Why did Gus Fring kill Victor in Breaking Bad? Explained

Although it aired its season finale over a decade ago, fans of Breaking Bad have been wondering why Gus killed Victor in episode one of season four. Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan's popular TV series, debuted on AMC on January 20, 2008, running for five seasons before it concluded on September 29, 2013.

The show follows Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston, a chemistry teacher, who lives in New Mexico with his wife and teenage son, who has cerebral palsy. According to the official synopsis given by Sony, Walter is diagnosed with stage III cancer and only has two years to live. As the series progresses, Walter enters the "dangerous world of drugs and crime" to make sure that his family is financially secure. He soon ascends to power in the drug world.

"The series explores how a fatal diagnosis such as White's releases a typical man from the daily concerns and constraints of normal society and follows his transformation from mild family man to a kingpin of the drug trade." The synopsis, reads in part.

Apart from Bryan Cranston, the series also stars Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman along with multiple other outstanding actors. Breaking Bad features several good and bad characters who enhance the intricacy of the plot and its characters.

Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring, is one of the show's many villains, who is the most formidable and evil of them all. In the first episode of season four, Gus killed his most devoted henchman, Victor (Jeremiah Bitsui) by slitting his throat. The villain killed him as Victor was about to ruin Gus' operation of meth production, along with his drug-related crimes and violence.

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Reliving the scenes of Breaking Bad: Looking at Gus' motivation for murder

Gus first appeared in Breaking Bad at the end of season two and played a crucial role throughout seasons three and four, displaying his power as the drug lord.

Although Gus killing Victor was stunning for fans to watch, the show has a history of surprising its viewers with unexpected occurrences. Victor is known for his graphic demonstration of brutality.

This, however, barely touches the surface of Gus' true motivation for killing Victor. Looking back on the scenario, it sticks out as a turning point in Gus Fring's life and solidifies his status as the best villain in Breaking Bad.

For a long time before the events of Breaking Bad, Victor was employed by Gus. As part of Gus's plan, Walter White and Jesse worked at the superlab, which Victor was keeping an eye on towards the conclusion of season 3.

Walt expressed concern that he would be killed in the coming days and replaced by the newcomer, Gale Boetticher when he was brought into the team. White came up with a plan to kill Gale so he would be the only one in control of the meth manufacturing, but Jesse ends up shooting Gale before Victor could stop it.

Walt and Jesse were taken prisoner in season 4 for Gus to exact revenge on them. Victor prepared his batch of meth to demonstrate that he had studied Walter White's meth formula as he waited for Gus to get to the lab.

When Gus arrives, instead of punishing Walt and Jesse, he picks up a box cutter and severs Victor's throat, before instructing staff members to resume their work. The drug lord wasn’t thrilled that neighbors had seen Victor at the scene of Gale's murder, thereby endangering the whole enterprise. However, in the end, there was more to Gus' killing of his enduring ally, Victor. It was a cold, premeditated move, as is typical of everything Gus Fring does.

The true reason Gus killed Victor so brutally in Breaking Bad was to give Walt and Jesse a very clear message. He wanted them to know that if they jeopardized the enterprise, Gus wouldn't think twice about killing them both.

Even though Jesse fired the gun, killing Gale, Victor carelessly allowed himself to be associated with the crime. Later that season, Gus saw a composite sketch of Victor hanging in a police station, which solidified in his mind the determination to kill his old comrade.

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Breaking Bad displays Gustav Fring as one of the most competitive and powerful villains who has always used heinous tactics to control people.