Danny Trejo is one of the greatest B-movie actors of all time. No doubt. But his appearance in Breaking Bad, while memorable, is part of one of the show's weaker narrative arcs - Hank's promotion/re-assignment to the El Paso office. Trejo plays Tortuga, or "Tortoise", a drug runner working for Juan Bolsa. In a remarkably brief cameo appearance from an actor so recognisable, Hank manages to get the information required from Tortuga during his investigation. However, it is the next time that the drug runner appears on when things get unbelievably ridiculous. Hank spots movement in the desert during a stakeout and, along with the rest of the agents, advances upon the small object. In one of Breaking Bad's most surreal moments, it turns out that it is a real tortoise, with Tortuga's disembodied head mounted on its shell. Oh, and there's a note written on it - "Hola DEA". If this isn't pretty ridiculous already (and one agent's mocking remark of "You look like you've never seen a severed human head on a tortoise before" does little to make it seem any less over-the-top...), the audience is supposed to blindly accept that Hank's conveniently timed panic attack allows him to stumble away as a hidden explosive on the tortoise's shell is detonated. In typical "save the main character" fashion, he is the only survivor. Yes, the sequence stands out, because who has "seen a severed human head on a tortoise before"? But it's pretty silly - and inconsequential in the context of the overall story.
