History Recap / BreakingBadS4E10Salud

'''Jesse''': Then you know what 'asshole' means

Shortly afterwards, Don Eladio's men begin to drop dead, one by one. As Eladio begins to feel weak, Mike strangles Gaff with a garrot as Gus returns to the now ending party, Eladio's men dead around him. Eladio realizes that he and his men had been poisoned by Gus and lurches towards him, but the last of his strength finally leaves him and he collapses, dead, into his pool.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Knowing that he will have to drink the tequila he poisoned, Gus swallows a pill beforehand and then induces vomiting to get the tequila out of his system. Despite these preventative measures, Gus is still badly affected by the poison and nearly dies without the proper medical care he receives in the next episode.

* VolatileSecondTierPosition: Jesse is arguably the second-most important component of Gus's plan, and the pressure is ''on'' for every minute of the job.

As Gus, Jesse, and Mike make their way to the Cartel's base of operations in Mexico, Skyler tries to contact Walt about their birthday present for Junior. Since Walt isn't picking up his phone, she decides to give him his present, herself: a PT Cruiser. Junior politely accepts the gift, but compared to the [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E6Cornered Challenger]] he had before, it's just not as exciting...

Junior drives his new PT Cruiser to Walt's condo, concerned after not seeing him all day. Walt reluctantly allows Junior inside, who is shocked at his father's injuries after his fight with Jesse. Junior prepares to call Skyler, but Walt, groggy from a long night, begs him not to, explaining that he had been "gambling" again. He breaks down in tears in front of his son, who helps him back to bed. Walt asks Junior if he likes his birthday present. When Junior politely says he does, Walt sleepily replies "That's good, ''Jesse''..." before passing out.

Back in Albuquerque, Saul visits Skyler at the car wash. He had been reluctant to give Walt's money to Ted to help him pay off his debts, and his misgivings were vindicated when his private investigators learned that Ted used the money to lease a Mercedes a scant three hours after receiving it, completely blowing off his debts and his obligations to the IRS.

At Beneke Fabricators, Skyler sees Ted in what remained of his office after his business was liquidated. She asks him about his finances, and Ted talks about starting his business back up thanks to an unexpected "cash infusion". Skyler urges Ted to pay his debts to the IRS, reiterating that she would be found culpable in his willful tax evasion and they would both be in prison, especially when the IRS found out she and Walt [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E3OpenHouse bought their car wash]] with illicit money. Ted continues to brush off Skyler's advice, leaving her incensed; before she leaves, she asks him if he really got that money from "Great Aunt Birgit", revealing to him ''exactly'' where that money came from...

At Beneke Fabricators, Skyler sees Ted in what remained of his office after his business was liquidated. She asks him about his finances, and Ted talks about starting his business back up thanks to an unexpected "cash infusion". Skyler urges Ted to pay his debts to the IRS, reiterating that she would be found culpable in his willful tax evasion and they would both be in prison. Ted continues to brush off Skyler's advice, leaving her incensed; before she leaves, she asks him if he really got that money from "Great Aunt Birgit", revealing to him ''exactly'' where that money came from...

As Gus, Jesse, and Mike make their way to the Cartel's base of operations in Mexico, Skyler tries to contact Walt about their birthday present for Junior. Since Walt isn't picking up his phone, she decides to give him his present, herself: a PT Cruiser. Junior politely accepts the gift, but compared to the Challenger he had before, it's just not as exciting...

As Saul contacts Ted Beneke to inform him that he had earned an "inheritance" from "Great Aunt Birgit" to the tune of a little over $600,000, Gus, Jesse, and Mike arrive at the Cartel's laboratory, where Gaff and the Cartel's scientists would determine the quality of Jesse's cook. The chief chemist is less than enthused with working alongside someone as young and seemingly inexperienced as Jesse, his concerns becoming all the more poignant when it becomes apparent that Jesse doesn't know how to synthesize phenylacetic acid, an ingredient in Walt's formula that Gus had always provided at his own superlab. As the chief chemist berates him and Gus, Jesse, in an unexpected show of courage, tells the chemist (who speaks perfect English) that the only way they would learn his cook is if it's done his way; there would be no cooking until the lab was clean and he had his phenylacetic acid. Both Gus and Mike are surprised but pleased at Jesse's bravery.

Junior drives his new PT Cruiser to Walt's condo, concerned after not seeing him all day. Walt reluctantly allows Junior, who is shocked at his father's injuries inside. Junior prepares to call Skyler, but Walt, groggy from a long night, begs him not to, explaining that he had been "gambling" again. He breaks down in tears in front of his son, who helps him back to bed. Walt asks Junior if he likes his birthday present. When Junior politely says he does, Walt sleepily replies "That's good, ''Jesse''..." before passing out.

Meanwhile, in Mexico, Jesse finishes his batch of meth. Members of the Cartel watch and record on video every tense moment of the cook, with the Cartel chemists taking a sample of the meth to a gas chromatograph to measure its purity. The final result is 96.2% purity; not as high as Walt's cook, but enough to put the Cartel's own cooks to shame. As everyone celebrates Jesse's cook, Gaff claps him on the shoulder and says "The first of many", clarifying for Jesse that with this cook, he now belonged to the Cartel, leaving Jesse worried...

Back in Albuquerque, Saul visits Skyler at the car wash. He had been reluctant to give Ted some of the money Walt had earned to help Ted pay off his debts, and his suspicions were confirmed when his private investigators learned that Ted used the money to lease a Mercedes a scant three hours after receiving it, completely blowing off his debts and his obligations to the IRS.

Walt awakens in his condo, finding that Junior had stayed the entire time after he fell asleep by telling Skyler he was staying with a friend. He plays off his sorry state from the previous night as the result of "beer and painkillers". Afraid of what Junior thinks of him, Walt tells him a story about his own father, Junior's grandfather; when Walt was young, his father suffered from Huntington's disease, a degenerative illness of the brain. Walt had always heard stories about the kind of man his father was from those who knew him, but the only memory of him Walt had was when he visited him in a hospital at a very young age. At that point, the disease had progressed into its final stages; he was barely recognizable, his breathing heavily labored and his eyes seeing his son, but not appearing to recognize him. Walt's father died not long after, and Walt did not want Junior to remember him as a pitiable, sick man. Junior, however, says he wouldn't mind remembering him like that; he was more afraid of remembering him as acting so strangely over the past year, and that at least the previous day, he seemed "real"...

Back in Mexico, Gus, Jesse, and Mike are standing poolside at Don Eladio's estate, with Mike assuring Jesse: "Either we're all going home, or none of us are." Don Eladio, accompanied by his men, greets Gustavo and embraces him, happy to see that he had finally seen reason. After introducing Eladio to Jesse, his new chemist, Gus offers a gift to celebrate their new friendship; a bottle of Zafiro Añejo, a rare premium tequila. Eladio decides to share it with Gus and all of his friends (except for Jesse, whom Gus explains is an addict who must stay sober), and they share a toast.

Afterwards, Eladio throws a poolside party. He sits down with Gus and tries to explain that there was no ill will for him; everything, from his disrupting his meth business to the death of his friend Max, was "just business". Afterwards, Gus excuses himself to the restroom, where he turns on the sink, then forces himself to vomit into a toilet.

With that, the three make their escape. Jesse finds a car he can use to make their getaway. One lone Cartel gunman opens fire on them, hitting Mike before Jesse fires back and kills him. With Mike wounded and Gus dying of poison, Jesse makes a hasty escape with them in tow...

* RealityEnsues: Knowing that he will have to drink the tequila he poisoned, Gus swallows a pill beforehand and then induces vomiting to get the tequila out of his system. Despite these preventative measures, Gus is still badly affected by the poison and nearly dies without the proper medical care he receives in the next episode.

* WrongNameOutburst: Walt accidentally calls Walt Jr. "Jesse" after he drifts off on painkillers.

* CallBack: In "[[Recap/BreakingBadS1E5GrayMatter Gray Matter]]", Walt explained to his family that he didn't want to end up as "some dead man, artificially alive, just marking time" as his reason for refusing treatment, mentioning that the worst part would be that's how they would remember him. This episode reveals that the only real memory Walt has of his father is something similar, explaining why he wouldn't want to be remembered the same way.

* VomitDiscretionShot: The scene cuts just before Gus throws up the poison in the toilet.

* RealityEnsues: Knowing that he will have to drink the tequila he poisoned, Gus swallows a pill beforehand and then induces vomiting to get the tequila out of his system. Despite these preventative measures, Gus is still badly effected by the poison and nearly dies without the proper medical care he receives in the next episode.

--> '''Jesse''': So, what? Do I not get a choice? What the hell's going on?\\
'''Mike''': Let's just say that either all of us go home or none of us do.

%%* AssholeVictim: Every last one of the dons.

"Don Eladio is dead! His capos are dead! You have no one left to fight for! Fill your pockets and leave in peace...or fight me, and '''die'''!"

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Beforehand, Gus took an antidote and later activated his gag reflex to avoid the effects of the poisoned drink. Subverted, as he was still weakened by its effects.
* AllThereInTheScript: Feuentes' full name isn't stated in the episode.
* TheAllegedCar: Junior tries valiantly to hide his disappointment, but he's clearly not thrilled by the gift of a PT Cruiser.
* AssholeVictim: Every last one of the dons.

-->Don Eladio is dead. His capos are dead. You have no one left to fight for. Fill your pockets and leave in peace, '''or fight me and die!'''
* BaldOfEvil[=/=]BeardOfEvil: Most of the dons.
* BullyingADragon: Joaquin goes after Gus, Jesse and Mike even though Gus warned the Cartel they'd die. Subverted in that he [[NotSoHarmlessVillain wounds Mike]], one of the most dangerous members of Gus' crew.

* CompletelyUnnecessaryTranslator: Gus is acting as translator between the English-speaking Jesse and the Spanish-speaking cartel men. That is, until Jesse calls the cartel's chief chemist an asshole. This prompts the chemist to reveal that he can speak English. Jesse is unfazed and [[RefugeInAudacity still intimidates the men into complying with]] ''his'' method of cooking Walt's meth.
* DecapitationStrike: Gus obliterated the cartel's entire leadership in one fell swoop, leaving the members left with no one to fight for. Most of them took the hint and scooted off.

* EvilGenius: Feuntes ought to be this, since he's the cartel's lead meth chemist, but he doesn't match up to Jesse.
-->'''Fuentes:''' ...he's no chemist, I'll tell you that.
-->'''Don Eladio:''' I don't care if he's a pig farmer. He cooks better meth than ''you'' do, with all your fancy college degrees.
* InsufferableGenius: Feuntes, emphasis on the insufferable over the 'genius'. He's grievously offended when Jesse arrives on the scene.
-->'''Jesse:''' Don't you have standards? I mean, this place is disgusting. All right, we're gonna scour every vat, every tank, every cook surface. We clean up every possible source of contamination. And then we cook.
-->'''Fuentes:''' Who do you think you are?
-->'''Jesse:''' I'm the guy your boss brought here to show you how it's done. And if this is how you run your lab, no wonder. You're lucky he hasn't fired your ass. Now, if you don't want that to happen I suggest you stop whining like a little bitch, and do what I say.
* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** Don Eladio gives Benicio Fuentes, the cartel's main chemist, a ''thorough'' put down, pointing out that Jesse could cook way better meth than him despite his lack of college degrees.
** Gus poisons all the cartel members.

* LeeroyJenkins: Even after witnessing Gus poisoning Joaquin's bosses, and when Gus was giving the opportunity for any surviving cartel members to leave, Joaquin still chooses to attempt to kill Gus, Jesse, and Mike. Subverted in that he actually manages to surprise Mike and wound him and would have killed both him and Gus were it not for Jesse.
* PerfectPoison: Gus uses the same bottle of tequila to dispatch Don Eladio and all his capos at once.
* PetTheDog: When told that Jesse is a recovering addict, Eladio refuses to let him have a drink. However, this could very well be because Eladio [[PragmaticVillainy didn't want Pinkman (who is his presumptive new cook) to develop any habits that might impede his cooking]].
* ProperlyParanoid: Before Don Eladio even opens Gus' "gift" he looks at Gaff to make sure the case is safe to open. He then makes Gus take the first shot of the rare tequila, in case if it was poisoned. [[SelfPoisoningGambit It was. Gus drank it anyway]]. (Earlier, he's seen taking some pills that likely slowed or dulled the poisons working, and when he uses Eladio's bathroom later, he induces himself to vomit, thus preventing the poison from running its course.) And finally, when Gus is going to leave his sight, he has his bodyguard go with Gus to keep an eye on him. Eladio ''really'' didn't trust Gus and was trying to be careful not to give Gus any opening to use against him. He was right to be paranoid, he just wasn't quite paranoid enough.
* RefugeInAudacity: Lot of this going on here. First Jesse betting that Don Eladio will put up with him talking trash to his henchmen if he can make a superior product, and then Gus's XanatosGambit to poison the Don--by poisoning himself as well.

* SelfPoisoningGambit: Gus brings a rare and expensive bottle of tequila (which is of course poisoned) to the meeting with the heads of the Cartel where they think Gus is going to surrender to them. Don Eladio, who is ProperlyParanoid, refuses to drink until after Gus does so. Gus apparently anticipated this, as shortly before the toast he took a pill of some kind and shortly afterward he excuses himself, goes to a bathroom, and tries to vomit up the poison. [[DeconstructedTrope Gus is still affected by the poison and would have died without prompt medical care]], but he fares better than the heads of the Cartel, who drop like flies within minutes.
* ShutUpHannibal: Feuntes gets two of these. One from Jesse when Fuentes insults both his poor understanding of Spanish (and he subtly insults Gus when asking if Jesse as chemist was a joke) and his lack of basic chemistry knowledge. He gets a second one from his own boss later on, who says that even with Fuentes's college degrees, Jesse still cooks better meth.
--> '''Jesse:''' Tell this asshole if he wants to make my product, he's got to do it my way. The ''right'' way.\\
'''Fuentes:''' I speak English.\\
'''Jesse:''' So you understand what ''asshole'' means. Now go get me my phenylacetic acid, ''asshole''.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Feuntes is so arrogant that you get the feeling he still would've acted the same way had Walt or Gale been there instead of Jesse (though Walt or Gale would at least have been able to make phenylacetic acid).

* SmugSnake: Feuntes thinks he's a lot better of a chemist than he actually is.
* TakingYouWithMe: After realizing that Gus has poisoned him, this is clearly the last thought that crosses Don Eladio's mind judging by his DeathGlare and lunge in Gus' direction. However, he succumbs to the poison before he can bring this desire about.

* UnexpectedInheritance: How Skyler lends the money to Ted to fix his problems with the IRS. Saul admits he didn't think that would work. Of course, Saul probably meant it in the sense of "the story wouldn't be believable", not as in "he'll probably not realize that the money is meant to pay his taxes".
* WhamEpisode: Gus singlehandedly wipes out the entire cartel in one move. Walter has an emotional breakdown and calls his son "Jesse".

** Don Eladio gives Benicio Fuentes, the wannabe chemist, a ''thorough'' put down, pointing out that Jesse could cook way better meth than him despite his lack of college degrees.

--> ''"Gustavo, cheer up, man. Gustavo, I'm not angry. I had to spank you. But what choice did I have? Look, once every twenty years you forget your place. There's no place for emotion in this. You of all people should understand. Business is business."

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Fuentes is clearly Spanish, but when speaking English, he talks in Rota's native English (as in, he was born in England) accent. A case of TruthInTelevision, since some people do learn to speak English without their native accent (Or they make take on the accent of the person who is teaching them the language.)

* RuleOfDrama: Eladio is seemingly the last person to succumb to the poison; he of course manages to linger just long enough for Gus to come back out and non-verbally let his nemesis put two and two together before dying.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Joaquin doesn't even have any dialogue, but if it weren't for his last ditch effort to kill Gus, Mike would have never been wounded and would have been present for Gus's showdown.

* AmbiguousSituation: Right before Mike is shot, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/6i7ztr/in_salud_was_mike_trying_to_kill_jesse_before_he/ it appears that he was about to shoot Jesse]].