Breaking Bad's Twelve Greatest Scenes: Number 2

Number 2: Hank's Soliloquy.


Season 4, Episode 7 “Problem Dog”





Hank, Gomez, and Merkert.

After Hank’s injury, there was a long period where he didn’t seem like himself. He started to ignore his wife Marie (understandable) and he also started seriously collecting minerals. Without the DEA and Heisenberg to keep him occupied, Hank sort of became a bummer. However, early in Season 4 a senior cop for the Albuquerque Police Department whose investigating Gale’s murder stops by to give Hank Gale’s lab notes, found at Gales’ apartment. Hank originally believes Gale to be Heisenberg, but after egotistical moment from Walt who foolishly tells Hank that Gale doesn’t seem like the genius behind the blue meth, Hank starts investigating more. Hank then has a meeting with Merkert and Gomez, stating that he might have a lead in their Heisenberg investigation.

Hank then delivers a five minute soliloquy where he proves a connection between Gale and Gus Fring. Hank starts by explaining to them who Gale was and how he received his lab notes. Hank explains that Gale was a genius chemist, a vegan, and also a cook of the blue meth. Hank makes it clear that he doesn’t believe that Gale is Heisenberg, but instead Heisenberg’s former partner. Hank then shows them a Los Pollos Hermanos napkin he found at Gale’s apartment with a parts number written on it for an Industrial Air Filtration System. After doing some snooping, he finds that the Air Filtration System is manufactured by the German company Madrigal Electromotive, which also happens to be the parent company for Los Pollos Hermanos. Hank then explains that he kept wondering why Gale, a vegan, would have a Los Pollos Hermanos napkin in his apartment. Hank then suggests maybe he’s meeting someone there, and maybe, just maybe, it’s Gus Fring. When Gomez and Merkert express their doubts, Hank says he couldn’t agree more. However, Hank then shows them proof of Gus’s fingerprints at Gale’s apartment.

For a show that does a lot of great closing scenes, this was my favorite one. Hank is a masterful storyteller and reveals himself as considerably more intelligent then we may have initially assumed. The way Hank navigates Gomez and Merkert through his investigation and thought process was a brilliant exercise is persuasion. Hank tells them step by step how he arrived at his conclusion and expresses his own skepticism along the way, making his end theory all the more credible. Additionally, I love the way Dean Norris uses his eyebrows to express his range of emotions during this scene. Norris might be the most underrated actor on the show. Further, this scene is a fantastic cliffhanger. We now know Hank, and possibly the DEA, have Gus on their radar. Hank was able to connect the dots, meaning it’s just a matter of time before he inevitably discovers who Heisenberg really is.