4.13 Face Off

Summary and Spoilers

We’re back in the parking garage, where Walt quickly removes the detonation device from Gus’s car. Walt asks Jesse for a place – any place – where Walt can get to Gus. While Jesse is thinking, he is approached by two detectives who want to talk to him about his statement regarding Brock being poisoned. Although not under arrest, he is not about to be let go either – but Jesse knows his rights, and calls Saul.

Saul, however, is long gone, as Walt finds out as well when he visits the office. Honey Tits proves she is a decent extortionist when she demands 25 thousand dollars to give Saul’s phone number to him. Walt leaves to get the money. He hatches a clever lie to get his neighbor to check for a burner left on when they went on fake vacation. This flushes two thugs out and gives Walt just enough time to sneak in and grab the cash required to purchase Saul’s phone number.

Meanwhile, Saul shows up to rescue Jesse from his endless friendly interrogation. He not only extricates Jesse, but he also has a Gus location – the nursing home where Gus visits Hector Salamanca. When Walt finds out that Gus and Hector are enemies, he sees an opening. He approaches Hector and offers him a chance for revenge. Hector tries to spell ‘Need DEA’, but the care-giver doesn’t realize that ‘DEA’ has meaning. Eventually she does figure it out. Hector asks to speak to only Hank, but when Hank arrives, all Hector does is spell out curses.

So what’s the point of all this? To pique Gus’s curiosity and make him visit Hector. It’s Tyrus who comes first to check Hector for bugs and to look around. Walt is lurking but remains undetected.

Jesse is released on the news that Brock was not poisoned with ricin. Immediately outside the station, he is Tasered and abducted by Gus’s men. Meanwhile, Tyrus lets Gus know that the area is safe. Gus is coming to ‘do this himself.’ Tyrus again clears the way, and Gus enters Hector’s room and confronts him. With a lethal injection at the ready, Gus tells Hector it is his last chance to look at him. Gus’s expression changes when Hector suddenly meets his gaze, his face twists into a smile, and he pounds over and over on his wheelchair bell. Now we find out why Hector’s finger was poised over his bell for all this time; it is the detonation device, and the explosion rips half of Gus’s face away and kills him. We discover Gus’s injury in an unusual reveal: he actually walks away from the explosion, and we can only see one side of his face, which is uninjured. The camera moves around to the other wide, which shows his face half-blown-off.

Jesse is back in the lab, cooking as usual. This is where his captors took him. It’s not exactly a great workplace relationship; when the elevator arrives, his new minder handcuffs Jesse to a pipe for safekeeping. It’s Walt in the elevator, and after he dispenses with the guards, he and Jesse trash the lab and rig it to blow up. There’s more good news when Jesse finds out that Brock is going to pull through. Apparently, he was poisoned with berries from a common plant called Lillies of the Valley.

Walt calls Skyler just as she is finding out about the death of Gus, and Walt boldly takes responsibility. More than that, the final scene shows a close-up of a potted plant in Walt’s garden: a Lilly of the Valley, of course.

Breaking Bad Quotes

"Christ, you two. Let’s just say if I ever get anal polyps, I’ll know what to name them."
- Saul to Jesse

"I know you despise me and I know how much you want to see me dead. But I'm willing to bet there's a man that you hate even more. I'm offering you an opportunity for revenge.
- Walt to Hector

Skyler: Walt? Let me get somewhere where I can hear you. Walt?
Walter: How are you doing?
Skyler: How am I doing? How are you doing?
Walter: I'm, uh...I'm doing quite well. I'm good.
Skyler: Jesus, Walt, the news here. Gus Fring is dead. He was blown up along with some person from some Mexican cartel and the DEA has no idea what to make of it. Do you know about this? Walt? I need you to-
Walter: It's over. We're safe.
Skyler: Was this you? What happened?
Walter: I won.