"Caballo sin Nombre" (Spanish for ''"Horse Without a Name"'') is the second episode of the
third season of the American television
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
series ''
Breaking Bad
''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hig ...
'', and the 22nd overall episode of the series. Written by
Peter Gould
Peter Gould is an American television writer, director and producer. He worked on all five seasons of the AMC drama ''Breaking Bad''. He was nominated for four Writers Guild of America (WGA) Awards for his work on the series. After ''Breaking B ...
and directed by
Adam Bernstein
Adam Bernstein (born May 7, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning American film director, music video director and television director. For his work on the television show '' Fargo'' in 2014, he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for O ...
, it aired on
AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** AM ...
in the United States and Canada on March 28, 2010.
Plot
While driving on a highway,
Walter White Walter White most often refers to:
* Walter White (''Breaking Bad''), character in the television series ''Breaking Bad''
* Walter Francis White (1893–1955), American leader of the NAACP
Walter White may also refer to:
Fictional characters
...
is pulled over by a police officer for his windshield, which was cracked by debris in the
Wayfarer crash. When the officer alludes to having the car taken, Walt angrily snaps at him, leading him to be
pepper spray
Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, cr ...
ed and arrested.
Hank Schrader
Henry R. Schrader ASAC is a fictional character in the AMC drama series '' Breaking Bad'' and its spin-off series ''Better Call Saul''. He is portrayed by Dean Norris and was created by series creator Vince Gilligan. Hank's character development ...
picks him up from the station, and Walt tells him about his separation from
Skyler White
Skyler White ( née Lambert) is a fictional character in '' Breaking Bad'', portrayed by Anna Gunn. For her performance, Gunn received critical acclaim, with some critics even lauding her character as the template for television anti-heroines. ...
. Walt also tells
Saul Goodman
James Morgan Jimmy McGill, better known by his trade name, business name Saul Goodman, is a character (arts), character created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould and portrayed by Bob Odenkirk in the television franchise ''Breaking Bad (franchi ...
, who believes Skyler won't tell the police to avoid consequences against her. He suggests Walt "find another woman" and continue with his trade, but Walt refuses, leading Saul to call
Mike Ehrmantraut
Michael Ehrmantraut () is a fictional character in '' Breaking Bad'' and its spinoff prequel ''Better Call Saul'', portrayed by Jonathan Banks. Mike is a former Philadelphia police officer who works for Gus Fring—and, on occasion, Saul Goodm ...
, who begins staking out the Whites' house.
Jesse Pinkman
Jesse Bruce Pinkman is a main character in the American television series '' Breaking Bad'', played by Aaron Paul. He is a crystal meth cook and dealer and works with his former high school chemistry teacher, Walter White (Bryan Cranston). Jess ...
stops by his old house and discovers that his
parents
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...
have had it renovated and have put it up for sale. Offended that his father won't let him see the property, Jesse approaches Saul with a plan to buy the house from his parents. Saul offers Jesse's parents $400,000 cash for their $875,000 house on behalf of an anonymous buyer. They are outraged by the offer until Saul threatens to reveal that the house contained a meth lab at one time, which the Pinkmans fraudulently failed to disclose when they put the house for sale. Frightened that this will entangle the house in legal action and make it sell for far less, Jesse's parents agree. After the sale is complete, Jesse confidently walks into the house as its owner in front of his parents.
Walt Jr. experiences severe difficulty understanding why his mother refuses to let Walt back in, eventually snapping at her over dinner. Skyler, meanwhile, goes back to working for Ted. She refuses to keep signing his altered books and, drawing a parallel between Ted's and Walt's criminal acts, asks what his daughters would think of him if they found out of his wrongdoing. Ted believes he would say that he had been weak but that his actions were for the good of his family. She later receives a call from Walt, telling her that Walt, Jr. has gone to visit him. Walt does not tell his son the truth either and takes him home, where he tries to appease Skyler with pizza, to no avail. He later throws the pizza onto the roof in a fit of rage, and Skyler sends him a message, threatening to ask for a restraining order.
Furious, Walt proceeds to break into the house in order to forcibly move back in, unaware that Mike is installing surveillance equipment in the house. Unbeknownst to Walt, the "Cousins" –
Leonel and Marco Salamanca
''Breaking Bad (franchise), Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western crime drama Media franchise, franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), its prequel/sequel series, '' ...
– approach their uncle,
Hector Salamanca
''Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western
The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and ...
, who is now living in a retirement home following
Tuco Salamanca
''Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western crime drama franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), its prequel/sequel series, ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–22), and its seq ...
's death. He gives them Walt's name and they eventually find his house. The cousins prepare to kill Walt with an axe, but before they can approach him in the shower, an onlooking Mike has
Gus Fring
Gustavo "Gus" Fring is a fictional character portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito in the crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' and its prequel ''Better Call Saul''. He is a Chilean-American businessman and major narcotics distributor in the Southwester ...
text them about a faked drug deal, prompting them to leave.
Production
The episode was written by
Peter Gould
Peter Gould is an American television writer, director and producer. He worked on all five seasons of the AMC drama ''Breaking Bad''. He was nominated for four Writers Guild of America (WGA) Awards for his work on the series. After ''Breaking B ...
, and directed by
Adam Bernstein
Adam Bernstein (born May 7, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning American film director, music video director and television director. For his work on the television show '' Fargo'' in 2014, he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for O ...
; it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on March 28, 2010. The name of the episode is Spanish for "horse without name", a reference to the song "
A Horse With No Name
"A Horse with No Name" is a song by the folk rock band America, written by Dewey Bunnell. It was the band's first and most successful single, released in late 1971 in Europe and early 1972 in the United States, that topped the charts in Canada, ...
" heard at the beginning and end of the episode.
Reception
Donna Bowman of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave the episode a B+, especially praising the tense last five minutes of the episode.
In 2019,
The Ringer ranked "Caballo sin Nombre" 55th out of the 62 total ''Breaking Bad'' episodes.
Viewership
The episode's original broadcast was viewed by 1.55 million people,
which was a decrease from the 1.95 million of the previous episode, "
No Más".
Pizza-throwing scene
During the episode, Walt throws an entire pizza on the roof of the White House out of rage. Cranston was able to throw the pizza onto the roof in a single take.
The scene became an
internet meme
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
. Fans have occasionally shown up to the real home where the exterior of the White house is filmed and thrown pizza onto the roof, eventually causing much distress to the house's owners. The repeated incidents forced ''Breaking Bad'' creator Vince Gilligan to make a public plea for fans to stop throwing pizzas on the house's roof.
References
External links
"Caballo sin Nombre"at the official ''Breaking Bad'' website
*
{{Breaking Bad
2010 American television episodes
Breaking Bad (season 3) episodes