No Más (Breaking Bad)
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"No Más" (Spanish for ''"No More"'') is the first episode of the third season of the American television drama 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 ...
''. Written by Vince Gilligan and directed by Bryan Cranston, it aired on AMC in the United States on March 21, 2010. This episode introduces assassins
Marco and Leonel 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 ...
.


Plot

Leonel and Marco Salamanca make a pilgrimage to a Mexican shrine to Santa Muerte, making an offering and leaving a drawing of
Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent series ...
at the shrine. A week after the mid-air plane collision, all of Albuquerque remains in shock. A depressed Walter White is living in his home alone following the departure of his wife,
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. ...
, who has moved out with their
son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...
and newborn daughter to give Walt a chance to pack his things. Walt has pieced together that Donald Margolis inadvertently caused the plane crash after being distracted by his grief over his daughter Jane's death. Remorseful, he burns several bundles of money on the barbecue, but at the last moment changes his mind and throws the bills into the pool. While helping Walt to transport his belongings to a new apartment,
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 ...
lifts the bag containing the money Walt obtained in his deal with
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 ...
. Walt openly admits the existence of the money, but Hank laughs, believing it to be a joke. Once in his new apartment, Walt calls to give his family his new address. He later receives a text message reading "POLLOS". At a school assembly, Walt becomes agitated as both teachers and students open up about the traumas they experienced due to the plane collision. When prompted to share his thoughts, he delivers an awkward speech comparing the accident to the Tenerife airport disaster, disturbing the assembled audience by advising them to "look on the bright side". Skyler speaks to a divorce lawyer about making her separation from Walt permanent but hesitates when the attorney mentions the possibility of uncovering money Walt may have hidden. After being given a ride home from school by his father, Walter Jr. argues with both his parents and expresses his anger towards Skyler, who refuses to give him an explanation. She also refuses when asked by her sister Marie Schrader. Finally, she confronts Walt, presenting him with divorce papers. When she accuses him of being a drug dealer, Walt admits to being a methamphetamine cook. Skyler storms off in horror, pleading that she will not expose his secret to his children and to Hank if he grants her the divorce. Walt's former business partner,
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 ...
, is in rehab trying to overcome his drug addiction and come to terms with his girlfriend Jane Margolis' death, expressing his own personal self-loathing and guilt. During one session, the group leader confesses that, high on cocaine on a birthday of his that occurred a decade earlier, he ran over and killed his own daughter in his
pick-up truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...
while desperately trying to reach vodka at a liquor store. He follows this up by saying that hating oneself is only an impediment to moving on. Walt picks up Jesse and takes him to his apartment, where Jesse expresses remorse over the events that led to the mid-air collision. Walt tells him he is not responsible for what happened, but Jesse calmly insists that he has learned not to shy away from who he really is: "the bad guy". Inspired by this, Walt visits Gus at Los Pollos Hermanos and tells him of his decision to get out of the meth business. Gus presents an offer for Walt to make $3 million for three months' work; Walt briefly reconsiders but ultimately refuses. Meanwhile, the Salamanca twins cross into the US from Mexico hidden in the back of a truck, in search of Heisenberg. After another migrant discovers their affiliation with the Juarez Cartel, they kill their fellow passengers and the driver of the truck before blowing it up.


Production

The episode was written by Vince Gilligan, and directed by Bryan Cranston; it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on March 21, 2010. The title of the episode means "no more" in Spanish, and refers to Walt's decision to quit the meth business.


Reception

Seth Amitin of ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' gave the episode an 8.8 rating; he also stated Breaking Bad comes back after its eight-month hiatus with "No Más," "A wonderful and wonderfully-titled episode. The show is mixing its pitches in the season 3 premiere. After a hard plane-crashing fastball, we're getting an emotionally impacted change-up that lands softly into the catcher's mitt." While The A.V Club gave the episode an A rating. The episode's original broadcast was viewed by 1.95 million people. In 2019, The Ringer ranked "No Más" 54th out of the 62 total ''Breaking Bad'' episodes. At the 62nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Michael Slovis was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour) for his work on this episode, while Skip Macdonald was nominated for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing - Drama Series.


References


External links


"No Más"
at the official ''Breaking Bad'' site * {{Breaking Bad episodes 2010 American television episodes Breaking Bad (season 3) episodes Television episodes written by Vince Gilligan Television episodes about suicide