Breaking Bad: 10 Best Characters Who Appeared After Season One
4. Hector Salamanca
The veteran character actor Mark Margolis can do more with his incredibly malleable face than most performers can with access to full faculties. He plays the wheelchair-bound Hector Salamanca, and takes us on an incredible ride during his various guest appearances.
Hector appears first as Tuco’s ailing uncle. Confined to a chair, replete with breathing apparatus, he seems harmless, vegetative. But when Walt and Jesse attempt to spike Tuco’s food, Hector shows his wiles, saving his nephew’s life in the process.
After Tuco is neutralised and Hector placed in a home, he becomes the living embodiment of rage. He sends further family members after Walter, all the while fending off the DEA who recognise the light behind his eyes - his scatalogical protest to their line of questioning is unforgettable.
And then, ultimately, he redeems himself. Sort of. He aligns with Walt against the one man he loathes even more - Gustavo Fring. Hector’s final stand is one of the most bonkers, bravura, but brilliant moments Breaking Bad ever generated. It’s enough to make a figure as grotesque as Hector likeable -almost.