On 09/19/2011 05:14 AM, turquoiseb wrote: > OK, you can skip this one if you haven't been watching "Breaking Bad." > It's not as if I'm going to give away a lot of spoilers, it's just that > if you haven't seen the series 1) you should see it uninfluenced by > other opinions, and 2) what I'm gonna say may not make a whole lot of > sense. It may not make a lot of sense to BB veterans, either, but it's > what I feel like rapping about in this cafe, just after having watched > the latest episode. :-) > > As much as the series is supposedly about "breaking bad," this is the > first episode in which I gotten a strong idea what exactly the series > creators feel that term means. I've been feeling this episode coming > ever since the episode in which they showed us some of Gus' back story. > He's been my favorite character in the series pretty much since he first > appeared. Which is odd in a way, because he's the most inaccessible > character in the series. Inaccessible in a Castanedan sense; if you > Google "Castaneda inaccessibility" what should come up is a photo of > Gus. > > Dude is inaccessibility incarnate. And whereas the whole series has been > about Walt and Jesse "breaking bad," and making the transition to Bad > Guys, neither really has. Gus has. In spades. We saw a little of his > transition two episodes ago, when we saw some of the past events that > shaped his life. We see more of *how* those events have shaped his life > in the way he runs his life -- and his business -- here and now. But in > this episode we get to see how someone who has *really* broken bad goes > about settling decades-old scores. Gus is a Class A, certified, > no-bullshit Bad Guy. He makes Michael Corleone in "The Godfather Part > II" look like a wuss. > > But the fascinating thing, as I viewed him in this episode through > Jesse's eyes, he's really a kind of Good Bad Guy. Gus has *ethics*. > Jesse has up to this point been viewing him as only a Bad Guy, and > assuming that when Gus tells him something, he's being manipulated by > him for his own ends. He fears him, knowing that he could -- and would > -- have him killed in a heartbeat if he crossed the line, but at the > same time over this last season we've been watching Jesse notice that, > despite his fears, Gus is actually an honorable guy. For a Bad Guy, that > is. > > As I look back on it mentally, not having had time to go back to > previous episodes to check yet, it occurs to me that Gus has very > possibly never lied to Jesse. When asked by Jesse, in their first > face-to-face meeting, why he's bothering to talk to him and not kill > him, as Jesse knows he has every right to do, Gus says something like, > "I see talent in people, and develop it." That, as it turns out, is > completely true. Gus saw something in Jesse that allowed him not only to > forgive his many transgressions, but "aim him" in a higher direction, > and help him become all that he could be. > > In this last season, we've been watching Jesse become more a surrogate > son to Gus than he is to Walt. Walt's been wallowing in narcissism and > self-importance, and has treated Jesse like shit. Gus has treated Jesse > not only with respect, but as it turns out in this episode, with a > genuine eye to shaping him to the man he thinks he can become. > > I doubt I'm imagining this father-son relationship thang, because the > foreground gangster showdown of this latest episode is juxtaposed > against Walt recovering from the beating Jesse gave him, having > face-to-face talks with his real son, and realizing what a shitty father > he's been. Both to his real son, and to Jesse. This is -- in TV parlance > -- a "game changer" of a television episode. *Everything* changes from > this point on. Great television. Hell, great cinema, period, since > television is producing better quality these days than movies are. This > is great cinema, period. With this episode "Breaking Bad" takes its > rightful place alongside the "Godfather" series in the depiction of Bad > Guys on the screen.
Interview with Giancarlo Esposito (who plays Gus). Note he uses yoga as part of his daily routine. Note, includes info about last nights episode. http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2011/09/giancarlo-esposito-interview.php
