By Samuel Spencer
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After paying tribute to Robert Forster earlier in the season, Better Call Saul Season 5, Episode 5 focused on another character who was important to the world of Breaking Bad while appearing in only one episode. Though Maximino "Max" Arciniega (played by James Martinez) did not appear in the episode, titled "Dedicado a Max," the latest installment of the AMC show revealed how much of an impact the character's death had on Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito).
Max previously appeared in Breaking Bad Season 4, Episode 8, titled "Hermanos." In that episode, we saw the character get murdered in a flashback to the 1980s, in which the character was the business partner of Gus. After the pair insulted Don Eladio (played by Steven Bauer in the flashback) while trying to get him to sell their meth by manipulating him into a meeting, Max pled for his partner's life and was rewarded with a gunshot to the back of the head by Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis in the flashback).
As Gus watched Max's blood drip into the swimming pool, he vowed revenge on the cartel that the motivation behind most of his actions in both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
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There has been much speculation by fans of the franchise about exactly what the relationship between the two men was at the time of the murder. We know that they were business partners (they are the two "hermanos" behind Les Pollos Hermanos chicken shop), but many fans think they were also lovers.
In an AV Club interview, Esposito said there was a "genuine love" between the pair, but added: "My theory is that nothing's black and white, and the love he shows for nurturing another human being could very well be misconstrued as a love affair, and it's not written so it could be a love affair. My job as an actor is to give you all the possibilities and let you figure it out."
However, in the most recent episode of the latter, it was revealed that rather than making him purely hellbent on revenge, Gus has also paid tribute to Max in more positive ways. In "Dedicado a Max," fans learned that he is funding a small village in Mexico free from violence and drugs, where he sends Mike (Jonathan Banks) to recover. In this town, there is a fountain, which has the title of the episode inscribed on it.
Better Call Saul Season 5 airs Mondays on AMC and Tuesdays on Netflix internationally.
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