Breaking Bad: How did Gus find out about the car bomb? Explained

In a Breaking Bad Season 4 episode titled “Face Off”, Gus Fring figured out the car bomb because of his intuition and paranoia, and based on the facts he knew about Walt's behavior and ability in the criminal world, he concluded that Walt intended to kill him.

Initially, Walter White and Gustavo Fring's collaboration was beneficial to both of them. Walt had the technique to produce superior meth, while Gus possessed the necessary resources to produce and market it. Remarkably, the two men also possessed a detached, businesslike practicality. Of course, Walt and Gus were bound to clash eventually.

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Breaking Bad: Walter White’s failed attempt to kill Gus Fring

Walt attempted to kill Gus multiple times for the majority of Breaking Bad season 4, but he was unsuccessful. He ended up giving Brock ricin poisoning in the hopes that Jesse would believe Gus was to blame and kill Gus to take his revenge.

Walt arranged an assassination attempt in the hospital when Gus personally visited Jesse, who was inconsolable, to tell him to return to work. In the meantime, Walt placed a pipe bomb on Gus's car while Gus was inside the hospital visiting Jesse and waited for the aftermath.

Gus made his way back to his car after his short conversation with Jesse, but because of his intuition, he realized something was wrong, so he decided to leave his car there and took an uncomfortable bus journey home.

Walt tried to manipulate his partner against Gus

Six-year-old Brock was the son of Andrea, Jesse's ex-girlfriend. Jesse wanted to help Andrea move out of her dangerous neighborhood and start over, so he tried to help her in season 4 of Breaking Bad, by placing a large sum of money in her mailbox.

In an attempt to change her life, Andrea used the money to purchase a house for herself and Brock. However, Brock was then taken to the hospital not longer after, following a possible poisoning.

Initially, Jesse believed Walt used the ricin he meant to give to Gus Fring to poison Brock. But in an attempt to break them apart, Walt persuaded Jesse that Gus was the one responsible for the poison, thus turning Jesse against Gus. It was a cunning ploy that succeeded.

Walt did, in fact, poison Brock; only, he didn't use ricin. He used a lily of the valley plant that was growing in his backyard as an alternative. The flower's effects were similar to the ricin that Jesse thought Brock had consumed.

Breaking Bad: Brook’s poisoning allows Gus to escape the car bomb

Gus's brain began to function differently after Brock had been poisoned in Breaking Bad. Gus's plan, when he paid Jesse a visit in the hospital, was to just talk his star chef back into the kitchen to cook his batch of meth. However, as he saw Brock had been poisoned, he realized Walter White was responsible.

For a man with Gus's intelligence and insight, it was easy to deduce from there: Walt wanted Gus dead which was why he poisoned someone Jesse cared about. Walt had already pre-assumed that Gus would pay Jesse a visit at the hospital, which meant his car would be left unattended for some time.

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Providing Walt ample opportunity to set a trap and have Gus killed.