Mmm, I can’t go with that.
We saw through the sniper’s eyes (or eye) that he was aiming the crosshairs right at Jesse’s befuddled head. The sniper then fired. The only reason Jesse’s head wasn’t still there to be hit is that Mike shoved him to the ground in the nick of time. Also, Mike himself seemed genuinely alarmed by the whole attack. I can’t believe he’d be left out of the loop on a plan like this, if it were a plan.
I don’t think even Mike understands how connected Gus is on an international level. He thinks they won’t kill him because of his “distribution network.”
I thought all the cartel wanted was access to Gus’s distribution system. Isn’t that what Gus said?
Loved Skyler’s dim floozy act but I don’t understand what’s going on. Beneke under-reported revenue and underpaid his taxes. So does that mean Skyler can give him the money to pay the IRS and the IRS won’t question where he got it? Will the IRS think Beneke had money he didn’t know about, because of Skyler’s ditzy bookkeeping?
What were the spots Jesse was cleaning, the spots shown up by Mike’s blue light? Blood?
My take on it:
Gus started his own production north of the border and no longer needed product from the Mexicans. Further, he manipulated the cousins into attacking Hank to cause the raid on the cartel.
Now they realize he no longer needs their product. He was willing to pay them $50 million to walk away but they apparently are insisting on getting his recipe.
Mike assumes they want the distribution channel because he’s not aware of the larger game in play. This are international cartels. Wonder why no one paid for the $300,000 HEPA filtration system? Hint: companies don’t bill themselves.
Yes, I think those were blood spots, where someone had been killed.
I just assumed it was meth. They slaughter chickens there. I’m not sure anyone would be worried about blood spots on the floor. Even if it came back as human blood. It’s a factory, just put in a few accident reports and move on.
The Cartel wants half of Gus’s action. If I’m understanding it correctly they want to manufacture half of his meth and then have him distribute it through his system.
If Skyler gives Beneke the money to pay his taxes and fines, and that does seem to be where this is going, the IRS will likely think that it came from the “mistakenly” undeclared profits.
Of course, if Beneke’s business was having financial problems in the past then it will likely continue to have them in the future. So presumably they can use him to launder some of their money, perhaps by buying into his business, thus solving his problems and theirs. The danger with that of course is that the IRS is already watching him.
I think the spots Jesse was cleaning were traces of meth or the chemicals used to make meth.
I think that’s her plan. Their first question was “where is the missing revenue?” She can give Beneke the money (with whatever arrangements she wants to make attached to that) and come up with a ditzy “Found it!” excuse. I thought it was pretty shrewd to play the ditzy Quicken accountant. Unless the IRS starts really digging in and then she’s screwed. But she can fix this before it gets to that point, if Beneke doesn’t panic and/or kill himself before that.
When the IRS guy asked her if she knew about some specific code, I was really hoping she’d answer come back at him, with the correct answer that showed that she read it, and why what she did was 100% correct and legal…in the ditzy voice and with her boobs spilling out all over the table…and then twirl her gum around her finger.
ETA, did anyone else thing Beneke was on to her and Walt (at least WRT laundering money) when he showed up and the car wash and told her that they needed to talk.
The cartel wants half of the blue meth product, is my understanding. Or do they just want half of the profits?
Skyler had no choice but to come up with some tactic to thwart the audit, otherwise she’ll be audited as well. Because of this, she’s now made the bed, and has to lie in it… whatever that means. I’m sure she’ll hash out yet another scheme to keep the IRS of their backs. And the web gets even more tangled. Of course, Ted will question where all that cash is coming from.
RE: Jesse. It seemed to me Mike had Jesse cleaning up any drips of fluorescent ink they use to stamp the containers that hide the meth.
I don’t think so. I think he genuinely had heard from someone that she was working as a cashier at the car wash and he believed it. He wanted her help in finding some way to fix the books or find some legal loophole.
For a moment I thought that she was going to refer him to her lawyer (Saul). That could still happen.
RE: Hank & Gus.
Gus is very, very shrewd. He knows Hank is rogue, any info he gathers would be useless in court. But Hank’s not trying to gather admissible evidence at this point, he just want’s to confirm for himself that he’s onto the right guy. Gus should know this. So why not send Hank on a wild goose chase? It could buy him weeks, if not months. And might even wear Hank out, considering his disabled condition and restricted mobility.
If Gus had pointed Hank toward three or four suspicious looking, yet ultimately complete dead ends, Hank might finally buy into the planted doubt that all he has is circumstantial evidence. He can only go so far on his own.
That’s effing hilarious. I could imagine the look on Hank’s face… “what the… fuck?”
That wouldn’t be a terrible idea. I could see Gus going to one or two empty warehouses and a few fully operational ones. Hank could look through the empty ones on his own find nothing, then go to the fully operational ones and without a warrant the best he’ll get is the owner/foreman/someone saying that Gus was poking around and asking if they would be interested in selling the place.
He could easily make it look like he’s just trying to buy another factory or distribution/rendering plant. And you’re right, in Hank’s condition, he probably can’t be out of the house and moving around for more then two or three hours a day, especially if it means getting in and out of the car more then a few times, and he certainly can’t do it by himself. So if he hits 4 or 5 places in a week, that could take Hank 2 or 3 weeks to follow up on.
How long before he notices Mike following him everywhere he goes? Or at least everywhere he goes when Walt is with him?
Wow, fuck Walt. He’s getting to be a huger and huger asshole every episode, and he just completely alienated the last friend he had in the world.
At this point I’m actually rooting for Gus and/or Jesse much more than Walt. Gus is a badass, as he fully proved with his “Terminator shit” this episode (though we’ve pretty much always known.) I’ve thought that Gus’ eventual death is likely, but I could also see him disappearing without a trace at the end of all of this - possibly back to Chile. That’s how I’d prefer it to end, frankly - with Walter of course getting the comeuppance that we all know is coming.
That would be funny — reminds me of the OK Go Back from Kathmandu music video (ski; to the :35 mark)
I was thinking the same thing. But I loved how she threw in the “now I’m just a cashier at a car wash” line.
I have a very bad feeling about Jesse’s upcoming trip with Gus. A VERY bad feeling.
Spoilerized comment on same for those who don’t want to watch it:
There’s no way anybody would be stupid enough to believe that a great-aunt they never heard of left them a fortune that just happens to be roughly the same amount they owe the IRS. The only question is if he’ll figure out it’s from Skyler or just assume it’s a laundering scheme from somebody else.
[QUOTE=John Mace]
I have a very bad feeling about Jesse’s upcoming trip with Gus. A VERY bad feeling.
[/QUOTE]
Gus and Mike will have their light sabers.
So Skyer thinks they can make a go with the car wash. Does she really think that Walt can just make “exit plans” as she suggested? Does she really believe that he can just walk away from all of it?
Also, what happens if she starts trying to bail out Beneke. Will she just create more and more problems and get in deeper and deeper costing more and more money to cover her ass, with no end in sight?
He’s been reassuring her — well, lying to her, of course — that he’s not in any danger. Also, she has seen very little of what we’ve seen, and Walt is actively trying to shelter her from any trouble. In fact he’s tried to convince her he has a lot more power and influence in the organization than he really does. (“I’m the one who knocks.”)
So yes, I can see that her view of Walt’s situation is all wrong, and naïve.