The episode titled Breathe in the TV series Better Call Saul, is consistently faithful to the twist-of-fate=reality style of its beyond brilliant creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. At the very end of the second episode in season 4, Arturo, one of Hector Salamanca‘s muscle, suffocates in a see-through plastic bag, pulled over his head by Gus Fring. Arturo’s partner Nacho watches in horror, unable to move and down on his knees, with guns being pointed at him by Gus Fring‘s muscle, Victor and Tyrus. The nature of Arturo‘s death is the culmination of an episode in which most of the characters in Better Call Saul are finding it hard to breathe. If you want to study tense, withheld and limited breathing in all its varieties, observe the jaws and chests of the beloved characters in episode 2, season 4 of Better Call Saul. I’ve listed some of the scenes in which this is most easy to see:
– Jimmy, throughout the episode, is in denial about his feelings, following his brother Chuck‘s death, simultaneously going off the rails internally and externally and shutting down completely.
– Nacho is upset about his father not speaking to him for having involved him in cartel business and his father is upset about seeing no way out of the cartel business for his son.
– Kim, barely manages to control her anger at the meeting about Chuck‘s estate before she obliterates Howard for unloading his own guilt about Chuck‘s death onto Jimmy, which in turn takes Howard‘s breath away.
– Gus Fring bottles up his fury that his carefully orchestrated revenge plans for Hector might have been thwarted because Hector just suffered a stroke (which Nacho in turn orchestrated).
– Hector lies in hospital, with a nasal cannula for respiratory support, unresponsive, reminding us of the scene in episode 1 where he fell to the ground from his stroke, gasping for air.
– Arturo, Nacho, Victor and Tyrus find themselves in a potential shoot-out situation – with their hands on their guns – over a disagreement of the drug pick-up, just before Arturo is attacked by Gus.
– And then, finally, Nacho, as he watches Arturo suffocating, realises that despite all his desperate efforts, he will never get out of being a pawn for the cartel. As he witnesses Arturo‘s mouth opening like a fish, his lips protruding outwards, trying to engulf some air, Nacho sees his own future. Caught firmly in Gus Fring‘s net, there will be little room for him to breathe, and soon no breath at all.