At Skyler's request, Saul brings Ted into his office to let him know that he has "inherited" a windfall from a "distant aunt". Said windfall amounts to over $600,000. More interesting, however, is that the aunt is from Luxembourg, of all places. Being born there myself, I got a kick out of that little detail. It's, admittedly, an odd one as the woman is fictitious, but there you go. Ted is skeptical as he doesn't have any aunt there, but he takes the money because, well, why not?
Now, obviously, the plan was for Ted to use the money to pay off his IRS settlement. Unfortunately, Ted isn't all that bright and instead uses the money to buy a fancy new car and to rebuild his business. On the one hand, his loyalty to his employees is kind of commendable, but even Skyler points out that he's being dumb.
Actually, now that I think about it, the IRS would take a chunk of the "inheritance" too. Granted, Ted would still be closer to being able to cover the cost, but he wouldn't be "off the hook". Even if it wasn't an issue until tax filing season, he'd still end up owing a significant amount of change to Uncle Sam.
This doesn't get brought up, but in her frustration over Ted's actions, she does let him know that she was the one who got him the money.
On other fronts, Walt Jr. gets a new car. It's not as sporty as his old one, but it's hardly a clunker. Nevertheless, he's not all that enthused about it. I want to call him an ingrate, but you can sort of understand why he's underwhelmed.
This becomes an afterthought as he goes to visit Walt and sees that his father is still banged up from the fight with Jesse. Granted, Jr. is told that it's from gambling, but he's still surprised to see his dad in such a state.
Walt, for his part, breaks into tears. It wasn't the show's strongest moment, I have to say. Cranston's performance has generally been solid, but this scene breaks from that pattern rather jarringly. It wasn't a believable cry to me and then Jr. starts tearing up and you almost find yourself snickering at the whole thing. The scene is trying so hard to be serious and dramatic that you can't take it seriously.
Thankfully, the two do get to redeem themselves later when Walt relates his only memory of his own father (who died when Walt was a young child). Despite what Jr. says to the contrary, it felt more like a real moment where Walt was conveying his desires and opening up to his son about something deeply personal. As a result, it's a much stronger and more engaging scene.
The real highlight of the episode, however, is Jesse's subplot. He, Gus, and Mike fly down to Mexico to settle their business with the cartel. They are wary of Jesse's ability to cook, especially when he's unable to mix one of the ingredients himself, but he manages to put them in their place in glorious fashion. On top of that, when he does finally get cooking, his sample shows a 96% purity (on par with Gale's) which puts any doubts they may have had to bed.
Not only are they pleased, but Don Eladio says that they'll keep Jesse so that he can cook for them. While Jesse is not happy with this arrangement, Mike assures him that it's all part of the plan and that they're either all going home, or not going home at all.
Indeed, it does turn out to be a ploy on Gus' part to get revenge by poisoning the "gift" bottle that he brought.
I'm surprised that Gus went that route. It seemed like a rather obvious trap, even Eladio doesn't start drinking until he sees Gus down his own shot. I thought maybe Eladio had some potentially fatal allergy that Gus could exploit, but it turns out to be straight poisoning. It was potent stuff too as even after taking an antidote ahead of time and vomiting the drink up a short time later, Gus is still woozy.
It was a shame to see Eladio die. Sure, Gus got his revenge, but Eladio was surprisingly amiable this time around. He was jovial and enthusiastic about the new arrangement. He seemed more than happy to let bygones be bygones and even threw a big party to celebrate the new circumstances. Granted, you can't fault Gus for not being so willing to turn over a new leaf, but still.
As most of Eladio's men took the drink, the trio do make a rather easy escape. One henchman is able to shoot Mike, but Jesse returns fire and takes him down.
The way the sequence was shot, it seemed like they were trying to tie this to Jesse shooting Gale, but I'm not sure the connection is there. This was a pretty clear case of self defense. OK, technically, Gale was too, but this was self defense of the more traditional and immediate variety. Eladio's mook had shot Mike and would've shot Jesse too; Gale, on the other hand, had no part in anything and wasn't a violent man by nature.
The episode took a while to get going, but once it did, it was very well done. The crying thing drags the episode down a bit, but what happens beyond that makes up for it. Again, we have an instance where Jesse proves to be the superior character. Not only has he been the more nuanced and developing character, but he even does a better job of being a bad ass than Walt. It wouldn't be the first time a show's supporting character upstaged the main one, but given the main one's reputation in this case, it is a bit surprising.
We're already coming up on the end of the fourth season. From what I've read, we'll soon be getting to the point where Nazis enter the equation? That'll be weird, but first, we have to see how things play out with Gus.
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