Problem Dog (S4E7)

Jesse struggles with divided loyalties and his own conscience. Meanwhile, Hank decides to investigate Los Pollos Hermanos.

One of the most disappointing things about Breaking Bad is that while Aaron Paul is a phenomenal actor (maybe the best in the entire show), the writers always give him the same old material. Jesse’s story revolves around misery – rejected by his parents, repeatedly beaten and insulted, his best friend and lover both dead before their time. Paul does a great job depicting the trauma that would arise from these events, but people aren’t defined by what tragedies befall them. Characters are at their most engaging when they are allowed to make choices, and this episode finally presents Jesse with an interesting moral dilemma.

On one side you have Walter, whose relationship with Jesse has grown more and more antagonistic – it would be hard to even describe them as friends at this point. Walt has vowed not to cook if Jesse is killed, but that isn’t enough to sustain a connection. Walt did not help Jesse process the trauma of Gale’s murder, nor did he support his partner in regaining their sobriety.1Jesse may not have asked directly but he was clearly looking for an opportunity to talk through his emotions – that’s why he asked Walt to come go-karting back in Open House (Series 4, Episode 3). However, Walter does have one advantage in the battle for Jesse’s allegiance – Gus ordered the murder of Andrea’s brother Tomás, a literal child. How can an act of such evil go unpunished?

On the other side you have Gus and Mike and it is the latter who Jesse really wants to please. As we discussed back in Phoenix (Series 2, Episode 12), poor self-esteem compels Jesse to turn to others for emotional validation. His relationship with Jane allowed him to be less dependent on Walter and the same dynamic is now repeating with Mike. Even if Mike was initially ordered to take Jesse under his wing, there is now genuine affection between the two of them.2Gus forced Jesse to perform errands with Mike back in Shotgun (Series 4, Episode 5) – this culminated in a staged robbery for Jesse to foil in order to make him feel useful. I don’t think Jesse being handed a gun at the cartel meeting is a tactic to test his loyalty – Mike is making sure that none of his men are left vulnerable in the event of a shootout. Does Jesse want to jeopardise this fulfilling new relationship in order to appease Walt? Is he even sure that Gus had Tomás murdered? After all, the dealers could have been acting without orders.

The pressure on Jesse is made worse by a nagging feeling that he deserves to be punished – this is how I interpret his behaviour in the group therapy session, the last one he will ever attend.3It’s a shame we didn’t dedicate more time to Jesse confronting his emotions in these sessions, but I think the writers were worried about being compared to The Sopranos. At any time he chooses, Jesse could go to the police, confess to Gale’s murder and denounce his colleagues … but he doesn’t. The writers don’t feel the need to make it too explicit but they consistently portray crime as something that degrades you, a burden that makes your life harder. Jesse needs to confess his misdeeds – on some level he wants to – but right now he lacks the will to do so.

So Jesse goes to the therapy session, sharing the story of how he “shot a dog” without justification, knowing that it is going to get a negative reaction. He isn’t ready to hear the counsellor’s message that you have to accept the things you have done – Jesse thinks it is a call to reject guilt, rather than to assume responsibility. Having someone shout at him for killing an animal might bring some temporary relief, but it won’t solve anything – he needs somehow to find the courage to abandon his life of crime.

Odds and Ends

• Obviously, you can’t play Rage with a light gun but since it is a metaphor for Jesse’s trauma, I’ll let it slide.
• The car that Walt destroys was actually brand-new – the production team couldn’t find a second-hand model so they purchased a Dodge Challenger from a dealership, sold all the interior parts to offset the cost and then blew up the remaining shell.

• I didn’t pick up on this but the Best Quality Vacuum podcast made the connection between Walter doing doughnuts in the parking lot and Jesse doing laps in a go-kart in Open House (Series 4, Episode 3).
• Gus casually suggests to Walt Jr. that he work part-time at his restaurant and it is a great piece of characterisation – such an arrangement would give Gus a new source of leverage over Walter and it demonstrates how he is always thinking of new ways to best his opponents.
• The poultry farm where Gus holds his meetings was in fact a Cal-Maine facility on the outskirts of Albuquerque. By 2011, the site had been closed and was being prepped for demolition – the crew managed to film the last few scenes they needed while the buildings around them were being torn down!
• The cartel emissary who talks with Gus is also one of the men who ambushed the Los Pollos Hermanos truck in Cornered (Series 4, Episode 6).
• I really like Hank’s subplot – his plan for obtaining Gus’ fingerprints was genuinely clever and he does a good job explaining his theory to Gomez and ASAC Merkert. I always appreciate it when we see characters putting in the work necessary to accomplish their goals.

Hermanos (S4E8)

Hank confronts Gus about his connection to Gale and the drug trade. While his colleagues are satisfied, Hank remains suspicious.

When we were introduced to Gus Fring back in Season 2, he stood out from the other antagonists on the show. We rarely saw him get emotional and he was always careful to hide his intentions from other characters and (by extension) the audience.4Quite a contrast to Tuco Salamanca… This episode drops that precedent and give us an origin story for Gus, flashbacks included. The departure from formula was worth it however, because it allows us to discover a new motivator for Gus’ war on the cartel, one far more personal than mere profit.

We open with a return to the events of I See You (Series 3, Episode 8), with Gus visiting Hector Salamanca in his nursing home, all but boasting about how he orchestrated the deaths of his nephews and his former colleague Juan Bolsa. At first glance, you might wonder why Gus doesn’t just kill Hector as well. After all, he’s old, vulnerable and friendless – it wouldn’t be difficult. As we will soon learn though, Gus isn’t sparing Hector – he’s keeping him alive so he can break his spirit.

The writers then provide us with a few more tidbits of information in the police interrogation scene. We discover that Gus founded a scholarship in memory of Maximino Arciniega, “a dear friend of mine who died too young.”5A very efficient use of exposition, because it also explains how Gus met Gale and groomed him to be a meth cook. While we already know that Gus is a local philanthropist, this is the first time we have heard him affectionately refer to someone by name – this Max character clearly meant a lot to him. We also learn that Gus was born in Chile and did not emigrate to Mexico until 1986, implying that he has not always worked with the cartel. This begs the question: how did their relationship start?

This leads us to the final flashback of the episode, where Gus and Max meet Don Eladio, head of the cartel.6In another nod to Scarface‘s influence on the show, Eladio is played by Steven Bauer – he also portrayed Manny, the best friend of Tony Montana. This obviously took place a long time ago because not only is Hector able to walk and speak, meth production is still limited to American biker gangs. Gus wants to convince the Mexicans that methamphetamine is “the drug of the future” and that it can provide much larger profits than smuggling cocaine from Colombia. Unfortunately, Don Eladio is not interested and as punishment for Gus’ impertinence, he murders Max right in front of him.

It’s a heart-breaking scene, with Gus forced to look into the blank face of the man he rescued from the Santiago slums. After the episode aired, many fans assumed that Gus and Max had been lovers and according to the Breaking Bad Insider Podcast, the writers deliberately left their relationship ambigious. I’m not sure how I feel about this decision. On the one hand, it makes sense diegetically that Gus would try to hide his sexual orientation from the cartel. However, it just feels cowardly not to make the character gay – do we really need to use queercoding in a show about drug abuse and gang violence?!7I know that there is an episode of Better Call Saul that makes Gus’ sexuality more explicit, but that didn’t air until 2022 – eleven years later!

If I wanted to pick holes in the plot, I’d question why Gus starts working with Don Eladio after he murdered Max – surely there is no way he would willingly agree to that. That said, we are never told that Gus had a choice in the matter, and the cartel boss might have been arrogant enough to assume he could control the man who had an extremely strong motive to betray him.8The episode implies that Gus has powerful friends in Chile (possibly even members of Pinochet’s government) but that still doesn’t negate the substantial risks of working with him. It’s not really a valid complaint though – Season 4 is basically about Gus’ war with the cartel, and I would not want the writers to throw out an incredibly affecting backstory for one that makes slightly more logical sense.

Odds and Ends

• We see the return of swimming pools as visual metaphor, with Max’s blood befouling the water. If I recall correctly, the last time the writers did something like this was Walter removing a band-aid from the motel pool in Caballo sin Nombre (Series 3, Episode 2).
• I love the juxtaposition of Walter being rude and dismissive to his fellow cancer patient9Another example of Walt refusing to do emotional labour – the young man was clearly scared and wanted to confide in someone. Walt is of course not obliged to reassure him, but is it so hard to be nice for a few minutes?! – declaring that you must “Never give up control … that’s how I live my life” – and a mere twenty minutes later, the writers have him trembling and stammering before Gus.

• Hank casually asking Gus whether Gustavo Fring is his real name might be one of my favourite moments in all of Breaking Bad. It’s also the first time we see Gus truly flustered, and it establishes very effectively how much of a threat Hank poses to his operation.
• I really like the discussion between Saul and Jesse in the car – you can tell that Saul thinks Jesse is making a mistake, and that everyone would be a lot happier if he got back together with Andrea.

Please use spoiler tags in the comments, as some Avocadians are watching Breaking Bad for the first time