quartz.
I think that would depend on if they were on duty or not. I would guess the workers comp auditor would ask to see their time cards or schedules to prove they were on duty if there was a question.
Now to muddy the waters even more, assume what I said is true. A few years ago the Milwaukee Police Chief required all Police Officers to carry their badge and gun on them at ALL TIMES and told them from that point on “a cop is a cop 24 hours a day”. It didn’t matter what they were doing, where they were (presumably in the city limits) etc, if a crime was taking place, they were obligated to deal with it.
So, if a normal cop is getting out of his squad and twists his ankle, he would get workers comp, right? What about these cops. If one of these cops is at home and falls down the stairs, is he covered by WC? What about if he accidentally discharges his gun and shoots himself in the foot? What if he thinks he sees something suspicious while ‘off duty’ and goes to check it out and trips and hurts himself, but when he does get there, he finds out it’s nothing, is he covered by WC?
The thing you have to remember is from an employee’s stand point it’s typically better to submit your claim via WC since it’s usually better coverage. But from an employers POV, they’d rather it went through your health insurance since injuries won’t cause the rates to go up (as they will with WC).
Hey, I heard this guy is good. Don’t know if he does worker’s comp, though.
Gus killing a henchman with a box cutter? Comic book stuff. And out of character. Then again, I thought it was weird back in season 3 when they showed him dealing directly with street sellers, letting them see his face and everything. Or that he transports meth in his own company’s distribution trucks.
What makes it out of character? Nothing we’ve seen about Gus suggests he’s insufficiently ruthless. It’s a rational course of action for him to scare the living fuck out of Walt and Jesse, and him doing that is a much more effective tool than just having Mike shoot Victor. Plus… other characters may have a sentimental attachment and not want to do it. Mike would probably have a hard time doing it. So Gus doing it himself makes a lot of sense.
That’s a bold statement, but I tend to agree with it. The levels of humor and the doldrums of daily life are comparable, but BB’s inter-character dynamics are more subtle and (to me) more realistic. In fact, the only way the Sopranos excels where BB is a little weak is in the main character. Gandolfini was so great as Tony that the weaker casting was buoyed up by him. Cranston has a better support cast so his dominance is second to Gandolfini’s. On the other hand, it’s difficult to imagine those guys trading roles!
My thinking is that Gus invested many millions of dollars into Walt, and Victor’s attitude is “Anyone can do it it” is an insult to Gus, because it’s like Victor is saying “you totally wasted your money, stupid.”
It’s nasty stuff. It eats glass, so it’s kept in plastic bottles rather than glass jugs. It’s not technically a strong acid, but that’s only a technical distinction – if it gets on your skin, it can burn you without sensation (I think it eats nerves, somehow), so it’s possible to have a hole on your arm without you knowing it.
I’m not actually certain if it could completely dissolve a corpse – they never seem to teach such things – but it wouldn’t surprise me. And actually, now that I think about it, a classic analytical chemistry question involves whether it’s possible to tell if a vat of acid has been used to dissolve a corpse, based on the concentration of metal ions contained in the human body, the amounts of the metal ions usually present in fresh acid solutions, and the detection limit of the instruments.
I usually don’t like the methodical, almost plodding nature of this show, but I really like how it took Gus five minutes to prep to kill Victor. I only wish they hadn’t telegraphed it so much. Having Victor say more in this episode than all other episodes combined was suggestive, but the cheesy grin he gave as Gus entered the room just totally gave it away. I’m just glad it was Victor who died and not Mike; I like Mike.
If Mike doesn’t remove Victor’s car from outside Gale’s apartment, then the parked car will attract attention. The police may refer to the registration and show up at Victor’s home or place of employment. Victor, per Gus, of course, will have suddenly disappeared a couple of days prior. Plausible? Assuming, of course, that Victor isn’t an illegal immigrant.
Does it seem that Gus is acting totally incognito or does he have some DEA ..etc on his payroll?
So the conclusion to the “whats Gus gonna do” cliffhanger from last season was “kill some random henchman for no good reason”? I’m kinda underwelmed. Felt like the writers just wanted him to do something crazy and shocking because they’d been building up the tension so much.
Gale’s fastidious nature got him killed, and now will help get revenge on the perpetrators.
Victor is right though, it is just a process. Why didn’t Gus just hire Walter to make one batch with Gale at his side videotaping it?
As Walt explained, it’s not. If the manufacturing conditions are optimal, then the manufacture is purely algorithmic, but if there’s a deviation in the quality (or even availability) of ingredients, or if some step in the process goes off-kilter, then an actual understanding of chemistry is required to salvage the product. I doubt Gus is amenable to take a chance every batch as to whether the product & yield turn out to be satisfactory.
Then Walt would know that Gus has only temporary need of him, and would become his competition after the manufacturing session. Hence Walt might throw a red herring or two in the session, and the results wouldn’t be trustable. Gus would realize that.
It’s true that Gus stressed that if the production stopped, even for one week, the whole operation would come crashing down. If something went wrong, they’d be boned.