Breaking Bad Episode 4.08 "Hermanos" Review

It's said a great villain is only as good as his back-story. From the moment he and Los Pollos Hermanos became a fixture both in Walter and Jesse's lives as well to the story as a whole, the audience hasn't known very much about Gus Fring. Who is he really? Where did he come from to be so feared? We knew there was a connection to the Mexican drug cartel so that was enough to sate curiosity for a time. In tonight's episode, '�Hermanos', a huge section of Gustavo Fring's past wasn't just given exposition dialog, it was given a gorgeously shot bloody flashback scene.

I'm anticipating that this particular episode will have its fair share of detractors. Walt wasn't in it all that much compared to the past few weeks, and Jesse only had a small handful of scenes in total while Gus Fring from start to finish was the star of the show. And I would watch the Gus Fring show for weeks without ever losing interest. This is a man that even when some of his past is revealed, more questions are raised and that's the sign of a fully-realized fictional character.

Basically as it turns out, Gus had a Gale before Gale Boetticher, a Chilean cook of both spicy chicken and high-grade crystal meth. He and this man came to the head of the Mexican cartel at the time to strike a business deal with him for their restaurant and side business. There was a wonderful deception at play in showing a younger Gus sitting in the same sort of seat that Walter White himself was in not long ago�coming up to the big name in town to try and get a better foothold in the drug business. From his extra conservative and yes, slightly nervous demeanor before the boss showed up, it was easy to assume that Gus was once a meek individual who grew colder over time in the drug trade. However, much like Mr. White, Gus wouldn't be intimidated by anyone as he logically explained his ideal business model for taking meth out of the realm of being a low-rent drug for low-rent people, and into the sort of trade that would make the cocaine industry crumble. And he did it with the sort of cojones we've come to expect from Gus in the here and now.

The scene informed so much more than just how Los Pollos Hermanos really got started, or for that matter what ever happened to the other hermano, (a hint: there was a warning at the front of this episode for '�scenes of intense violence'and oh was it ever necessary to have. It seems cooks on this show have short life expectancies). I think the first thing to think of after viewing the Gus flashback in its entirety would be its relevance to his memorable scene in the season premiere. In this business, the only message that ever sticks is a visual one. Think back to Victor and the box cutter. It's completely fascinating to see how Gus has become both a level-headed businessman and the sort of ruthless bastard who has learned only the more heartless aspects of the drug trade from those he came up working under. Bringing this all around to the current plot of Hank finally connecting all the right dots regarding Gus and the hunt for Heisenberg, and it's just a reminder that digging up the skeletons of Gus Fring's past is just leaving an empty grave he'll gladly put you in instead.

Now not only is Hank more on the case than ever before following a spectacular round of Gus Fring's story-time at an informal interview regarding Gale's murder case, but he's got himself a brand-new partner in the form of Walt. What's great about the way this plot is advancing is that the writers of this show are forcing the audience out of any expected comfort zones. Hank should never be in the vicinity of a character like Mike, and he certainly should not be putting a GPS tracker on Gus'car. But there it all is while Hank's dragging poor hapless Walt into it�probably good for the guy to get some excitement in his humdrum life right? I genuinely can't be sure at this point whether Hank will get gunned down by someone like Mike, or even if Walt himself will pull the trigger. If you don't think he would do that to Hank once his brother-in-law figured out the truth about Heisenberg than you clearly missed Walt's epic, '�I'm the one who knocks'speech a couple weeks back. Do not push Mr. White and expect to come out the other side. In fact, just moments after begging to Gus via the lab's security camera to spare Hank's life, he's at Jesse's pushing his partner to do the deed and end Gus'life now. To him, showing weakness is just another calculated play and it's always a choice.

Which brings us to the other big scene of this episode, at least it stood out to me. Remember how Walt is in remission? Well we're given the chance to see one of his follow-up tests as he and some name-less fellow patient await their individual scans. New guy is scared, but filled to the brim with everything the cancer books have told him about not being afraid to let go of control. Walt has very pointed words for the guy as he acts like all these tests are just pointless formality when life itself comes with a death sentence. It's never clearly said what his results were, even though he assures Walt. Jr. that he's still in remission. I remain unconvinced. There are two possibilities here with how very numb he acted at the lab not long after. The first is, he's flat out lying and the cancer has finally come back. It makes sense that before the end of the show Walt would go through another bout of the illness. It's that, or he's disappointed that it's still gone from his system.

Much in the way that the show once hinged on being about a family man putting himself into a dangerous and illegal line of work to provide for his family before he died, Walt's own satisfaction with his actions is found in the fact that the cancer was the reason for all of this. Without the cancer he's just a common criminal, not a noble selfless individual who in his last moments did what he could for his loved ones. And without the cancer he has to admit to himself that this endeavor has become more about himself, his ego, his pride, his masculinity, than the well-being of anyone else. I'm betting though with the time-table that's left for the show that his cancer coming back could be a great beginning of the end. It would be incredible drama for this war to continue on into the final season, but Breaking Bad could just as easily surprise by having its last run of episodes go back to the intimate struggles of one man and a life-changing diagnosis. But not before more blood is shed this season, be it Hank, Gus, or someone else's. Taken as a whole, this entire series could just wind up being the back-story of a villain called Walter White as creator Vince Gilligan has hinted it could turn out to be.