Hermanos (Breaking Bad)

"Hermanos" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the American television drama series Breaking Bad, and the 41st overall episode of the series. It originally aired on AMC in the United States on September 4, 2011.

Plot

During a pre-credits flashback sequence that takes place right after the deaths of Marco and Leonel Salamanca and Juan Bolsa (Javier Grajeda), Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) meets with Hector (Mark Margolis) and hints that he orchestrated their deaths out of revenge, infuriating the immobile Hector.

Gus is called to meet with the police and DEA, where he is asked about his fingerprints in Gale's (David Costabile) apartment. He explains that Gale was a recipient years ago for a UNM college scholarship in chemistry that he created, and Gale had invited Gus to his apartment for dinner and asked for money. Hank (Dean Norris) asks if Gus Fring is his real name, as there are no immigration records of anyone with that name in Chile, but Gus says he immigrated at the time of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, which was notorious for poor record keeping. The investigators are satisfied with his answers, but Hank still has doubts. Meanwhile, Skyler (Anna Gunn) begins to hide Walter's (Bryan Cranston) meth money in a crawl space below the house.

Hank later asks Walter to drive him to a mineral show, but reveals he really wants to go to Los Pollos Hermanos and have Walter plant a GPS tracker on Gus' car. Walter is nervous since he is already on poor terms with Gus and because Mike (Jonathan Banks) is watching him, but ultimately relents. Walter pretends to plant the tracker and goes into Los Pollos Hermanos, where Gus tells him to do it. He plants the tracker and leaves. Mike later tells Gus that Hank is acting on his own but he may pose a problem if Gus and the Cartel go to war. Walter warns Jesse (Aaron Paul) about Hank's investigation and again urges him to kill Gus, but realizes that Jesse is becoming loyal to Gus and may not do it.

A flashback to the 1980s in Mexico shows Gus and his business partner/close friend, Max (James Martinez), meeting with Hector, Juan, and their boss, Don Eladio (Stephen Bauer), where they pitch their methamphetamine in hopes of going into business with the Cartel. Max produces the meth and it is sold out of their restaurant, Los Pollos Hermanos, named after Gus and Max since they are as close as brothers. Although he likes the idea, Eladio feels Gus disrespected him by giving meth to his henchmen in order to manipulate him into a meeting. Hector shoots Max in the head and forces Gus down to face Max, telling him to look his partner in the eyes as he dies. Eladio tells a distraught Gus that he is not dead because Eladio knows who Gus really is. In the present day, Gus tells Hector to look at him so that he can further relish his vengeance, but Hector refuses to do it.

Production

Director Johan Renck, Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman and Lavell Crawford as Huell Babineaux at the Breaking Bad set

"Hermanos" was the first episode to delve into Gus Fring's back story, although much remains unexplained about the character's past in Chile, which Gus seems anxious to keep concealed in the episode. Series creator Vince Gilligan has said Fring was likely involved in the government of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, but that the writing staff had deliberately not determined the entire back story. Gilligan said he believed this would make Gus a more interesting and mysterious character, while simultaneously allowing the writers greater flexibility in writing for him in future episodes.^[1]

Reception

The episode received critical acclaim. Alan Sepinwall reviewing for HitFix praised the episode describing it as "another superb hour of season 4".^[2] Seth Amitin of IGN gave a rare 10 out of 10.^[3] Donna Bowman of The AV Club gave the episode a "B+".^[4]

Accolades

Due to his nomination, Giancarlo Esposito submitted this episode for consideration for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards.^[5]

References

External links

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

v t e Breaking Bad Created by: Vince Gilligan Characters Walter White Skyler White Jesse Pinkman Hank Schrader Saul Goodman Gus Fring Todd Alquist Episodes Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Related articles Awards and nominations Better Call Saul Metástasis AMC "to break bad" Quotations Media Database entry Category