Breaking Down ‘Saul’: Season 3, Episode 4, “Sabrosito”

“Nice to fix something for once.” 

“Sabrosito”, the fourth episode of Better Call Saul‘s third season, opens up in a familiar location – Don Eladio’s pool deck. Hector Salamanca pays Eladio a visit to inform him that he’s purchased an ice cream company that will act as a perfect front for their business. Hector soon delivers Eladio their latest bag of rolled cash, but when Bolsa interrupts their meeting to give Eladio a Los Pollos Hermanos t-shirt and delivers their cash perfectly-packaged, Eladio changes his upbeat tune with Hector. They refer to Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) as a “distribution genius” and Eladio teases Hector and tells him that everything must be delivered as neat and tidy as Gustavo’s impressive haul every time.

Meanwhile, thanks to Mike’s (Jonathan Banks) masterful shoe-shooting at the border, the DEA raids Hector’s ice cream place while Mike watches from afar and makes dinner plans with Stacey. Later, while working, Victor tries to give him a bag of cash, but Mike refuses it, saying that they’re “square”. Later, prompted by Mike’s payment refusal, Gus comes to pay Mike a visit himself, where he tries to convince him to accept payment and hopes he will consider working for Gus in the future. Gus tells Mike that a bullet to the head for Hector would have been far too humane, showing a rare moment of real fury on his face as he departs the parking lot. (Well, we all know where Hector ends up, so Gus gets some kind of sweet revenge.)

Hector is less than happy with the DEA’s interest in his business and decides to pay Los Pollos Hermanos a visit, where he does not find Gus but does disrupt the bustling service happening by lighting up a cigar and traipsing around wherever he damn well pleases. Gus, who is having a meeting with the fire department, receives the call regarding Hector’s presence with an eerie composure and returns to the premises, where he dismisses his employees for the day. In Gus’ office, Hector kicks his feet up on Gus’ desk while Gus quietly scolds him for putting their entire operation in jeopardy, and Hector dismisses him and tells Gus that he will now act as Hector’s mule. Gus questions if Don Eladio has approved this, but Hector won’t have it, and he tells Gus that he will do as Hector says. Gus watches them leave and continues to go about his day, cleaning the restaurant and smirking as he tosses garbage into the trash. He’s gotten to him, and now it’s a matter of time before things go his way. The next day, as Los Pollos Hermanos opens, Gus gathers everyone together for a meeting to apologize for the previous day’s occurrences, offer counseling for the “trauma”, and 24 hours overtime for their pain. He makes up a story about the identity of Hector and his cronies, and tells his employees that they will not return.

At Wexler & McGill, Kim (Rhea Seehorn) goes through the Yellow Pages in an attempt to find the repair company that Chuck (Michael McKean) has enlisted to fix the door Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) broke. She finally finds it and cancels the appointment, and Mike plays the role of the repairman at Chuck’s house, where he scares Chuck away from the scene by using a power drill. He uses a disposable camera to take photos of the door and the rest of the house, which he delivers to Jimmy at their favorite diner.

Howard, Chuck, Jimmy, and Kim all convene for a meeting regarding Jimmy’s PPD, where the prosecutor lays out the conditions of his deal and Jimmy makes changes in his statement to appease Chuck. The prosecutor asks Jimmy to verbally apologize to Chuck for his actions, as she is not satisfied with the amount of remorse displayed, and Jimmy gives a rousing, sensitive apology. After the meeting, Kim confronts Chuck and Howard about a duplicate of Jimmy’s confession tape and tells them she plans to suppress it, but Chuck tells her that the Bar is much more lenient and the tape will certainly be played. Kim joins Jimmy downstairs and can’t help but break into a smile as she looks at him and says “bingo” and the duo leaves the courthouse.

A few small notes of appreciation: that subtle expression Gus gives Hector as he glances at his shoes on his desk and back at his face… If looks could KILL! Giancarlo Esposito is such a blessing. It’s also entirely too fun to watch Kim sneakily claim victory, and the professional flirtation going on right now between Mike and Gus is getting me way too excited for future developments.

So what Breaking Bad Easter eggs did Gilligan and Gould hide away for us in “Sabrosito”? Let’s break it down.

What do we have? 

“Sabrosito” opens with a familiar face taking a dip in an equally familiar pool.

Seem familiar? 

That’s one Don Eladio having a leisurely swim in his famous pool, first seen in a flashback in Breaking Bad Season 4, Episode 8, “Hermanos“, where Gus’ business arrangement with the cartel is first discussed (and where Hector kills Gus’ business partner Max, perhaps forever setting them up to be at odds with one another).

Another “Hermanos” reference? 

After being one-upped by Gustavo and teased by Don Eladio, Hector ponders things on the edge of the pool. He appears to be standing in the same place where Gus is forced to lay next to Max’s body in “Hermanos”.

What do we have? 

Bolsa interrupts Hector and Eladio’s meeting with news of Los Pollos Hermanos’ success.

Seem familiar? 

That’s Juan Bolsa, Gus’ cartel liaison and a high-level member of the Juárez drug cartel. He’s also the man who orders Tortuga’s execution and places his head on that famous booby-trapped tortoise, and was first introduced in Breaking Bad Season 3, Episode 3, “I.F.T.”

Also: some smartass Redditor picked up on this early “cameo”.

That’s all for this week, folks! Tune in next week for (hopefully) more developments in the Wexler/McGill takedown of one Chuck!