Why Did Gus Do That To Victor? - Breaking Bad

foreign [Music] villains in media allow us to tap into part of ourselves we otherwise would like to avoid although it's fun watching Darth Vader mow down an entire Army of Rebel forces it isn't because we agree with what he stands for nor because we'd like to root for him but rather seeing villains on screen doing things we would never imagine ourselves doing serves as a kind of catharsis in relation to the mundane restrictive Society we live through in our day-to-day lives the average villain in media conceptualizes the possibilities of an individual that is neither bound nor subordinated to the rigid rules of modern society as well as the banality of real life this is for the most part what makes one of breaking bad's greatest villains Gustavo brings such a delight to watch as a ruthless drug lord Gus did not let the shackles of society or morality dictate what he could or could not do however if we're to assume that he did so because of a lack of understanding of both people in society then you couldn't be further away from the truth part of what makes Gustavo very interesting is how he interacted with and treated those around him throughout his career as a criminal business owner Gus's professional surface level demeanor and his prominent philosophy of hiding in plain sight were made possible only through an exceptional understanding of people in astounding managerial skills as an excessively careful man that always tried to plan 10 steps ahead of his competition some of Gus's actions can be a little difficult to understand as a man who was only loyal to himself Gus often played into opposing forces so that he could eventually come out on top however even these 5D chess Maneuvers paled in comparison to one particular action Gus did that can potentially be quite puzzling when not examined properly in this video we're going to take a look at this particular action as well as Gus's reasoning behind it exploring this notion would eventually lead us to a discussion on how Gus regulated power and how it defined his character I am of course talking about the infamous box cutter scene realizing that he would be obsolete once Gail eventually learned how to cook meth as pure as his Walt inspired with Jesse to murder Gail Walt understood that at that point Gus only saw him as a liability and only kept him around as a necessary evil when he was planning to get rid of as soon as he could afford to trying to take preemptive action Walt and Jesse removed Gail from the picture having him kill Gail this infuriated Gus and he managed to get both Walt and Jesse rounded up in his lab with Mike's help when Gus finally came Walt started making his case as to why he did what he did throughout his ramblings Gus remained quiet the perplexing thing here was that instead of directing his rage towards Jesse or Walter White Gus instead sliced Victor's throat clean killing him in the process now there are three reasons why Gus did this with number three being the most important one we would also see how each of these reasons serves to express a defining attribute that Gus possessed as a character the first reason that Gus killed Victor was the very simple fact that he was compromised in order to investigate Gail's murder Victor was sent to the crime scene unfortunately someone noticed him there Gus being an excessively careful man decided that it was best that Victor was gotten rid of her fear of the authorities uncovering the connections he had with him this showcases Gus's meticulous and forward-thinking nature eliminating all potential problems before they could even begin to rear their heads Gus was a man with a lot of Secrets the only reason he was able to get that far was that he knew how to keep these secrets withholding information from both friends and enemies had always been what allowed Gus to maintain his preferred method of hiding in plain sight when Victor was not only seen at the crime scene he also left his car there furthermore this seemingly excessive precaution proved fruitful the moment a sketch of Victor's face was shown in the DEA office as a person of interest in their investigation Victor threatened Gus's main philosophy with this sloppy demeanor and for that Gus deemed it appropriate to kill him the second and probably least important reason that Victor was killed was because of presumptuousness however as small as this reason may be it is nonetheless useful for us in understanding Gus's character better Gus knew how to reward good behavior in running his legal business Los Pollos Hermanos Gus never mistreated his employees he understood to reward them whenever they did a good job and to compensate them whenever they might have suffered emotional distress in relation to their job this tells us that Gus was an effective manager and leader however this also means that Gus knew how to keep them in line and he made sure they knew that mistakes weren't tolerated in liberally using the lab's resources to make meth just to show Walt and Jesse that Gus didn't even really need them Victor was showing not only greed but also impropriety he stepped outside of the job Gus was paying him to do and trivialized the situation they were in resulting in his demise however the most important reason that Gus killed Victor was to send a message to both Walt and Jesse to understand this we need to take a quick detour into a discussion about power Gus as a competent business owner normally used what's understood as regulating power that is to say this kind of power relies on the internal motivations of your subjects to do the things that you want in other words you don't need to force them to do your bidding because they themselves have intrinsic motivations to want to do the things you want them to do for example Walt wasn't cooking meth for Gus or because he felt like thus forced him to do it Walt wanted to do it because it was what he genuinely wanted to do as a man to provide for his family Gus merely facilitated that desire with seemingly no pressure or tension whatsoever this type of power is normally infinitely more effective at getting people to do what you want since you rely on their own motivations to do these things instead of enforcing them Gail's death however put Gus in a corner and he needed to retaliate here he utilized a more straightforward oppressive power to get Walt and Jesse in line this kind of power while less effective in the long term was what Gus needed to show that despite everything he remained in power Gus acknowledged the fact that Walt indeed made a devastating play by killing Gail forcing Gus to keep him around if he were to fulfill his production quota but killing Victor sent a clear message that he was capable of terrible things if Walt were to go out of line and as soon as Gus could afford to he was getting rid of both him and Jesse here Gus's defining feature as pragmatic is emphasized he was able to put his personal hatred toward Walt's side which would be the best thing to do not to sabotage his own business while still remaining in control it never once felt like Gus was showing weakness or that he could be pushed around despite Walton Jesse's blatant betrayal this was why killing Victor was important it did a lot of things for Gus but most importantly it re-establishes him as a one in control as the one who had power over his subjects Victor's murder and Breaking Bad expressed who Gustavo was as a person he was an extremely cautious man one that would go to Great length into making sure that his Empire wasn't put at risk Gus was also a great leader that understood people well he not only knew how to reward good behavior but he also understood when he needed to punish mistakes Gus also had a great understanding of the nature of power he knew how to utilize it in a variety of situations and businesses be they legal or otherwise however most in importantly Gus was a man of great self-control even in his most emotional moment he was able to remain pragmatic and avoid self-sabotage despite being severely enraged at such a blatant betrayal he was able to remain practical and charted the best course of action to not only protect himself from the potential scrutiny of the DEA in the authorities but also to re-establish his position as the one in charge of his own Empire this mix of complexity and competence is why Gustavo Frank is such a delight to watch and why he decided to slice Victor's throat with a box cutter

Channel: Serial Binger

Views: 252,908

Keywords: walter white, breaking bad, jesse pinkman, gus fring, gustavo fring, victor gus fring breaking bad, victor breaking bad, walter white breaking bad, jesse pinkman breaking bad, gale breaking bad, gus fring breaking bad

Id: INKQmk79Fkg

Length: 8min 1sec (481 seconds)

Published: Wed May 17 2023