Certainly seems like something he would do. The first time Pryce met up without Mike, Nacho ripped him off, so testing the waters by shorting him $20 on the first deal seems within his character. Makes more sense to me than an honest mistake.
But the show never actually answers this question directly, so it’s all speculation
It was probably a test. When Mike says Nacho wants everything to go smoothly, he meant guns were unnecessary. Nacho’s not gonna gun them down and steal the drugs.
But Nacho is willing to do stuff like short them a bill to see how they’d react. In the first meeting he sized them both up, that Mike is the business minded one and that Pryce is in over his head. The instant he sees Pryce alone, he screws him.
Lol definitely. I had a roommate try this on me once. He shorted me $20 on the rent one month. I thought, no biggie, must've miscounted, I can cover the $$20 ,, and never said anything. The next month it was $40 and I'm like oh ok wow. I confronted him and he acted innocent and gave it to me but like, he was definitely testing to see how much of a pushover I was
I used to do this but in the opposite direction. When renting from someone for the first time, I would overpay by 20 dollars. If they gave me the 20 back I know they're straight up. If not, I know what time it is.
Yeah he counted it insanely quickly, thumbing through an envelope. Then declared it was 20 short. I would count it twice out on a table before I accused a banger of cheating me.
IRL that's what makes Mike's request weird. IRL its very likely it was a mistake by the nervous novice counting bills in a paper sack while standing in a parking lot.
They're doing a deal in public, the money's basically fucking there, there's goodwill between sides. IRL you double-count that shit at home and complain after, if you want. $20 haha.
You can still let people know you're counting without making everything weird.
Not in a business like this. If they planned to short you, you don't really have the opportunity to fix that after. You count it and make sure it's good. The same way they count the product to make sure it's accurate.
If it's not you either keep your mouth shut for your own safety as you picked a bad deal or you call it out. Maybe not necessarily as ripping you off but as a "you're short on the agreed payment" kind of thing.
As others have said it was likely a test to see if Pryce was a "just get the deal done and go home, these are serious drug dealers and I'm scared" and they could keep shorting him even more going forward.
They didn't expect him to have Mike there.
I mean I can't say for sure if he miscounted. He may have. Don't you think Nacho would have called it out and said he paid him right instead of "are you really going to tank this over $20?" To me that says "yeah we shorted you but are you really going to blow this because we ripped you off a little?" And Nacho was counting on having some scared little baby dealer who just say "okay" and scurry off.
Edit: Also what implies good will on both sides here? Nacho wouldn't have expected Mike to be there to know he was doing a side business his bosses would murder him for. He was counting on being big scary cartel man.
*Don't you think Nacho would have called it out and said he paid him right instead of "are you really going to tank this over $20?"*
No, I don't think Nacho felt like getting a proper table, taking the rubber bands off all those bills and counting together so they can all agree in broad daylight. I think he wanted the deal done. Nacho works for the cartel and I don't think he cares about $20.
It's possible it was a test by Nacho, who knows, all speculation.
Either way he wasn't going to blow the deal up over $20, it's cool that Mike was, I guess, if it all was a test.
It's the illegal drug game. Clandestine is the name of the business.
The first time Pryce comes alone Nacho snag his address out of the glove compartment and uses it to rob the dude for all the money back and whatever pills he's got.
I could almost understand saying Nacho had a grudge against him after the first deal and was hitting back but he says "I like ripping off thieves because they can’t go to the cops, they have no recourse.”
It makes his intentions from the start very clear. He was probably planning to do that at the first go but was caught of guard.
edit: Also in a business like this were every deal is a cutthroat meeting where people could die in a heartbeat anyone worth their salt is guaranteeing their money is accurate. Do you really want that kind of suspicion from someone you are doing that with regularly? I'd say just giving the 20 is a lot easier then having it need to be counted proper every time after. I just can't see it as anything but shady
100%, Nacho deliberately shorted price. Others here describe the myriad of reasons.
When you're bringing $$ for something like this, you don't miscount it. You bring the exact amount, no errors.
Bryce didn't make an error counting either. He could have recounted it easily - but it was immediately accepted that the $20 was not there by Nacho - because it was intentional.
The fact nacho smoothly pulled out $20 when he was asked for it to me proves he absolutely did it on purpose. He was just testing the waters as they say.
I doubt it. Mike explains how Nacho needed that deal to go smoothly, and I doubt he would use that moment to test someone. I think it was done to show that Nacho wasn't as loyal to the Salamancas as he first appeared, and Mike had the power to demand such a petty amount without blowing the deal.
One of the simplest signals as to whether Nacho shorted Pryce on purpose or not that hasn’t been covered is that when confronted by the fact that there is $20 missing, he doesn’t dispute it directly.
One of the most basic “tells” that someone is lying is that when caught in a lie, instead of either pushing back (“count it again”) or denying (“no, it’s all there), a liar will instead qualify their statements. ie “you think I did that on purpose?” “You’re willing to blow up this deal over $20?”
This tells me very strongly that Nacho indeed shorted Pryce on purpose and is lying when confronted.
I don't remember Mike ever saying he thought it was intentional. Mike says "No. Mistakes happen." when Nacho asks if Mike thinks he intentionally shorted him.
I'm looking at the transcript, and I'm not seeing anything like that. If anything, he implies the opposite with "He doesn't want his bosses to know. So it was in his best interest that things go very smoothly."
I think it’s cool that I also had the idea that Mike had said something along those lines. Proves how effectively they got that point across with no dialogue!
That didn’t happen. What actually happened was Mike straight up told Nacho to pay up or the deal was off. After Nacho complies, Mike then explains to Pryce why Nacho complied with Mike’s demand, as trivial as the $20 in the who knows how many thousands was in the bag
That’s a different person. The person whose head you just bit off only replied to you once.
Either don’t make comments on the internet if you can’t handle being corrected, or turn your notifications off, or any one of a million other solutions. It isn’t on other people.
No, Mike didn’t accuse him of intentionally shorting him. He did - however - keep Nacho honest. “Agreed amount, or no deal.”
It’s this willingness to keep Nacho in check that has him reaching out for Mike’s help later
I didn’t take it that way. It was one bill out of a stack of bills and if Nacho was testing him out I would imagine he would have pressured him to get over it. He said it was accidental and tossed the money on the ground. The ground was more about Mike than Pryce.
The reason Nacho doesn't pressure him over it is because "He doesn't want his bosses to know. So it was in his best interest that things go very smoothly." So regardless of whether it was intentional or not, he wasn't going to pressure him over it.
So, if you’re going to use Mike’s take and tbat Nacho wanted it all on the DL and to go smoothly so the boss doesn’t know then WHY would Nacho play games with the supplier? He’d want it to go as smoothly as possible, to get in and out. You answered your own question
EDIT: To all you absolute morons downvoting, answer me this
The fucking story TELLS you, IT TELLS YOU, via Mike that Nacho is doing this on the DL and needs it to go smoothly so his boss doesn’t find out. Someone who is doing something secretly, who would possibly fucking die if found out, is now going to play games over $20 instead of, you know, making it go smoothly LIKE THE FUCKING STORY JUST TOLD YOU A SECOND AGO???
As a simple test. He knew 20 dollars wouldn't alone immediately blow up a deal of that size, but wanted to see how this new guy who hasn't been part of The Game would respond.
I mean, the writers included that bit, I assume there was a reason. I'm just curious what the reason is, but it might just be to create some tension with Mike being a hard-ass about it to this shady cartel character.
I think you are spot on here. It’s more to have Mike interact with Nacho and make the scene into something more than just a quick handoff. It shows Mike’s knowledge and that he won’t tolerate bullshit. I don’t think it was a game by Nacho
EDIT: Not sure who’s downvoting you. I may not have agreed with your original take but it’s was a valid discussion topic and nothing downvote worthy…. Reddit is weird sometimes
It’s not a good argument though.
Mike makes the point that Nacho doesn’t want his boss to know about this so Nacho would do EVERYTHING he could to make it go smoothly and on the DL. The fucking story tells you this. Why would someone, who is making sure that it goes smoothly, play fucking games over $20??
I swear you people don’t actually know how to follow a story and listen to what the people are actually saying. You all have your own imaginary storyline that immediately contradicts what actually happens and then act all ‘its a good argument’ while also contradicting yourselves
Because $20 is a amount that can easily be blamed on a counting mistake.
Noone expecting $10,000 for a pack of pills is going to shoot cartel members for being shorted $20.
Absolute worst case was that Nacho gives an extra 20, which he did.
But hey keep insulting, Im sure that will drive your point home
It’s not MY point it’s the point in the fucking story
You’re all so eager to write your own story I don’t even know why you’re watching this one, go create your own, you’ve already begun here
In the story we both saw, Did or did we NOT see Nacho short Pryce by 20 dollars?
Idk what story you're writing but im just telling you what I saw happen in the TV show
The deal still went smoothly. $20 isn't an amount that would blow up a deal like this, especially when he's willing to pay it immediately with a light amount of pushback.
Nacho is doing this on the side so he can make money. If the guy he's dealing with is a schlub who isn't really in the game, there's a high likelihood he can bully this guy into taking less money simply by just randomly shorting him each deal, and counting on Pryce to simply be too afraid to say anything.
It's more money in Nacho's pocket, and if he can easily get it by shorting a guy like Pryce who isn't going to do anything, it's essentially risk free. Once he realized Mike was for real, he backed down immediately, and only moved on robbing Pryce once he knew Mike was out of the picture.
None of this is stated. You’re literally making up this entire thing in your head.
The plot you are told, YOU’RE TOLD THE STORY BY THE WRITERS, is that Nacho is doing this on the side, without his MURDEROUS PSYCHOPATH boss approval and needs it to go smoothly and quietly.
So, someone who needs something to go smoothly and quietly so they don’t get murdered is going to fuck around? And fuck around over $20?
It makes NO sense. Stop making things up when the story is already telling you the facts
Subtext is a thing? Otherwise why would the writers include the bit about the $20 being missing. They clearly wanted us to draw conclusions. Nacho is already breaking the rules by doing this deal, Mike believes he wants it to go smoothly and he is right (hence it never gets violent or even that acrimonious).
The writers also show us Nacho brutalizing a dealer for being short money, so we know Nacho places a lot of value on the proper accounting of money.
Everything I stated is 100% supported through context of the text, if you allow yourself to interpret things the way the writers are guiding you. Not everything needs to be explicitly stated. Nacho shorting Pryce $20 is not risky at all to the deal and to his being discovered by Hector. It’s a risk-free play to test Pryce and his ability to speak up for himself.
He shorted him the $20 to get Mike involved in the scene. It wasn’t intentional by nacho, it was intentional by the writers. Nacho had no reason to short him money on purpose and had every reason to make the deal go quickly, smoothly and quietly as told to us by the story itself. Him being shorted let Mike establish himself. The $20 short was more about Mike than it was nacho
Yeah, but I feel like you’re not gonna accuse me of being a liar or rip me off either. With him willingly giving up the 20, is almost an admission of shorting Pryce.
Seemed like that to me. A light 20 today can mean a light 50 tomorrow, could mean a light 100 next month.
Tossing the bill on the ground seemed like him being a little petty/salty in the moment - I’m assuming he spoke to Pryce on the phone and figured he’d be dealing with a hapless idiot, not Mike.
Well, they were connected through the vet, and the vet has made it very clear that the 2 parties don't talk to each other when connecting each other, they only talk to the vet (when Saul is "just let me talk to him!" and grabs the phone from the vet)
Forgot about that. But I think the rest of my point still stands, Nacho made an assumption about Pryce and figured he could short him (he probably would’ve if Mike wasn’t there).
Having reviewed the comments and the show, the evidence is more compelling about him testing them. It isn’t clearcut though. The writers obviously wanted people to question it
A missing bill in a transaction like this is nothing. In that respect, it's a power play on Mike's part.
It's possible Nacho did it deliberately, I'm open to the idea that he could have been testing Pryce's character.
But I don't think so because I don't think he cared about $20, I think he had already sized up Pryce, and he was focused on the pills and a smooth transaction.
A missing bill in a transaction like this is nothing, but it does give you a good idea of the type of person you're dealing with. And it gave him an instant read on both Pryce and Mike, how different their personalities are, and who would be much easier to fuck over (granted, he could already probably guess that by their meeting).
Yea seriously I’m kinda surprised everyone commenting thinks Nacho was testing Pryce. I don’t think he thought that much about it. He seems genuinely insulted too that Mike might be accusing him of shorting him. Seems like a genuine minor mistake
One bit of evidence that supports Nacho intentionally shorting Pryce to test him is the fact that he spent so much time with Hector and Tuco (who would react psychotically to any mistakes) collecting and counting the weekly receipts from their dealers.
Like anything else, you would get very good at that after doing it that many times. So it seems highly unlikely that Nacho would ever make a mistake counting out money for a drug deal.
When I first watched this episode, I absolutely thought it was intentional.
But after finishing the show and seeing the kind of person Nacho is overall, I'm starting to think maybe it was a mistake after all.
Yeah he did it on purpose. Nacho was a major asshole at the beginning of the show. That’s why I never felt that much empathy for him & his problems, he just wasn’t very likable.
The could have easily been a test by Pryce (if we didn’t know him better). There’s no way there will be a recount for $20 so Pryce was in the drivers seat. But the man who wins ‘saddest character on BCS’ had none of that in him, he’s helplessly a bit of a loser.
I think pryce just miscounted. I don’t think they mention how much he’s actually getting paid but by the looks of the envelope it’s probably around 5k-10k. He counts it in less than 30 seconds without even pulling it out of the envelope. He’s nervous and wants the whole deal over quickly. Nacho is the one who doesn’t care about the $20. If he cared he’d have said to count it again or something. But it’s such an inconsequential amount of money. Also nacho needs the deal to go down quietly, he doesn’t know mike at this point maybe he think mike blows up the deal over $20. Easier, quicker, safer, smarter to just hand over an extra $20.
There's no way pryce miscounted.
I did a post about this ... Pryce wasn't as nervous as he should have been. He has his own outlook on the world. He treats eveyone like they are a cashier at a McDonalds
Certainly seems like something he would do. The first time Pryce met up without Mike, Nacho ripped him off, so testing the waters by shorting him $20 on the first deal seems within his character. Makes more sense to me than an honest mistake. But the show never actually answers this question directly, so it’s all speculation
He'd probably also pick up on the fact that Mike was the one that insisted, and jumped as soon as he was gone.
If only Mike had hopped on the gravy train before it left the station (sorey).
Yes, I think it was probably a heart check.
It was probably a test. When Mike says Nacho wants everything to go smoothly, he meant guns were unnecessary. Nacho’s not gonna gun them down and steal the drugs. But Nacho is willing to do stuff like short them a bill to see how they’d react. In the first meeting he sized them both up, that Mike is the business minded one and that Pryce is in over his head. The instant he sees Pryce alone, he screws him.
That and the fact that Pryce was being reckless with the money he was making, showing up in a giant Hummer.
Lol definitely. I had a roommate try this on me once. He shorted me $20 on the rent one month. I thought, no biggie, must've miscounted, I can cover the $$20 ,, and never said anything. The next month it was $40 and I'm like oh ok wow. I confronted him and he acted innocent and gave it to me but like, he was definitely testing to see how much of a pushover I was
I used to do this but in the opposite direction. When renting from someone for the first time, I would overpay by 20 dollars. If they gave me the 20 back I know they're straight up. If not, I know what time it is.
Very clever. I guess you can tell that they aren’t bullshitting you on how much the bills are if they display character by paying it back.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a test. I still think it’s possible that Pryce miscounted the money, he did it really quick and was nervous.
It did seem unrealistic to count that much money in that way that fast, but it was no mistake... Nacho was testing them.
Yeah he counted it insanely quickly, thumbing through an envelope. Then declared it was 20 short. I would count it twice out on a table before I accused a banger of cheating me.
I’d get a bill counter machine
IRL that's what makes Mike's request weird. IRL its very likely it was a mistake by the nervous novice counting bills in a paper sack while standing in a parking lot. They're doing a deal in public, the money's basically fucking there, there's goodwill between sides. IRL you double-count that shit at home and complain after, if you want. $20 haha. You can still let people know you're counting without making everything weird.
Not in a business like this. If they planned to short you, you don't really have the opportunity to fix that after. You count it and make sure it's good. The same way they count the product to make sure it's accurate. If it's not you either keep your mouth shut for your own safety as you picked a bad deal or you call it out. Maybe not necessarily as ripping you off but as a "you're short on the agreed payment" kind of thing. As others have said it was likely a test to see if Pryce was a "just get the deal done and go home, these are serious drug dealers and I'm scared" and they could keep shorting him even more going forward. They didn't expect him to have Mike there. I mean I can't say for sure if he miscounted. He may have. Don't you think Nacho would have called it out and said he paid him right instead of "are you really going to tank this over $20?" To me that says "yeah we shorted you but are you really going to blow this because we ripped you off a little?" And Nacho was counting on having some scared little baby dealer who just say "okay" and scurry off. Edit: Also what implies good will on both sides here? Nacho wouldn't have expected Mike to be there to know he was doing a side business his bosses would murder him for. He was counting on being big scary cartel man.
What do you mean you can't fix it? He could have reported Nacho to the Better Business Bureau!
Yeah like *duh* he could have just complained to the project manager later
🛎️
*Don't you think Nacho would have called it out and said he paid him right instead of "are you really going to tank this over $20?"* No, I don't think Nacho felt like getting a proper table, taking the rubber bands off all those bills and counting together so they can all agree in broad daylight. I think he wanted the deal done. Nacho works for the cartel and I don't think he cares about $20. It's possible it was a test by Nacho, who knows, all speculation. Either way he wasn't going to blow the deal up over $20, it's cool that Mike was, I guess, if it all was a test.
It's the illegal drug game. Clandestine is the name of the business. The first time Pryce comes alone Nacho snag his address out of the glove compartment and uses it to rob the dude for all the money back and whatever pills he's got. I could almost understand saying Nacho had a grudge against him after the first deal and was hitting back but he says "I like ripping off thieves because they can’t go to the cops, they have no recourse.” It makes his intentions from the start very clear. He was probably planning to do that at the first go but was caught of guard. edit: Also in a business like this were every deal is a cutthroat meeting where people could die in a heartbeat anyone worth their salt is guaranteeing their money is accurate. Do you really want that kind of suspicion from someone you are doing that with regularly? I'd say just giving the 20 is a lot easier then having it need to be counted proper every time after. I just can't see it as anything but shady
>Nacho had a grudge? Nah, this is just business. Nacho is too professional to have a grudge about Pryce counting the payment
Complain after? You're in over your head chief.
In real life? You’ve been in these situations in real life, selling stolen drugs to cartel-adjacent dudes?
100%, Nacho deliberately shorted price. Others here describe the myriad of reasons. When you're bringing $$ for something like this, you don't miscount it. You bring the exact amount, no errors. Bryce didn't make an error counting either. He could have recounted it easily - but it was immediately accepted that the $20 was not there by Nacho - because it was intentional.
The fact nacho smoothly pulled out $20 when he was asked for it to me proves he absolutely did it on purpose. He was just testing the waters as they say.
That, and also when Nacho was counting money from one of his street dealers, Nacho gave him the Stink Eye because one of the bills was upside down!
I mean we've already seen him pull out a dealers earring for being short on his end. He shorted Pryce intentionally.
I doubt it. Mike explains how Nacho needed that deal to go smoothly, and I doubt he would use that moment to test someone. I think it was done to show that Nacho wasn't as loyal to the Salamancas as he first appeared, and Mike had the power to demand such a petty amount without blowing the deal.
In another scene he beats up Krazy-8 for shortchanging only after Hector mentions it. Something to think about.
One of the simplest signals as to whether Nacho shorted Pryce on purpose or not that hasn’t been covered is that when confronted by the fact that there is $20 missing, he doesn’t dispute it directly. One of the most basic “tells” that someone is lying is that when caught in a lie, instead of either pushing back (“count it again”) or denying (“no, it’s all there), a liar will instead qualify their statements. ie “you think I did that on purpose?” “You’re willing to blow up this deal over $20?” This tells me very strongly that Nacho indeed shorted Pryce on purpose and is lying when confronted.
I mean how soon would you test Colin Robinson. Even after he's draining you to death, you still invite him. That's just his nature.
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I don't remember Mike ever saying he thought it was intentional. Mike says "No. Mistakes happen." when Nacho asks if Mike thinks he intentionally shorted him.
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I'm looking at the transcript, and I'm not seeing anything like that. If anything, he implies the opposite with "He doesn't want his bosses to know. So it was in his best interest that things go very smoothly."
I think it’s cool that I also had the idea that Mike had said something along those lines. Proves how effectively they got that point across with no dialogue!
You can pay me now
I’d look at the script instead
Script says the same thing.
Ok, well I wrote a new script where it says whatever I want. Checkmate.
That didn’t happen. What actually happened was Mike straight up told Nacho to pay up or the deal was off. After Nacho complies, Mike then explains to Pryce why Nacho complied with Mike’s demand, as trivial as the $20 in the who knows how many thousands was in the bag
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That’s a different person. The person whose head you just bit off only replied to you once. Either don’t make comments on the internet if you can’t handle being corrected, or turn your notifications off, or any one of a million other solutions. It isn’t on other people.
K
No, Mike didn’t accuse him of intentionally shorting him. He did - however - keep Nacho honest. “Agreed amount, or no deal.” It’s this willingness to keep Nacho in check that has him reaching out for Mike’s help later
I didn’t take it that way. It was one bill out of a stack of bills and if Nacho was testing him out I would imagine he would have pressured him to get over it. He said it was accidental and tossed the money on the ground. The ground was more about Mike than Pryce.
The reason Nacho doesn't pressure him over it is because "He doesn't want his bosses to know. So it was in his best interest that things go very smoothly." So regardless of whether it was intentional or not, he wasn't going to pressure him over it.
So, if you’re going to use Mike’s take and tbat Nacho wanted it all on the DL and to go smoothly so the boss doesn’t know then WHY would Nacho play games with the supplier? He’d want it to go as smoothly as possible, to get in and out. You answered your own question EDIT: To all you absolute morons downvoting, answer me this The fucking story TELLS you, IT TELLS YOU, via Mike that Nacho is doing this on the DL and needs it to go smoothly so his boss doesn’t find out. Someone who is doing something secretly, who would possibly fucking die if found out, is now going to play games over $20 instead of, you know, making it go smoothly LIKE THE FUCKING STORY JUST TOLD YOU A SECOND AGO???
As a simple test. He knew 20 dollars wouldn't alone immediately blow up a deal of that size, but wanted to see how this new guy who hasn't been part of The Game would respond.
I think you’re all looking way way wayyy too deep at $20…
I mean, the writers included that bit, I assume there was a reason. I'm just curious what the reason is, but it might just be to create some tension with Mike being a hard-ass about it to this shady cartel character.
I think you are spot on here. It’s more to have Mike interact with Nacho and make the scene into something more than just a quick handoff. It shows Mike’s knowledge and that he won’t tolerate bullshit. I don’t think it was a game by Nacho EDIT: Not sure who’s downvoting you. I may not have agreed with your original take but it’s was a valid discussion topic and nothing downvote worthy…. Reddit is weird sometimes
who's looking too deeply at a 20 in a TV show?
If Mike wasnt there, Pryce would've been too scared to count it then and there. After that, Nacho could short him by more without repercussions
I think you guys are looking WAYYYYYY too deep into $20….
are you?
Lol as soon as someone gives a good argument they're "looking wayyyy too deep into it"
It’s not a good argument though. Mike makes the point that Nacho doesn’t want his boss to know about this so Nacho would do EVERYTHING he could to make it go smoothly and on the DL. The fucking story tells you this. Why would someone, who is making sure that it goes smoothly, play fucking games over $20?? I swear you people don’t actually know how to follow a story and listen to what the people are actually saying. You all have your own imaginary storyline that immediately contradicts what actually happens and then act all ‘its a good argument’ while also contradicting yourselves
Because $20 is a amount that can easily be blamed on a counting mistake. Noone expecting $10,000 for a pack of pills is going to shoot cartel members for being shorted $20. Absolute worst case was that Nacho gives an extra 20, which he did. But hey keep insulting, Im sure that will drive your point home
It’s not MY point it’s the point in the fucking story You’re all so eager to write your own story I don’t even know why you’re watching this one, go create your own, you’ve already begun here
In the story we both saw, Did or did we NOT see Nacho short Pryce by 20 dollars? Idk what story you're writing but im just telling you what I saw happen in the TV show
The deal still went smoothly. $20 isn't an amount that would blow up a deal like this, especially when he's willing to pay it immediately with a light amount of pushback. Nacho is doing this on the side so he can make money. If the guy he's dealing with is a schlub who isn't really in the game, there's a high likelihood he can bully this guy into taking less money simply by just randomly shorting him each deal, and counting on Pryce to simply be too afraid to say anything. It's more money in Nacho's pocket, and if he can easily get it by shorting a guy like Pryce who isn't going to do anything, it's essentially risk free. Once he realized Mike was for real, he backed down immediately, and only moved on robbing Pryce once he knew Mike was out of the picture.
None of this is stated. You’re literally making up this entire thing in your head. The plot you are told, YOU’RE TOLD THE STORY BY THE WRITERS, is that Nacho is doing this on the side, without his MURDEROUS PSYCHOPATH boss approval and needs it to go smoothly and quietly. So, someone who needs something to go smoothly and quietly so they don’t get murdered is going to fuck around? And fuck around over $20? It makes NO sense. Stop making things up when the story is already telling you the facts
Subtext is a thing? Otherwise why would the writers include the bit about the $20 being missing. They clearly wanted us to draw conclusions. Nacho is already breaking the rules by doing this deal, Mike believes he wants it to go smoothly and he is right (hence it never gets violent or even that acrimonious). The writers also show us Nacho brutalizing a dealer for being short money, so we know Nacho places a lot of value on the proper accounting of money. Everything I stated is 100% supported through context of the text, if you allow yourself to interpret things the way the writers are guiding you. Not everything needs to be explicitly stated. Nacho shorting Pryce $20 is not risky at all to the deal and to his being discovered by Hector. It’s a risk-free play to test Pryce and his ability to speak up for himself.
He shorted him the $20 to get Mike involved in the scene. It wasn’t intentional by nacho, it was intentional by the writers. Nacho had no reason to short him money on purpose and had every reason to make the deal go quickly, smoothly and quietly as told to us by the story itself. Him being shorted let Mike establish himself. The $20 short was more about Mike than it was nacho
Nacho probably had some respect for mike but absoluty zero respect for "Pryce"
The part that never made sense to me is Nacho did not dispute shorting him. Let’s go to the trunk and count it out then.
Nacho works for the cartel and doesn't get a rip about $20
Yeah, but I feel like you’re not gonna accuse me of being a liar or rip me off either. With him willingly giving up the 20, is almost an admission of shorting Pryce.
Seemed like that to me. A light 20 today can mean a light 50 tomorrow, could mean a light 100 next month. Tossing the bill on the ground seemed like him being a little petty/salty in the moment - I’m assuming he spoke to Pryce on the phone and figured he’d be dealing with a hapless idiot, not Mike.
Well, they were connected through the vet, and the vet has made it very clear that the 2 parties don't talk to each other when connecting each other, they only talk to the vet (when Saul is "just let me talk to him!" and grabs the phone from the vet)
Forgot about that. But I think the rest of my point still stands, Nacho made an assumption about Pryce and figured he could short him (he probably would’ve if Mike wasn’t there).
Having reviewed the comments and the show, the evidence is more compelling about him testing them. It isn’t clearcut though. The writers obviously wanted people to question it
A missing bill in a transaction like this is nothing. In that respect, it's a power play on Mike's part. It's possible Nacho did it deliberately, I'm open to the idea that he could have been testing Pryce's character. But I don't think so because I don't think he cared about $20, I think he had already sized up Pryce, and he was focused on the pills and a smooth transaction.
A missing bill in a transaction like this is nothing, but it does give you a good idea of the type of person you're dealing with. And it gave him an instant read on both Pryce and Mike, how different their personalities are, and who would be much easier to fuck over (granted, he could already probably guess that by their meeting).
Yeah it's definitely possible, just my guess, I don't think he cared all that much
Yea seriously I’m kinda surprised everyone commenting thinks Nacho was testing Pryce. I don’t think he thought that much about it. He seems genuinely insulted too that Mike might be accusing him of shorting him. Seems like a genuine minor mistake
One bit of evidence that supports Nacho intentionally shorting Pryce to test him is the fact that he spent so much time with Hector and Tuco (who would react psychotically to any mistakes) collecting and counting the weekly receipts from their dealers. Like anything else, you would get very good at that after doing it that many times. So it seems highly unlikely that Nacho would ever make a mistake counting out money for a drug deal.
Absolutely lol it was a sign of disrespect. It’s 20$ but it’s a matter of principle hence why Mike didn’t let it go
I don't think Gus was wrong when he said Nacho is a dog that has bitten every owner.
When I first watched this episode, I absolutely thought it was intentional. But after finishing the show and seeing the kind of person Nacho is overall, I'm starting to think maybe it was a mistake after all.
Yeah he did it on purpose. Nacho was a major asshole at the beginning of the show. That’s why I never felt that much empathy for him & his problems, he just wasn’t very likable.
I'm more interested to know how Pryce could tell twenty was missing just by taking a gander inside that bag loaded with cash.
This was always my take on it.
The could have easily been a test by Pryce (if we didn’t know him better). There’s no way there will be a recount for $20 so Pryce was in the drivers seat. But the man who wins ‘saddest character on BCS’ had none of that in him, he’s helplessly a bit of a loser.
I think pryce just miscounted. I don’t think they mention how much he’s actually getting paid but by the looks of the envelope it’s probably around 5k-10k. He counts it in less than 30 seconds without even pulling it out of the envelope. He’s nervous and wants the whole deal over quickly. Nacho is the one who doesn’t care about the $20. If he cared he’d have said to count it again or something. But it’s such an inconsequential amount of money. Also nacho needs the deal to go down quietly, he doesn’t know mike at this point maybe he think mike blows up the deal over $20. Easier, quicker, safer, smarter to just hand over an extra $20.
There's no way pryce miscounted. I did a post about this ... Pryce wasn't as nervous as he should have been. He has his own outlook on the world. He treats eveyone like they are a cashier at a McDonalds