13:18 I also love the scene where Gus invites Walt to dinner at his house and you can see toys strewn about in the background, and Gus makes a passing reference to 'children'. But then when Jesse goes to Gus's house, the toys are gone and there is no mention of a larger family. It's because there never were any children. Gus was just giving that impression to Walt to appeal to him as a family man, which he knew was his justification for cooking the meth.
Oh my goodness i never caught that. I always wondered about this too like when gus died. I thought, what about his wife and kids, what are they gonna do? Why have we never seen them? At first i thought lydia was his wife but then learned shes another business associate
@Keksz1234 He invests in his best meth cook. Also, it seems he invites Walt to his house only ONCE. Buying a few toys is a cheap way of maintaining a charade and create that impression of a family man, exactly the sort Walt would get along with and could, perhaps, even feel sympathy for. A simple trick, but effective.
The Best part about Gus is that the audience makes the same mistake everyone else does with Gus. We all presume that he is strictly about business and doesn't let himself be swayed by emotion. However, we find out over time that he is a deeply vengeful, hateful, and brutal individual.
Of course: Walt is a true addict, and narcicist. But:, while his "chain reactions" are extremely unstable, volatile, and explosive, being the person that he is: The final product, his drug, is 99.9% clean. - Being able, by the pure force of his will, to say , at the end of his life , "I am Who I am" , as the truly Faustian single God/Devil of his own fate; without even a single compromise. This even allowed him to overcome a truly cosmic force, like "Revenge is a dish best served at the average temperature of the Universe" , as it is indeed far less clean, and already compromised in itself.
It's interesting because both walter and gus's ambition are driven by emotional weaknesses (ego/revenge) and these weaknesses also lead to both of their downfalls, with gus's petty revenge exposing him to danger, and walter's ego clouding his judgement and getting him into more and more danger
Gus seemed more like a man NOT swayed by emotion because he had a uncaring attitude. Didn't give a damn about anything or anyone. Even getting half of his face blown off he walked calmly out the room before he collapsed. SCARY.
Gus Fring is hands down one of the best villains ever put to screen, and it comes from the combination of his cold, callous, and inhumane approach to being a crime boss as well as the mask he puts on as the owner of Los Pollos Hermanos. His introduction to the audience in Breaking Bad is genuinely one of the most terrifying moments in TV history because Giancarlo Esposito effortlessly puts on and takes off the mask, making Gustavo Fring somebody you will never get a one-up on because he knows how to play the game.
He was evil with no feelings, it seems. When he did that man's neck and when he got half of his face blown off he kept a perfectly normal face. Like nothing happened.
There was a scene where Gus tends to the twin cousins at the restaurant, and the switch he makes from smiling at the employee he sends from the table to the cold glower that he directs to the cousins, is a vital insight to the dual modes in which he can effortlessly operate and switch between at a moments notice
How the hell did they manage to create so many great characters? Walt,Jesse,Saul,Kim,Gus,Mike,Lalo,Nacho,Hank, Howard, Hector... maaan the list goes on. Almost all of them are among the greatest characters ever created and this only from two shows. Truly mind-boggling Loving the BB/BCS output. Thank u for giving this show the deserved attention
@Trae Beneck No. BrBa doesn't have sexism issues: some fans do, because they stick to society's "b*tch" narrative, and so they interpret Skyler as such, while the series never portrayed her as such.
The box cutter scene was additionally terrifying due to how Gus was completely silent THE WHOLE TIME. His mind was already made up about what he was going to do and Walts pleas were completely ignored because they wouldn't change what was about to happen. The silence secured the inevitable horror. And the only thing he does say? After he's killed Victor, put his business attire back on, and is about to leave? "Well? Get back to work". The complete expression of corporate sociopathy, where efficiency and practicality trumps humanity and compassion.
@bunny hospital it was also because victor got himself seen at the scene of gale's crime. Walt suspects it was to send a message, which it was, and later that it was because victor flew too close to the sun with the cook, which is also possible, but victor was now on a wanted poster. Either way he had to go
The fact that Mike een draws his weapon on Gus when he does this just goes to show how shocking and terrifying it was to the characters as well. Gus is truly a menace.
I love the fact that Walt is the one that says he and Gus are a lot alike, and Gus is the one who says they're aren't alike, when in other stories it's usually the villain saying it to the hero
@mankytoes exactly, the *only* thing that actually separates them is their experience and level of desperation, Gus could afford to play the long game to get revenge on the cartel, Walter was on a strict time limit to make as much money as possible for his family.
The funny thing is, deep down, they are alike in that they're fundamentally motivated by emotion, not rationality, which is how they present themselves. Gus is just far, far better at hiding it. But ultimately everything he does serves one of the most emotional motivations of all- vengeance.
I think Gustavo Fring was the character that really changed the way Giancarlo acted. When he played Moff Gideon and Stan Edgar for example, he had the same soulless look and coldness. I just can't keep thinking of Gus when i see him appear in any other show.
Nah Giancarlo is a very versatile actor at his core, he just got type-casted a bit after playing Gus. Look up his role in Do The Right Thing as Buggin Out and his role as Esteban in Fresh (1994). Very different from Gus and well-acted.
His role in Payday 2 as The Dentist is one of the more unique ones with that in mind. He’s far less violent, a lot more charismatic, and incredibly mysterious to the point where his presence in the world was only made apparent once, from the mouth of a man that was bleeding out after a botched Bank Heist. In the end it turns out that he’s a fallen angel that’s been working in the shadows of Human History for tens of thousands of years, reincarnating every few decades into historical figures such as Ben Franklin and Heinrich Himmler, and now he’s essentially The Illuminati and he has his own Diamond Dogs-esque PMC that he uses to assert his control over the entire world from the shadows. In some regards, the guy is essentially a Satan or an Anti-Christ figure in the Payday universe.
Yeah that's probably more because people saw him do great as Gus and wanted to cast him for similar roles. While Gus probably did change acting for him it was likely in more subtle and technical ways than just appearing soulless and dignified
I've heared that Giancarlo Esposito was 1st cast as an extra on Breaking Bad who given a few lines of dialoge. He was ment to be the owner of a fast-food chain and nothing more. However, Giancarlo desided to preform the role in such a way as if his character had something to hide, so when it came to test screening, the test audience really gravitated towards Gus. The showrunners than offered to give Giancarlo a few cameos in future episodes, but Giancarlo turned them down and each time the showrunners offered him more he said no. Eventually the showrunners gave him the oportunity to become part of the main cast, which Giancarlo excepted. TL;DR: Giancarlo Esposito is a meta-gamer.
The cheapest tactics a writer can use in creating a villain, is to make them utterly repulsive and hated by the reader/audience, to the point where the character is an annoyance. Gus fring is the complete opposite of this, we never really felt any sort of resentment towards him, at certain points i even rooted for Gus, and respected him, all the while still viewing him as a formidable antagonist.
@mankytoes he wasn't annoying in the way he said that. Like he didn't evily glare at Walt and start describing how he's gonna kill the baby while laughing. He's just emotionless, yet rageful at the same time. Gustavo never made me angry in the sense of "OMG this character is so annoying can he just die already"
Gus has gotten way too much of a anti-villain treatment. because the subtext goes over the viewers heads. For many viewers, Gus seems rather sympathetic, as his enemies wronged him greatly, and his enemies are more horrible than he is. But Let's not forget the important fact that Gus was a drug trafficing general in a dictatorship. A role that you can not hold, without getting your hands dirty. Even before Max was killed, Gus most likely got his hands dirty and executed people (explaining why slitting his own goons throat, comes so naturally to him). I'm more than sure that Gus was a monster back in Chile, and the Salamanca's only killed Max, to show Gus that this is no longer Chile, and he is no longer a generalisimo, thus he needs to learn his place.
@idk tbh lol smh If you knew what you were talking about, you'd realize that in spite of his generally racist/discriminating ideology, Pinochet was not at all above greed and vanity. He cut massive deals with communist countries and introduced drugs in poor neighborhoods so as to help the US' war on drugs campaign and also keep the population debilitated and disorganized from the bottom. Sure, Gus is black (though this may be due to Giancarlo being the perfect actor for the role, not necessarily a narrative point), but even then it is entirely realistic for him to have scaled up the ranks in Chile's military regime.
@idk tbh lol smh Gus doesn't seem like the type who the glass ceiling could hold down for very long. I could see him blackmailing his way to a high rank for example
@Mike Spearwood well yea obviously cartel knew abt him they wouldnt meet with him without searching him up at all otherwise. And remember that after Max got killed Eladio told Gus in that same scene that hes only alive because he knows who he is, and that hes not in Chile anymore
I actually met Giancarlo Esposito on his way to the Emmy's on monday. He's an amazing actor. He is very capable of putting on a badass performance when he needs to, and be the nicest celebrity I ever met behind the camera. He's truly awesome and I really want to see him somewhere big anytime soon. Man he's badass.
@French Guitar Guy Nah. If Gustavo just wanted Hector dead, he'd have someone kill him. Remember, Gus knew well that someone, probably Walter, was out to get him. If he was acting rationally, he wouldn't take the risk of doing it himself, but the truth is, Gus needed to have his personal revenge and that's why he tried to do it himself.
Gustavo isn't driven by his pride, but he's driven by his resentment towards Hector Salamanca and, in the end, that is what gets him killed. This is about as much of an ego-driven character as Walter.
Although Gus was far from purely logical. At the end of BrBa and the entirety of BCS, one of his main driving motivations is revenge against the Salamancas
I've heard Gus described as a reflection of corporate evil. Dispassionate, goal driven, competitive, and with strong performance expectations in subordinates.
@el generico agreed. I hate how whenever people describe how Gus is the embodiment of corporate companies and business men, they blatently miss out that the only reason he's even doing all this is simply for revenge.
Except he isn't. Gustavo's is not driven by profits and buisness. This is his work-facade, this is what he shows to Walter, Mike and Gale to present himself as their boss, this isn't the real him. But this isn't the real him. The real Gustavo is driven by his immense resentment towards the Cartel and, more specifically, Hector Samalanca. That is why, even knowing for a fact that he has Walter trying to kill him, he decisides to personally kill Hector after Hector meets with the DEA. Had Gus been driven by profits alone, he would be patient, use his contacts to find out what exactly Hector told them and, after realizing he told them nothing, would go back to mentally torturing him. And even if he wanted him dead, he'd have someone do it. But no, Gustavo needs his revenge and now that Hector angered him once again, he needs to have it personally, that's why he makes the mistake of getting in a room with Hector and that's why he dies.
That's only his facade though. Deep down he's extremely passionate, going to incredible lengths to get the most horrific revenge on Hector and the Cartel.
Imagine watching Do The Right Thing and seeing a guy freak out about pictures in a pizza shop and thinking "Man, this guy should play one of TV's greatest bad guys."
My favorite villains are the ones that have presence, they steal the show just by being in a scene, without needing to say a word, and Gus Fring is perfect in this regard, and any other metric you want to judge villains by
I feel I (and a lot of viewers of BB before a few years ago) got to experience the very first Pollos scene in a really unique way that I'm not sure many people will get to have a similar experience on first viewing nowadays. Let me elaborate When I was a kid I didn't know Giancarlo Esposito as an actor at all. I started watching BB at like 13/14 maybe. Flash forward to the first Pollos scene. Gus, to me, is truly just a background character in my first-time-viewing eyes. Exactly as he's meant to be percieved by the people around him as just a non threat fast food manager. If you remember, Pollos was just the meeting place for the person Saul set up for Walt. No one knew it was the manager. It was just really cool, being decieved by something like that on your first view. Fast forward to nowadays when everyone knows Giancarlo and memes about Gus. On first view for most people, there's no mystery. Obviously a famous villain in everything else (The Boys, Far Cry, Mandalorian, etc) they'd know Giancarlo was the person Walt would meet. Plus, so many Gus memes make sure even some people that have never seen Breaking Bad know about Gus because of the memes. His character in the show is just less covert nowadays than what he was 10 years ago or what year the show first featured him.
In some ways I think this ruined the reveal but in others I think it somewhat enhanced it. Now, instead of wondering who it is they're going to meet, you wonder immediately why he acts this way, why he chooses to be so secretive yet also so open to the public eye. You immediately have hype mixed in with fear and mistrust because you know that's the big bad but if nothing else has been spoiled for you, you can only tell that there is something out of place about him.
I must be one of the few BB/BCS fans who actually liked Gus. He was always fair- until he was crossed. He was far kinder to Walt than Walt deserved, and it was his kindness toward Walt that got him killed.
He's magnificent and genuinely scary. And he is in many ways the man Walter White is evolving into. It's almost like Heisenberg is there in front of Walt in another body.
7:32 WOW I never thought of their conflict like that. They're feeding off of each others strength until only one of them remains. Their relationship is both symbiotic and parasitic. They need each other to achieve their goals, but those goals also include the destruction of the other.
Gus is one of my favorite villains ever. I remember the scene where he's talking to Juan. You think it really is Feds outside his house. I remember yelling at the TV, for Gus to get back inside. I expected to see someone come out of nowhere, and assassinate em. Then Juan is threatening to pay him a visit, and then comes the surprise. It's not Feds outside his house, it's Gus's guys. He beat them to the punch. The exact opposite of what I expected. I still love that scene. That's only topped by exacting revenge on the cartel. Then there's the way he played the DEA. Bringing them all lunch just as a distraction, so Mike could finish off the surviving twin. Gus rocked as a villain.
"Gus is an empire-builder and a great inspiration and motivation to Walter White - whether Walt would admit it or not." ―Vince Gilligan ALERT SPOILERS ALERT SPOILERS ALERT SPOILERS ALERT SPOILERS A defining characteristic of Gus is the friendly and low-key exterior he maintains; he takes an active role in managing his front businesses and personally supervises employees and serves customers at his Los Pollos Hermanos restaurants. Quiet and humble, he is incredibly cautious about with whom he does business and keeps a very healthy distance from the product he sells in order to appear almost invisible. Despite being a multi-state meth distribution mastermind, Gus carefully maintains a public profile of propriety: noticeably, he is. a major booster for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and has made large donations to the agency's Albuquerque office. Gus is so successful, in large part, because of his cautious nature - he plans ahead and has the patience to let his business grow slowly. As part of his scheme to "hide in plain sight", he drives a modest dark blue 1998 Volvo V70. However, Gus is ruthless and machiavellian in managing his vast drug empire, keeping the entire operation under his icy control. Gus admires professionalism and caution in his colleagues, and is generally calm and calculated. He employs a number of enforcers and has personally killed rivals and associates, making him a dangerous, cold-blooded murderer. In interviews, Giancarlo Esposito said he made the choice to make Gus "graceful." He described him as "someone who is poised to take over the cartel, someone who is poised to manipulate other people into doing what he needs them to do." Gustavo doesn't trust anyone who isn't as cautious as he is, as they are too unpredictable, and he prides himself on being several steps ahead at all times. Gus is thus controlled, cold, powerful, and menacing. Even someone like Walter White, at its moment, was terryfied about what Gus could do to both himself and his family due to having proven it before by killing Victor, one of his closest and most reliable employees, right in front of his eyes without any hesitation. There is a fair amount of information that is unknown about Gus's past. Gus left Chile in 1986, the same year in which the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front attempted to assassinate Augusto Pinochet. Although there are no existing Chilean records of Gus, there are two instances which demonstrate his possible involvement in the Pinochet government: Hector Salamanca refers to Gus as "Grand Generalissimo" in a flashback, and Don Eladio tells Gus that he is "not in Chile anymore", but spares his life because he knows who Gus really is. A possible interpretation of Don Eladio's line is that they spare Gus because killing him could put them at risk of being subject to retaliation that their association with the cartel cannot protect them from. Gus appears to be quite proud of his Chilean roots, even preparing Paila Marina, a traditional Chilean seafood dish, for both Walt and Jesse. He tells Walt "it's just like my mother used to make it." Gus has shown to possess an obsessive-compulsive disorder, in this case that would be his tendency to have everything perfectly clean and controlled by himself. Gus does not tolerate when something is not going as he planned it to be. Right after learning about Gale's death, he went to his meth lab, where at that moment Walter and Jesse were restrained as hostages, and before killing Victor, he is seen changing completely his outfit to avoid getting it dirty and covered with blood, and right after Victor's demise Gus changed again his outfit and even took a shower to put his suit again and cleaned up his glasses. His obsession with cleanliness is probably due to his childhood, which was strongly marked by poverty. This is further seen in Better Call Saul, when Gus was being threatened and scared by the posible return of Lalo Salamanca, to keep himself in calm he begins to clean up his own house and the kitchen of Los Pollos Hermanos attempting to leave them perfectly clean. Also, before going to his laundry and face Lalo, Gus takes off the tye he was wearing to ensure it doesn't get covered by blood or anything elsw. Gus is also a man of honor as he reimburses any damages done to the property of his employees such as their cars when performing duties he requires them to. He is even seen emphatic with Jesse due the suffering he was going through because of Brock's condition, offering to Jesse use his influence to give the kid the best medical treatment and letting him return to the lab the next week. While having no problem killing someone, Gus seems to not enjoy doing it and only enjoy killing people that did something to him, like Eladio Vuente. Even in dangerous situations, he keeps his apathetic head. The only times that Gus did lose his cool, however, was moments before his death when he discovered Hector was a suicide bomb to kill him and when he fought Lalo in the superlab, repeatedly pulling the trigger on his gun even after running out of bullets and looking terrified. However, Gus has been shown to genuinely care about people, noticeably Max Arciniega (the other "hermano" of the Los Pollos Hermanos brand name), who Gus took off the streets of Santiago, put through school, cared for and was interested in developing his potential. The humanity of Gus' personality played an integral role in his development, especially the very deep business and romantic relationship that Gus had with Max. The brutal loss of Max at Hector and Eladio's hands is partially what turned Gus into a ruthless villain, who is not above anything when it comes to avenging Max's death, including the murder of children (like Tomàs Cantillo) and the gradual killing of Hector's entire family. However, his dedication to avenging Max's death would ultimately be Gustavo's one and ultimate weakness which would lead to his own violent demise and the destruction of his drug empire. “What does a man do, Walter? A man provides for his family. (...) When you have children, you always have family. They will always be your priority, your responsibility. And a man... a man provides. And he does it, even when he's not appreciated. Or respected. Or even loved. He simply bears up, and he does it. Because he's a man."― Gustavo Fring manipulates Walter White into working for him.
Gus is just inspiring because of how coldblooded he has become. The evolution of his character trough out better call saul and breaking bad is astonishing.
Hey man I’m glad to see you get the engagement and views you deserve! I think you’re channel has better analysis and insight compared to 90% of other film channels and it’s cool to see you grow so fast! Best of luck in the future and keep up the good work
Superior take 👏 Everyone talks about how scary Lalo was (he absolutely was of course) but I will never forget the scene where Gus cuts Victor's throat, it lived with me all during BCS, despite Gus' becoming that monster, I sh!t every time he's onscreen. I'll remember Gus Fring forever
This is also why stan Edgar in the boys to show is also so good. The writers also were genius for picking the only man who could possibly play the role correctly
What i love about the Breaking bad and Better Call Saul universe is that the villians are more rooted for than the heroes. You can say that even the main character is also a villian.
Gus is one of the best villains ever. And his front he puts on is so convincing we completely dismissed him when he first appeared. He carries himself in such an unassuming way, almost everyone around him is unaware of who he really is.
I love how Gus took out all of the cartel but I was glad when Walt took him out. Loved how he went all out on taking out Eladio even risking his life to do it, especially with what happened when Eladio killed his partner. Its crazy how much of a long game he played on the cartel taking them all out. Loved that Hector got his revenge on him even though he is such an evil, nasty old man. I felt bad for Nacho though, he seemed like his life could have been so different if he hadn't got roped into the cartel. Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad and El Camino are an amazing trillogy of this whole franchise.
I agree with this great analysis! Your videos on this show are always top notch. I have to say, I was confused/dissapointed when they didn't fill in more of his backstory in S6, but now I get it. Gus would (probably) lose much of his terror and mystery if his entire backstory was spelled out.
The actor Giancarlo Esposito excels in his role as Gus Fring and I wish he gets all the plaudits that the profession of his craft can bestow. Meanwhile Vince Gilligan and his team of creators, writers and directors are true geniuses and I look forward to what they shall do next.
These are the best types of villains imo! I actually thought the best scenes were when Walt visited Los Pollos Hermanos without knowing that Gus was his man. Oh, I hope you do a video essay on the King Pin and portrayed by Vincent D'onofrio. The hero/villian dynamic in that show was intensely interesting as well.
Gus Fring was a terrifying villain because he looked so unassuming. If you ran into him in a dark alley, you wouldn't feel threatened at all, but if you criss him, God help you
I discovered this channel yesterday and watched all of the videos uploaded, your analysis on my favorite shows is mindblowing, this one was no different 👏
I agree that Gus Fring is among the all time great villains. He ranks with Michael Corleone of The Godfather movies. Both share many traits, although I still think Michael is better as we watch his full transformation take place from naive youngest son of the Don to irredeemable monster at the end of Godfather 2. Even his failure at redemption in Godfather 3 adds to his story arc. But Fring is truly exceptional. For television Tywin Lannister may be his only peer.
Extremely inciteful. I already appreciated the character of Gus Fring. But you explained the character so that I appreciated him even more. Incredible writing and acting. Great show! Thanks for your observations. :)
Great breakdown of Jesse. I rarely have the same perspective as the audience so I can miss the writers intentions sometimes. I placed value on his bad choices and missed the manipulation. I never saw him as a loser but someone who could take responsibility for each individual decision, so these arcs just never panned out for me. Now I see a lot of myself in Jesse, minus the gullable. I'm an ass hole and I respond to that pain from isolation by saying....nope not again lol. But yeah people who make it to my circle have a loyal compassionate one. Fuck babies and puppies lol that's real love
A nice guy but hard in buissenes. Iconic character and good actor. His perfection in wardrobe, details and all things. But the most scary villian last time for me was the Homelander.
It’s the freaking writing from these scary talented writers and directing from Vince Gilligan that just captured everything to its highest potential. Nothing about BB and BCS needs change. Most shows you always think “what ifs” because of inconsistent writing or they do the wrong opposite of what the audience expects. This show gives you what you expect but better. You expect things to go wrong, yet they still surprise you when something does. Absolutely love everything about the breaking bad universe and truly hope Vince Gilligan and Gould fill another project with this much precision and love.
It has been a while since I watched the series. I definitely remember the scene where he killed Victor, but I didn't remember the camera focusing on Mike and showing how even he was shocked and terrified
One thing to mention about Gus and Jesse's relationship is that Gus is shown actively growing to appreciate Jesse more when he starts independently showing traits he respects, like high standards of hygiene in cooking.
For me it was an odd feeling watching BCS (finished first five seasons) as I saw Gus more as the villain than I did in BB where he already had established everything and just wanted to keep it save and grow.
Perhaps the smartest villain, but definitely not the most evil villain. Gus is a thinker, with a mind to become independent, not dependent on the cartel. He doesn't create violence, but he responds very effectively to it. There is a large emphasis on food and food preparation in this movie and Better Call Saul.
We never do find out who Gus was in Chile’ in spite of TONS of foreshadowing in both the BB universe based TV series. This bothers me, and I’m sure it bothers Vince Gillian too. I guess we’ll see how much it bothers him sometime in the near future. We all know he said the BCS finale was the end to the Breaking Bad saga, but an El-Camino type feature length story about Gus Fring before he was Gus Fring, coming to prominence if some type in Chile’ before having to leave and start a new life for some reason. Wouldn’t that be cool!!
As much as I want to know more about Gus, I think that's sort of the point. I worry that adding more context to Gus would make the character much less impactful as part of what makes him so terrifying is his mysterious history.
They say that the ability to delay gratification is a key element in predicting success. And by that metric, Gus is certainly one of the most successful villains ever.
The very importance of Gus's lover getting killed in front of him / not being able to properly mourn (in the closet?) was the simmering underground city fire that made him so ruthless. Its fascinating how throughout the 12 years- they gave him NO romantic partner- until the hint of one at the end of better call saul with the wine guy. Even with that he was like bye felicia. Fascinating the lack of actual personal life he had- like what DID he do for a hobby. I think the most terrifying idea about him is that he was like this 24/7 and only did what he did for himself.
When I first watch the part where Gus gave the speech about how a man provides for his family, I thought that he was genuinely giving Walter an advice base on his personal experience, because maybe he was also a family oriented man and I thought that perhaps he was what Walter could've become if he was on the criminal empire business on the earlier stage of his life. Like an evil mirror of Walter or something. But as the show progress I realized that it was all but a tactic to take advantage of Walt's ego and pride, it just shows that how far and different Gustavo is to Walter, although given how it turns out in the end of the season, didn't really expect Walter to be as evil or far worse than him.
One of the best scenes is the fact that Mike pulls the gun on gus in Boxcutter, and that wasn’t even in script. The scene was so dramatic and intense, he pulled his gun and pointed it at Fring.
It's fascinating that the same thing which drove Gus to be so cautious and calculating and patient is also what led to his demise; vengeance and hatred. He is all about hiding what's beneath his mask of calmness, friendlyness and politeness, but if he had killed of hector after having wiped out his entire family (instead of keeping him alive to suffer), he wouldn't have created the opening for walter...Hector hated Gus enough to collaborate with Walt, who was involved in the death of Tuco, and it was Gus' one flaw that brought him down.
The have the perfect villain you must not only have the perfect writing, but the PERFECT actor! Imagine anyone else attempting to be Gus Fring, they could never.
I think the 2 best things to happen to breaking bad well 3 were not really planned, Jesse was supposed to die s1, Mike was made because Saul actor Bob wasn't available that day to work and Gus because Tucos actor couldn't do the role anymore because it was affecting him mentally. I'd love a spinoff Gus show that shows his struggles all the way up
Given who Giancarlo actually is makes his role as Gus even more interesting to me.. At Comic Con San Diego you could not find a more engaging, playful, and funny person. He's been doing great work since the early 80's in movies like TAPS with Tom Cruise and Sean Pean..
Gus and Emperor Palpatine actually have a lot of parallels now that you mention it. There's a similar story there of building an empire and pulling off seemingly impossible feats of manipulation, only to be killed in a moment of power when he least expects it by a crippled broken man he thought he had utter control over.
imo he is the most tragic character in the universe. He clearly loved max and when max died so did he. All that was left was his genius and his hatred which he used for one of the most fascinating vengeance sequences ever put to sceen
When I was a kid I went to the opening of Shane in 1953. When I left the theatre I told myself (even as a kid or an adult) that I would never see a bad guy in the movies again that would ever live upon to the bad guy I just saw in Shane. He was Jack Palance. And then years down the road Jack Palance was finally replaced with "Gus Fring".
I know the greatest villain thing is just for clickbait. He’s certainly one of the best villains though, but personally for me, while extremely well executed, his character is too basic conceptually for him to truly be the best of the best. Also it depends if you count morally righteous antagonists as a “villain” technically, and main characters cause it further opens the pool of characters. If you include morally bad protagonists as villains then he does compare to some of the best there. I personally don’t rank them all together because it’s too difficult. Regardless amazing videos as always, you’re so underrated.
11:57 After the challenge Lalo was to Gus the twins easily being manipulated into trying to kill Walt for betraying Tuco and Hank for killing him was probably a relief for Gus.
What about Nacho varga ? He is such an amazing character Requesting a deep analysis on Nacho Varga I didn't know but for me I seriously like Nacho Varga. He even tops Walter white because He sacrificed himsel for the safety of his family. Just imagine how deep and powerful that must be.
I’m not sure the “Greatest” villain would be one that let’s both his oldest and newest enemy conspire to murder him successfully. If anything, Gus’s personal shortcomings are his undoing the same way Walt, Mike, and Saul are doomed by theirs. Gus underestimated Walt literally from day one, even as Walt was slowly stripping him of his security and ability to operate. Gus is so fixated on his ambition and goals that he doesn’t understand the nature of the threat Walt presents. He’s killing Eladio. He’s arranging his bid to decapitate the cartel. He’s gloating to Hector. He’s maintaining his pillar of the community patter. He sees Walt as a grasping, desperate fool despite nothing but evidence to the contrary. Mike makes the same mistakes, dismissing Walt as a loose cannon who he can compel through violence the same way he does everybody else. Because Mike is really good at violence, he can’t feature anybody else beating him at it. Even in the end, Mike thinks Walt will just let him drive away free and clear. Hyper-competence, unchecked ambition, and the willful blindness they engender are primary themes in the story. The combination is never beneficial. Even Walt, seemingly victorious when the dust settles, is too involved in his own priorities to recognize the threat posed by Todd and his “family”. This entire narrative is full of people who’s obvious reverence for their own exceptional ability get’s them killed.
13:18 I also love the scene where Gus invites Walt to dinner at his house and you can see toys strewn about in the background, and Gus makes a passing reference to 'children'. But then when Jesse goes to Gus's house, the toys are gone and there is no mention of a larger family.
It's because there never were any children. Gus was just giving that impression to Walt to appeal to him as a family man, which he knew was his justification for cooking the meth.
It shouldnt as it fits his attention to detail.
Great point!! I thought that strange, typical Fring..😆
@Keksz1234 its worth it to him to do so.
Oh my goodness i never caught that. I always wondered about this too like when gus died. I thought, what about his wife and kids, what are they gonna do? Why have we never seen them? At first i thought lydia was his wife but then learned shes another business associate
@Keksz1234 He invests in his best meth cook. Also, it seems he invites Walt to his house only ONCE. Buying a few toys is a cheap way of maintaining a charade and create that impression of a family man, exactly the sort Walt would get along with and could, perhaps, even feel sympathy for. A simple trick, but effective.
Giancarlo Esposito's acting is definitely up to Los Pollos standards.
Walter is the greatest violation of all time. Gus was smoke and mirrors
His Spanish isn't tho
@Xehanort10 is this acceptable to you?
@Highlander
Watch his early work and Usual Suspects!
Brilliant!
It's a travesty that Giancarlo Esposito never got an Emmy for this performance
@Gina Morse definitely not lol
@dlisandr2 He was Chilean, perhaps that’s why?
@FatherPaprika gus' Spanish is worse than mikes!
@dlisandr2 dang, never realized that
Appreciate you, fam
The Best part about Gus is that the audience makes the same mistake everyone else does with Gus. We all presume that he is strictly about business and doesn't let himself be swayed by emotion. However, we find out over time that he is a deeply vengeful, hateful, and brutal individual.
Of course: Walt is a true addict, and narcicist. But:, while his "chain reactions" are extremely unstable, volatile, and explosive, being the person that he is: The final product, his drug, is 99.9% clean. - Being able, by the pure force of his will, to say , at the end of his life , "I am Who I am" , as the truly Faustian single God/Devil of his own fate; without even a single compromise.
This even allowed him to overcome a truly cosmic force, like "Revenge is a dish best served at the average temperature of the Universe" , as it is indeed far less clean, and already compromised in itself.
It's interesting because both walter and gus's ambition are driven by emotional weaknesses (ego/revenge) and these weaknesses also lead to both of their downfalls, with gus's petty revenge exposing him to danger, and walter's ego clouding his judgement and getting him into more and more danger
@T Remember, he STRAIGHTENED HIS TIE, too! - that was his final bow.
Gus seemed more like a man NOT swayed by emotion because he had a uncaring attitude. Didn't give a damn about anything or anyone. Even getting half of his face blown off he walked calmly out the room before he collapsed. SCARY.
Um... all of that is a a part of his business, not personal.
Gus Fring is hands down one of the best villains ever put to screen, and it comes from the combination of his cold, callous, and inhumane approach to being a crime boss as well as the mask he puts on as the owner of Los Pollos Hermanos. His introduction to the audience in Breaking Bad is genuinely one of the most terrifying moments in TV history because Giancarlo Esposito effortlessly puts on and takes off the mask, making Gustavo Fring somebody you will never get a one-up on because he knows how to play the game.
He was evil with no feelings, it seems. When he did that man's neck and when he got half of his face blown off he kept a perfectly normal face. Like nothing happened.
There was a scene where Gus tends to the twin cousins at the restaurant, and the switch he makes from smiling at the employee he sends from the table to the cold glower that he directs to the cousins, is a vital insight to the dual modes in which he can effortlessly operate and switch between at a moments notice
He doesn’t just play the game. He OWNS the game.
He is well written.
Psssh. Go watch Night of the Hunter.
How the hell did they manage to create so many great characters? Walt,Jesse,Saul,Kim,Gus,Mike,Lalo,Nacho,Hank, Howard, Hector... maaan the list goes on. Almost all of them are among the greatest characters ever created and this only from two shows. Truly mind-boggling
Loving the BB/BCS output. Thank u for giving this show the deserved attention
@Trae Beneck No. BrBa doesn't have sexism issues: some fans do, because they stick to society's "b*tch" narrative, and so they interpret Skyler as such, while the series never portrayed her as such.
Chuck, Tuco, Skyler
@OneMoreMinute05 Ouch, this be true.
@Lieutenant Dirk Kim is and always will be the GOAT of BCS.
@Mike Spearwood Irrelevant to the fact the acting and the character are outstanding. Really, doesn't matter if you don't like it.
The box cutter scene was additionally terrifying due to how Gus was completely silent THE WHOLE TIME. His mind was already made up about what he was going to do and Walts pleas were completely ignored because they wouldn't change what was about to happen. The silence secured the inevitable horror.
And the only thing he does say? After he's killed Victor, put his business attire back on, and is about to leave?
"Well? Get back to work".
The complete expression of corporate sociopathy, where efficiency and practicality trumps humanity and compassion.
@bunny hospital it was also because victor got himself seen at the scene of gale's crime. Walt suspects it was to send a message, which it was, and later that it was because victor flew too close to the sun with the cook, which is also possible, but victor was now on a wanted poster. Either way he had to go
The fact that Mike een draws his weapon on Gus when he does this just goes to show how shocking and terrifying it was to the characters as well. Gus is truly a menace.
For real, the way that he used one of his most reliable men just to make a point is insane.
Now GUS was scary.
that episode traumatised me for a week, it was way way WAY TOO fucking terrifying, gosh I love gus
I love the fact that Walt is the one that says he and Gus are a lot alike, and Gus is the one who says they're aren't alike, when in other stories it's usually the villain saying it to the hero
Naruto: Hold my talk- no- jutsu
@mankytoes exactly, the *only* thing that actually separates them is their experience and level of desperation, Gus could afford to play the long game to get revenge on the cartel, Walter was on a strict time limit to make as much money as possible for his family.
they're both villians. instead, its the protagonist telling the antagonist they're alike.
The funny thing is, deep down, they are alike in that they're fundamentally motivated by emotion, not rationality, which is how they present themselves. Gus is just far, far better at hiding it. But ultimately everything he does serves one of the most emotional motivations of all- vengeance.
I think Gustavo Fring was the character that really changed the way Giancarlo acted. When he played Moff Gideon and Stan Edgar for example, he had the same soulless look and coldness. I just can't keep thinking of Gus when i see him appear in any other show.
Nah Giancarlo is a very versatile actor at his core, he just got type-casted a bit after playing Gus. Look up his role in Do The Right Thing as Buggin Out and his role as Esteban in Fresh (1994). Very different from Gus and well-acted.
His role in Payday 2 as The Dentist is one of the more unique ones with that in mind. He’s far less violent, a lot more charismatic, and incredibly mysterious to the point where his presence in the world was only made apparent once, from the mouth of a man that was bleeding out after a botched Bank Heist. In the end it turns out that he’s a fallen angel that’s been working in the shadows of Human History for tens of thousands of years, reincarnating every few decades into historical figures such as Ben Franklin and Heinrich Himmler, and now he’s essentially The Illuminati and he has his own Diamond Dogs-esque PMC that he uses to assert his control over the entire world from the shadows. In some regards, the guy is essentially a Satan or an Anti-Christ figure in the Payday universe.
@Keksz1234 it's star wars though, goofyness kinda just happens
@Luuk Kramer
There differences between the villainous characters he plays tho.
Yeah that's probably more because people saw him do great as Gus and wanted to cast him for similar roles. While Gus probably did change acting for him it was likely in more subtle and technical ways than just appearing soulless and dignified
"Look at me Hector" (rips his shirt and exposes his throbbing, oiled chest)
Truly a magnificent scene. Bravo Vince
"throbbing, oiled chest"
Better Call Saul theme playing in the background
@Chooky Agree, it's ...gross
Bro I HATE that video.
Vravo bince
Truly one of the scene in BCS and BB
I've heared that Giancarlo Esposito was 1st cast as an extra on Breaking Bad who given a few lines of dialoge. He was ment to be the owner of a fast-food chain and nothing more. However, Giancarlo desided to preform the role in such a way as if his character had something to hide, so when it came to test screening, the test audience really gravitated towards Gus. The showrunners than offered to give Giancarlo a few cameos in future episodes, but Giancarlo turned them down and each time the showrunners offered him more he said no. Eventually the showrunners gave him the oportunity to become part of the main cast, which Giancarlo excepted.
TL;DR: Giancarlo Esposito is a meta-gamer.
@cptsteele91 bro fr damn
@WiredNet really😑🤨
Accepted*
Damn...there's some real Gus in the dude xD
"No hero is truly admirable unless the villan feels truly unbeatable"
@shaft9000 Hahahahahahahaha🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Walt is no hero, and
this entire "thesis" is nothing more than a ridiculously over-enunciated caca-doodle.
I think “protagonist” is a better word
But Walt ain't admirable or a hero
The cheapest tactics a writer can use in creating a villain, is to make them utterly repulsive and hated by the reader/audience, to the point where the character is an annoyance. Gus fring is the complete opposite of this, we never really felt any sort of resentment towards him, at certain points i even rooted for Gus, and respected him, all the while still viewing him as a formidable antagonist.
@mankytoes he wasn't annoying in the way he said that. Like he didn't evily glare at Walt and start describing how he's gonna kill the baby while laughing. He's just emotionless, yet rageful at the same time.
Gustavo never made me angry in the sense of "OMG this character is so annoying can he just die already"
Never any resentment? Even when he threatened to murder a baby?
Gus is like the only character I hope gets what he wants
Gus has gotten way too much of a anti-villain treatment. because the subtext goes over the viewers heads. For many viewers, Gus seems rather sympathetic, as his enemies wronged him greatly, and his enemies are more horrible than he is. But Let's not forget the important fact that Gus was a drug trafficing general in a dictatorship. A role that you can not hold, without getting your hands dirty. Even before Max was killed, Gus most likely got his hands dirty and executed people (explaining why slitting his own goons throat, comes so naturally to him). I'm more than sure that Gus was a monster back in Chile, and the Salamanca's only killed Max, to show Gus that this is no longer Chile, and he is no longer a generalisimo, thus he needs to learn his place.
@Martin Gil Oyarzún agreed. sort of reminds me of Alexander Dumas, the black general who served under Napoleon.
@idk tbh lol smh If you knew what you were talking about, you'd realize that in spite of his generally racist/discriminating ideology, Pinochet was not at all above greed and vanity.
He cut massive deals with communist countries and introduced drugs in poor neighborhoods so as to help the US' war on drugs campaign and also keep the population debilitated and disorganized from the bottom.
Sure, Gus is black (though this may be due to Giancarlo being the perfect actor for the role, not necessarily a narrative point), but even then it is entirely realistic for him to have scaled up the ranks in Chile's military regime.
@idk tbh lol smh Gus doesn't seem like the type who the glass ceiling could hold down for very long. I could see him blackmailing his way to a high rank for example
The chile connection is so stupid. Pinochet never would have let an afro-chilean rise so high.
@Mike Spearwood well yea obviously cartel knew abt him they wouldnt meet with him without searching him up at all otherwise. And remember that after Max got killed Eladio told Gus in that same scene that hes only alive because he knows who he is, and that hes not in Chile anymore
I actually met Giancarlo Esposito on his way to the Emmy's on monday. He's an amazing actor. He is very capable of putting on a badass performance when he needs to, and be the nicest celebrity I ever met behind the camera. He's truly awesome and I really want to see him somewhere big anytime soon. Man he's badass.
The DEA thought he was really nice too
Until he rips his shirt and reveals his oiled, throbbing chest.
Gus is such a good villain that Giancarlo Esposito plays him in every series he appears on.
@Demipurple I'd hate being typecast, but being typecast as Gus Fring is bloody awesome!
ROFL
He requested his role in the show, and now he's going to have it. Over and over.
Or rather that every other series wants him to play that sort of villain.
Gus was everything Walter wished he was, except unlike Walt, Gus wasn't an egotistical narcissist that prioritised his ego over logic.
@French Guitar Guy Nah. If Gustavo just wanted Hector dead, he'd have someone kill him. Remember, Gus knew well that someone, probably Walter, was out to get him. If he was acting rationally, he wouldn't take the risk of doing it himself, but the truth is, Gus needed to have his personal revenge and that's why he tried to do it himself.
Gustavo isn't driven by his pride, but he's driven by his resentment towards Hector Salamanca and, in the end, that is what gets him killed. This is about as much of an ego-driven character as Walter.
@Nicolas Pogue nah Gus was making sure hector stayed quiet As he'd just gone to the DEA when he was blown up.
Although Gus was far from purely logical. At the end of BrBa and the entirety of BCS, one of his main driving motivations is revenge against the Salamancas
I've heard Gus described as a reflection of corporate evil. Dispassionate, goal driven, competitive, and with strong performance expectations in subordinates.
@el generico agreed. I hate how whenever people describe how Gus is the embodiment of corporate companies and business men, they blatently miss out that the only reason he's even doing all this is simply for revenge.
Except he isn't.
Gustavo's is not driven by profits and buisness. This is his work-facade, this is what he shows to Walter, Mike and Gale to present himself as their boss, this isn't the real him. But this isn't the real him.
The real Gustavo is driven by his immense resentment towards the Cartel and, more specifically, Hector Samalanca. That is why, even knowing for a fact that he has Walter trying to kill him, he decisides to personally kill Hector after Hector meets with the DEA. Had Gus been driven by profits alone, he would be patient, use his contacts to find out what exactly Hector told them and, after realizing he told them nothing, would go back to mentally torturing him. And even if he wanted him dead, he'd have someone do it. But no, Gustavo needs his revenge and now that Hector angered him once again, he needs to have it personally, that's why he makes the mistake of getting in a room with Hector and that's why he dies.
Atleast he treats his workers well.
That's only his facade though. Deep down he's extremely passionate, going to incredible lengths to get the most horrific revenge on Hector and the Cartel.
Imagine watching Do The Right Thing and seeing a guy freak out about pictures in a pizza shop and thinking "Man, this guy should play one of TV's greatest bad guys."
It couldn't be done without Giancarlo's immense talent. Perfect casting. Bravo to all involved.👏🙌👐
My favorite villains are the ones that have presence, they steal the show just by being in a scene, without needing to say a word, and Gus Fring is perfect in this regard, and any other metric you want to judge villains by
He was an incredible villain, his calm persona carefully crafted to hide his soulless gaze. Acting and writing at its best.
I feel I (and a lot of viewers of BB before a few years ago) got to experience the very first Pollos scene in a really unique way that I'm not sure many people will get to have a similar experience on first viewing nowadays. Let me elaborate
When I was a kid I didn't know Giancarlo Esposito as an actor at all. I started watching BB at like 13/14 maybe. Flash forward to the first Pollos scene. Gus, to me, is truly just a background character in my first-time-viewing eyes. Exactly as he's meant to be percieved by the people around him as just a non threat fast food manager. If you remember, Pollos was just the meeting place for the person Saul set up for Walt. No one knew it was the manager. It was just really cool, being decieved by something like that on your first view.
Fast forward to nowadays when everyone knows Giancarlo and memes about Gus. On first view for most people, there's no mystery. Obviously a famous villain in everything else (The Boys, Far Cry, Mandalorian, etc) they'd know Giancarlo was the person Walt would meet. Plus, so many Gus memes make sure even some people that have never seen Breaking Bad know about Gus because of the memes.
His character in the show is just less covert nowadays than what he was 10 years ago or what year the show first featured him.
I had the same experience. BB was my first introduction to Giancarlo Esposito as well
In some ways I think this ruined the reveal but in others I think it somewhat enhanced it. Now, instead of wondering who it is they're going to meet, you wonder immediately why he acts this way, why he chooses to be so secretive yet also so open to the public eye. You immediately have hype mixed in with fear and mistrust because you know that's the big bad but if nothing else has been spoiled for you, you can only tell that there is something out of place about him.
Yeah, the memes low-key ruined breaking bad but at the same time, I won't discover breaking bad without the memes 😔
for me the surprise was replaced with pure hype
I must be one of the few BB/BCS fans who actually liked Gus. He was always fair- until he was crossed. He was far kinder to Walt than Walt deserved, and it was his kindness toward Walt that got him killed.
He wasn't fair to Nacho or Jesse.
The 2010’s were such a fantastic time for villains, Gustavo, Handsome Jack, GLaDoS and Wheatley, and about a dozen other just truly amazing villains
He's magnificent and genuinely scary. And he is in many ways the man Walter White is evolving into. It's almost like Heisenberg is there in front of Walt in another body.
@FishmasterDisaster no cap on g
Fax
Gustavo deserves his own spin off show. It would be epic seeing an antihero's rise and concur like that.
7:32 WOW I never thought of their conflict like that. They're feeding off of each others strength until only one of them remains. Their relationship is both symbiotic and parasitic. They need each other to achieve their goals, but those goals also include the destruction of the other.
I always felt that Gus was a villain like no other. You articulate well why that is the case. This is becoming my new favorite channel
Gus is one of my favorite villains ever. I remember the scene where he's talking to Juan. You think it really is Feds outside his house. I remember yelling at the TV, for Gus to get back inside. I expected to see someone come out of nowhere, and assassinate em. Then Juan is threatening to pay him a visit, and then comes the surprise. It's not Feds outside his house, it's Gus's guys. He beat them to the punch. The exact opposite of what I expected. I still love that scene. That's only topped by exacting revenge on the cartel. Then there's the way he played the DEA. Bringing them all lunch just as a distraction, so Mike could finish off the surviving twin. Gus rocked as a villain.
"Gus is an empire-builder and a great inspiration and motivation to Walter White - whether Walt would admit it or not." ―Vince Gilligan
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A defining characteristic of Gus is the friendly and low-key exterior he maintains; he takes an active role in managing his front businesses and personally supervises employees and serves customers at his Los Pollos Hermanos restaurants. Quiet and humble, he is incredibly cautious about with whom he does business and keeps a very healthy distance from the product he sells in order to appear almost invisible. Despite being a multi-state meth distribution mastermind, Gus carefully maintains a public profile of propriety: noticeably, he is. a major booster for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and has made large donations to the agency's Albuquerque office. Gus is so successful, in large part, because of his cautious nature - he plans ahead and has the patience to let his business grow slowly. As part of his scheme to "hide in plain sight", he drives a modest dark blue 1998 Volvo V70.
However, Gus is ruthless and machiavellian in managing his vast drug empire, keeping the entire operation under his icy control. Gus admires professionalism and caution in his colleagues, and is generally calm and calculated. He employs a number of enforcers and has personally killed rivals and associates, making him a dangerous, cold-blooded murderer. In interviews, Giancarlo Esposito said he made the choice to make Gus "graceful." He described him as "someone who is poised to take over the cartel, someone who is poised to manipulate other people into doing what he needs them to do." Gustavo doesn't trust anyone who isn't as cautious as he is, as they are too unpredictable, and he prides himself on being several steps ahead at all times. Gus is thus controlled, cold, powerful, and menacing. Even someone like Walter White, at its moment, was terryfied about what Gus could do to both himself and his family due to having proven it before by killing Victor, one of his closest and most reliable employees, right in front of his eyes without any hesitation.
There is a fair amount of information that is unknown about Gus's past. Gus left Chile in 1986, the same year in which the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front attempted to assassinate Augusto Pinochet. Although there are no existing Chilean records of Gus, there are two instances which demonstrate his possible involvement in the Pinochet government: Hector Salamanca refers to Gus as "Grand Generalissimo" in a flashback, and Don Eladio tells Gus that he is "not in Chile anymore", but spares his life because he knows who Gus really is. A possible interpretation of Don Eladio's line is that they spare Gus because killing him could put them at risk of being subject to retaliation that their association with the cartel cannot protect them from. Gus appears to be quite proud of his Chilean roots, even preparing Paila Marina, a traditional Chilean seafood dish, for both Walt and Jesse. He tells Walt "it's just like my mother used to make it."
Gus has shown to possess an obsessive-compulsive disorder, in this case that would be his tendency to have everything perfectly clean and controlled by himself. Gus does not tolerate when something is not going as he planned it to be. Right after learning about Gale's death, he went to his meth lab, where at that moment Walter and Jesse were restrained as hostages, and before killing Victor, he is seen changing completely his outfit to avoid getting it dirty and covered with blood, and right after Victor's demise Gus changed again his outfit and even took a shower to put his suit again and cleaned up his glasses. His obsession with cleanliness is probably due to his childhood, which was strongly marked by poverty. This is further seen in Better Call Saul, when Gus was being threatened and scared by the posible return of Lalo Salamanca, to keep himself in calm he begins to clean up his own house and the kitchen of Los Pollos Hermanos attempting to leave them perfectly clean. Also, before going to his laundry and face Lalo, Gus takes off the tye he was wearing to ensure it doesn't get covered by blood or anything elsw.
Gus is also a man of honor as he reimburses any damages done to the property of his employees such as their cars when performing duties he requires them to. He is even seen emphatic with Jesse due the suffering he was going through because of Brock's condition, offering to Jesse use his influence to give the kid the best medical treatment and letting him return to the lab the next week. While having no problem killing someone, Gus seems to not enjoy doing it and only enjoy killing people that did something to him, like Eladio Vuente. Even in dangerous situations, he keeps his apathetic head. The only times that Gus did lose his cool, however, was moments before his death when he discovered Hector was a suicide bomb to kill him and when he fought Lalo in the superlab, repeatedly pulling the trigger on his gun even after running out of bullets and looking terrified.
However, Gus has been shown to genuinely care about people, noticeably Max Arciniega (the other "hermano" of the Los Pollos Hermanos brand name), who Gus took off the streets of Santiago, put through school, cared for and was interested in developing his potential. The humanity of Gus' personality played an integral role in his development, especially the very deep business and romantic relationship that Gus had with Max. The brutal loss of Max at Hector and Eladio's hands is partially what turned Gus into a ruthless villain, who is not above anything when it comes to avenging Max's death, including the murder of children (like Tomàs Cantillo) and the gradual killing of Hector's entire family. However, his dedication to avenging Max's death would ultimately be Gustavo's one and ultimate weakness which would lead to his own violent demise and the destruction of his drug empire.
“What does a man do, Walter? A man provides for his family. (...) When you have children, you always have family. They will always be your priority, your responsibility. And a man... a man provides. And he does it, even when he's not appreciated. Or respected. Or even loved. He simply bears up, and he does it. Because he's a man."― Gustavo Fring manipulates Walter White into working for him.
Gus is just inspiring because of how coldblooded he has become. The evolution of his character trough out better call saul and breaking bad is astonishing.
"Gus' greatest strength... Is patience." Perfectly put 👌
Hey man I’m glad to see you get the engagement and views you deserve! I think you’re channel has better analysis and insight compared to 90% of other film channels and it’s cool to see you grow so fast! Best of luck in the future and keep up the good work
Gus is by far the best villain in breaking bad. Lalo is definitely a close second.
Totally agree.
@One Lyfe Music lmaoooo
So is it close or far? Lol
Superior take 👏
Everyone talks about how scary Lalo was (he absolutely was of course) but I will never forget the scene where Gus cuts Victor's throat, it lived with me all during BCS, despite Gus' becoming that monster, I sh!t every time he's onscreen. I'll remember Gus Fring forever
This is also why stan Edgar in the boys to show is also so good. The writers also were genius for picking the only man who could possibly play the role correctly
What i love about the Breaking bad and Better Call Saul universe is that the villians are more rooted for than the heroes.
You can say that even the main character is also a villian.
Did Giancarlo win an award for this performance? He most certainly should have!
They scammed him from his well-deserved Emmy’s
No Emmys but I'm now sure Abt other awards
Gus is one of the best villains ever. And his front he puts on is so convincing we completely dismissed him when he first appeared. He carries himself in such an unassuming way, almost everyone around him is unaware of who he really is.
I love how Gus took out all of the cartel but I was glad when Walt took him out. Loved how he went all out on taking out Eladio even risking his life to do it, especially with what happened when Eladio killed his partner. Its crazy how much of a long game he played on the cartel taking them all out. Loved that Hector got his revenge on him even though he is such an evil, nasty old man. I felt bad for Nacho though, he seemed like his life could have been so different if he hadn't got roped into the cartel. Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad and El Camino are an amazing trillogy of this whole franchise.
I agree with this great analysis! Your videos on this show are always top notch.
I have to say, I was confused/dissapointed when they didn't fill in more of his backstory in S6, but now I get it.
Gus would (probably) lose much of his terror and mystery if his entire backstory was spelled out.
The actor Giancarlo Esposito excels in his role as Gus Fring and I wish he gets all the plaudits that the profession of his craft can bestow. Meanwhile Vince Gilligan and his team of creators, writers and directors are true geniuses and I look forward to what they shall do next.
These are the best types of villains imo! I actually thought the best scenes were when Walt visited Los Pollos Hermanos without knowing that Gus was his man. Oh, I hope you do a video essay on the King Pin and portrayed by Vincent D'onofrio. The hero/villian dynamic in that show was intensely interesting as well.
Gus Fring was a terrifying villain because he looked so unassuming. If you ran into him in a dark alley, you wouldn't feel threatened at all, but if you criss him, God help you
I discovered this channel yesterday and watched all of the videos uploaded, your analysis on my favorite shows is mindblowing, this one was no different 👏
Funny thing is, he was not supposed to be a long cast member, but the character he played became popular and they made a major member of the cast.
I agree that Gus Fring is among the all time great villains. He ranks with Michael Corleone of The Godfather movies. Both share many traits, although I still think Michael is better as we watch his full transformation take place from naive youngest son of the Don to irredeemable monster at the end of Godfather 2. Even his failure at redemption in Godfather 3 adds to his story arc. But Fring is truly exceptional. For television Tywin Lannister may be his only peer.
Extremely inciteful. I already appreciated the character of Gus Fring. But you explained the character so that I appreciated him even more. Incredible writing and acting. Great show! Thanks for your observations. :)
Great breakdown of Jesse. I rarely have the same perspective as the audience so I can miss the writers intentions sometimes. I placed value on his bad choices and missed the manipulation. I never saw him as a loser but someone who could take responsibility for each individual decision, so these arcs just never panned out for me. Now I see a lot of myself in Jesse, minus the gullable. I'm an ass hole and I respond to that pain from isolation by saying....nope not again lol. But yeah people who make it to my circle have a loyal compassionate one. Fuck babies and puppies lol that's real love
A nice guy but hard in buissenes. Iconic character and good actor.
His perfection in wardrobe, details and all things.
But the most scary villian last time for me was the Homelander.
It’s the freaking writing from these scary talented writers and directing from Vince Gilligan that just captured everything to its highest potential. Nothing about BB and BCS needs change. Most shows you always think “what ifs” because of inconsistent writing or they do the wrong opposite of what the audience expects. This show gives you what you expect but better. You expect things to go wrong, yet they still surprise you when something does. Absolutely love everything about the breaking bad universe and truly hope Vince Gilligan and Gould fill another project with this much precision and love.
I love how gus seems to be the exact opposite approach to being a villain as tuco
It has been a while since I watched the series. I definitely remember the scene where he killed Victor, but I didn't remember the camera focusing on Mike and showing how even he was shocked and terrified
One thing to mention about Gus and Jesse's relationship is that Gus is shown actively growing to appreciate Jesse more when he starts independently showing traits he respects, like high standards of hygiene in cooking.
For me it was an odd feeling watching BCS (finished first five seasons) as I saw Gus more as the villain than I did in BB where he already had established everything and just wanted to keep it save and grow.
Perhaps the smartest villain, but definitely not the most evil villain. Gus is a thinker, with a mind to become independent, not dependent on the cartel. He doesn't create violence, but he responds very effectively to it. There is a large emphasis on food and food preparation in this movie and Better Call Saul.
great to see that just when i'm getting into the brba universe you start posting more videos on it. great stuff man!
Agreed- Gus Fring is right up there- an astonishing performance. It was all going on under the surface.
Gus Fring truly is one of the greatest villains of all time.
You're great at these analyses! How about a video essay of the character arc of Todd?
We never do find out who Gus was in Chile’ in spite of TONS of foreshadowing in both the BB universe based TV series. This bothers me, and I’m sure it bothers Vince Gillian too. I guess we’ll see how much it bothers him sometime in the near future. We all know he said the BCS finale was the end to the Breaking Bad saga, but an El-Camino type feature length story about Gus Fring before he was Gus Fring, coming to prominence if some type in Chile’ before having to leave and start a new life for some reason. Wouldn’t that be cool!!
As much as I want to know more about Gus, I think that's sort of the point. I worry that adding more context to Gus would make the character much less impactful as part of what makes him so terrifying is his mysterious history.
They say that the ability to delay gratification is a key element in predicting success. And by that metric, Gus is certainly one of the most successful villains ever.
My all time favorite tv character. A cool, calm and collected business man menace.
The very importance of Gus's lover getting killed in front of him / not being able to properly mourn (in the closet?) was the simmering underground city fire that made him so ruthless. Its fascinating how throughout the 12 years- they gave him NO romantic partner- until the hint of one at the end of better call saul with the wine guy. Even with that he was like bye felicia. Fascinating the lack of actual personal life he had- like what DID he do for a hobby. I think the most terrifying idea about him is that he was like this 24/7 and only did what he did for himself.
When I first watch the part where Gus gave the speech about how a man provides for his family, I thought that he was genuinely giving Walter an advice base on his personal experience, because maybe he was also a family oriented man and I thought that perhaps he was what Walter could've become if he was on the criminal empire business on the earlier stage of his life. Like an evil mirror of Walter or something. But as the show progress I realized that it was all but a tactic to take advantage of Walt's ego and pride, it just shows that how far and different Gustavo is to Walter, although given how it turns out in the end of the season, didn't really expect Walter to be as evil or far worse than him.
This was truly excellent analysis.
High praise to Giancarlo as well as the writers.
One of the best scenes is the fact that Mike pulls the gun on gus in Boxcutter, and that wasn’t even in script. The scene was so dramatic and intense, he pulled his gun and pointed it at Fring.
He indeed was an amazing character up until the end.
It's fascinating that the same thing which drove Gus to be so cautious and calculating and patient is also what led to his demise; vengeance and hatred.
He is all about hiding what's beneath his mask of calmness, friendlyness and politeness, but if he had killed of hector after having wiped out his entire family (instead of keeping him alive to suffer), he wouldn't have created the opening for walter...Hector hated Gus enough to collaborate with Walt, who was involved in the death of Tuco, and it was Gus' one flaw that brought him down.
I love Gus and his precision. 😊
Evil aside, I think Gus is the perfect boss.
The have the perfect villain you must not only have the perfect writing, but the PERFECT actor! Imagine anyone else attempting to be Gus Fring, they could never.
I think the 2 best things to happen to breaking bad well 3 were not really planned, Jesse was supposed to die s1, Mike was made because Saul actor Bob wasn't available that day to work and Gus because Tucos actor couldn't do the role anymore because it was affecting him mentally. I'd love a spinoff Gus show that shows his struggles all the way up
Gus is my fav character in the entire Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul universe.
Given who Giancarlo actually is makes his role as Gus even more interesting to me.. At Comic Con San Diego you could not find a more engaging, playful, and funny person. He's been doing great work since the early 80's in movies like TAPS with Tom Cruise and Sean Pean..
Gus is right up there with Emperor Palpatine, then you remember Giancarlo Esposito worked for him in Mandalorian
Gus and Emperor Palpatine actually have a lot of parallels now that you mention it.
There's a similar story there of building an empire and pulling off seemingly impossible feats of manipulation, only to be killed in a moment of power when he least expects it by a crippled broken man he thought he had utter control over.
Gus killing Victor also eliminates the possibility of him getting caught after showing his face at the scene of Gales murder
It’s interesting because there can definitely be people like Gus out there
I would watch the hell out of a show about Gus' back story.
imo he is the most tragic character in the universe. He clearly loved max and when max died so did he. All that was left was his genius and his hatred which he used for one of the most fascinating vengeance sequences ever put to sceen
When I was a kid I went to the opening of Shane in 1953. When I left the theatre I told myself (even as a kid or an adult) that I would never see a bad guy in the movies again that would ever live upon to the bad guy I just saw in Shane. He was Jack Palance.
And then years down the road Jack Palance was finally replaced with "Gus Fring".
Excellent work as always
victor's death was definitely the most shocking moment for me.
I know the greatest villain thing is just for clickbait. He’s certainly one of the best villains though, but personally for me, while extremely well executed, his character is too basic conceptually for him to truly be the best of the best. Also it depends if you count morally righteous antagonists as a “villain” technically, and main characters cause it further opens the pool of characters. If you include morally bad protagonists as villains then he does compare to some of the best there. I personally don’t rank them all together because it’s too difficult. Regardless amazing videos as always, you’re so underrated.
Gus is one of the smartest characters I've seen
4:22 Walt's chemistry skills probably reminded Gus of Max too.
Who was his business partner and gay partner
I want to see a hour long video from this man
man you're a genius what a masterpiece video like how do you even think in this much detail great job
it speaks loud how I haven't watched any of Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad series but I adore your videos.
As psychotic Gus was he was a pretty reasonable guy for a drug dealer
11:57 After the challenge Lalo was to Gus the twins easily being manipulated into trying to kill Walt for betraying Tuco and Hank for killing him was probably a relief for Gus.
I don’t even watch breaking bad , but I was very interested in this video to see why he was the antagonist
Beautiful analysis of the best show ever written..
What about
Nacho varga ?
He is such an amazing character
Requesting a deep analysis on
Nacho Varga
I didn't know but for me I seriously like Nacho Varga.
He even tops Walter white because
He sacrificed himsel for the safety of his family.
Just imagine how deep and powerful that must be.
It's always a good day when Just an Observation releases another BB/BCS video
I’m not sure the “Greatest” villain would be one that let’s both his oldest and newest enemy conspire to murder him successfully. If anything, Gus’s personal shortcomings are his undoing the same way Walt, Mike, and Saul are doomed by theirs. Gus underestimated Walt literally from day one, even as Walt was slowly stripping him of his security and ability to operate. Gus is so fixated on his ambition and goals that he doesn’t understand the nature of the threat Walt presents. He’s killing Eladio. He’s arranging his bid to decapitate the cartel. He’s gloating to Hector. He’s maintaining his pillar of the community patter. He sees Walt as a grasping, desperate fool despite nothing but evidence to the contrary. Mike makes the same mistakes, dismissing Walt as a loose cannon who he can compel through violence the same way he does everybody else. Because Mike is really good at violence, he can’t feature anybody else beating him at it. Even in the end, Mike thinks Walt will just let him drive away free and clear. Hyper-competence, unchecked ambition, and the willful blindness they engender are primary themes in the story. The combination is never beneficial. Even Walt, seemingly victorious when the dust settles, is too involved in his own priorities to recognize the threat posed by Todd and his “family”. This entire narrative is full of people who’s obvious reverence for their own exceptional ability get’s them killed.
Ironic that the limited level of therapy Gus provided Hector is all Hector needed to kill Gus.
And what a spectacular end. Haven't seen anyone cross-sectioned like that since the Hellraiser franchise.