In this episode, we’ve seen a little bit of Gus’ backstory (which I’m not entirely certain is necessary or even wanted, at least at this point), we’ve seen that Gus has an alibi and a reason for being inside Gale’s apartment, and we’ve seen that despite Gus’ alibi, Hank is still convinced that Gus is the man he’s looking for.
So what does everybody think?
EDIT: Whoops, guess that title should be 4.08.
Certainly the most suspenseful so far. In fact, I don’t recall a movie or another TV drama with so much of pure thrill in some of the scenes.
If I have to choose one, that would be Gus in the room with all those guys examining his every word, hand move, facial expression… a complete x ray. The culmination was his face in an elevator where you can see that he feels “heat”. Real well done!
Then you have that whole GPS tracker sequence. Unpredictable, thus, brilliant.
And last one was Walter’s realization that tide has changed and he’s got some real big fish to fry.
Just great stuff tonight.
Gus called Hank to warn him about the twins, which ended up killing the nephews of the man who killed his partner. Yay for backstory. I wonder if Gus ever got that head honcho in Mexico too or if he’s next on the list.
In either case, I hope we see more of him. Vince Gilligan is constantly referencing Scarface when he talks about his inspiration for the show. So when Steve Bauer appeared on the screen, it was an awesome surprise.
Anyone else get the vibe that Gus and the cook weren’t just partners, but “partners” wink wink?
The way the cook (already forgot his name) talked about Gus and how he was a random kid in the slums until Gus found him made me think so.
And also…Gus is (almost certainly) a Chilean war criminal…interesting.
Yeah, and “Tio” (old, bell-ringing, wheelchair guy) was also in Scarface. And now we know at least one reason he doesn’t speak much - his Spanish seriously sucks!
How old would Don Eladio (the Mexican crime boss played by Steve Bauer) be now? Hector looks much older, so I’m wondering if Don Eladio is already dead. And I think we learned in an earlier episode that Gus was a generalissimo in a Chilean junta. But today’s flashback explains his animosity towards the cartel. (BTW, the cook’s description of the high-quality meth that he produced sounded a bit like Walt’s product. So was Gus trying all this time to find someone else to match the quality of the product they were producing in Mexico?)
Great episode and, man, with longer hair, Gus looks like Oscar from The Office.
That’s who I thought it was before I realized we were getting Gus’ back story.
Now, why would they kill the person who could supposedly make the meth for them (or teach them how to do it). Also, was he supposed to be offering to sell them the recipe or was the plan for them to make it and him (Gus) to distribute it?
He seemed pretty unconvinced that meth was better than cocaine, at the time. On top of that, he seemed to have a chip on his shoulder about Chileans? And, perhaps Gus is gay, we all know how homophobic drug lords are. Tio made a crack about it when he was taking a piss in the pool… It could’ve just been him jeering them, but – I dunno.
Also, when Gus visited Uncle Tio, what did Gus mean when he said “Maybe today’s the day.”?
Also, for someone who’s pretending to be a gambling wiz, Walt really needs to work on his poker face with Hank.
Actually, now that you say that, I wonder if he was worried about losing his (coke) sales to Gus’ meth and was trying to put him out of business. Perhaps he figured that would send a message to Gus (and we don’t know what happened after that) since killing them both or buying the ‘rights’ to the crank and not selling it would have meant there wouldn’t have been a show.
Can someone remind me who Saul delivered money to. I think the woman’s name was Andrea.
I assumed he meant “the day I take revenge”. However, I wouldn’t think Tio Hector would much fear death at this point (ancient and paralyzed and mute) so I’m guessing the revenge is related to somebody else Gus has in his reach.
I assumed that Hector had taken over for Don Eladio. Clearly he’s risen in the ranks enough to set up his family.
Andrea was Jesse’s single mother girlfriend whose kid brother was a drug dealer.
Speaking of gay (and I too got a vibe from Gustavo and Chef- I wonder if he’s married to a member of Hector’s family), Jesse’s t-shirt looks like something from the Liberace round-the-house catalog. The character’s never been that flashy (look at the car he drives and his spartan furniture) which made me wonder why they broke out the bedazzler for his shirt.
I didn’t get that at all. It seemed to me that they left it unclear who called Hank. Gus said that Juan Bolsa may have had some insight into who called Hank but that Juan was killed during the raid by the Federales. I think it’s a little bit of a leap from that to the idea that it was definitely Gus who made the call.
I came here to ask the same question, if that matters. They were, at the very least, very close.
I thought it might just be that the cartel understood the really important part isn’t the chemistry - it’s the business model. A talented chemist can make good meth - but Gus has the resources and patience to make and manage talented chemists. I think that’s how Gus works - we got a hint of that with the Gale story. I would be amazed if the scholarship program wasn’t exactly as Gus described it. Such things are easy to check, after all. And how many kids did Gus say were in it - a few dozen?
I think Gus tries to send poor kids to college for the hard sciences, and keeps an eye on the ones he thinks might be recruited for his business. It’s a long-term investment, sure - but with enough kids in the program, likely to pay off eventually. How hard could it be to find one kid talented enough to make meth and amoral enough to do it, especially at the urging of his mentor and friend Gus Fring? And if you’re just sending these kids to state schools, all it takes is one really good chemist to get a return on your investment.
Chemists aren’t uncommon, and any competent university can produce them. Men like Gus are much rarer - he was the essential man, not the cook.
ETA: As to the relationship between Gus and his partner, I think the clue’s in the episode name: They think of one another as brothers.
Who else here really wants to sample some of that chicken?
The Chilean, Mexican, or American recipe?
How long before Walt makes a move on Jesse do you think? He’s already paranoid that Jesse’s on Team Gus.
The scene in the hospital showed just how compassionless Walt is or has become. The other guy was clearly reaching out for something like comfort and Walt essentially said “Fuck yourself” when he could as easily said something reassuring.
Walt Jr. ate dinner this time. His character has now come full circle.
As for the chicken, the commercial for it would starve you if you’re hungry. Though it’s odd that rotisserie cooking is somehow a process in the frying.
PS- Is “hillbilly” a word most Mexicans would know?