Episode Report Card Joe R: A- | 14 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT I.F.T.
By Joe R | Season 3 | Episode 3 | Aired on 04.04.2010
Saul's real reason for stopping by is that he'd like Jesse to convince Walt to start cooking again. Saul notes Jesse's lack of furnishings, calling him "house poor," and says they could both stand to benefit from Walt kicking the business started again. Jesse agrees, via an imperceptible head nod. Saul doesn't know what that means Jesse's going to do, so Jesse's like, "Yes! I'll talk to him! Now bounce!" Aw, bounce. That's the blaccenting Jesse I love. He hustles Saul out the door, pushing it shut from the inside like he's got to barricade it to keep the world out. Then it's back to his phone. He dials a number, and this time we hear the other end of the call. It's the familiar sound of Jane's outgoing message: "Hey, if you're trying to sell me something, I've got four little words for you: Do Not Call List. However, if you're cool, leave it at the beep." Jesse slides the phone down from his ear. He's gotten his fix.Hank's in his car, waiting for Gomez to return with the coffee. He gets a call that, from Hank's effusive "thank you"s, is very good news. Gomez, having returned, asks what's up. Hank says strings were pulled, and El Paso wants him back. Because he's Hank, he makes with the gregarious/obnoxious crowing, as Gomez congratulates him. But as Hank turns back to start the car, we see the look on his face. The look that remembers that the last time he was in El Paso ended with an exploding tortoise killing his colleagues.
In front of a Bingo parlor -- we can tell because the wall is painted with a giant "BINGO" -- a red-haired old lady motors down the rampway to the parking lot in her little motorized old-lady kart. She zooms up to her handi-capable van, which whirrs down a rampway for her convenience. When she's rolled up into the van, though, she's met by the immovable face of one of the Cousins standing on the other side of the van. Cousin #2 steps up behind her. Oh shit, are they gonna explode this lady and walk away from her in slow motion too? Vieja Roja turns to see him and actually smiles. "Hello!" she says, cheerfully.
In an utterly brilliant cut, we zip right to the inside of a chicken warehouse, where hundreds of birds chatter urgently in a cacophony of imminent slaughter. Pretty much what the whole world looks like to the Cousins, I'd wager. Outside, our silent friends roll up in their purloined van, along with Juanny Sack and -- reason for stealing the vamped vehicle becoming clear -- Tio. Man, I just hope they didn't kill that sweet old lady and instead maybe just set her rolling down a moderately sloped road. (...Well, it seems unrealistic to hope they didn't do anything bad to her!) Next to the chattering warehouses is a kind of temporary business trailer. Inside, Gus is pulling back the plastic wrap on a veggie platter. Is that dill dip there in the middle? Gus, you impeccable host.
Gus welcomes his guests (the Cousins, after all that work stealing a wheelchair-accessible van, have to carry Tio up the steps to the trailer), and then begins a conversation spoken in entirely subtitle-friendly Spanish. Clearly, this meeting is a result of Gus calling the Cousins off the Heisenberg hit. Juanny Sack gives Gus the lowdown, which starts, as I suspected it would, with Tuco. See, Tio -- who is actually "Don Salamanco," but Tio is waaaaaay easier to type, so Tio he stays -- was Tuco's mentor, in addition to being his uncle. And the Cousins are Tuco's cousins (and thus either Tio's other nephews, or maybe Tio's sons, though I'd guess nephews or else why wouldn't he have handed his business to them? I'm overthinking...). Juan tells Gus how Tuco died, and that the Salamancas, and the cartel, have agreed upon vengeance. Gus is like, "My respectful apologies, but can a Pollo Loco do business in his own territory?" Basically, he calmly but firmly stands his ground: they can do what they want to Walter, just as soon as he's done doing business with him. Tio registers his objection by angrily ringing his bell a few dozen times. Juanny Sack excuses himself and asks Gus outside. There, he tells Gus to finish his business with Walt quickly, "or risk losing the good graces of the cartel." Which would not be wise. Hell, I'M worried about losing the good graces of the cartel just by writing these recaps. Also, he can't guarantee the Cousins will abide by everything they say here. "Those two, they're not like you and I."
Back at Jesse's house, he keeps calling Jane's number, getting brief little hits of her voice.
At the Whites', Walt struggles to sleep on an air mattress next to Holly's crib. Also, don't worry, we get the obligatory shot of Walt's tighty-whities. The world can keep spinning. Of course, Skyler will take a victory wherever she can get it, so Holly's not sleeping in her crib; she's in a bassinette in Skyler's room. Across the room, in front of an open window, Skyler's smoking. As we saw last year, that cigarette is Skyler's method of choice to rebel against Walt's secrets and lies. Holly starts crying, so Skyler stubs out her smoke and tries to quiet her down. After a moment, Walt's on the other side of the door, asking if she needs help. Getting no answer, he tries another tack: he needs to use the bathroom. Nothing. He rolls his eyes, then smells the smoke. Now he's pissed. He passes right by the shared bathroom door on his way to the kitchen, where he proceeds to pee in the sink. Well now everybody's just reveling in their petty rebellions, huh?