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1[[WMG:[[center:[-'''RECAP:'''\
2[[Recap/BreakingBad Index]] | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E1BoxCutter 1]] | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E2ThirtyEightSnub 2]] | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E3OpenHouse 3]] | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E4BulletPoints 4]] | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E5Shotgun 5]] | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E6Cornered 6]] | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E7ProblemDog 7]] | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E8Hermanos 8]] | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E9Bug 9]] | '''10''' | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E11CrawlSpace 11]] | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E12EndTimes 12]] | [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E13FaceOff 13]]]]-]]]
3'''Season 4, Episode 10:'''
4!Salud
5[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cartel_poisoned.png]]
6[[caption-width-right:350:[[BlackComedy Killer party!]]]]
7->Written by Peter Gould & Gennifer Hutchison\
8Directed by Creator/MichelleMacLaren\
9Air date: September 18, 2011
10
11->''"There's no place for emotion in this. You of all people should understand."''
12-->-- '''Don Eladio'''
13
14[[Recap/BreakingBadS4E9Bug 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...
15
16As 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 will 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 pointed 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 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 assertiveness.
17
18Junior 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 [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E9Bug fight with Jesse]]. Junior prepares to call Skyler, but Walt, groggy from a long night, begs him not to, explaining that he had been [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E4BulletPoints "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.
19
20Meanwhile, in Mexico, Jesse finishes his batch of meth. Members of the cartel watch and record on video every tense moment of the cook, and the cartel chemists take a sample of the meth to a gas chromatograph to measure its purity when the cook is done. 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 belongs to the cartel, leaving Jesse worried...
21
22Back 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 [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E9Bug 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.
23
24Walt awakens in his condo, finding that Junior had stayed with him 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 the 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"...
25
26After sending Junior back home, Walt is approached by Tyrus, who simply asks: "Somewhere you should be?"
27
28At 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 after the IRS finds out that 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...
29
30Back 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 and accepted the cartel's deal. 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. Eladio waits to drink until he sees Gus do the same, but Gus takes his shot without hesitation.
31
32Afterwards, 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 [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E8Hermanos 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.
33
34Shortly afterwards, Don Eladio's men begin to drop dead, one by one. As Eladio begins to feel weak, Mike strangles Gaff with a garrote 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.
35
36After Mike takes Eladio's necklace, Gus begins to feel weak as well; he had poisoned himself with the tainted Zafiro Añejo as part of his plot to destroy the Cartel and took measures to prevent himself from dying, including taking an antidote and purging some of the poison in the restroom, but some poison managed to find its way into his bloodstream. With support from Jesse and Mike, Gus yells his ultimatum to any Cartel members within earshot:
37
38"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''!"
39
40With 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...
41----
42!!This episode provides examples of:
43* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Beforehand, Gus took an antidote and later activated his gag reflex to avoid the effects of the poisoned drink. Downplayed, as he is still weakened by its effects.
44* AllThereInTheScript: Fuentes' full name isn't stated in the episode.
45* ArtisticLicenseLaw: It was unnecessary for Skyler to give money to Ted for the latter to pay off his debts to the IRS so that Skyler would evade criminal liability herself. While it is true that some accountants have been found criminally liable for corporate tax evasion, the IRS would need to prove that Skyler was a party to his book-cooking and willfully carried it out. [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E9Bug But since Ted did not inform the IRS of Skyler's role, and due to Skyler's own]] ObfuscatingStupidity [[Recap/BreakingBadS4E9Bug in the previous episode, the IRS appeared to be satisfied with what they believed were innocent mistakes in the books and slapped a bill for Ted to pay his dues to the IRS]]. In this case, failure to pay wouldn't result in a criminal investigation as the IRS had considered the investigative matter closed (criminal liability is usually discovered during the investigative process and since Ted and Skyler got past that, they should have considered themselves in the clear). The worst the IRS would have done in that scenario is to obtain Ted's assets through a court order (or through garnishment proceedings) and they would have not gone after Skyler. However, one thing that is correct in this transaction is that Ted refusing to pay the IRS after receiving the cash would indeed likely trigger an audit (and Ted would have lost the cash anyway if the IRS got a court order to seize the cash). In addition, even if Ted did pay, someone at the IRS could take notice as to how someone who supposedly was broke was able to get the money to pay off all his dues, even with the "Great Aunt Birgit" story. Too bad Saul didn't point this out to Skyler before his false call about the inheritance.
46* AssholeVictim: Every last one of the dons, who drop dead thanks to Gus' UnspokenPlanGuarantee with the poisoned tequila. Special mention to Don Eladio for having Gus's partner Max killed long ago along being just BadBoss in the cartel.
47** Honourable, or in this case, dishonourable mention also goes to Gaff, the Cartel’s brutal enforcer, who gets the life choked out of him by Mike. Considering Gaff has murdered many of Gus and Mike’s employees, Gaff fittingly faces their bosses’ wrath.
48* BadassBoast: After murdering the entire Juarez Cartel, Gus says this:
49-->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!''
50* BilingualBonus: The DoubleMeaningTitle translates to both "Health" and "Cheers!".
51** Also, throughout the scene at Don Eladio's mansion, he continually addresses Gus with the more familiar "Tú" as opposed to the formal "Usted". This demonstrates that Eladio sees Gus as an underling rather than an equal and Eladio’s own arrogance that he is the only one on top.
52* BrokenTears: At his lowest state in front of his beloved son, Walt completely loses it and breaks down, apologizing over and over to Jr. without the latter even understanding why. It's the most defeated and vulnerable Walt has been in a long time, and it's heart wrenching.
53* BullyingADragon: Joaquin goes after Gus, Jesse, and Mike even though Gus warns the Cartel they'd die.
54* BunnyEarsLawyer: In the span of 5 minutes, Don Eladio finds out that Jesse doesn't know any Spanish, is not a chemist, and is a former addict. But he doesn't care if Jesse's a pig farmer, as long as he can cook well.
55* CallBack: Walt [[Recap/BreakingBadS1E5GrayMatter once again]] explains to a member of his family that he didn't want to leave memories of being "some dead man, artificially alive, just marking time" as his legacy. 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.
56* CompletelyUnnecessaryTranslator: Gus acts 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.
57* DecapitationStrike: Gus obliterates the cartel's entire leadership in one fell swoop, leaving the surviving members with no one to fight for. Most of them take the hint and flee.
58* DramaticNecklaceRemoval: Gus has Mike rip off Eladio's necklace when he falls in the pool, so he can later taunt Hector with it.
59* DramaticallyDelayedDrug: Gus Fring presents Don Eladio with a bottle of rare premium tequila, which is immediately shared among the capos. Of course, since he had Gus's friend and lover murdered when they first met, [[ProperlyParanoid Eladio makes sure that Gus has a shot as well just so he knows it's not poisoned]]. A raucous party ensues, going on for several minutes and multiple scene changes, up until Gus asks to go to the bathroom - where [[SelfPoisoningGambit he vomits up as much of his shot as possible]]. By the time he leaves, the poison is in full effect and almost the entire Cartel is dead or dying, with Mike and Jesse killing anyone still capable of putting up a fight; for good measure, Eladio doesn't succumb until [[TheDogBitesBack Gus has the opportunity to look him in the eyes as he carks it]].
60* ExactWords: When Jesse panics upon being expected to make the phenylacetic acid himself, he tells Gus he doesn't know how to do that. When Fuentes asks what's wrong, Gus says that Jesse expected it to be synthesized upon his arrival, being technically correct but navigating around Jesse's lack of knowledge.
61* EvilVersusEvil: In this episode, Gus has officially gone to war with the Cartel and has violently broken away from Don Eladio.
62* FanserviceExtra: The girls at Don Eladio's party, all young and gorgeous, most in thong bikinis.
63* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Joaquin shoots a lot of bullets at Jesse, who isn't behind any kind of cover at all and can't be more than thirty feet away from him. Somehow they all miss.
64* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: The past crimes of Don Eladio and all the other dons present, specifically the murder of Gus' beloved Max, finally catch up to them.
65* KickTheSonOfABitch: Don Eladio gives Benicio Fuentes, the cartel's chemist who is hostile and arrogant toward Jesse, a ''thorough'' put down, pointing out that Jesse could cook way better meth than him despite his lack of college degrees.
66* LackOfEmpathy: Gus' murder of three of Don Eladio's most loyal subordinates hardly seems to faze him, given that he immediately throws a party for Gus after being sufficiently convinced of his unconditional submission. Similarly, during the party, he [[KickTheDog offhandedly threatens a servant pouring him a shot of rare tequila with amputation if he spills "even one drop"]] (with a festive smile on his face, no less). Later while speaking with Gus, he coldly "advises" him to let go of any personal grudges he has (including the cartel's murder of his beloved partner) and submit to his authority for the sake of "good business." Is there any wonder why Eladio gets killed afterwards?
67--> "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."
68* 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.
69* MyNewGiftIsLame: Junior is clearly disappointed by Skyler buying him a [[TheAllegedCar PT Cruiser]], but accepts it anyway to avoid hurting her feelings.
70* NotDistractedByTheSexy; One of Eladio's bikini girls sits on Jesse's lap and slips a cigar between his teeth while snuggling him. Jesse is understandably concerned that he's being essentially sold into slavery, and looks more annoyed than turned on.
71* PerfectPoison: Gus uses the same bottle of tequila to dispatch Don Eladio and all his capos. Not only do they all die within a very short time of drinking the poison (and virtually simultaneously), but Gus (who also partakes of the poisoned tequila in order to allay suspicion) is able to initially survive the dose he takes by vomiting shortly after taking it and purging his system, although he did still need immediate proper medical care in the following episode or he would have died too.
72* 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 it is poisoned. [[SelfPoisoningGambit It is. Gus drinks 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 vomiting in himself, thus preventing the poison from running its course.) And finally, when Gus is going to leave his sight, Eladio has his bodyguard go with Gus to keep an eye on him. Eladio ''really'' didn't trust Gus and tries to be careful not to give Gus any opening to use against him. He is right to be paranoid, he just isn't quite paranoid ''enough.''
73* RecoveredAddict: Gus purposely invokes this trope to Don Eladio to prevent Jesse from drinking the poisoned tequila, saying that Jesse's a former addict and needs to be kept sober to keep him cooking. Eladio takes the drink out of his hand, indirectly saving his life.
74* RefugeInAudacity: Jesse is not surprised by Fuentes knowing how to speak English and continues to boldly insult him to his face. It disarms Fuentes enough that Jesse quickly gains the upper hand in the conversation and gets to cook for the Cartel.
75--> '''Fuentes''': I speak English.\
76'''Jesse''': Then you know what 'asshole' means. Now go get me my phenylacetic acid... '''asshole.'''
77* 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. He is also [[LargeAndInCharge one of the biggest guys present]], so maybe the dose wasn't big enough to knock him out early.
78* 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 takes an antidote pill and shortly afterward he excuses himself, goes to a bathroom, and vomits up as much of the poison as possible. [[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.
79* SkewedPriorities: Having purposefully drunk a poison-laced tequila, Gus makes himself vomit to get the poison out of his system. Before working towards literally saving his own life, however, he still takes the time to remove his jacket, fold it properly, and then place a towel on the floor under his knees, and then he finally vomits.
80* SmallNameBigEgo: Fuentes 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).
81* 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' showdown. His death also signals the end of the Salamanca bloodline and ultimately sets in motion Gus' defeat.
82* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Knowing that he will have to drink the tequila he poisoned, Gus swallows a pill made to counter the effects beforehand and then triggers his gag reflex to get the tequila out of his system. Despite these preventative measures, Gus is still badly affected by the poison and nearly dies, ultimately only surviving thanks to the proper medical care he receives in the next episode.
83* TakingYouWithMe: Attempted by Don Eladio as the poison begins killing him and his capos. When he sees Gus, he snarls and lunges for him, but succumbs to the poison and drowns in his pool.
84* TooCleverByHalf: Don Eladio is intelligent enough to suspect the expensive Tequila could be poisoned and doesn't partake until Gus drinks some, seemingly verifying its safety. He still dies due to failing to predict that the Tequila could be poisoned and [[SelfPoisoningGambit Gus would be still be willing to drink it]].
85* VolatileSecondTierPosition: Jesse is arguably the second-most important component of Gus' plan, and the pressure is ''on'' for every minute of the job.
86* VomitDiscretionShot: The scene cuts when Gus starts throwing up the poison in the toilet.
87* UnexpectedInheritance: Skyler lends the money to Ted to fix his problems with the IRS by pretending it's a bequeathal from "great-aunt Birgitte". Saul admits he didn't think that would work.
88* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: All but {{lampshaded}}.
89--> '''Jesse:''' What is this shit? I don't get a vote? I'm supposed to just stay down here forever?\
90'''Mike:''' I promise you this: either we're all going home or none of us are.
91* WhamEpisode: Gus successfully obliterates the Juarez Cartel and Don Eladio.
92* WrongNameOutburst: Walt accidentally calls Walt Jr. "Jesse" after he drifts off on painkillers.
93----

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