Gus Fring’s borderline cartoonish death scene inBreaking Badshouldn’t work, because it’s a far cry from the gritty realism of the rest of the series — but somehow, it still became an iconic moment. Gus quickly becameBreaking Bad’s greatest villainafter being introduced as a chicken chain manager-turned-drug lord in season 2, episode 11, “Mandala.” He’s an evil inversion of Walter White himself. Walt had been climbing the ranks of the criminal underworld by outsmarting his peers. But then he met Gus, who’s just as smart as Walt and even more ruthless.
Walt and Gus’ rivalry finally came to a head in season 4, episode 13, “Face Off.” Gus had threatened to murder Walt’s wife and children, so he needed to come up with a plot to get rid of Gus once and for all. Walt ended up using Gus’ long-standing feud with the Salamanca cartel against him, and teamed up with Hector to take him out. Walt lured Gus to Hector’s nursing home, where Gus taunted Hector once again and Walt detonated a bomb attached to Hector’s wheelchair.Gus’ ensuing deathwas kind of absurd, but it still worked.
After the bomb on Hector’s wheelchair goes off,Gus emerges from the room with half of his face missing. He calmly adjusts his tie before collapsing, dead. Up until this point,Breaking Badhad been a mostly realistic TV drama. There had been certain aspects of the show that weren’t 100% realistic. There didn’t seem to be much of an investigation into the car that Walt blew up, and the Cousins feel more like pulpy archetypes than the kind of nuanced, three-dimensional figures found in the rest ofBreaking Bad’s cast.
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Butthe show had never done something as flagrantly unrealistic as Gus’ death. It verges on cartoonish that after having the skin seared off half his face down to the skull within point-blank range of a massive explosion, Gus would still be collected enough to leave the room and straighten his tie without flinching. It’s easily the most ridiculous, fictionalized thing that ever happened in the series. In retrospect,this should’ve been considered the moment thatBreaking Badjumped the shark and the show lost viewers. But somehow, it still worked.
The Tonal Shift Made It Stand Out More
If anything, Gus’ death isn’t memorable in spite of its silliness; it’s memorable purely because of its silliness. This was the one time thatBreaking Badallowed itself to be ludicrous. If it had done absurd things like this in every episode, then it wouldn’t have had the impact it did. The series had conditioned audiences to expect realistic outcomes. After Hank has a near-death experience, he needs to rest for the remainder of the season to recover. After Walt, Jr. finds out his dad is a drug kingpin, he instantly turns on him.
When Gus was killed in an explosion, the last thing Breaking Bad viewers would’ve expected was to see Gus come out with half a face, but that’s precisely what made it stand out.
When Gus was killed in an explosion,the last thingBreaking Badviewers would’ve expected was to see Gus come out with half a face, but that’s precisely what made it stand out. Audiences were supposed to be disturbed by Gus’ death and the producers certainly succeeded in creating that effect. It was straight out of a horror movie.That image was etched into viewers’ minds, andGiancarlo Esposito’s hauntingly casual performanceonly added to how unsettling it was.
People Will Be Talking About That Scene Forever
It’s been over a decade since “Face Off” aired andGus’ death is still one of the most talked-about TV moments of all time. In the decades since television was invented, there have been a ton of memorable moments that rank among the all-time greatest: the shooting of J.R. inDallas, George’s golf-ball-in-the-blowhole monologue inSeinfeld, Radar’s somber announcement that Colonel Blake’s plane was shot down inMAS*H. Gus’ death is another unforgettable entry on that list.
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Not only is Gus’ death one ofBreaking Bad’s most shocking moments; it’s also a great bit of symbolism. Gus’ charred face makes him look like the Batman villain Two-Face (especially how he’s portrayed by Aaron Eckhart inThe Dark Knight), and that parallel accurately captures his character. Gus led a double life as a friendly local businessman who had a good relationship with law enforcement and a merciless crime lord who shamelessly broke every law he could — and in his final moments, his mangled face reflected that.
Breaking Bad
Cast
Breaking Bad, created by Vince Gilligan, follows a chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin named Walter White (Bryan Cranston) as he attempts to provide for his family following a fatal diagnosis. With nothing left to fear, White ascends to power in the world of drugs and crime, transforming the simple family man into someone known only as Heisenberg.
