Neo-western drama Breaking Bad was an enormous success during its captivating run on AMC from 2008 to 2013.
A major key to this success was the inclusion of an ensemble cast portraying extraordinary characters, including antihero Gustavo “Gus” Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). Gus was first introduced in the second season of Breaking Bad, after Saul Goodman informs Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) that he “knows a guy who knows a guy,” seeing as the two needed a more stable distribution operation for their home-cooked crystal meth.
At first, Gus is extremely hesitant to work with Walter because he willingly associates himself with Jesse who, at the time, was using drugs as a coping mechanism for the death of his girlfriend, Jane. Gus considered Jesse to be too much of a high-risk for his secretive drug empire. Walt eventually convinced Gus to hire him, though Gus insisted that Walt work with trusted chemist Gale Boetticher rather than Jesse, to which Walt agreed.
Walt and Jesse’s “Blue Sky” meth recipe was nearly perfect, maintaning a high quality and constantly satisfying customers. This undoubtedly pleased Gus, which resulted in him — and Walt and Jesse — becoming insanely wealthy in the process.
So, why did Gus want to kill Walt?
Over time, the relationship between Walt and Gus deteriorated significantly. Walt organized the murder of Gale, had a brother-in-law in the DEA, and was far too intelligent and arrogant for his own good. In simpler terms, Walt and Gus were far too alike in regards to both individuals wanting to be the boss and in total control.
Both men were aware of their own greatness and both believed that they deserved to be in charge, and simply put, each would do absolutely anything to prove it to the other. As a result, Gus saw this as a real threat, considering Walt always had Jesse by his side, whereas Gus could never fully convince Jesse to betray Walt despite his constant efforts. Of course, the season 3 finale, “Full Measure,” was the perfect indication of this, with Walter forcing Jesse to shoot and kill Gale Boetticher — who was dangerously close to replacing Walt as Gus’ leading meth manufacturer.
Walt eventually became an extreme risk to Gus’ drug operation, seeing as Hank Schrader was beginning to ask too many questions and catching on to Gus’ suspicious activity, as seen in the “Crawl Space” episode. Additionally, Walt’s ego began to grow while under Gus’ control, and Gus knew that Walt would eventually become just as unpredictable and untrustworthy as Jesse initially was.
At first, Gus fired Walt and ordered him to stay away from the lab, proclaiming that Jesse would be in charge of the cooking. However, Jesse was extremely loyal to Walt and wouldn’t cook without him. Thus, Gus hatched a plan to kill Walt, though Walt ultimately beat him to the punch in “Face Off.” Damn, what a show.
