We’ve explored characters and symbols. Now I’m as giddy as a
schoolgirl as we get to the nitty gritty of our Breaking Bad Shakespeare
exploration, and explore who I think are three of the most important characters
on television: Gus Fring, Walter White, and Jesse Pinkman. (Arguably you could
explore Mike and a few others, but these are my favorite.) This week we look at
Chicken Restaurateur/Meth KINGpin/Business Man… Gus Fring. (Oh, no… he capitalized
“king.” That means it’s probably important.) We will be covering some spoilers
regarding Gus, so if you haven’t caught up, do so now. I’ll give you a minute
to do so before continuing to the next paragraph.
When we
first meet Gus, we don’t know we’ve just met Walter’s future employer and
leader of a Meth Empire/Revenge story. He’s just the humble owner of a Chicken
franchise that looks somewhat delicious. (And will make you wonder what’s
really in your chicken.) Gus keeps a low profile, even helping the police and
running fundraisers for them… Gus is the ultimate example of hiding in plain
sight. In fact, it’s the failure of others that end up getting him caught.
(Also it’s a strong message that if you own a fried chicken joint, don’t hire a
vegan to run your meth operations. Huge tipoff to police.)
Gus
does represent our king… one of many kings that are on this show. The other is
Gray Matter, the company that Walt was originally part of, until he left. (For
unclear reasons, as of season 4...) See, Gray Matter when big, and Walt ran out
on it. That’s a huge missing puzzle piece for us, because it is that loss of at
Gray Matter that drives Walt to take on Gus the way he has. In his mind, Gus is
the top of the Meth Game. That’s what drives Gus to hire Walt… Walt’s Meth is
best, Gus runs the best, so therefor, he needs Walt/Heisenberg to work in his
operation. Walt sees all that Gus has, and realizes he doesn’t want money. He
wants to be Gus. He sees how high he can go in the business, and not just have
money, but respect too. Gus is respected. He has a loyal army who will die for
him. When Walt betrays Gus, and won’t cook until he knows he’s safe, one of his
foot soldiers starts to cook without his ok. Rather than kill Walt (who’s
needed) Gus calmly kills the soldier who is doing the unauthorized cook. This
is a powerful message.
So, Gus
is our King. He’s our Cladius. He’s the nice guy who’s not a nice guy, who
represents everything that Walt wants to be. In fact, he’s our clear vision
into Walt’s future, something Shakespeare loved to do with so many characters.
Hamlet’s madness could be interpreted as struggle to not end up as ambitious as
his Uncle, murdering his brother. Certainly one can also see the parallel in
Macbeth, where the title character murders the king then is murdered as king.
But I’ve been going to the Macbeth well too much in these reviews, I’m
constantly looking for another good angle.
Gus’s business partner (and possible lover,
depending on a few interviews and how you interpret things) is murdered early
in his career by an enforcer named Hector.
Hector is in a wheelchair and can’t speak, communicating only through a
bell. Gus spends much of his time, and part of the series, ensuring that every
member of Hector’s family is murdered. (Warning Hank of the creepy twins
attack, then murdering the one twin when Hank fails to…) Now, I mentioned early
on that Gus was very meticulous in his planning
and appearance. Never drove a flash car, didn’t wear fancy clothes, took
extra precautions… etc. The one place he
didn’t take those precautions were when he went to Hector to gloat that his
family was dying, and he was stuck in a chair. And it was during one of those
gloat sessions that Walt was able to attach a bomb, and kill Gus, thus ensuring
that he would be able to take over his Meth Empire.
This is a classic example of
Shakespearean writing. The ONE THING that Gus couldn’t avoid in all his meticulousness
was bragging to this ONE man. And that is his undoing. Really you don’t get
much more Shakespearean than that. The best part is the fact that it is at the
hands of Walt that he dies. The young(ish) upstart that is poised to take over
his empire. Now the question is, Walt, who shares some of Gus’s flaws (only
exaggerated; whereas Gus wished that Hector knew he was in charge, Walt wants
everyone to know and fear Heisenberg.): What slipup will he make that will end
his life, or end his reign?
I could write a book just on Gus
Fring alone. But I urge you to watch this series, and pay close attention to
him. He’s a deadly, complicated man, and the best glimpse we have into what’s
going to happen to Walt at the close of this series.
No comments:
Post a Comment