"Caballo Sin Nombre" is the second episode of the third season of Breaking Bad and the twenty-second episode altogether.
Summary[]
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As he drives on a rural road, Walt listens to the song "A Horse with No Name" on his car radio. He is pulled over by an Albuquerque police officer, who writes him a ticket for driving with a cracked windshield. Walt tries to explain that the car was damaged by debris from the Wayfarer 515 crash, but gets no sympathy. An increasingly agitated Walt rants about his ordeal, ignoring the officer's instructions to calm down. Moments later, he is thrust into a patrol car, his eyes swollen by pepper spray.
Act I[]
Walt under arrest
At the DEA field office, Hank briefs his team on the truck explosion on the border, speculating that the mass murder was "high-end cartel work." He receives a call from the Albuquerque Police. When Hank picks Walt up at the police station, Walt apologizes to the arresting officer and tells Hank that Skyler is refusing to let him see his kids.
Meanwhile, Jesse notices that his former house is for sale. Stopping to take a closer look, he runs into his father, who describes the extensive renovations they have made to the property, but demurs at giving Jesse a tour. When his father appears unenthused at inviting him for dinner, a hurt Jesse leaves.
Saul visits Walt at his apartment, where Walt admits that Skyler now knows that he is cooking meth. Saul tries to assure Walt that she will not turn him in to the authorities, as she and the rest of the family would have just as much to lose from Walt's arrest as Walt himself. Walt refuses to return to cooking, stating that all he cares about is the family he has now lost. After leaving the apartment, Saul contacts Mike and tells him they may have a "wife problem."
Act II[]
Having dinner at the White residence, Walt Jr. angrily confronts Skyler for preventing Walt from seeing him, claiming to have seen him in a depressed state at school. When she addresses him as "Flynn," he demands that she call him "Walter Jr.," and questions why she won't even say his name. After he storms off, Hank questions Skyler on whether she has a right to keep Walt from the kids, to which she states that the matter is none of his business. Outside, after they leave the dinner, Hank speculates to Marie that Skyler separated from Walt because he had an affair. He says that the second cell phone was a dead giveaway. Marie doubts this, however, saying that Skyler would have confided in her by now if that were the case.
The Cousins visit Don Hector
Jesse visits Saul, who hands over the money he's been holding for Jesse since he went into rehab. As Saul complains about Walt refusing to return to meth cooking, Jesse enlists him for carrying out a different job. Meanwhile, the two men responsible for the truck explosion, Marco and Leonel Salamanca, visit their uncle Hector Salamanca, who has been sent to a retirement home after Tuco's death. One slowly draws his fingers across a Ouija board while the other records the letters that prompt Hector to ring his bell. Slowly, the three men spell out a name: WALTER WHITE.
Act III[]
Skyler and Ted discuss bookkeeping irregularities
At Beneke Fabricators, Skyler confronts Ted over cooking his company's books, asking what he would do if his children found out. In response, Ted hopes they would understand that he did it for their sake, only attempting to keep his head above water. Skyler ponders his answer in silence.
Meanwhile, Walt returns to his apartment, finding Junior waiting on the doorstep with a packed bag. Though pleased to see him, Walt calls Skyler and arranges to drive him home. He tells his dejected son that his mother has her reasons for the current arrangement.
Saul meets with Jesse's parents and their lawyer about purchasing the house on behalf of an unnamed client. Their price is $875,000, but Saul stuns them with his counteroffer of $400,000 in cash. As they are about to leave, Saul blindsides them with knowledge that they have feloniously neglected to the divulge the existence of the basement meth lab in their disclosure statement, threatening to encumber the property with a lawsuit if they do not capitulate.
Walt throwing pizza onto the roof of the White residence.
Walt arrives home with Junior, and a family-sized take-out pizza, but Skyler won't let him enter the house despite his pleas. When she shuts the door in his face, a frustrated Walt hurls the pizza onto the roof of the garage and drives away.
Act IV[]
The next morning, Walt wakes up in his underwear, face-down on the floor of his apartment, as Skyler leaves an angry voicemail complaining about the pizza on her roof, threatening to get a restraining order if he doesn't control himself.
Meanwhile, Jesse's parents are moving the last of their things out of the house when they spot Jesse's car pulling up. Jesse walks towards the house, ignoring his parents' protests. They insist he has to leave; the new owners are on their way. They are shocked to learn that Jesse is the new owner of the house, having used Saul to blackmail them into selling the property. Jesse enters the house and shuts the door in their faces.
At the behest of Saul, Mike installs surveillance equipment through the wall in the rear of the White residence. Walt arrives at the house, his Aztek loaded with belongings, but discovers that Skyler has changed the locks. Seeing Walt break in through the crawl space, Mike heads back to his car. However, Mike sees another car pulling up, right in front of the house. The cousins step out and, with a large mirror-polished silver fire axe in hand, enter Walt's house. Mike makes a quick phone call to Victor, who whispers a message into Gus' ear at an industrial laundry.
The Cousins waiting Walt in the White residence
After surveying every room in the house, Marco and Leonel sit on Walt's bed, waiting for Walt to get out of the shower. One of them notices the plastic eyeball from the pink teddy bear among Walt's belongings and idly examines it before tossing it back into the suitcase. As Walt finishes his shower and dries himself, Marco's cell phone pings with a text message bearing a single word: "POLLOS." He shows Leonel the text and the two exchange a look. When Walt exits the bathroom, the Cousins have vanished. Walt notices the misplaced eyeball and suspects he's not alone. He looks around the house, unaware just how close he was to death.
Official Photos[]
Trivia[]
- "Caballo sin Nombre" is Spanish for "A Horse With No Name," the song that Walter is singing along with during the Teaser, as well as singing in the shower near the episode's end.
- The word caballo/horse is also the slang word for heroin/smack, in both languages.
- The shot in which Bryan Cranston throws the pizza on the roof of the house was done in one take, with no special effects. Cranston was unable to replicate this accuracy in any subsequent takes.
- To make the throw possible, the pizza has not been pre-sliced, which is not the norm for pizza delivery in the US. In episode "Thirty-Eight Snub" of season 4, Badger buys pizzas from the same pizzeria (Venezia's Pizzeria). Jesse does not understand why the pizza is not pre-sliced and Badger explains that it is the "gimmick" of this pizzeria: pizzas are not pre-sliced to save customers money. Jesse rightly notes that these savings are ridiculous.
- After the episode aired, enthusiastic fans would visit the real house that stood in for the White family home and throw pizzas onto the roof. The gag repeated itself so frequently that the home's owner had a fence placed around the property to prevent them.
- The Pinkmans' vehicle has three stickers on the rear window, a "Mom," "Dad," and "Jake" sticker. No sticker is on the vehicle for "Jesse", which indicates that the Adam and Diane have disowned Jesse.
- This is the final episode in which Jesse's parents appear in for the rest of the series. It is likely that Jesse's blackmailing of them to gain the house back, thus costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars, was the final straw in their relationship, and they have thus cut off all contact with their son permanently.
- Jesse's parents reappear in "El Camino" after Jesse is freed from months of captivity at the White Supremacist Compound. Despite their differences, they appear to genuinely be glad to hear from him and urge Jesse to turn himself in for his own safety.
- When Skyler is showing Ted Beneke specific examples of the Keller account’s inconsistencies, she points to them specifically with her left hand and her ring finger to indicate to Ted that she is separated.
- Gus can be seen in the Laundromat with what appears to be blueprints, foreshadowing the Superlab that Walter will work at later in the season.
- There is a slight continuity error in this episode. Near the end of the episode, when Mike goes to Walt's house to install surveillance equipment, he clearly parks his blue Buick LeSabre just down the street perpendicular to Walt's house. But later on, when Walt opens the gate to the backyard of his house to try to get in, the Buick is not there anymore. It's possible Mike repositioned his car to not be noticed, but unlikely.
- The axe that the Cousins carry into the house is a pick-head firefighter axe, commonly used by fire fighters. The polished chrome- or nickel-plated finish is usually reserved for ceremonial purposes, such as an honor guard or as a retirement gift. It would not be found at any normal hardware store.
- The patrol car which pulls Walt over is a 1998 Ford Crown Victoria.
- Saul Goodman in his conversation with Walter mentions the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic becomes one of the primary international buyers of Blue Sky later in the series.
Production[]
Credits[]
Starring
Guest Starring
Uncredited
Filming Locations[]
- The opening scene where Walt gets pulled over by the police and maced for his broken windshield was filmed just outside the production studios. As he gets pulled over, the water tower and large warehouse studio buildings can be seen on the horizon. The GPS coordinates are (34.9874953,-106.6332388) and is the exact location, as shown by the crack in the road under the police car and the double fencepost 3 posts down from his car.
Featured Music[]
- "A Horse With No Name" by America (in Walt's car during the teaser, later sung by Walt in the shower)
- "Black Seas at the Crib" by Tight Phantomz (playing in Walt Jr's headphones while he lies on his bed)
- "America the Beautiful" by Pat Boone (playing in Saul's office)
- "Morning Sun" by Ambros Seelos (playing at Casa Tranquila)
- "The Cousins" by Dave Porter (while the cousins "talk" with Hector Salamanca)
- "Magic Arrow" by Timber Timbre (while Mike plants bugs in the White Residence)
Memorable Quotes[]
- Walter: "God...It's a disaster."
- Saul: "It is not a disaster. It's not a disaster, alright? She's not going to the cops, she's not telling a living soul. You wanna know why? One word: blowback. If she blabs, it'll be a disaster – for her. That DEA brother-in-law? Screwed! You were right under his nose. He'll be lucky if they let him bust glue sniffers at the hobby shop. The kids? Paging Dr. Phil! "My daddy's a drug dealer and my mommy turned him in!" And the house? Gone! The feds will come in and RICO her and the kids out on the street. Good luck arguing with them on that, noooo. It's not gonna happen. She's bluffing. And she knows it."
- ―Walter and Saul about Skyler's discovery.
- Hank: "Sky, the, um...I know it's none of my business, but uh...keeping him away from the kids?"
- Skyler: "You're right, Hank. It's not your business."
- ―Hank about Skyler's attitude towards Walter.
- Walter: "Skyler...I mean, what kind of example do we wanna set here, right? I mean, can't we at least just sit down and eat a piece of pizza together? Just hash things out like adults?"
- Skyler: "We have discussed everything we need to discuss. I thought I made myself very clear."
- Walter: "...I've got dipping sticks."
- ―Walter awkwardly trying to reconcile with Skyler.