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"Abiquiú" is the eleventh episode of the third season of Breaking Bad and the thirty-first episode altogether.

Summary[]

Teaser[]

In a flashback, Jesse and Jane visit the Georgia O'Keeffe museum in Santa Fe and observe her painting, "My Last Door." Unimpressed, Jesse argues that O'Keeffe painted the same door repeatedly attempting to achieve perfection, and doesn't understand why she'd bother. To Jane, the repetition was about making a good feeling last. Her point made, Jane extinguishes her cigarette, marked with an impression of her pink lipstick, in the ashtray.

Act I[]

At the hospital, Hank, suspended in an electromechanical patient lifter, works with a physical therapist. Taking even one step proves too painful, and he angrily cuts the session short. Outside of the therapy room, Marie gives Skyler the first medical bill, asking if she's indeed sure about covering the payment, and she assures Marie that they will handle it.

In the superlab, Walt supervises Jesse's cooking and then takes over the weighing of a meth batch, which offends Jesse, who proclaims that if Walt thinks he's stealing, he should just say it out loud. Walt silences Jesse, making a slight motion with his finger, indicating that there might be recording devices in the lab.

At Jesse's rehab group, a reluctant newcomer named Andrea Cantillo begins attending. Badger and Skinny Pete admit to Jesse that they haven't made progress selling the blue meth because they can't bring themselves to sell to recovering addicts. To show them how easily addicts can be tempted, Jesse strikes up a conversation with Andrea, who had mentioned before in the session that she didn't want to be there.

Act II[]

Over dinner, Walt Jr. announces that he'll soon be qualified to drive without supervision, and suggests that his parents think about what car to buy for him. Later, Walt hands Skyler a check for Hank's medical bill from his "guy," labeled "Ice Station Zebra Associates." Skyler, insisting that the origin of the money must be "unimpeachable", is not convinced that Walt's "guy" is competent and insists on meeting him. Walt takes Skyler to meet Saul at his office the next day. Saul's suggestive quips don't impress Skyler, nor does his proposal to launder Walt's money through a laser tag business. Saul, in turn, is annoyed by Skyler questioning his ideas.

Jesse makes out with Andrea at her house. He is about to push the blue meth onto Andrea, when the arrival of her five-year-old son, Brock, and her grandmother interrupts the pitch. Andrea describes Jesse as being "like a sponsor" to her disbelieving grandmother, who criticizes her granddaughter for getting involved with Jesse while she was out taking care of Brock.

Driving back from Saul's office with Walt, Skyler criticizes Saul's lack of caution. Despite Saul's demeanor, Walt assures her that Saul knows what he's doing. Walt then tells Skyler that his involvement in producing meth is "ongoing" as he as a contract he cannot back out of. Skyler stops at the car wash where Walt used to work, suggesting that they purchase it and use that business to launder their money. "It's a story people will believe, not laser tag," she says. "This is what we buy."

Act III[]

Outside the rehab group meeting, Jesse asks Skinny Pete and Badger why they're still attending if they won't sell to addicts, to which they respond that they are actually advancing in the recovery program. Disgruntled, Jesse leaves with Andrea. At a taco restaurant, Jesse entertains Brock with magic tricks. While chatting, Jesse learns that Andrea has a younger brother, Tomás. "We don't talk about him," she says.

Sitting in Saul's Cadillac outside the car wash, Walt explains the logic of purchasing this business instead of the laser tag. Saul contends that any story can work as long as it's sold with conviction and has a trusted accomplice who will look the other way. Saul then mentions Danny, the owner and manager of the laser tag who will look the other way, and mentions that the car wash does not have someone like that.

After a round of sex, Andrea asks Jesse for some blue meth. Jesse, having changed his mind about pushing it on her since she is a mother, chides Andrea for using meth when she had a child to care for. Andrea takes offense, insisting that she is not a bad mother and upset that a drug dealer would judge her on how she lives her life. The two discuss her struggle to spare Brock the same fate as Tomás, who fell in with a gang and, despite being ten years old, had killed a rival dealer as part of an initiation rite. Realizing that Andrea's story closely matches the circumstances of Combo's murder, Jesse grimly quizzes her about the details.

Act IV[]

At the hospital, Marie excitedly tells Hank that he will soon be released, and that physical therapy equipment and a hospital bed have already been installed at their home. Outraged, Hank tells her to remove the equipment, insisting that he won't leave the hospital until he is finally able to walk.

That night, at the White residence, Skyler and Walt discuss the car wash, and Walt brings up that while he agrees the car wash is more suitable than the laser tag, they do not have someone working at the car wash who can be trusted to handle the laundering or to even look the other way. Skyler then offers to handle the management of the car wash. When Walt objects to her involvement, Skyler tells him that she is deeply involved in his criminal activities already as his wife. Walt retorts that they aren't married since they're divorced; when Skyler looks down, Walt wonders if they are divorced, and Skyler reveals that she did not submit the divorce papers. She then adds that married people cannot be compelled to testify against their spouses, thus giving them a reason to stay married.

While at the superlab, Gus surprises Walt with an invitation to his home for dinner. There, Gus hands Walt a large knife to chop some garlic for the Chilean fish stew he's cooking. Walt, uneasy about what Gus is up to, complies. Over dinner, Gus offers to serve as a mentor to Walt to help him avoid mistakes that he himself made starting out. He mentions that people know how to be poor, but need to learn how to be rich. His first piece of advice is: "Never make the same mistake twice."

The next day, Jesse drives to the corner where Combo was shot, where he spots Tomás circling about on his bike and asks to buy meth. Moments later, Jesse hands money to the rival dealers who directed the murder, after which Tomás then slips the meth to Jesse and tells him to leave. Now knowing the faces of the dealers who ordered Combo's death, Jesse turns and leaves in rage.

Official Photos[]

Trivia[]

  • The title of the episode refers to the town of Abiquiú, New Mexico where Georgia O'Keeffe lived for 39 years. The pronunciation is also reminiscent of "ABQ".
    • Jane and Jesse's visit to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum is first mentioned in the Season 2 episode, "4 Days Out".
    • Jesse and Jane's trip to Abiquiú is the setting for the flashback in El Camino near the end of the movie.
    • After kissing Jesse, Jane teases that she "threw up in her mouth a little bit," a call-back to the circumstances of her death. ("Phoenix")
    • The cigarette Jane puts out in Jesse's ashtray is the same one that Jesse notices in the previous episode.
  • Jesse's refusal to give Andrea meth and stating "What kind of mom gets wasted with a little kid to take care of?" is a reference to his encounter with Spooge's Lady, who was also a drug-addicted mother who neglected her own child. Jesse also pointed out her mistreatment of her child to her, which was also met with contempt. ("Peekaboo")
    • Andrea says to Jesse that in the day Brock was born, she swore she wouldn't let what happened to Tomás happen to her son. However, Tomás was probably 4–5 years old when Brock was born, and his "crime life" only started at the age of 8.
  • During the dinner scene in his house, Gus is dressed in a beige sweater with a white undershirt. Elliott Schwartz is dressed exactly the same during his birthday party in "Gray Matter".
  • This is the first episode in which Gus refers to his own children.
  • This is the first episode ever to not feature either violence or the threat of violence.
  • When trying to convince Walter into using a laser tag business for money laundering by telling him you can make any story work, Saul brings up an example of himself having made a women believe he was Kevin Costner. This encounter was later shown in the season's finale of first season of Better Call Saul.

Production[]

Credits[]

Filming Locations[]

  • Jesse attends the AA meetings at a church. Skinny Pete and Badger go there to try and sell meth. When they exit the church you can see a restaurant Annapurna across the street. The location is the side door of the University Heights Church at 2210 Silver Ave.
  • Jesse goes out to eat with Andrea and Brock at Taco Sal. Taco Sal is located in a shopping center at 9621 Menaul Blvd NE.
  • The car wash is the same car wash seen in "Pilot".
  • Walt visits Gustavo Fring's house on a dinner invitation. Gus's house is located at 1300 Jefferson St NE.

Featured Music[]

  • "Shake a Bone" by Son of Dave (in the lab when Walt takes over from Jesse weighing the meth)
  • "America the Beautiful" by The American Military Band (in Saul's office reception)
  • "Unknown Track #2" by Unknown Artist (Music is heard from as passing car outside of Andrea’s as she and Jesse kiss on the couch)
  • "Unknown Track #3" by Unknown Artist (Music is heard from as passing car outside of Andrea’s as she walks Brock to his room)
  • "Sabado en el Parque" by Grupo Fantasma (Spanish language cover of the Chicago song, "Saturday in the Park") (in Taco Sal while Jesse eats with Andrea and Brock)
  • "Lee" by Stan Getz (playing in Gus's house as Walt arrives)
  • "Tus Ojos" by Zoraida Beato (playing in Gus's house while he and Walt eat)

Memorable Quotes[]

Jane: "It was the same subject, but different every time. The light was different, her mood was different. She saw something new every time she painted it."
Jesse: "And that's not psycho to you?"
Jane: "Well, then why should we do anything more than once? Should I just smoke this one cigarette? Maybe we should only have sex once, if it's the same thing."
―Jane et Jesse talking about Georgia O'Keeffe's painting.

"Clearly his [Walt's] taste in women is the same as in lawyers. Only the very best, with just the right amount of dirty."
―Saul Goodman upon meeting Skyler for the first time

Saul: "Hey, how come you guys always give with the air freshener? I explicitly say, "I want no air freshener" and every time, I drive away smelling like an Alpine whorehouse. All due respect, I don't see it. I... I vote no."
Walt: "It makes a better story than your laser tag."
Saul: "Is that you talking or Yoko Ono?"
Walt: "She has a point. It makes more sense that I invest right here."
Saul: "Based on her years of experience in money laundering, I suppose. Let me tell you something. If you're committed enough, you can make any story work. I once convinced a woman that I was Kevin Costner and it worked because I believed it, all right? Has nothing to do with the story. Besides, this dump isn't gonna work because it doesn't have a Danny."
―Saul persuading Walt to buy a laser tag to launder his money.

"You are a wealthy man now. One must learn to be rich. To be poor, anyone can manage."
―Gustavo Fring to Walter White.


Notes[]


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