Face Off (Breaking Bad)

"Face Off" is the thirteenth episode and season finale of the fourth season of the American television drama series Breaking Bad, and the 46th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on AMC in the United States on October 9, 2011.

Plot

After failing to kill Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) via car bomb, Walter (Bryan Cranston) removes the bomb and asks Jesse (Aaron Paul) if he knows of a place that Gus frequents that does not have security cameras. Before Jesse can think, he is taken in for questioning by two detectives regarding his knowledge of Brock's ricin poisoning. Saul (Bob Odenkirk) has gone into hiding, so Walter breaks into his office for his help, where Saul's secretary Francesca (Tina Parker) asks for $25,000 in exchange for Saul's contact information. Walter goes home to retrieve the cash, but suspects hitmen may be waiting for him. After asking his neighbor to check on the house, he spots two men fleeing from the backyard, confirming his suspicions. Walter retrieves the money before the hitmen can spot him.

Jesse is interrogated for a long time about the ricin, but he claims that it was a lucky guess. Having been contacted by Walter, Saul finally arrives. Jesse tells Saul that Gus often visits Hector (Mark Margolis) to taunt him, which Saul relays to Walter. Walter visits Hector and offers him a chance to kill Gus. Hector contacts the DEA, where he insists on talking directly to Hank (Dean Norris), but he just curses at Hank through his interpretor and is quickly brought back to the nursing home. Tyrus (Ray Campbell) observes Hector's departure at the DEA, assumes he is turning informant and phones Gus, who decides to kill him. Tyrus inspects Hector's room for anything suspicious but finds it safe for Gus' visit, failing to spot Walter just outside. Jesse is released from police custody after Brock's diagnosis reveals that he was not poisoned by ricin, and is immediately kidnapped by Gus' thugs and brought to the lab to cook the next batch of meth.

Gus and Tyrus corner Hector in his room. Gus asks Hector to finally look at him, which is something Hector refuses to do during Gus' taunting visits. As Gus prepares to inject Hector with poison, Hector finally looks at him, and begins ringing his bell numerous times. Gus realizes the bell is connected to Walter's car bomb under Hector's wheelchair and the bomb explodes, killing Tyrus and Hector instantly. Gus walks out of the room, calmly adjusting his tie appearing to be unharmed; but the camera then pans to reveal that half of his face and scalp were torn completely off in the explosion. He then collapses and dies as nursing home personnel come running to the site of the explosion. Walter hears the news of the explosion on the radio and is relieved that his plan to draw Gus out into the open and kill him apparently worked. He then heads to the lab and kills two of Gus' henchmen stationed there. Walter and Jesse then burn down the lab.

Later, Jesse tells Walter that Brock will live, and that he was poisoned by the berries of the Lily of the Valley plant, since children sometimes eat it because of its sweet taste. Although Jesse questions killing Gus because he never poisoned anyone after all, Walter assures Jesse that it had to be done. Walter calls Skyler (Anna Gunn), who is learning of the explosion from the news, along with the rest of the family; Walt tells her everything is safe, and that he "won". The episode ends with a shot of Walter's back yard showing a potted Lily of the Valley plant that Walter's gun pointed towards in the previous episode.

Production

The plot wrap-up was planned by the series' production team since the beginning of the season, partly because they were not certain at the time whether the series was going to renew for another season. Specifically, the visual effect of Gus Fring's massive facial wounds took months to prepare, with assistance from the special effects team from fellow AMC drama The Walking Dead.^[1] The effect was produced using elaborate make-up on Giancarlo Esposito's face, combined with CGI that took two separate shots and combined them seamlessly.

The songs playing throughout the episode were "Black" by Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi, "Goodbye" by Apparat and "Freestyle" by Taalbi Brothers.

References

External links

• "Face Off" at the official Breaking Bad site
• "Face Off" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Face Off" at TV.com