Within Gustavo’s drug trafficking network, the largest and most prominent supplier was the Greek kingpin, Eladio. Under Eladio were distributors including Hector and Bolsa. Bolsa had the shrewd and capable Gustavo, who used deliveries of ingredients to Los Pollos Hermanos franchises across the country as a cover to transport drugs nationwide. His method was both safe and efficient, leaving Hector—an old-school drug lord who only knew violence—with far lower profits than Bolsa. This left Hector humiliated in front of Eladio. Hector tried to follow suit by opening a dessert shop, but his operation was sabotaged by Mike before it even got off the ground. The DEA traced the refrigerated truck and shut down the dessert shop entirely. Unsure why he’d been so unlucky, Hector—furious—used his status as a veteran to force Gustavo to deliver drugs on his behalf. Gustavo had no choice but to agree, but he knew Hector was playing with fire by acting without Eladio’s approval.
Mike deserved much of the credit for pushing Hector into this predicament. Gustavo sent someone to deliver $30,000 to Mike, but the money was returned in full. This only piqued Gustavo’s interest further, so he drove to meet Mike, who was working the night shift. Mike was blunt: he wasn’t doing this for Gustavo, but for his family—and to seek justice for the innocent "good Samaritan" who’d died because of his mistake. Gustavo felt a sense of camaraderie with this loyal, sharp-minded man. He hoped Mike would one day work for him, and Mike—who was in need of money—didn’t dislike the reserved, prudent drug lord. If the job was right, he wouldn’t refuse. Before leaving, Gustavo revealed why he’d stopped Mike from assassinating Hector that day: a quick bullet to the head would’ve been too easy for Hector. Sharing this secret with Mike showed that Gustavo already saw him as one of his own.
During this time, Jimmy and Kim were plotting their counterattack against Chuck. Jimmy worked diligently on his letter of remorse, while Kim called repair companies one by one from the phone book until she found the one Chuck had scheduled to fix his door. Pretending to be Chuck’s assistant, she asked for the appointment time, then canceled it. Jimmy then asked Mike to pose as a repairman to visit Chuck’s house. Chuck was skilled at using legal tactics, but he was powerless against someone like Mike. When Chuck said no power tools could be used, Mike pulled out a battery-powered drill; when Chuck insisted on manual screwdrivers, Mike claimed the job would take two or three days—with no guarantee of quality. Chuck was at his wit’s end with Mike’s antics; the shrill sound of the drill made him physically uncomfortable, forcing him to retreat to his second-floor bedroom. Only then did Mike take out a camera and photograph every detail of Chuck’s home. After finishing, he even fixed the door on his way out, leaving no trace of his true purpose. With the photos in hand, Jimmy was overjoyed—these were all evidence. Most importantly, Mike had also found the contact information of a key figure in Chuck’s address book on his desk.
On the day of the pretrial diversion hearing, in the prosecutor’s small conference room, Jimmy returned Howard’s greeting but ignored Chuck. Prosecutor Hay presided over the meeting. She was pleased that Jimmy had agreed to the pretrial diversion and its conditions, but she also warned him that if he committed another offense within a year, both old and new charges would be brought against him. The two sides also discussed Jimmy’s letter of remorse, reaching an agreement on key wording—for example, changing "damaging the victim’s property" to "damaging personal property." During the compensation phase, Chuck haggled over every detail, even insisting on including the damaged tape in the claims. While this was within his legal rights, it made it clear that Chuck had no intention of repairing his relationship with Jimmy. Before the hearing ended, Prosecutor Hay—who favored Chuck—asked Jimmy to apologize in person to show his sincerity. Jimmy looked directly at Chuck and apologized for his actions; his final line, "No one deserves to be treated this way by their brother," made it clear to everyone who he was referring to.
At the hearing, Jimmy and Kim had seemed powerless to fight back. But after Jimmy stormed out of the conference room in anger, Kim stopped Chuck and Howard as they were leaving. She announced that she would file for an injunction against the tape, explaining that she knew there must be another copy. Chuck, confident he had the upper hand, didn’t hesitate to tell her that Jimmy had only destroyed a copy—the original was safely stored and could be played at any time. The cunning Chuck had fallen right into their trap: this was exactly the information Kim had wanted to confirm.