In front of a Bingo parlor -- we can tell because the wall is painted with a giant "BINGO" -- a red-haired old lady motors down the rampway to the parking lot in her little motorized old-lady kart. She zooms up to her handi-capable van, which whirrs down a rampway for her convenience. When she's rolled up into the van, though, she's met by the immovable face of one of the Cousins standing on the other side of the van. Cousin #2 steps up behind her. Oh shit, are they gonna explode this lady and walk away from her in slow motion too? Vieja Roja turns to see him and actually smiles. "Hello!" she says, cheerfully.
In an utterly brilliant cut, we zip right to the inside of a chicken warehouse, where hundreds of birds chatter urgently in a cacophony of imminent slaughter. Pretty much what the whole world looks like to the Cousins, I'd wager. Outside, our silent friends roll up in their purloined van, along with Juanny Sack and -- reason for stealing the vamped vehicle becoming clear -- Tio. Man, I just hope they didn't kill that sweet old lady and instead maybe just set her rolling down a moderately sloped road. (...Well, it seems unrealistic to hope they didn't do anything bad to her!) Next to the chattering warehouses is a kind of temporary business trailer. Inside, Gus is pulling back the plastic wrap on a veggie platter. Is that dill dip there in the middle? Gus, you impeccable host.
Gus welcomes his guests (the Cousins, after all that work stealing a wheelchair-accessible van, have to carry Tio up the steps to the trailer), and then begins a conversation spoken in entirely subtitle-friendly Spanish. Clearly, this meeting is a result of Gus calling the Cousins off the Heisenberg hit. Juanny Sack gives Gus the lowdown, which starts, as I suspected it would, with Tuco. See, Tio -- who is actually "Don Salamanco," but Tio is waaaaaay easier to type, so Tio he stays -- was Tuco's mentor, in addition to being his uncle. And the Cousins are Tuco's cousins (and thus either Tio's other nephews, or maybe Tio's sons, though I'd guess nephews or else why wouldn't he have handed his business to them? I'm overthinking...). Juan tells Gus how Tuco died, and that the Salamancas, and the cartel, have agreed upon vengeance. Gus is like, "My respectful apologies, but can a Pollo Loco do business in his own territory?" Basically, he calmly but firmly stands his ground: they can do what they want to Walter, just as soon as he's done doing business with him. Tio registers his objection by angrily ringing his bell a few dozen times. Juanny Sack excuses himself and asks Gus outside. There, he tells Gus to finish his business with Walt quickly, "or risk losing the good graces of the cartel." Which would not be wise. Hell, I'M worried about losing the good graces of the cartel just by writing these recaps. Also, he can't guarantee the Cousins will abide by everything they say here. "Those two, they're not like you and I."













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