Gus Fring's Mysterious Backstory! Better Call Saul Breaking Bad Breakdown
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- čas přidán 7. 12. 2020
- Hey guys, in this video I'll be breaking down the character Gus Fring from Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad!
Today we'll be discussing his mysterious Chilean past!
Be sure to leave any opinions in the comments section below, and possibly a like if you've enjoyed the video :)
I'll see you guys next time with more Better Call Saul!
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To anyone wondering why Augusto Pinochet is even brought into the mix, I regrettably forgot to mention in the video: when gus sits down with the DEA and APD in brba s4e8, hank questions gus for not having any records of his past. Gus LITERALLY brings up “Pinochet” to hank when coming up with an excuse for lack of documents. Gus briefly talks about the Pinochet regime, along with their abuse of human rights.
You're good man. I thought I had the show all figured out. You really opened my eyes about what Gus' past could of been like.
@@joseluna2282 Just trying to help, sir. You may be right about him belonging, somehow, to Pinochet, though. I think it is interesting how creators, like Vince Gilligan and David Chase of The Sopranos, leave things hanging and unanswered.
On your run down on character back ground, I wanted to apprise you that the producers and costume directors were very much attentive to the top tier character's dress attire, take note in Hectors clothing attire and style. It will aid you immensely in methodical analysis. Gus takes special care in his personal dress code, a habit from previous pride of being in uniform. A principal of proud derived from childhood poverty. Now we get back to Hector, his attire is very common since the 60's to the present day in Chili or the Riviera style. That is indicative that Hector was in proximity of nearby Latin state or country. Clothing attire is equally important in telling a story or analytical assessments. Hats off to the producers, cheers!
Excellent video! The only thing I would add would be that Pinochet government was very racist. Most likely Gus would’ve been part of opposition armed groups (either internal or external) to overthrow Pinochet and his initial contacts with drug traffickers was to aid and fund this endeavor.
maybe Gustavo was one of the Generals who tried to assassinate Pinochet and that's why he fled.
The irony of the Gus Fring story is that the Cartel made the mistake of not killing him when they had the chance, allowing him to get his revenge on and kill them. He in turn, made the mistake of not killing Walter White when he had the chance to, allowing Walter to get his revenge and kill Gus. Talk about not learning a lesson.
And history repeats itself :o
Even mike said no half measures but because mike was shot and wasnt there mike would have realised that walter was going to use don hector to kill him and would have told gus or warn him
Walter White screw everything up, because of his ego. Mike was right. Gus has no reason to kill him, he was dead man walking, he had Jessie already working for him. He probably would wait for him to die on cancer.
Jesse was the reason for so many of walts problems, Im currently rewatching after not seeing it since I watched when it was brand new, I didn't remember hating Jesse but now I can barely even watch because I get pissed off with that rat
This is writing 101.
I would never say never. There are talks now about the Gus actor wanting to do a prequel that focuses on him. Really hope it happens.
Another prequel? That's a huge stretch, for the actor's age alone.
BB: Gus is 50ish, played by a 50ish yo actor
BCS: Gus is 40ish, played by a 55ish yo actor
??: Gus is 30ish, played by a 60ish yo actor
Pretty tough.
@@mellowords there is actually an interview out there of them discussing it and that was what Giancarlo Esposito and Vince Gilligan were both saying. That he is too old. It would need to be recast. In this modern day of deepbfakes and computer generated imaging I have no doubt it could be done.
@@JackG79 One day, for sure. Next 5 years... very doubtful. Plus, it seems like deepfakes are limited by how much information can be fed into it, so the best deepfakes will come after we actually prepare for them, rather than just scrapping together clips of an actor
@@mellowords they would necessarily take another actor to do so, given how the face swap technology has advanced and still will before that eventually happens it can go several ways I guess
Pretty sure Far Cry 6 is Gustavo Frings backstory
I'm more interested in the mystery of how Hank got into minerals.
It’s got his rocks off.
@@avega2792 they're not rocks Marie!!
@@rockstarJDP 😂
🤣🤣
Interesting curve ball. Because he comes off as a basic meathead.
Gus becomes high ranking military / secret police officer under Pinochet > gets tasked with running the smuggling operations into europe > builds connections with Schuler who then builds a company as a front for smuggling operations > Gus has a falling out with Pinochet > Gus is behind the failed assassination attempt > Gus flees
At 20 years of age very unlikely.
@@bermudezhg some 20 years olds are rutheless
@@bermudezhg it could be if he was family with top ranking officials of the regime, maybe even Pinochet. He could have fallen up the hierarchy in his early 20s after graduating from military academy. It s not only “who he is” (eladio), but who “he knows” (hector Salamanca). He need not have had a falling out - just chosen a criminal career abroad
@@dinavienna : What if he was an Upper Class person connected to Anti-Imperialist Officers on the Chilean Armed Forces as there are by the dozen, presently working for "the enemy" = The US State Department, ......or working for American Entities opposed to the US Imperialist Foreign Policy (Bachelet as the former and Letelier, the Ex-Minister assassinated in Embassy Row are clear and current samples). May I remind you that former Pinochet Goons who killed in his name, now a days need to live in hiding in USA, hiding from decent and civilized people who demand their repugnant lives be terminated without any consideration whatsoever.
Now, that's done toptop-shelf fan theory right there.
Schuler would have been too young to be a former Nazi himself, but he could be a descendant of the Nazis who escaped to South America after the end of WW2.
Schumer may be the son of a Nazi who stole a bunch of gold at the end of WW2 and used it to build Madrigal.
it might be stretching his age a bit, but he could be a former hitler youth
That would make perfect sense with all the Nazis in Argentina to this very day!!. There is a BOAT LOAD of proof that Adolf Hitler actually made it out of fortress Europe and the smashed rubble of Berlin, and subsequently died in Argentina. There is even a grave site for him.
@@JackG79 probably not. that, had it occurred, it would have been discovered long ago. He took his own life. Like someone once said to me, if you hear hoofbeats running up behind you, don't assume it's a Zebra.
@@leblanc3536 what do you mean strwtching the children of nazis weren't tried and alot of businesses that used concentration camp labor and test subjects like pfizer, BMW, Fanta all still exist.
Hi! From Chile here: Gus couldn't have possibly been a general, it doesn't fit the profile. I think Gus may have been related to intelligence agencies (D.I.N.A and later C.N.I.), despicable organizations that kidnapped and tortured people who opposed the regime in a similar form to what gansgsters usually do. 'Generalissimo' sounds to me like a bittler remark suggesting Gus was somehow protected by Pinochet's circle, and there's no way he could have attempted to kill him in 1986. Now, it's very likely that his German connection refers to Nazis living in South America, and I don't know if it's intended or a coincidence, but there was a horrible place run by Germans in the south of Chile called Colonia Dignidad, where horrible crimes were commited with Pinochet's regime complicity. What happened in my country was horrible, it's very appropriate for Gus' backstory.
Thank you for the very informative comment! That all makes sense, I appreciate the input.
I’m sorry to hear about everything that’s happened in your country. I read a bit about DINA and CNI while making this video, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t heard about any of it before.
I’ll have to look up “colonia dignidad,” what you’re describing sounds like it could fit right in with Gus’ German connections.
& it makes sense that Gus could’ve still been protected by the Pinochet regime in 1986 when Max was killed.
@@TheVividKiWi thank you for being so thorough in your work, I appreciate it very much as a Chilean national and BB and BCS devotee. There are some movies and series about Colonia Dignidad: 'Colonia' (2015) starring Emma Watson, and a series in Spanish called 'Dignidad' (2019), I haven't seen either, but I suppose they throw some light at it. You can also search for the name Paul Shäfer, the leader. I'll be happy to (try to) answer any questions about Chile in the future, thanks again :)
@@murielarce2320 You and I have talked about Colonia Dignidad in other comment sections! I'm really hoping this is revealed in Season 6.
Agreed. Gus seems more like one of the DINA ghouls operating in Pinochet's shadow than an army general. Look at his talent for wet work, for instance (he does Arturo with the bag personally; he takes out the entire cartel leadership personally; he does Victor with the box cutter personally ... ). If you're in a Latin American military / intelligence organization around that time, you would almost certainly have honed nasty skills like that at the School of the Americas.
@@murielarce2320 I’m writing those down so I can check them out at some point! I’m a big fan of the Netflix original show “narcos” or anything kind of in that genre. And yes! I just recently got another comment informing me how schuler could be possibly based off Paul Shafer? I have to look him up too. Thanks for all the help :) comments like these are why I love making videos honestly
It's interesting how Gus changed after Eladio killed Max. In the flashback scene, Gus is far more outward and emotional than we ever see him later on. It would be interesting to see how a prequel would depict that younger Gus, but they'd have to get someone a lot younger than Giancarlo to play him.
Gustavo Fring played by someone else than Giancarlo himself would be a ... disgrace
He had some hope and joy left. With Max gone, all he had was cold efficiency and the prospect of revenge.
You’d think if he had done all those things in Chile he would already have sociopathic tendencies. He seemed too innocent in that scene.
A movie would be nice. But still with Giancarlo. Maybe with a deaging effect like in The Irishman.
The only times Gus showed his real emotions, that I remember, was during Max's killing and the moment he realized Hector was setting off the bomb.
I would love to see a prequel with Gustavo when he was a young guy in Chile, but it would be pretty tough for a 65+ years old actor to play the role of a 30+ years old guy.
Bob Odenkirk went for it
They would obviously get a different, younger actor to portray a young Gus. 20-30 year old actor
It'd probably take 2 actors and bouncing between timelines a la Godfather II: Giancarlo Esposito playing Gus building his empire in the US/Mexico throughout the 90s/00s, and a younger actor playing him in Chile.
They did it in The Irishman!
Deep fake has come a long way
Jesus all of this was taken down cause of one chemistry teacher
Fuckin’ science.
It’s why this show makes me like Walter White even more
@@DT25659 finally someone who likes Walter more than gus
Yeah Mr. White! Yeah science!
It was becus of the health care system... vote bernie sanders
Gus wasn't a general or a generalissimo. That was almost certainly mockery by Hector, just like Hector mocked "Pollos Hermanos" as "Culos Hermanos" (the Butt Brothers). For one thing, in racial terms, Gustavo Fring would be considered Afro-Chileno, which are very rare in Chile, but he probably passed himself off as "mestizo," i.e., part-Spanish and part-indigenous South American. The Chilean elite of Pinochet's time was very, very white, with most people tracing their lineage all the way back to Spanish Europeans. There is simply no way a Black guy from a poor, rural family would rise to the rank of general in Pinochet's Chile. Instead, I think the main way that a gay Afro-Chileno like Gus Fring rose to power in Pinochet's Chile is that he is a very good torturer. He tortures out of sadism and vengeance, but unemotionally, without his mind clouded by anger. That personality profile can make you a very good torturer for a dictatorial regime, which would make you useful, even if you are considered suspect because of your race and sexuality. In addition, I think it's highly likely that Gustavo may have been a torturer at the Colonia Dignidad torture facility. Colonia Dignidad started out in the early 1960s as an agricultural colony founded by fugitive Nazi Germans, but it later became a torture facility during the Pinochet regime. That would explain why Gus Fring has so many connections to powerful Germans. Another interesting fact is that Peter Schuler has the same initials as Paul Schäfer, the founder of Colonia Dignidad. If this theory pans out, I would suspect the reason that Gus fled Chile is that his status as Black gay man was revealed to the Nazis or to people in the Pinochet government, but Peter Schuler saved him, because he respected how far Gus was willing to go to serve Pinochet's regime. It may also explain Gomez's puzzlement at why the State Department would have allowed Gus into the country with such patchy records. The implication is that the kind of work Gus did at a Nazi torture farm was tolerated by the U.S. during the Cold War, because it was thought to be necessary to keep Chile and the rest of South America from going Communist. As a result, Gus is thanked for his "service" by being allowed to get into Mexico and the United States with his identity documents wiped clean.
This makes a lot more sense than most other comments here and someone actually brings up the racial aspect that while may not seem as important now was back then. Even looking at the actual actor for gus, he's Italian and black and his skin is just light enough to somewhat match native chileans so I could see gus the character being able to pull calling himself a metizo
Side note. His mom was too
Finally someone addresses one of the elephants in the room... That the US supported and enabled Pinochet out of fear of lefty communism or some such
@@ozzyphil74 That's not an elephant
@@brendanmuller7301 with him being a black man, I was intitialy very confused to look on Wikipedia and seeing him referred to as Danish American and even more confused seeing that his father was Italian. Not really knowing the difference between Spanish and Italian names, I guess I just assumed he was like black hispanic or something lmfao
Imagine being a a ruthless high ranking military official in Chile, would you ever imagined to be killed by an ex chemistry teacher years later in a different country?
@@i_dont_live_here wtf you on about
I doubt Pinochet's military would have promoted a gay man. Not being married past 30 would have been a dead giveaway.
Also Hector then says, "White meat, dark meat. Don't look like no brothers to me." Implying that there's more to their relationship. And when Walt and Jesse destroy Gus' laptop from the evidence locker they also crack a framed picture of Gus with his arm around Max in a tropical setting.
Nah he was just being racist because of max being white and gus being black and also was mocking the name again just like when he called it "los culos hermanos"
@@duck_of_judgementbreaking bad fans trying to deny the creator's intentions:
When Gus shared that Tucuma story to Hector, it was the best thing ever. We only know bits and pieces about Gus's past.
I loved it as well, he talks so slow and menacingly it’s hard to cut it all together into one clip lol
In chile we don't have lucuma or coaties, we aren't in centro America
@@naomiheart1863 in the very north there are
@@naomiheart1863 Pouteria lucuma is a species of tree in the family Sapotaceae, cultivated for its fruit, the lúcuma. It is native to the Andean valleys of Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru
@@bermudezhg yo soy chilena aquí no hay esas cosas, te lo juro, te creo si hubiera sido un árbol de cerezas o unas plantas de frutillas, estoy bastante segura de cómo es mi país y te aseguro que habría sido lo correcto en lugar de un coati un guaren y en lugar de un lucumo un cerezo
I’ve heard Vince say he wants to keep Gus’ past a mystery. But, you never know. Thanks for another great video and keeping us BCS fans engaged during the gaps.
I hope he teases us a little more at least!! Thanks for watching :) I have more exciting ideas in the near future! Might start teasing them and asking for opinions with text posts!
A mystery kinda like Yoda
Vince wants money :^)
Gus was a professional wrestler in his early years.
Peter Schuler's likely story arc mirrors something that happened in my aunt's hometown in Luxembourg.
In the early 2000s, a young man was forced to leave the town when it came to light he grew up at Colonia Dignidad in Chile. It was a cult-like compound that was founded by escaped Nazis.
In 2005, near the end of Pinochet's life, it was discovered that this compound was used by Pinochet as a site to discretely torture and execute his political enemies.
Schuler's likely story is that he was the son of a powerful Nazi living in Chile who served the Pinochet regime. After the assassination attempt on Pinochet, seeing the writing on the wall, Gus, Max and Peter would have fled Chile under assumed identities. Peter would have likely fled to Germany. Meanwhile Gus and Max made their way to Mexico, then applied for entry visas into the US before their violent encounter with the Eladio Cartel.
And so, we have the most likely manner that started Gus Fring and Peter Schuler's long partnership.
It's incredible that two surviving operators from the Pinochet empire were taken down by a high school chemistry teacher and a stroke victim in a wheelchair.
I think your right, wouldn’t fit for him to be a general, too young for that anyway, probably working with pinochets regime and protected, Maybe Gus even knew pinochets himself
It also fits, because Colonia Dignidat produced weapons for pinochet before the coup.
Btw, to correct that, the founder of Colonia Dignidat didn't flee because he was a Nazi but because he probably abused childs at his work in a shelter in germany. And flying to chile he took all witnesses with him. Scary if you think about.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonia_Dignidad
Great comment until the last sentence, booooo!
I wonder if Gus' place in Mexico ("Dedicado a Max') was his version of the Colonia?
This comment deserves more
The first person Walter kills is Emilio. Krazy 8 is his second kill.
what
@@lcdream4213 wdym what it makes perfect sense and it’s true
@@chocolatepie3301 yea its a fact but how does it relate to the video
@@lcdream4213 the video says Krazy 8 was the first person Walt killed
@@dtugg oh ok
Another thing I’ve noticed about Gus is that he referred to his restaurant employees as civilians a few times. That’s an expression I’ve only seen military or law-enforcement use. Maybe he was in the military
It's also used in the Criminal Underworld to refer to any persons not knowingly connected to organised crime.
Maybe he was Chilean police like the guy who started the Sinaloen cartel
I've literally heard the term civilian used for someone not in the game 100's of times in different crime shows. Across multiple different crime organizations.
So he was with Pinochet or he was with allende?
Nah, certainly not. It's used in the Mafia, take the Sopranos for instance. They say that every episode 😂
one of the greatest villains of all time
"Because I know who you are, but keep in mind, this is not Chile"
Maybe Gus actually orchestrated the 1986 Pinochet assassination attempt. Maybe that's he got out and wiped his past. I thought you were going to mention this possibility whe you were talking about that, it makes a lot of sense, with Don Eladio meaning that Gus can't do the same to him and claim his empire
And he’s still well connected
8:52 He didn't seem so cold hearted in the flashback to a younger Gus at the pool. If Gus was always so ruthless he wouldn't have been so nervous that day or cried.
That moment definitely impacted him very negatively in regards to being cold hearted and ruthless, although I’m sure he was already somewhat beforehand, considering his past.
Good point, although this particular crime was too personal and given the initial tone of the talk, unexpected. The conversation turned into a death in a matter of seconds. Margolis played Hector Salamanca with so much credibility... was really brutal even with his nephews when kids. That just goes to show in that world there's a point in which trust means s**t
Seeing someone you love killed changes you.
Not really. Doesn't matter how hard you are your gonna he shook when your friend is murdered in front of you
@ GuyOnAChair but if you noticed after Hector shoots his partner he charges at Hector to fight him. so I think that he was always ruthless but he was just caught by surprised when they killed max.
And to think he’s got the Dark Saber now 🗡
O G I hope moff gideon funds his imperial equipment with death sticks if you know what I mean 😂😂😂😂
And also the CEO of Vought international
I was happy to see Gus expand his Los Pollos Hermanos franchises to Vought Tower and a galaxy far far away
@@wyatthill6252 me too honestly Giancarlo Esposito is doing great for himself. He must have a good agent.
@@wyatthill6252 if you look very carefully you can actually see Gus’ real body leaving the Breaking Bad universe right before the bomb explodes hence why he’s now running Vought in THE BOYS universe. His time as Gideon too place a long time ago in a galaxy far away....
With how Gus is I doubt Hector's the only person he ever took a slow, sadistic revenge on.
He might be the only person that's truly deserved it though. Gus is cold but clearly loved this guy. Even decades later before he exacts his revenge, he cannot take his eyes of the pool where his loved one died.
@@walsh9080 Yeah. Hector had it all coming. Not only did he probably torture and kill loads of people for the cartel but bringing up his nephews to be blindly loyal to him and obsessed with avenging each other if one of them died are partly the reason Tuco, Lalo, Marco and Leonel turned out how they did. Gus might be evil but he's the lesser of 2 evils compared to Hector. In Better Call Saul he even threatens to have the twins kill Mike's daughter in law and granddaughter unless Mike got Tuco's sentence reduced by saying Tuco's gun was his. Gus might have been pissed at Nacho for slipping Hector the pills at first but they eventually allowed him to make Hector suffer by destroying the cartel and arranging the deaths of Marco and Leonel then describing the deaths to him in detail.
That gwatey was the first thing he ever took slow sadistic revenge on, so i have no doubt he’s done it to dozens of people that wronged him, or went against him.
@@walsh9080 his lover 😂😣😅
@@Xehanort10 As much as I love Gus as a character, and think he’s much morally better than Hector, Gus did threaten to kill Walt’s infant daughter, not even Hector did that.
I recall reading that Vince Gilligan once compared Gus’ backstory to the briefcase in Pulp Fiction-which to this day Tarantino hasn’t fully explained. There are many theories about that briefcase and what’s in it, but no canonical explanation.
@@theearthlaughs4251 never officially confirmed. But that is a popular theory.
I used to think Gus was a general because of what Hector said on the phone as well, until a couple of things. One is that my friend, who is Mexican, told me that "Generalissimo" is more of an insult used at someone who thinks he's a big shot. So he said not to take it too literally. The other thing is, he would have been so young in 1986. Mid 20's? Now, I'm not an expert on Chilean military hierarchy, but that just seems way to young to achieve the rank of general.
My guess? He was involved in the Pinochett regime, but FOR SURE it was in some behind the scene, clandestine role. The reason for this is that he is so openly public. He's in the newspaper, on TV, does charity functions for local law enforcement. If he was any sort of public figure in Chile, even a torturer or anyone who could be recognized, he would keep a much lower profile. If not, at anytime some Chilean immigrant could see him on the news or something and go "Hey! That's the guy who waterboarded me in 1982!!!" or whatever. And anyone from that time could recognize him and spill the beans.
It also implies that anybody whom Gus tortured is probably dead, which is why he doesn't have to worry about being found out.
It reminds me a lot of Full Metal Alchemist when the Homunculi PRIDE and SLOTH were posing as the Amestris military Fuhrer King Bradley and secretary Juliet Douglas to cover up their TRUE identities and posing as political authority figures. When Lieutenant Colonel Hughes found them out? JUST like organized crime? They had to send the Lieutenant Colonel on a trip to Belize. HANK would be.. ALMOST the Lieutenant Colonel Hughes for Breaking Bad. ALMOST because he didn't get killed by Gus's hitman.
His skillset seems to indicate some sort of intelligence background (D.I.N.A. or C.N.I.). He was probably involved with Operation Colombo or Condor
I would love a "How Gus Fring Rose To Power" video!!
Sweet😎😎
With the way Gus killed Victor in BB with basically no regard, I have no doubt that Gus was a murderer in Chile.
Correction: Victor and Walter killed Gus.
@@rdmineer1 what?
@@rdmineer1 Victor was the dude who got his throat slit.
He mistakenly victor as hector lol
Hector killed Gus, Walter made the bomb.
how can Eladio and Juan Bolsa trust and do business with Gus after they murdered his partner/lover in front of him? Hector and Lalo are right in wanting him gone, no matter how much cash he brings in..
I’m guessing it’s to highlight their arrogance, and belief that they’re all powerful and untouchable
They don’t trust Gus. They just know he’s making bank for the Cartel. Money is the whole point and he was bringing in the most of everyone.
They would never have accepted him as a part of their inner circle and they thought he was set straight by the Cartel back when Max was killed.
@@ZoomGears well they thought wrong
There's plenty of smart arrogant people who do stupid things. Why else would slick Willy 1) mess with a chubby unattractive intern 2) obstruct justice by tampering with witnesses and 3) arrange to get her a job at the Pentagon, the cherry on top in my opinion.
Wtf Gus is gay? My gosh I’m glad I never liked him
I think they should do a spin off about not just Gus, but the entire Cartel, including the Salamancas, and then get some younger, up and coming actors playing them in their 20s and 30s. To see the back story of Hector, Juan Bolsa, Gustavo and Don Eladio would be the one spin off I would like to see, set in like the 1970s or 80s. Perhaps you could have both Mark Margolis and Giancarlo being the narrators. Like "you know how our story ends...but let us tell you how it began!"
All jokes aside, Gustavo Fring has to be the greatest villain in TV history. Like if you agree!
In the 80s Gus was Buggin Out in Brooklyn.
LOL, wit Pinkman!
@@saturnstar718 Huh ?
@@normreye7430 czcams.com/video/Ce37ApsjfKc/video.html
Gus has definitely been one of my favorite characters in the BB/BCS universe. While it would be nice to get more of his backstory, and that is one thing that I have always been curious about while watching both shows, but at the same time, I kind of don't want to know too much about his backstory. It's not just his ambiguous past that makes him a memorable character, it's also the fact that he has the ability to change his demeanor on a dime depending on the situation he is put in. He may look like a friendly face while at his legal place of business, but underneath, he is something much more dangerous.
It was when I saw the boxcutter episode of BB that I was officially sold on this character.
Great points, I’d have to agree👌🏻
When it's open ended or unknown I like to say The rest is poetry, so yes I agree maybe knowing his back story would be a spoiler
I call it 'The Querque Verse' because Albuquerque is the main city of all three shows.
"Generalissimo" is a title for "the highest general", and as such could be a title for the commander of the entire armed forces or, more frequently, a military dictator.
Yea so it's a term of insult
The title of Generalissimo is a really rare title, and it was only really applied in real life to dictators of an entire country, like Francisco Franco of Spain or Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic. To be the Chilean equivalent of a generalissimo, you'd have to be Pinochet yourself & even Pinochet didn't claim that title for himself.
@@jonsrecordcollection7172 that's right. The only "Generalisimo" I ever heard of is Franco. It is a title he made up for himself, like Hitler called himself "Führer" and Mussolini called himself "Il Duce." In Spanish, It is often used mockingly to refer to someone who is imperious.
Fring was such a great character. Was funny watching him change from super polite manager of Pollos Hermanos to super hardass.
this character has potential for an interesting tv series of his own
Great breakdown. I think Gus tried to assassinate Pinochet and when that failed, he had to flee.
That’s a good theory! Wish I had said that in the video honestly haha
Or maybe he stole the secret recipe for Pollos Hermanos from Pinochet 😳
Possibly to replace Pinochet?
I totally agree! It really fits Gus' psychotic, power hungry character.
@@210SAi Sounds much more likely
Supporting your theory, there's this scene in BB when Do Eladio is telling Gus that he "forgets his position every 20 years or so" in the pool scene minutes before he is poisoned to death by Fring's tequila. Goes well with the theory of him leading the coup on Pinochet in 1986.
What everyone missed to say is that you can see by how Gus is very tidy person with his chlotes (the way he folds towel before he trows up, the way he took his clothes off before he killed Victor and then washed his hands etc) that he is some kind of military man for sure, bcs you learn that stuff in army.
That's more his OCD, same reason he picked up the glass shards up by hand when he knocked over his glass in his trailer.
One of the best Universe analyst is back
I appreciate ALL analysis off Our universe BUT there are several that are excellent- I really appreciate the time and effort Vivid puts in to making these
@@melmc9672 I do also. There are lots of analysis on youtube that are pretty awesome but yes Vivid does a really good job and always look forward to his content. I take it your a huge fan of the Universe. I dont get too many people that are as passionate of a fan as me so I appreciate the drop in my comment section. I'm ready for season 6 of BCS whenever that may be due to the current circumstances its hard to determine when there will be a premiere date.
Gus fring worth a spin-off show, I always think
Yeah, that would have been a better choice than Saul.
Better Call Saul has gotten a lot better in the later seasons, but in the beginning it was very average.
@@MagnumTriumph in my opinion breaking bad was the same, it’s all a big preparation for a big climax
I would even be Happy if there was a real los pollos hermanos
EVERYONE IN THIS SHOW IS WORTH A SPIN-OFF
@@denalkrivaas5496 a spinoff of skyler white
I believe you’re underestimating Gus’s age, especially if in fact he was a high ranking military official. He would have had to have been around 60.
The shows events take place in the late 2000s-early 2010s. Gus looks to be around 20 to 30 something years old when he first meets Don Eladio in 1989? I think? so It’s not too crazy to think he’d be in his late 50s/early 60s
if Gus were a general during the 80s, that'd make him 20 something at the time. thats an unrealistically low age for a general
Most likely a military officer who committed atrocious crimes and human rights abuses.
I always thought that he was a spook in the Chilean government...
@@robertfitzgerald3118 maybe yes, like a secret police narco ring type of figure
the term "general" was probably used as a way to emphasize the bs he did to the Chilean victims. Not that he was a general per se but he was a part of this bs and torture etc
Unless it's Nepotism, like if Gus's father was close to Pinochet at the time and he was promoted to General in some bullshit faction of the army etc.
My favourite answer courtesy of Reddit:
'Gus was a chicago boy through the catholic university of chile (where he met his boyfriend/cook), then a high level economic adviser to pinochet with a military appointment, who was assigned to a drug scheme to keep money flowing around 1985-86 after Pinochet saw the writing on the wall. Gus used pinochet's connections to ratline descended germans to hook up with madrigal, and left before the regime collapsed.'
It wasn't his boyfriend that is just a insult they use. Like how Hector calls everyone a f word
@@xrexi4366 - it’s admittedly somewhat ambiguous but I think all evidence - particularly Gus’ drive and hatred of the Salamancas and especially Hector - points to the strong likelihood that Max and Gus were romantically attached. Gus is the man who maintains a compound / village and a water shrine for Max, after all.
No te molesta que Gustavo no tenga nada que ver con Chile? Hablan de Chile como si fuese un país en centro América, si hablaran de cualquier país de asia como hablan de nosotros la serie sería funada y no me malentiendas, la serie es lo máximo, pero Gustavo es la única representación chilena que he visto y es terrible es como decir que Filipinas y corea del norte y sur son lo mismo
@@fletcherhamilton3177 I think the thing is there's no definitive proof. All rhe things you see between gus and max could easily just be them being friends. I put my arm around my friends shoulder when we take pictures. And if someone killed my bestfriend I would be mad too
@@fletcherhamilton3177 it is obvious to me that Gus and Max were intimate.
I don't care what anybody says. I think this is one of the very finest series ever.
That’s in fact what everybody says. Why even include that first sentence?
@@youtubeepicuser4209 yeah it’s not an unpopular opinion everyone sucks Breaking Bad’s dick all the time
(Which is ok, masterpiece show)
The Sopranos, enough said (Breaking Bad is awesome tho)
I love the reflections of Max and Werner in Walt and how Mike and Gus process those similarities when dealing with him. Watch the execution and near execution of Walt/Werner by Mike. It’s fascinating how Mike comes to recognize Walts selfishness that he didn’t see so much in Werner at that earlier stage in his criminal career. He pitied each of them, but with additional time dealing with Walt he came to realize that his selfishness would hurt even more people than their enterprise already does
The magic of the both shows wouldve been lost if we knew every single detail about every charcter.
What could actually cause Don Eladio to not be willing to kill Gus with Max? Fear of repercussions of killing him?
Gus is useful to him, he knows about gus’ past, so he knows that gus probably used to smuggle drugs and guns.
Eladio doesn’t care for meth, and was insulted by it - especially on his territory. That’s why he killed max.
@@TheVividKiWi yeah that makes sense. Another good video! Got any other ones planned?
@@aidanparker3712 I might finally do my “Saul meets Hank & Gomez” video I’ve had half a script written for since bcs ep.503 lol
& thank u!
Let's call it greed...
It would hurt his chances to open the complete American consumer market which Gus can bring him no problems
Gus is the main character in an equally interesting story happening parallel to Breaking Bad. The fact that we only get glimpses makes the world seem so much larger and believable
I believe you have made an excellent video and your back story about Gus is as close as it gets. Don't forget, Gus was able to smell out a hit by W.W. attempting to blow him up in his car. It shows he has a lot of experience with assassination attempts either on himself or of his own doing. Excellent back story!
"black cocaine"? I didn't know that part of Pinochet.s history. Well done my friend.
We need a prequel series just focused on Gus
Very refreshing information. It is so hard to recall things over a period of years. When you read a story in a book you usually don’t stop after a chapter and wait a year to continue reading the story. Thank you for a very interesting video.
Gus is a great character I want a whole series on Gus.
I love how in detailed this video was thank you !
Thanks for watching!! :)
I didn’t expect to stick around for the whole 25 minutes but you did an excellent job! “always leave them wanting more” was probably what Vince Gilligan was going for
Thank you! Glad you found the video entertaining, it was really interesting creating this one!
Always wondered about this; great video as always!
Thank you! I found this topic really interesting
Loved this video, really showcase the breaking bad universe’s fixation on real life events
What a powerhouse of a video! Very well done. I really enjoyed it. So much information and theories. You've really done your homework. This would make a fantastic movie! 👏👏👏
A bit tangential here but there's a very good film in Spanish called 'Marshland'. It's set in Spain immediately after the death of General Franco and without spoilers one of the secondary plotlines concerns the reality that in the aftermath of a dictatorship's collapse there are a lot of complicit people with things to hide.
I loved the background stories of both breaking bad and better call Saul...Gus is an amazing character.
thank you very much for creating all these videos! i just finished season 5 on netflix and having your brain to pick has been great. what an incredible season
Thank you for such concise insight. I don't think you ever rambled on. To be able to notice and articulate such fine details of this franchise is what all fans need. I mean, I've been a fan from the get, and have re watched the series multiple times as well as the extras, I get so caught up in the (brilliant) acting and setting that I often miss these finer points. What's fascinating is how obvious they seem when you point them out and I recollect.
Thanks again 👍👍👍
Generalissimo could be a chicken man play on words too ... like KFC's Colonel Sanders
Chicken man is a derogatory term because Hector hates him, generalissimo is what people who respect him called him, Hector said it sarcastically because he can’t stand that Gus has/had power.
And because his from south America, "sudaco" as he said. That's a very common point of views from mexicans.
Generalissimo could be because of Pinochet
Gus left “chill-Ayyy” 😂
The person who put this together did a great job…well done Lad!
I always just figured him for being a drug dealer with a commerce degree.
In the scene where his partner got shot for example, he seemed like an astute yet soft, white collar guy who everyone thought was gay. Not a hard ex-millitary general from a third world country.
I could be wrong, but that's my impression.
I’d love a miniseries about Gus and his rise to power.
The de-aging technology exists if they want to make a standalone movie, like El Camino. It could be pretty intense. This is assuming we’re not going to get some great flashback sequences in the second half of this final season.
Great job, well done. I enjoyed your work!
Thank you 🙏🏻
🇨🇦❤️🙏🏻
Honestly, they've made so many references about gus' past but aren't going to answer them in bcs since season 6 is the final one. This leads me to believe there'll be another spin off where they will give us the full picture and I'd personally love that.
One slight correction. The cartel is not just a family business. They are a large network controlled by Don Eladio (aka El Griego). The Salamanca family are a very tight-knit group that draw a lot of water with the cartel, and they are mostly family. Once in a while, someone like Nacho Varga climbs their ranks. But that speaks more to Nacho and his competency as a lieutenant for Tuco. Otherwise, the Salamancas very proudly are big earners for the cartel, are very good at what they do, and though they’re very difficult to deal with, Eladio keeps them around because of how much they bring to the table.
Think of Hector’s meltdown at the end of season 3, where he started raving about how he IS the cartel. Also think about him pissing in Eladio’s pool. Hector would like to think he’s in control, and even Don Eladio can’t stop him. But as we see, that’s not completely the case.
I enjoy very much your analyses and angles. Thank you and carry on !
Thanks for watching and commenting! I appreciate the support
Excellent video. Lots of research that answers a lot of questions . Well done my friend
The analysis and connecting references to history in this review are A-1 top notch thinking. You're take on Pinochet was refreshingly on target and correct.
Thank you very much!! :)
That's not true Pinochet wasn't president he was a dictator
I think Gus's connection to Madrigal in Germany might related to Germans who fled to SA, including Chile, after WWII (i.e. Nazis).
10:26 I love how they foreshadow things like this. Hector is sitting on what looks to be a wheelchair
Great content and analysis. Thanks very much!
Kiwi, you continue to blow my mind! I'm an overly-analytical person and avid fan of all things Gilliverse....YOU are a treasure! So glad I found your channel.
Great video! I had in my mind that Gus was head of Chilean Secret Police, rather than an army general. But can’t recall where I read or heard that - might have dreamt it of course 🤦🏻♂️
There was something called the slit throat case that was an assassination scandal that involved chilean special service in 1985 maybe he was involved with that somehow.. would tie into the box cutter episode of BB
I’m not sure that Gus is a total villain, you have to remember after he killed Don Elado, the doctor that set up the field hospital greeted him as some sort of hero. I do think Gus was a Chilean military officer but I think his fear factor is that he has worked with the CIA during that time period. Which I think is a bigger concern for the cartel.
Gus was definitely a villain, even Hitler had people call him hero. Just because a doctor who works for the cartel likes him doesn't mean he's a good guy
He ordered murdering of children dummy
Gus was clearly evil
When Victor admits he was spotted at the crime scene (Gale B’s apt where Jesse shot him) it’s pretty much his death sentence. Did Gus have to slit Victor’s throat with a box cutter to make a point/scare the hell out of Walt & Jesse? Not really. Taking it to that level of brutality when it wasn’t 100% necessary I think qualifies him as a total villain.
@@matthewj7800 oh i 100% agree, gus was a true psychopath, the deadness in his eyes when he was killing victor the slow menacing way he suited up.. definitely not a guy i would want to cross paths with in a dark alley
Great job kiwi. Love all your content 👍🏽
In one episode of BCS Gus says to Peter Schuler: “Remember Santiago, our backs to the wall? I will never forget what you did for me…”
Pinochet regularly executed drug dealers en-masse by firing squad. I think him being a drug dealer that escaped execution in Chile makes a lot more sense than him being affiliated with the Chilean government; Pinochet HATED drug users/dealers, makes no sense for Fring to be a massive drug dealer after working for Pinochet.
It's possible Gus was BOTH a soldier reporting to General Pinochet AAAAND a high-level drug dealer at the same time... just trying to hide from the Donkey general under the radar during his time in Chile
Never trust a drug addict, said Gus
if pinochet hate drugs so much why he intrduce Pasta base?
What if Gus was the one who orchestrated the assassination attempt of pinochet, and fled for obvious implications after he heard of it's failure.
Yes! I just posted the same 5 months later!
@@r.duffygarber4047 It makes sense. He betrayed Pinochet. He had to leave the country and change his identity. Maybe it was a coup backed by the CIA. Then the CIA helped him get to the US.
Yes, he was probably a "General" in the FPMR which attempted the assassination. Very unlikely Gus, a black man and Shuler (if he was a Nazi would be such bosom comrades). I found an article about the assassination attempt and here's a quote from it: "To this day the FPMR technically lives on but probably only in spirit, as most of its members are dispersed around the globe." BTW, FPMR blew up 2 McDonalds and tried to bomb a KFC... So he's part of a global Communist terrorist network including Shuler, the Doctor and Lydia, who hold him in high esteem and there might be repercussions if someone kills him.
chiletoday.cl/34-years-ago-the-failed-assassination-attempt-on-pinochet/
@@dandavis8300 maybe Schuler was a East German official who fled after unification.
@@luismedinacom the CIA put Pinochet in power
I think Ed the Vacuum guy is responsible for Frings identity in the United States.
I bet he gives Eds card to Nacho once he learns Lalo "dies" as a job well done
I always assumed he was just a door to door salesman who got caught up with the wrong crowd.
Gus's past along with the history of Chile is very interesting.
KIWI: I ALMOST SOLVED A MYSTERY!!
ALSO HIM: ANSWERS BAD...MYSTERY GOOD!
My guess was intelligence agency, he’d be too young to reach General and it fits that a young, intelligent, ruthless Gus could climb the ladder fast in such an organisation that’s ok with torture, abduction etc. It seems like drug smuggling would be something the regime gave to intelligence agents rather than military so Gus being advanced quickly at a young age makes sense if he was really good at it. I’d also say if we’re saying he wasn’t killed because they’re worried about blowback from Gus’ friends intelligence makes more sense than military, intelligence agents would seem to have a bigger threat to their business/more likely to succeed in assassination attempts. My guess for how he got a connection to Madrigal is Colonia, Nazi war criminals fled to South America forming colonies one famous one is called Colonia Dignidad in Chile, Peter can easily be a child of a Nazi who stole a lot of gold to fund the start of Madrigal. The colonies were well known to the Chilean regime so it makes sense Gus could have met them as an intelligence agent.
this makes the most sense
Nice video, as a Chilean guy this mistery really intrigues me XD
I love how everything about bcs still stems from the roots of breaking bad and show us how each character breaks bad
Hay un solo problema con la historia: NO HAY COATIS en Chile
There's just one problem with the story: There are no COATIES in Chile
Es como si los escritores pensaras que chile esta en Centroamérica, o en el Amazonas y rodeado de mar y montaña
Hell Yeah! was my reaction when people noticed the "Frings Back" from the season 2 episode titles, back before he was on screen in season 3.
Omg I forgot about that! It was definitely hype🔥 the episode “sabrosito” is my favourite episode from seasons 1-4, it was only recently that season 5 topped it with multiple episodes.
this video was better than BCS new informations about Gustavo fring seriously good research man
Thx for posting this I was rlly wondering what guss was before
I love your content. Especially this video. But I think Gus is more nuanced than someone who loves making animals and people suffer and murdering.
He knows that killing isn’t always necessary. Just like you said, keeping people alive can be useful. I do not see Gus as a pure psychopath. He doesn’t get off on murder.
It’s just a tool.
Now, on to Madrigal.
Here’s something from the wiki that caught my attention when they showed their various fast food businesses.
‘Madrigal is spread across 14 divisions. The fast-food division, formerly run by Peter Schuler, encompasses a stable of over 7 fast-food concerns, including Los Pollos Hermanos, Stingin' Rays, Luftwaffle, Whiskerstay's, Haau Chuen Wok, Burger Matic, Polmieri Pizza, and at least five others.’
I believe EVERY fast food franchise is apart of their drug trafficking empire. And I will gamble that they are in the countries of their cuisine origin.
Think, China is king of chemical and synthetic opioids. Italy is a port to Turkey’s poppy processing into opioids. I think its WAY bigger than theorized.
woah. that sounds plausible!
The name “Luftwaffle” also gives links to herr schuler/his family having a Nazi past
@@freddienovis3555 Mind. Blown.
Luftwaffle 🤣
When Gus meets with the Juarez Cartel for the first time, it's 1989. That's one year before Pinochet left power in 1990, and one year after the 1988 national referendum. Gus was probably somebody whose affairs were intertwined with the Chilean junta, and once he realized the national status quo was changing, he sought out opportunities elsewhere.
I hope they dont do a prequel for gus. Hes better left as an enigma.
Not to mention the actor is getting old. The budget needed for 5/6 seasons of digital reverse aging would probably be more than discovering the cure against aging itself
One of Pinochet's top guys...brilliant, I think you're right!
Gus's past should be a new series
@Mattress Store a crazy idea how about a kid playing Gus as a kid .they should film it in Chile
So Gus was an ex imperial grand moff escaping his past and war crimes.Got it.
Good video, thanks bro
Thanks for watching!
Gus Fring spent his youth in NYC harassing Italian pizza joint owners for not having enough pictures of the bruthas on their wall