History Recap / BreakingBadS2E11Mandala

* OneDegreeOfSeparation: The rival dealers who killed Combo in the beginning of the episode will later be revealed to in fact be working for Gus, who Walt and Jesse strike a deal with after said murder.

Directed by Adam Bernstein

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Saul introduces the prospect of Gus Fring by saying "Let's just say, I know a guy who knows a guy... who knows another guy." Mike would later be established as the first guy, but Saul implies a middle-man between him and Gus, when in fact Mike is shown to answer to Gus directly.

->''"You can never trust a drug addict."''
-->-- '''Gus Fring'''

!!This episode contains examples of:

-->'''Walter White:''' I was told that the man I'd be meeting with was very careful. Cautious man. I believe we are alike in that way. If you are who I think you are, you should give me another chance. ''[beat]''
-->'''Gus Fring:''' [[DefiedTrope I don't think we're alike at all, Mr. White.]] You are not a cautious man at all. Your partner was late. And he was high.

->''"I don't think we're alike at all, Mr. White. You're not a cautious man at all. Your partner was late. And he was high."''

* MovingTheGoalposts: When he meets Walt at Los Pollos Hermanos, [[KidHasAPoint Jesse]] says that Walter will do this and come up with reasons not to leave the drug trade, that Walter will always want or need more money, no matter the risk.

* MovingTheGoalposts: When he meets Walt at Los Pollos Hermanos, [[KidHasAPointJesse]] says that Walter will do this and come up with reasons not to leave the drug trade, that Walter will always want or need more money, no matter the risk.

* MovingTheGoalposts: When he meets Walt at Los Pollos Hermanos, Jesse says that Walter will do this and come up with reasons not to leave the drug trade, that Walter will always want or need more money, no matter the risk.

Walt returns to Los Pollos Hermanos to await the businessman again. As the day draws on, he begins to realize that the mild-mannered manager, Gustavo Fring, may be the man he is looking for. He asks Gus to sit down with him to discuss business. Gus denies that he is Saul's contact at first, but Walt presses on, stating that he understands Gus' hesitance, both of them being cautious men. Gus finally dispenses with the masquerade and corrects Walt, stating that he doesn't seem to be very cautious. After all, his partner is an obvious drug addict, who even showed up high for an important business meeting. Walt assures Gus that he is the brains of the operation and he doesn't need to worry about Jesse; he can easily set it up so that Gus won't ever have to interact with or see him. He boasts that their product is still the best Gus is likely to ever find and offers to sell him his entire batch of thirty-eight pounds at any moment. Gus is clearly intrigued by this spiel, but also he admits that he is still curious as to why Walt would allow Jesse, who he sees as a screw-up just waiting to happen, to be such an integral part of his business. Walt replies that Jesse might be far from perfect, but he is still loyal to a fault and Walt is confident that he can control him. Seemingly placated with this answer, Gus ends the meeting by telling Walt that he will consider his offer and contact him later, but he also warns him that, in the end, you can never truly trust an addict.

Walt returns to Los Pollos Hermanos to await the businessman again. As the day draws on, he begins to realize that the mild-mannered manager, Gustavo Fring, may be the man he is looking for. He asks Gus to sit down with him to discuss business. Gus denies that he is Saul's contact at first, but Walt presses on, stating that he understands Gus' hesitance, both of them being cautious men. Gus finally dispenses with the masquerade and corrects Walt, stating that he doesn't seem to be very cautious. After all, his partner is an obvious drug addict, who even showed up high for an important business meeting. Walt assures Gus that he is the brains of the operation and he doesn't need to worry about Jesse; he can easily set it up so that Gus won't ever have to interact with or see him. He boasts that their product is still the best Gus is likely to ever find and offers to sell him his entire batch of thirty-eight pounds at any moment. Gus is clearly intrigued by this spiel, but also he admits that he is still curious as to Walt why he would allow Jesse, who he sees as a screw-up just waiting to happen, to be a part of his business. Walt replies that Jesse might be far from perfect, but he is still loyal to fault and Walt is confident that he can control him. Seemingly placated with this answer, Gus ends the meeting by telling Walt that he will consider his offer and contact him later, but he also warns him that, in the end, you can never truly trust an addict.

Walt returns to Los Pollos Hermanos to await the businessman again. As the day draws on, he begins to realize that the mild-mannered manager, Gustavo Fring, may be the man he is looking for. He asks Gus to sit down with him to discuss business. Gus denies that he is Saul's contact at first, but Walt presses on, stating that he understands Gus' hesitance, both of them being cautious men. Gus finally dispenses with the masquerade and corrects Walt, stating that he is not cautious for associating with a drug addict in his business. Walt assures Gus that he doesn't need to worry about Jesse; drug addict or not, he can trust him. He touts his product and offers to sell him his entire batch of thirty-eight pounds at any moment.

* FanDisservice: Ted's birthday party scene, in which Skyler, a married and heavily pregnant woman, sings a seductive rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" to Ted. It's played up to be a very uncomfortable moment given that Skyler is married (albeit unhappily) and Ted is her boss.

* FanDisservice: Ted's birthday party scene, in which Skyler, a married and heavily pregnant woman, sings a seductive rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" to Ted. It's played up to be a very uncomfortable moment.

* WhiteShirtOfDeath: Three guesses as to what color Combo was wearing when he gets shot, and the first two don't count.

Walt returns to Los Pollos Hermanos to await the businessman again. As the day draws on, he begins to realize that the mild-mannered manager, Gustavo Fring, may be the man he is looking for. He asks Gus to sit down with him to discuss business. Gus denies that he is Saul's contact at first, but Walt presses on, stating that he understands Gus's hesitance, both of them being cautious men. Gus finally dispenses with the masquerade and corrects Walt, stating that he is not cautious for associating with a drug addict in his business. Walt assures Gus that he doesn't need to worry about Jesse; drug addict or not, he can trust him. He touts his product and offers to sell him his entire batch of thirty-eight pounds at any moment.

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: Combo's death is the first of many losses for Jesse.

Meanwhile, Jesse is struggling with the death of Combo. Skinny Pete believes their aggressive expansion played a large role in Combo's demise. It's not helped by the fact Pete's on probation and Spooge's girlfriend confessed to killing him, thus destroying Jesse's street cred. So Pete decides to opt out of the business. Combined with Badger's still having to lay low after his run-in with the DEA, the end result is that Walt and Jesse's distribution has been completely eliminated.

Meanwhile, Jesse is struggling with the death of Combo. Skinny Pete believes their aggressive expansion played a large role in Combo's demise. Combined with Pete's probation and the fact that Spooge's girlfriend confessed to killing him, thus destroying Jesse's street cred, Pete opts out of the business. Combined with Badger's still having to lay low after his run-in with the DEA, the end result is that Walt and Jesse's distribution has been completely eliminated.

->''"Look, let's start with some tough love, alright? Ready for this? Here it goes: you two suck at peddling meth. Period."''
-->-- '''Saul Goodman'''

* NotSoDifferent: Saul remarks that Gus seems to be a lot like Walt. Walt even brings it up when he talks to Gus face to face:

* WhamEpisode: Combo gets shot and killed by gang members, Jesse becomes hooked on heroin and drags Jane back into her old addiction, and we meet Gustavo Fring, a drug lord with twenty years under his belt.

Meanwhile, Jesse is struggling with the death of Combo. Skinny Pete believes their aggressive expansion played a large role in Combo's demise. Combined with Pete's probation and the fact that Spooge's girlfriend confessed to killing him, thus destroying Jesse's street cred, Pete opts out of the business.

Walt and Jesse meet with Saul, and the two get into an argument over who is at fault over Combo's death. Saul stops the bickering with a proposal: he has connections to a local businessman who is willing to buy Walt's product in bulk for a kingly sum.

Walt returns to Los Pollos Hermanos to await the businessman again. As the day draws on, he begins to realize that the mild-mannered manager, Gustavo Fring, may be the man he is looking for. He asks Gus to sit down with him to discuss business. Gus denies that he is Saul's contact at first, but Walt presses on, stating that he understands Gus's hesitance, both of them being cautious men. Gus finally dispenses with the masquerade and corrects Walt, stating that he is not cautious for associating with a drug addict in his business. Walt assures Gus that he doesn't need to worry about Jesse; drug addict or not, he can trust him. He touts his product and offers to sell him his entire batch, a whopping thirty-eight pounds, at any moment.

At school, after a test, Walt checks his texts on his hidden second cell phone. He received a message from "POLLOS". He goes to the restaurant to meet with Gus, but learns that Gus isn't the manager of this restaurant: he owns the entire chain. An underling of Gus, Victor, approaches Walt with his instructions: thirty-eight pounds, truck stop, one hour. Make the delivery, or don't come back to the restaurant.

As old flames are stoked between Skyler and Ben at his birthday party, Walt calls Saul, who informs him that the deal with the businessman was off: he didn't like what he saw and wanted nothing to do with him. Saul offers to look for other offers, but Walt persists on meeting with this businessman.

** The two rival dealers and their extremely young assassin who murder Combo, will become important characters late in the next season.

** The two rival dealers who murder Combo, and their extremely young assassin, will become important characters late in the next season.