Season 4, Episode 10 “Salud”
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| Pool Party at the Cartel's hacienda. |
Television Critic Alan Sepinwall wrote that he thought Vince Gilligan and company were trying to outdo themselves every week with each episode’s closing scene during season 4. Having watched Season 4 recently, I can tell you with a fresh memory that the ending moments during the final stretch of Season 4 episodes seemed to have gotten crazier and more surprising every week. However, the closing scene of “Salud” stands out in particular, because of both it's shocking revelations and the significance of the moment. During the latter half of Season 4, tensions are continuously rising between Gus and the Cartel. When things start turning bloody, Gus supposedly attempts to defuse the situation by sharing Walt’s meth formula with the Cartel. Gus and Mike accompany Jesse down to Mexico, so Jesse can teach the Cartel how to make the blue meth and both sides can come to a truce. After teaching the formula, Gus, Mike, and Jesse meet with Don Eladio and the rest of the Cartel at their hacienda for a party. Gus then gives the Cartel a bottle of Zafiro Añejo premium tequila in “Honor of their renewed friendship.” The waiter pours everyone a shot except Mike, and Gus has Jesse refuse his shot, explaining that Jesse must stay sober in order to work for the Cartel. Gus takes the first shot and then the rest of the Cartel drinks as well. Gus then goes to the bathroom and vomits up the shot he just took. When Gus calmly returns from the bathroom, he finds the entire Cartel on the ground. As we find out, Gus had put poison in the tequila. Mike and Jesse draw their guns, and Gus, still with some poison in his system, finds the strength to yell to all remaining partygoers “Don Eladio and his capos are dead. Fill your pockets and leave in peace, or fight me and die." Becoming sicker from the poision, Gus has to be carried out by both Jesse and Mike. Additionally, Mike is shot while the three are escaping.
I watched “Salud” very late on a weeknight intending to fall asleep afterward, but needless to say I had to stay up to watch the next episode. This was an electrifying scene. If there was any doubt before, this scene certainly establishes Gus as arguably the greatest villain in the history of television. The reveal in this scene is structured perfectly. Gus remains calm and unemotional, like usual, leading up to his return from the bathroom. Other than the pill Gus takes while at the hacienda and possibly his suggestion that Jesse not drink, the audience is given no indication of what Gus has just done. However, when Gus neatly folds the towel in the bathroom and kneels by the toilet to start vomiting, we know exactly what just happened. Gus has just taken out the entire Cartel at the same location Don Eladio and Hector had killed Gus’s former partner years ago. Nevertheless, Gus remains his professional and mannered self for most of the scene. Of course, we quickly see the other side of Gus when he starts yelling his warning. Seeing that quick and drastic change in moods makes Gus seem twice as terrifying. The cinematography of this scene is beautiful and it establishes a major turning point in Season 4, with Gus re-establishing himself as the unquestioned kingpin of Walt’s blue meth. However, what this scene really does is show the lengths Gus will go to in order to protect his empire. Gus, a man with a modest standard of living, sees power as the only true currency.
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