Breaking Bad

[fishmongerfunk]

one of the best episodes ever. steven bauer killed it in his cameo as the cartel boss.





my 2 cents is that it was strongly implied that gustavo and his associate were lovers (they mix the dark meat with the white meat, etc).





"is today the day?" is super cryptic and i suppose could be rhetorical and mean anything but i interpreted it as gus' standing threat to kill salamanca. the only reason i think the old man is still alive is so that gus can gloat about killing the former's relatives...that is a total guess though.





why is a powerful/respected cartel member living in a nursing home where anyone can get at him? although he is severely infirm, we know he fully understands the world around him and can express his wishes to a certain degree...

 

[staxwax]

Great episode.





Loved Steven Bauer as Don Eladio -shades of scarface- did anyone else catch that?

Don Eladio says to Gus:

"The only reason you are alive and he is not is because I know who you are. But understand, you are not in Chile anymore."

So, im assuming Gus was a big shot in Chile - Pinochet related? Henchman or anti Pinochet?


Anyway - after the murder of his best bud, Gus is out to destroy the cartel i think. Wars a'comin'.

'Is today the day?'

I took it as a quip.


Is this the day you're gonna croak, you old bastard? Guess not...





Gus loves that he's still around and gets to rattle sick old hectors cage and watch him eke out after what he did to maximilio.

 

[dollar_bin]

crabmongerfunk said:





my 2 cents is that it was strongly implied that gustavo and his associate were lovers (they mix the dark meat with the white meat, etc).







I disagree that this was strongly implied. I think that the implication is that they were as close as brothers, perhaps with elements of mentor/protege thrown in. I think the dark meat/white meat was just a reference to their different ethnic backgrounds. Then again, I'm not up on Latin American slang. Is mixing white meat with the dark meat some kind of prison sex act that I'm unaware of (and if it is, please don't bother describing it in detail, I'd rather not know).

 

[coffinjoe]

crabmongerfunk said:





why is a powerful/respected cartel member living in a nursing home where anyone can get at him? although he is severely infirm, we know he fully understands the world around him and can express his wishes to a certain degree...




got caught pissing in the pool ?

 

[fishmongerfunk]

dollar_bin said:crabmongerfunk said:





my 2 cents is that it was strongly implied that gustavo and his associate were lovers (they mix the dark meat with the white meat, etc).







I disagree that this was strongly implied. I think that the implication is that they were as close as brothers, perhaps with elements of mentor/protege thrown in. I think the dark meat/white meat was just a reference to their different ethnic backgrounds..




you could be right and not to split hairs but my take is that it was stated that they were as close as brothers but implied that they were much more than that. when you take into account the veiled insults from the cartel about the relationship between the two of them (i don't know if "mixing white meat and dark meat" is a particular slur about a mixed race couple but in context it makes sense), the point at which max is killed (in which he is stating the depth and nature of their relationship in ever increasing degrees of familiarity and intensity) and gus' reaction to the killing (even though he ordinarily has extreme self control) i think adds up to a romantic relationship. then again, i think there was also a deliberate attempt to make the relationship ambiguous so who is really to say except the writer?

 

[hogginthefogg]

crabmongerfunk said:you could be right and not to split hairs but my take is that it was stated that they were as close as brothers but implied that they were much more than that. when you take into account the veiled insults from the cartel about the relationship between the two of them (i don't know if "mixing white meat and dark meat" is a particular slur about a mixed race couple but in context it makes sense), the point at which max is killed (in which he is stating the depth and nature of their relationship in ever increasing degrees of familiarity and intensity) and gus' reaction to the killing (even though he ordinarily has extreme self control) i think adds up to a romantic relationship. then again, i think there was also a deliberate attempt to make the relationship ambiguous so who is really to say except the writer?




I took Gus's reaction to be a very legitimate one in that his close friend and associate was just murdered before his eyes, and now he has a gun to his head. You point out that he usually "has extreme self control," but I saw this scene as a glimpse of the Former Gus, one who scraped and bowed before Don Eladio, something he would never do now. Sure, he keeps up a mild-mannered appearance these days, but he does not grovel. I think that Maximo's murder marked the birth of the cold, heartless Gus. I think that, when Maximo died, something died in Gus and was replaced by an almost* unquenchable desire for revenge.





*"Almost" unquenchable, because I think Tio Hector's about to get his.

 

[bluesnag]

staxwax said:Great episode.





Loved Steven Bauer as Don Eladio -shades of scarface- did anyone else catch that?

Don Eladio says to Gus:

"The only reason you are alive and he is not is because I know who you are. But understand, you are not in Chile anymore."

So, im assuming Gus was a big shot in Chile - Pinochet related? Henchman or anti Pinochet?


Anyway - after the murder of his best bud, Gus is out to destroy the cartel i think. Wars a'comin'.

'Is today the day?'

I took it as a quip.


Is this the day you're gonna croak, you old bastard? Guess not...





Gus loves that he's still around and gets to rattle sick old hectors cage and watch him eke out after what he did to maximilio.




I did notice that! Not to mention Tio Hector being from Scarface too!

 

[keithvanhorn]

Guesses as to what we will find out about Gus's time in Chile? Either he was somebody's bitch or he was super-connected. One of those would explain why he wasn't killed.

 

[smokeahoma]

crabmongerfunk nailed this.....

 

[ost]

If we really get fussy & over analyze it, neither of the two have a Chilean accent. Gus' Spanish is pretty bad so how much of it is meant to be part of the story is another issue. Maybe Gus isn't really Latino & it's all just a cover for him to get in to the US via Mexico.





It makes no sense to me that they would end this show in one more season.

 

[coffinjoe]

with the news of cia & mexican cartel hi-jinx





maybe gus is a long time deep cover cia transitioning from fascist dictator work to black budget funding thru crystals


(explains were all the money goes)

 

[DocMcCoy]

Grandfather said:Maximo Arciniega is the name of the real person who played Crazy 8 in the first season.




Someone else who died too soon?

 

[The Raise Up]

I agree on Gus's accent, but could it be that he has lost the original intonation after living in the US for more than two decades? I can only draw on my experience with Dutch relatives that moved to Australia some decades ago, but when I hear them talking now they don't sound like people who grew up here, but more like foreigners trying to imitate a Dutch intonation in the way they speak their native language.





Then again it might be different for people living that close to the border with Mexico.





edit- wait that still doesn't explain his accent in the flashback scene from last week's episode, there goes my theory. Unless he never actually grew up in Chile of course.

 

[Grandfather]

Dam Gus is a bad bad man!


Really sucks that Gus' Chile back story didnt even get mentioned.


He really shows how pragmatic he can be. Decided to work with the Cartel after all.


Walt keeps pushing everyone out and his final scene with Jesse was gut wrenching. It seems like theyre over.





also this

 

[bluesnag]

Grandfather saidam Gus is a bad bad man!


Really sucks that Gus' Chile back story didnt even get mentioned.


He really shows how pragmatic he can be. Decided to work with the Cartel after all.


Walt keeps pushing everyone out and his final scene with Jesse was gut wrenching. It seems like theyre over.




I don't know, it has seemed like that before. I think there's too much time left in the show for them to actually be over. Somehow they're gonna reconcile.

Awesome!

 

[Guzzo]

I tend not to post in this thread but I'm super shocked that no one has spoken about Walt's trip to the doctor and how it cutaway without having a doctor talk about his condition.





The follow up at the dinner table left me wondering if he really is still in remission.

 

[staxwax]

Guzzo said:I tend not to post in this thread but I'm super shocked that no one has spoken about Walt's trip to the doctor and how it cutaway without having a doctor talk about his condition.





The follow up at the dinner table left me wondering if he really is still in remission.




He might not be with the "were dead men anyway" comments after smoking with jesse. I didnt find this last episode as stimulating as the previous one. seems like nothing really moved forward much, except for skyler bailing out her lover. Sure, there's 'continued tension' between walter, gus, mike and jesse (an increasingly far fetched set of relations), and the impending war with the cartel, but no real leaps for the plot. The scene with jesse and gus having dinner didnt do much for me. Am i wrong?

 

[edith head]

Grandfather said:

I died when Jesse asked Mike "what was up with Gus walking out there like that? that Terminator shit?"





This episode was well written. Memorable moments like when Skylar tells Ted to cough up the money and Ted says how? and drives off in like a geo metro. That was kind of an "Oh fuuuck" moment.





I loved Jesse not mincing words with Gus at his dinner. I'm also glad he beat up/stood up to Walt, who was being such a self-absorbed bully this season.

 

[keithvanhorn]

If Gus is only alive because the Cartel needs him, then why is he capitulating? Will they need him once they have the meth formula?

 

[jjfad027]

I think they need his distribution network also. Mike said something about that I think.








It's weird but Mike seems like he's becoming a more likable character. To me at least.