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Welcome to Los Pollos Hermanos

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under TV Reviews | Comments (14)

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Last week’s explosive episode, in which Hank beat the hell out of Jesse before later getting his karmic retribution from The Brothers, momentarily led us to believe that a quiet was upon us: Jesse and Walter are back together, The Brothers aren’t in the picture anymore, and Hank’s near-dead status would keep him from investigating the blue meth. For a while, anyway.

That path is primrose. Jesse and Walt are back together, sure, but every new relationship means there is a jilted former partner. My guess is that we haven’t seen the last of Walt’s lab assistant, Gale. He didn’t look too happy to be tossed aside for the jackassin’ Jesse, and there’s nothing more dangerous than a scorned physicist.

Meanwhile, Hank’s shooting seems to be slowly bringing Walt and Skyler closer together. The last two and a half seasons have made a man out of the timid school teacher, and the way Walt took charge in the hospital, especially with Marie, seemed like it gained him a lot of favor with Skylar, who by the end of the episode was sleeping on Walt’s shoulder. Marie, meanwhile, is blaming everyone but the actual shooters for Hank’s injuries. It doesn’t appear that any of this is going to take the heat off of Jesse; if anything, it’s only going to increase it, as many in the police department believe that Jesse had something to do with Hank’s shooting.

But the real story of last night’s episode was Gustav. Gustav, all legitimate and innocent-looking in his fast-food manager attire, is one fierce, mean motherfucker. Tuco and the Brothers were nothing compared to Gustav, and it seems like only a matter of time before Walt is pitted directly against Gustav. Last night, Gustav let Walt know that he knows all, and he remains three steps ahead of not just Walt but his own enemies, including the surviving brother and the Brothers’ boss, Juan, both of whom Gustav had taken out.

But if there’s anything we’ve learned from “Breaking Bad,” it’s that there’s always someone even further up the drug-dealing food chain.The Brothers’ boss, no doubt, has another boss, and we’ll have to see if that boss gets mixed up with Gustav. In the meantime, how long will Walt stay in Gustav’s good graces, particularly after firing Gale? It looks like Jesse has no intentions of playing nicely with Walt, either. Scenes from next week intimate that Jesse is going to do some double-dealing with his old dumbass gang. And at some point, Skylar is probably going to want Walt to avenge Hank’s shooting, which will probably bring Skylar into the fold and, perhaps eventually, Hank, too.

The circle is getting larger, and so is the noose. And that noose is starting to slowly close around Walt’s neck again. It’s hard to tell who has control of the situation right now, but my money is on Gustav.









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Comments

Unseen was what role Gus may have played in the death of the surviving brother. But some things you just know. No way was that guy getting out of there alive.

Walt, Jr.'s eyebrows are reaching Jennifer-Connelly-in-Rocketeer proportions.

Posted by: sansho1 at May 10, 2010 10:02 AM

Isn't the dude that slipped into the brother's room the skeevy lawyer's right hand man? He's always kind of shadowy and in the background.

Gus is for real.

I hadn't noticed Walt, Jr.'s eyebrows, but now that I think about it, sansho's right. Those things have gotten pretty epic.

Posted by: Mattfactor at May 10, 2010 10:06 AM

Unseen was what role Gus may have played in the death of the surviving brother.

I don't think it was unseen at all - his PI was at the hospital, there's no doubt Gus (I like to call him Mr. Cluck) had Cousin 2 killed.

One of the best things about BB are those moments when you don't know whether or not to laugh, like when Walt was at the cousin's hospital door amongst the crowd of cops, cousin spied him and began his low crawl toward the group. And then the quiet moments, like when Walt tried to level the table in the waiting room. I adore this show.

Posted by: Cindy at May 10, 2010 10:14 AM

People always like celebrities, but I think those in uniform deserve more respect. They defend our country and safeguard our policy. Join M i l i t a r y f l i r t i n g.c o m, show your love and respect to our military heroes.

Posted by: lily at May 10, 2010 10:16 AM

Isn't the dude that slipped into the brother's room the skeevy lawyer's right hand man?

Yes, his name is Mike and he's also connected to Gus. He called to have Gus warned that the cousins were after Walt. I'm pretty sure he was also the person who called to warn Hank he was about to be attacked.

Posted by: Cindy at May 10, 2010 10:19 AM

One of the best things about BB are those moments when you don't know whether or not to laugh

Or Pinkman's slow grin at the thought of Hank's critical condition when he is picked up by Skinny Pete.


there’s nothing more dangerous than a scorned physicist.

In terms of Gale, you mean chemist, though a scorned physicist who controls the LHC could really mess your day up.

Posted by: branded at May 10, 2010 11:02 AM

branded, that was definitely another cringe-worthy moment (not even counting how hard it is to look at Jessie's messed up face).

Posted by: Cindy at May 10, 2010 11:09 AM

I must have blinked when Mike went into the brother's hospital room. Oh well, I sort of liked my way better -- Gus was at the hospital, so of course the dude is now dead.

Posted by: sansho1 at May 10, 2010 12:00 PM

I must have blinked when Mike went into the brother's hospital room.

It was very easy to miss. We never actually see him in the room. After the cousin codes, and the DEA agents rush to see, they cut to Mike briefing walking in front of the camera and dropping something (presumably a needle) into the medical waste disposal container.

Posted by: branded at May 10, 2010 12:26 PM

It'd the nightmarish vertigo in Walt's world that always keeps me hooked. this show is unlike any other i have watched in its noirness. the spiral, the escalation, the frantic attempts to get back to something functioning or normal, while every movement brings things further out into the dark places.

you can almost feel the keening in Walt's ears as every moment is a timed play or an act, or some damage control movement. and he just sinks further into the quagmire

and all the while, you see the morality play running across people's facial expressions. jesse over the girl. skylar over the divorce, Hank over his obsessive pursuit of justice, and of course, Walt's over everything. and in the midst of all that drama, the cold fish eyes of The chicken man's cartel--where there is no morality play, just calculations and moves.

i'm amazed this show makes it onto tv. i wouldn't have thought it would have the audience.

Posted by: idleprimate at May 10, 2010 7:44 PM

When Jesse smiled his ugly, bratty little grin about Hank I wanted to go through the television and strangle him. Same with his "go toward the light comment".

I can't understand how anyone can sympathize with that character.

Please God let Hank get back in the game soon. He's the real protagonist though I like Walt most of the time.

Posted by: becks at May 10, 2010 8:03 PM

(obviously the quotation mark was meant to go before the word comment)

Posted by: becks at May 10, 2010 8:06 PM

Unseen was what role Gus may have played in the death of the surviving brother.

Gus said it best, "I hide in plain sight." The reason he was at the hospital was to lure the police officers away from the cousin so that Mike could get into the room. The hospital was crawling with police and the offer of free chicken was the only way to distract them. It's just like Gus to use a very public show of support for law enforcement as a ruse to sneak his assassin in.

Btw, I'm glad the cousins are dead. They were the worst characters on this show and almost ruined the series for me. Just totally unbelievable. The writers got lazy and decided they didn't want to write in real characters so instead they just used stock villains doing their best Terminator impressions. Everything from the tired introductory shot of their boots as they step out of the car to the shot of them walking away from an explosion in slow motion. Might as well have had giant, flashing, subtitles all in caps saying "THESE ARE BAD GUYS." The best part about this show is the moral ambiguity of the characters and the cousins totally worked against that.

Posted by: Borg at May 11, 2010 8:01 AM

What a great episode, maybe not as great as the one previous... but they're all good to me. Borg I'm going to disagree with you-- I think the brothers were a perfect addition to the mood and style of the show. One of the greatest things about this show is how all the actors can carry a scene and tell you exactly what they're thinking without saying a word. Especially Bryan Cranston. The brothers were so freakin scary because they had nearly no lines. I'm bummed that they died... I loved the opening scene from last episode showing the brothers as young boys. I wish they could have elaborated on their relationship more. I'm excited to see how the rest of the season develops.

Posted by: Ariana at May 11, 2010 11:38 AM