[birds chirping]
[Palma in Spanish over phone] Cochiloco was one of us.
Deserved better.
[Acosta] We all do.
The time comes,
you open your eyes,
don't recognize home.
You don't recognize this thing 'cause Félix changed it.
I keep telling you, Güero,
the old days are gone.
So how do I explain this, huh?
What do I tell my guys?
[Acosta] The truth.
Félix did it for Benjamín, Tijuana.
If the Federation were to lose them now...
[whistles]
...it goes down fast.
Only ourselves to blame. We joined into this shit.
We allowed Félix to rule us.
Yeah, well... didn't have a lot of choices.
[Acosta] Ah.
Maybe didn't look for a better one.
[Palma] Right.
So maybe it's time.
Time to find a better option.
Let Félix suck Benjamín's cock.
You and me, we gotta worry about ourselves.
We start to do what Félix isn't.
Protect each other.
Break from the Federation?
Could work.
[Palma] It would work, man.
No.
Lot of bullshit, starting over.
I'm looking to go the other way.
[Palma] Still think you're getting out, huh?
You've been saying that shit since I was working for you.
[Acosta] Oh, yeah?
Guess every day brings a new chance to be a little less full of shit.
[chuckles]
[Palma] Yeah.
Look, this new deal with the Colombians,
it's more than Félix can handle.
The man is desperate.
And desperate men...
Not long for this earth.
You recognize the voice?
Fucking Acosta.
[Acosta] Trust me.
Keep your head down, your footprint light...
And wait for Félix's time to run out.
- Make me a copy of this. - [man] Yes, sir.
[Rodrigo Amarante's "Tuyo" playing]
["Quiero Decirte" playing]
[clicks tongue]
[chuckles]
[in Spanish] Babe, the helicopter is on the roof waiting for me.
Got to go to Mexico City for important business.
Lots of money on the line.
[laughs]
- Sorry. - Come on, you're not even trying.
I told you, this stuff turns me on.
I love what a big deal you are.
Bring that big deal over here.
No, love, I gotta go.
You were supposed to come last night.
I told you, Héctor came home early.
I couldn't get away.
Come on,
at least you had me all morning.
Fucking Palma, who does he think he is?
The big boss?
Félix is the one telling him what to do.
Not everyone can be as tough as you, baby.
So stay.
You have me all day.
No way. Félix finishes breakfast, and I'm not there, he'll kill me.
And he tells my husband what to do.
Don't mess with me.
Call you later.
CÁRDENAS POPULARITY DECLINES
[María] The fuck are you doing here?
I thought I made myself clear.
Just having coffee.
Is that so bad?
[scoffs]
You think this is a game?
This is my life. I told you to stay away.
Yeah.
From the house, from school.
[scoffs] This is a café.
Not sure it qualifies as "yours."
Seem to remember it was me that first brought you here.
Enjoy your coffee.
- Give my best to your old man. - He's not interested in you either.
He told me about Cochiloco.
What you did.
Didn't remember your father liking gossip so much.
We adapt, or everything goes to shit.
He made his choice.
You know, it takes someone special to abandon everyone
and still find a reason to blame them.
You chose the wrong side, Miguel Ángel.
You fucked over anyone who cared about you.
Now bad things are happening to you.
Because you're a bad guy.
A new day is coming.
Some will be punished, and some will be rewarded.
[laughs]
What...
you find God or something?
Maybe something better.
Good luck with that.
[Heath in English] It's your lucky day, Walt.
An anonymous call came in to the embassy earlier.
Someone claiming to have intel on Félix Gallardo.
Oh, really?
He say how?
She wouldn't elaborate.
Said she'll only talk in person.
"She"?
Come on, sir, it sounds like bullshit.
She say what she wanted? You know, cash, a visa for her boyfriend?
[Heath] That's exactly what you're gonna find out.
Look, she wants to meet.
She's based in Ojinaga.
Given that you're in Juárez...
Well, sir, I'm right in the middle of something here.
[Heath] Right. The thing with the planes.
I thought you said you had nothing.
Look, this person has high-level intel on Félix Gallardo,
and you're the agent in charge of that operation.
What the fuck aren't you seeing?
Yep. Yep.
Fucking hell.
[Mr. X in Spanish] Making a habit of these visits.
Though, I must say I'm not surprised, given the news.
[Félix] What happened with the nomination? You were so sure.
Gave my life to this party, and they choose that fucking technocrat.
So the big-eared dwarf and his brother didn't want your money?
Look, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas,
he was a governor in Michoacán.
A member of the PRI.
He was your colleague. Don't you know him?
Yeah, and I know his father too.
They're a fucking institution.
Old man would win the presidency again, if he were still around.
And privatization undoes everything he created.
The farmland, the oil, all of it.
Did your homework. Congratulations.
The party plans to destroy his father's legacy.
He needs us.
Make the introduction.
[Mr. X chuckles]
I have to admit the Italian suits start to fool you.
Do you know why Cuauhtémoc left the party?
Because of us.
Says the party is in league with traffickers and corrupt politicians.
He's got to need something.
Cárdenas takes office,
and you're in a jail cell the same day.
You think Cárdenas can actually win?
I don't think.
I know so.
[elevator dings]
[overlapping chatter]
[Breslin in English] They called it
the National System of Political Election Information.
Better known in Mexico as SNIPE.
It was a system engineered to compile election results,
based on voter registration data.
Basically, a way to figure out who was voting,
where, and how.
Sound familiar?
Well, in 1988, in Mexico, it wasn't.
It was fucking unheard of.
Before '88, there had never been any reason for it.
I guess that's the deal with unchecked power.
A one-party system tends to lead to a likely outcome.
But all it takes is once.
An earthquake and a recession usually do the trick.
And then an idealist starts to draws crowds.
[news anchor] The big surprise of the campaign
has been the leftist candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas.
Cárdenas is a former member of the PRI.
He left it last year, accusing it of being undemocratic.
[Breslin] When hope catches on, that shit spreads like a prairie fire.
[crowd chanting]
[man in Spanish] Cárdenas has support in the major cities, educated centers.
The PRI's influence is holding to the more rural, less populated areas,
where ignorance and illiteracy reign supreme.
Yeah, but these are just projections, right?
A preview of what's to come.
Okay, but none of this is exact.
These projections aren't gonna change, because a margin of error is built in.
Which brings us to the real problem.
Mexico City.
Cárdenas is projecting a win at 54 percent.
A coin toss.
[Mr. X] No.
A fucking tragedy.
[Félix] What about the rest of the country? Stop there.
León, Guanajuato... doing well there.
[man] Yes, but it won't matter.
The first precincts to report are all in the city.
They're the only ones the media reports on.
[Mr. X] Every six years, on election day at 7:00 p.m.,
they report a landslide PRI victory.
If a PRI candidate doesn't declare victory after the first precincts report,
or worse, they can't...
It's gonna be fucked.
Cárdenas has given people a reason to believe.
They see these numbers on election day? They'll know change is coming.
And nothing will pull his supporters out of the voting line.
The PRI is gonna be crushed.
[Félix] It's time we meet again.
[The Brother] Can't imagine why. We left very little unsaid.
[Félix] Drop the act.
It's time for you to open your eyes.
I'm wide awake, my friend.
Quite content with the view.
[Félix] I don't know what you're seeing.
Cárdenas has your brother beat.
[The Brother] Ah, so you've heard.
An exciting time.
Even the less fortunate deserve a good thrill.
My brother will be their president too.
You don't understand. Or maybe you don't want to.
[The Brother] My family has experience with these things, Félix.
Stories like Cárdenas', they come and go. Fables, for children.
You hear the one about the Pope? When he visited Mexico,
he went boating with Cárdenas.
They say the Pope's hat blew off,
and Cárdenas walked across the water to get it back.
But you and me know the truth, Cárdenas can't swim.
The PRI's gonna hold his head down while he drowns.
Was there anything else?
All right, let's see...
Let's see what you think of this.
Zapopan, Cárdenas is up by 16 percent,
Puebla 12 percent, Zipolite 22 percent, want me to go on?
Ask yourself how I got these numbers. Who else I can give them to.
Mexico's on the eve of change.
How badly does your brother want to stop it?
Hotel Ciudad de Mexico, 4:00.
Good.
See you there.
[man] Bye.
[in Spanish] Good afternoon.
Another, sir.
[Mr. X] What the fuck did you just do?
You had no right to tell that criminal.
Tell me something. What the fuck were you planning on doing with this?
Nothing. The party thinks they don't need me?
Then they don't get to see this.
How's Cárdenas' relationship with America?
'Cause the gringos know all about you.
Your dipshit nephew's made sure of it.
If the party loses, you're with me on the next plane to the States.
So get your head out of your ass.
What's Cárdenas know about all this?
I told you, no one knows anything.
He doesn't know?
He doesn't know he's gonna win?
Good. Tell him.
You're joking.
I'm gonna use it as leverage. So tell him.
[Mr. X] I hope you know what you're doing.
[ranchera music playing]
[Mimi in English] Agent Breslin.
We know each other?
I called the embassy this morning.
You're the anonymous caller.
You're American.
- Care to take a seat? - Prefer not to.
Hmm.
I'm gonna be honest with you.
I wasn't expecting... you.
Hmm.
See, I got this... I got this radar in my head,
and it tells me when things are off or... you know, something ain't right.
Well, it's ringing in my fucking ears right now.
Hmm.
I'd say if that radar was worth much, Agent Breslin,
you wouldn't be sitting here, looking the way you do.
So you know something about Félix Gallardo, his operation.
You care to elaborate?
I just had to see you first.
Make sure you were alone.
Meet me behind the restaurant in ten minutes. I'll be in a brown truck.
Hang on there, sweetheart.
Let me explain to you how this works.
I got about, you know, three, four bites left on this torta.
And when I'm finished, I'm gonna walk my ass back out to my truck,
it's the Wagoneer parked outside,
and I'm gonna drive away.
And you and your boyfriend or whoever the hell put you up to this,
they're gonna lose anything and everything they were hoping to get.
Cash, visa... all of it goes with me.
Because, honey, I ain't coming back.
So don't waste my time with bullshit.
If you got something to say, you better start fucking talking.
Well, aren't you just too sweet?
[clears throat]
My boyfriend's name is Pablo Acosta.
He runs the Juárez plaza for Félix Gallardo.
He wants to talk to you.
So long as it ain't a waste of your precious fucking time.
[chuckles]
[in Spanish] We seem to have a problem, boss.
Azul is awaiting your call.
[in English] You ready?
Ready as I'm gonna get.
Fuck it.
Put this on.
[exhales]
Fuck it.
[Mimi] Hey, what's that radar telling you now, Agent Breslin?
[El Azul in Spanish] The issue with Acosta, it's not good.
[Félix] I know, damn it! What else?
[El Azul] Aguilar played me the tapes.
[Félix] How bad is it?
Hmm.
Acosta talks a lot of shit.
Says you're on the way out, going down.
But, Félix, Acosta's not the problem.
Héctor Palma made the call, reached out.
Told Acosta they don't need you.
Suggested they join together, Sinaloa and Juárez.
That fucker is nothing without me.
Why is he coming up with this now?
Why doesn't matter. The idea's out there.
Now would be a bad time to appear weak, sir.
How the fuck did this happen?
What do you want to do, boss?
Kill him.
Palma was gifted Sinaloa,
and he's been a fucking problem ever since.
What about Acosta?
[Acosta] You just gonna stand there?
Grab that tool box, bring it up here.
[in English] Hey. How about that sidearm?
[Acosta in English] You should listen to her.
She's tough, man. Believe me, I know.
[chuckles]
Hey.
Have fun.
[man in Spanish] Welcome, sir.
Welcome, sir.
What's going on? Where is he?
Not one for pleasantries, I see.
I understand there's something you need to tell me.
You have five minutes, Félix.
Would you like to take a seat?
[in English] Is Leavenworth as tough as they say?
You know something about me, huh?
I started in Customs in Laredo.
I know you pretty well, man.
Eight fucking years.
Good way to learn English.
[sighs]
Know anything about roofs?
Look, I prefer to ask you some questions.
[in Spanish] You drink?
[in English] Beer?
As much as I can.
[bottle cap clatters]
I'm looking to take down Félix Gallardo.
You gonna help me?
[chuckles]
[in English] The girl...
she's the reason you are here.
Wanted us to meet.
Been bugging me for a while now.
Hears me complaining.
Figures... time for me to move on.
Find something else.
You don't strike me as the kind of guy that'd do that,
drop everything for some girl.
Do you like her? Mimi?
I want Félix.
That's all I'm interested in.
Are you gonna help me or not?
Why?
What's he to you?
He killed a federal agent.
Oh.
You knew him? That agent who died?
Camarena?
No, I didn't.
You know why I like fixing roofs?
I grew up in a small house.
Lots of brothers and sisters.
Teaches you quick, complaining won't get you far.
Easier to fix things yourself.
So when the girl starts telling me all I do is complain...
Shit.
Must be bad.
Yeah, and you're out of ways to fix them.
I guess that's life, right?
Sooner or later, everything turns to shit no matter how hard we try.
That why you're here?
Everything go to shit?
I told you why I'm here.
Right.
That... dead agent.
Truth of it is...
look around this place...
it all feels... different.
Colombians,
cocaine,
fucking politicians.
Not sure where I fit in anymore.
That's why I'm here.
[in Spanish] Because the truth matters to me.
[in English] You expect me to trust you, telling me all those lies?
[sighs]
Three years ago,
I was back home working a shift.
I got a call about a one-eighteen.
It was a gang-related shooting.
But it wasn't in my area.
It was in the town over from me.
So I knew something was wrong.
My brother had died.
He took three to the chest and bled out
with an eight-ball of cocaine on the passenger seat next to him.
And no matter what anybody tells you,
I'm the reason why.
I believe the world's a bad place.
And I don't think I'm much better.
But we have to try.
So that's why I'm here.
I'm trying to do something.
What would it look like,
me and you helping each other out?
Well...
you cross that border tomorrow with me,
tell me everything you know about Félix.
His whole operation.
In return,
I can provide you with protection, immunity, anything you want.
Huh.
What about Mimi?
- She involved? - No.
Not at all.
I don't want her near this.
I don't see any reason to involve her.
You have my word.
Got a card? A way to reach you?
Motel Carrasco. The only one in town.
I know the number there.
My brother was a junkie.
He died with a needle in his arm.
[Félix in Spanish] All of this data has been confirmed.
On July 6th, you're all going down.
What will that leave you?
Well, I think we can survive this. Together.
These projections, they're interesting...
but guarantee nothing.
How is Andrés, anyway?
Still bitter about the nomination, it seems.
What, you didn't expect me to believe your associates put these together?
No.
It leads me to one conclusion...
only the party knows these exist.
And they have some experience in the suppression of information.
[scoffs]
No.
Cárdenas knows too.
I made sure of that.
When these projections get out,
it's going to create a ground swell in this country.
And nothing the party can do will stop it.
Hmm.
I see.
So I take it you have a cure?
For this disease, sure to kill us.
I'm listening.
Tell the people a different story.
Those projections came from a new computer program,
capable of reporting election day returns, in real time.
And the early results will show the whole country Cárdenas is winning.
But there could be another program, one capable of reporting the opposite.
And in time, when an official hand-count is tallied and Cárdenas has won?
What good will your bullshit "program" have done us?
Will he have won?
You tell the masses Cárdenas is losing, they won't leave the fucking house.
You'll have taken their hope away.
People only want to back a winner.
Who's going to vote for a loser?
- Well, sure. - So the party loses Mexico City,
but it makes up the difference everywhere else.
And people have to wait six years before they can get back in line.
[chuckles]
Because you'll have won the election legitimately.
Without tampering with a single ballot.
And in return?
I get a direct relationship with the new administration.
My interests are protected.
Always.
I must say, I'm impressed.
I'd heard stories about you, but this...
Quite a rise for a piece of trash like yourself.
You should know something.
These men I speak for, Félix?
They make wonderful friends, but intolerable enemies.
I find out you're lying, what you've told me today isn't true?
The fall is swift.
You don't survive it.
You'll hear from me.
You can take that stupid thing off. We're close.
So how do you think it went?
You offer him a deal?
I did.
You think he'll take it?
I think he should.
Tell me something.
How's a girl like you end up... a girl like you?
Just lucky, I guess.
[Breslin] Bullshit.
Out here in the middle of nowhere?
[Mimi] Where I don't belong?
I was born where I belong, Agent Breslin, believe me.
And it never meant shit.
And Acosta?
I love him.
That's a good enough reason, ain't it?
To want to see someone change?
Honestly, after today, I wouldn't know.
I'm not quite sure what to think about anything.
Yeah.
Gets tough, don't it?
Making heads and tails of this life.
I guess so.
I hope it works out for you.
How about that sidearm?
[thunder rumbles]
I'm pregnant.
That's why it's gotta be now.
Does he know that?
Have you considered telling him?
I think if he wants this, it's gotta be for him.
Well...
Well, I hope I see you again.
All three of you.
[thunder rumbles]
- [in Spanish] You hungry? - Yeah!
- [Palma] Where's your mom? - Don't know.
- You don't know? - No.
[off-hook tone]
[Palma] Lupita, come on.
Dinner's ready.
Lupita!
[sobbing]
Lupita, you up here?
- Baby, what's wrong? - [crying]
What's going on?
I'm so sorry, Héctor.
Tell me.
Palma, you in here?
Félix called.
Needs us at the office.
Guys!
[grunts]
[panting]
[car alarm blaring]
Fuck your mother, you asshole!
Yours too, motherfucker!
Come out, you fuck!
[car alarms blaring]
Fucking thing's beautiful.
What's with you?
What's up?
Talked to Aguilar?
No, what happened?
Some shit's going down.
What shit?
- Talk to Aguilar, man. - Fuck that, what happened?
[Breslin in English] What the fuck?
What the fuck are you doing here?
I could ask you the same.
I haven't heard much since the Amado tip.
I didn't know I was supposed to check in.
I put my ass on the line, I expect to hear something.
Put us on a runway outside of Juárez.
But you are all the way out here.
You following me again?
I spoke to your boy Sal. He mentioned you were here.
I didn't tell Sal where I was staying.
One motel in Ojinaga.
I guess I got lucky.
This runway...
anything else about it?
Figure it's where Félix plans to bring in his shipment.
[Breslin] That's why we're on it.
We good here?
[Calderoni] Hey, Walt.
You would tell me...
if anything else came up?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
[key jingling]
[Félix in Spanish] Come on, Moreño, please tell me you have something.
I don't.
Son of a... Do you know what happens if we don't figure this out?
[Moreño] This shit is complicated.
You know how much data I need to manipulate
to make your dummy program look legitimate?
Why did you tell them we have it, if it isn't true?
Because I'm dead if we don't, you moron. Fix it.
[sighs]
[Amado] Pablo.
[chatter from television]
The hell have you been?
Belize. Chiapas.
That thing with the planes, remember? I told you.
Mm-hmm.
Shit's pretty cool, man.
In Chiapas.
Some country shit, just how you like it. We should go.
So go then.
I mean it. Both of us. Let's go.
You think I'm getting on one of your little planes,
you're out of your fucking mind.
Think I don't know why you're here?
Félix tried to kill Palma.
That what has you so spooked? You figure I'm next?
I can fix this shit, Pablo.
I'll talk to Félix.
He needs me right now.
Fuck Félix.
Just listen to me for once in your fucking life.
[Acosta] No.
I already know what I'm gonna do.
Finally got yourself killed. That's what you've always wanted, isn't it?
Go out with your pride, like a real fucking bandit.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
You could keep your pride and your life if you'd just listen to me.
Close the door when you leave. Don't want a draft coming in.
- Pablo... - Shh!
[laughs]
Okay.
Hey, Dopey.
Fake as shit, but...
I've always liked it.
Even tells the date and everything.
[chuckles]
At some point...
you're gonna need to stab this motherfucker in the back.
I just hope you'll know when that time has come.
Door!
[Calderoni] We have a problem.
One of the agents from Leyenda, he's way out in Ojinaga.
I'll give you one guess as to why.
[Félix] Stay on it.
And no more mistakes.
[phone beeps]
[intense instrumental music playing]