Blood In The Water

Everyone got their turn on this week's Breaking Bad, "Hermanos," but Gus got the most attention.  It seems the show is building up to a big clash with the Cartel, even as Walt and Hank have their own plans to deal with Gus.

We start with a scene from last season, the aftermath of the shootout between Hank and the Mexicans.  Walt and Gus have a conversation in plain view while Mike finishes off the surviving brother.  Then we see something we didn't see before.  Later that day, while the deaths of the brothers are reported on TV, Gus visits Tio in the home.  Gus tells Tio his version of what happened. (When he speaks to Tio, he has a pronounced accent.  Why not just speak in Spanish?) He seems to delight in telling Tio how his nephews died. (The CC got some of the speech very wrong.  I think Gus says "but a phone call was placed to" Hank befor the attack, while the CC said "their phone call was placed" as if the Brothers called.)  He also gives bad news about the connection in Mexico getting shot. Tio isn't happy, but Gus can torture him freely.  Before the scene ends, we see some blood in water--no doubt there'll be a callback to that.  (Blood in water already seems like a callback to season 2).

Walt is getting his regular PET/CT scan.  The other guy in the waiting room tries to talk about his illness--how you no longer have any control--but Walt won't hear it.  He knows he'll eventually be taken by his disease, but until then, he's in charge  Or so the Heisenberg in him wants to believe.  He's also checking in with Jesse by phone to see if Gus has been killed yet.  You gotta keep up, even while taking some medical leave.

We see Gus watching from work how progresses in the meth lab.  (Hope no one ever walks in, or checks his SKYPE.)  He gets a call from the cops. They want to talk to him. It's Hank and his bosses and pals.  Gus must have been ready for this.  He visited Gale, maybe even left a fingerprint.  (If an employee had done that it would have meant the box cutter treatment.) He waives his rights and talks.  It's good to see the cold, smooth Gus again.  He's ready for all questions.  He set up a chemistry scholarship 15 years ago (I'm sure he did--all the better to find a cook) and met Gale through it.  He calims Gale came back into his restaurant not too long ago and invited him to dinner. (This would also explain the Pollos Hermanos napkin, of course.)  Gale wanted some money, he said no, end of story.  A little later, he reads about Gale's death in the papers.  Airtight, and everyone buys it...except Hank (who's actually got a great gut instincts, except for his blind spot with Walt).  Gus can also explain where he was when Gale was killed (at a fundraiser, waiting to hear if Walt had been killed).  Hank also wants to know about his mysterious past, since he can't find any records in Chile.  Pinochet and all that, says Gus.

So everyone is happy.  No evidence, perfect alibi, a pillar of the community, etc.  But Hank sees the whole thing as too airtight.  Besides, why didn't Gus call his buddies on the force when he found out about Gale?

Meanwhile, Gus is in the elevator, thinking hard.  Okay, someone made a connection.  He's not the kind of guy to sit back and let things happen to him. Gotta get proactive, but how?

Now we get Saul. Yay!  He drops by Andrea's new place to give her some money from Jesse.  Saul is a one-stop shop for all legal services.  Her house is pretty nice for $1200 a month--in LA you could only get a room for that.  Brock seems to be doing well, too.  It's nice  to see Jesse doing something worthwhile with his money. She asks about him.

He's waiting in the car. Saul wants to know why he won't see her personally.  He leaves the car and seems ready to do just that.

At the White household, Skyler vacuum-packs her excess cash. It doesn't fit in the closet, so the stacks go under the house, just where the old Walt would have placed them. She can only launder about 1/10 of what Walt gives her, so the rest will just have to wait for the right time.  Maybe she'll open a series of car washes.

The White's and the Schrader's are having dinner.  Walt's still in remission and Skyler seems to enjoy being boss.  Meanwhile, Hank's burrowing in on a case, though he won't say what it is.

Until the next day, when Walt is giving him a lift to a mineral show.  Except we know it's not about that.  To Walt's surprise, he finds he's at everyone's favorite fast food place, Los Pollos Hermanos.  Hank is going rogue. In a scene full of delicious irony, Hank tells Walt his suspicions about Gus Fring.  Thanks to Walt claiming Gale wasn't the boss, he's kept on the case.

He wants Walt to place a GPS (not live, you need to pick it up later) on Fring's car.  Walt wants to know all about the interrogation, of course, but Hank is more interested in the spy work at hand.  Then, to make the scene more delightful, Mike pulls up, as Walt can clearly see. (I'd assume Mike has been following Walt when he's got free time, except maybe now Gus has him following Hank.)

Walt doesn't want to do it.  Hank still sees Walt as smart but a quivering nothing.  Walt finally agrees, though he first walks intothe  restaurant and gets to do what he's wanted to do for weeks--meet Gus. Gus is behind the counter and Walt, who believes in honor among thieves (like Tio) apologizes, saying he didn't place the GPS on the car. (Gus is the kind of guy who makes you feel you need to explain yourself.) Gus knows there's nothing better than knowing you're being followed, and tells Walt to do it.  Walt comes out and stick it on.  Great fun.

At the lab, Walt talks to the camera.  He explains what's happened.  He'd never tell the cops.  He also says Hank has nothing, so leave him alone or there'll be greater danger.  We're seeing a little of the softer side of Walt that we used to like--he does seem concerned about Hank, at least a little (though he's also concerned about himself).

Walt rushed over the Jesse's to see how the murder racket is going.  He still think Jesse is a screw-up. He doesn't know that Jesse has turned.  He tells Jesse that Hank is on to Gus, and he won't stop until he eventually finds about everything (including who killed Gale).  Jesse still hates Hank, of course.  Probably wouldn't mind to see him killed.  He also knows that if anyone--Hank, Jesse, Walt--is a liability to Gus, they wouldn't be above ground very long.

Jesse goes off the take a pee and Walt intercepts a message about a  meeting with Gus.   Very convenient, plot-wise.  Anyway, the good thing now is Heisenberg gets he's lost Jesse.  He's on his own.

Back at Hermanos, Gus still watches the lab on his computer. Mike calls.  No one is suspicious except for the maverick Hank.  Nothing too much to worry about, but he still is checking into Gus's past.  No big deal, except the cartel is breathing down their neck.  What happens if they step in while Hank is watching?

Gus gets in his car, takes off the GPS (so later Hank won't know he left) and goes to the home to talk to Tio.  Or is it toy with Tio?  He talks about the ultimatum from the Cartel, and Schrader.  Gus talks about his past, which leads into the longest flashback the show's ever had.

A young Gus and the other brother of Los Pollos Hermanos, Max, are meeting a big drug dealer in Mexico.  Tio is there, of course, and crudely pees in the boss's pool. The boss comes out and says how much he likes the boys' chicken, but why do they give his people drugs?  They two are manufacturing a high-grade meth which they think will sweep America--be bigger than cocaine.  Also, the Mexicans won't have to import it and assume all the risk for a portion of the money.  Gus is the smart businessman, while partner Max is the chef.

By now we pretty much know that's going to be Max's blood in the water.  Gus found Max, helped put him through college in Chile so he could learn how to cook.  And we know what happens to Gus's cooks.  (By the way, Tio seems to think the Brothers are gay.  We've never see Gus with a woman, so who knows.)

The Boss gets tough.  These two have been rude, manipulating him into a meeting. And why does he need Gus when all he needs is the chemist?  Max starts pleading on Gus's behalf, but stops pretty quickly when Tio (no doubt following orders) shoots him in the head.  The henchmen force Gus to watch as Max's blood drips into the pool.  They're leaving him alive because they know who he is.  They remind him he's not in Chile any more--so what was he in Chile?  This all helps to explains how Gus got to be who he is today, and why he's got something against Tio and the Cartel.

Back at the home, Gus wants Hector (Tio's real name) to look at him.  Some day, he'll kill him, like Hector did to Max, but not this time.

A good episode, and the suspense is ratcheting up.  Not sure if we needed the long flashback, even though it was entertaining.  The show is really about Walt and Jesse, and long scenes from the past take us off that path.  I'm sure it would be fun to have a five-minute scene on how Saul cheated on the bar, too, but it's not necessary.