Summary: Jimmy goes for a sales interview and is immediately hired after he puts on a great performance, but Jimmy is upset by this an refuses the offer. Kim goes to a meeting arranged by Howard regarding Chuck's will and she lashes out at him for offloading his guilt onto Jimmy. Nacho tells his dad that it's over and seeks to get out of the business. The cousins visit Hector in the hospital and Gus sends a proper specialist for him. Lydia talks with Mike about him doing his job. Arturo tries to take six packets of drugs again but is murdered by Gus. Gus tells Nacho that he knows what he did and takes ownership of him.
The Good: Jimmy's story continues to fascinate me as it progresses. What makes it so enthralling is that we don't fully know how he has dealt with Chuck's death and how it has affected him (see: The Unknown), and that makes his actions unpredictable and fun to analyze. Take the sales scene for example. It's hard to understand why exactly Jimmy decided to do what he did and chose to potentially rob the people who hired him, but that is what makes it so fascinating. There are many different possibilities (Jimmy I reminded of his dad, he's still upset about Chuck, he's torn about what kind of person to be, etc.), but it remains unclear where Jimmy's mind is currently at and what his next moves will be. This pays off spectacularly with Kim's story as Kim's actions are based off of how she interprets Jimmy's actions following Chuck's death. Evidently, Kim believes that Jimmy has been broken by what happened, hence his carefree demeanor continuing on despite such a life-changing event. I initially interpreted her look at Jimmy in the previous episode as one of confusion towards why Jimmy would do something so cold to Howard, but now I see that it was in fact shock for how detached Jimmy has become after everything that happened to him. She believes that Jimmy has been destroyed to the point that he no longer cares and she will stand by him because of this. It should be engaging to see if Kim I accurate in her judgement and if she will face consequences for siding with Jimmy once more. I also really loved how Kim's loyalty for Jimmy led to her viciously attacking Howard at HHM, showing her passion in her beliefs and in Jimmy (see: Best Moment). The other half of the episode with Nacho was very good too. The ending of course was terrific, but I think the build up to it was very good too. I enjoyed the scene between Nacho and his father. It showed that both characters were unwilling to forget their past, as Nacho wouldn't let the relationship with his father go away and his father truly wanted Nacho to get out of the business. Both characters felt sincere and subtle in their wishes and it was well-executed to the point that it made me want to see Nacho escape from his life, which made the final scene with Gus all the more tragic. Additionally, the scenes with Hector in the hospital were very good. The cousins made a welcome appearance and instigated a surprisingly funny scene where Arturo and Nacho spoke to Hector, parodying the idea of people speaking to their loved one while they are in a coma. Only this time Arturo and Nacho were talking about how they were ruling the streets in the Salamanca name. I also liked that Gus was keeping tabs on Hector, sending his men into the hospital stealthily to watch over his health. Of course this takes us to the shocking ending scene. I'll start off by saying how I love the way that "Better Call Saul" and "Breaking Bad" both play off of previous scenes in the series, making them feel richer and more important to the plot. The scene from last season with Arturo and Nacho taking six packages felt like a complete scene and served its purpose back then, but it is deepened a lot here as it ends up paying off with one of the most dramatic scenes that this show has ever done. Arturo tries to take six packages again but he pays the price with his life and Nacho is essentially picked up as Gus' new man. Gus came off as terrifying and threatening in this scene in the same way he was back in "Breaking Bad" and we seem to have witnessed the event that made Gus so cold-blooded as a person, seeing that he was rather tame in the last season and didn't use his power threateningly. The scene was also shot to perfection, particularly the reveal of the shadow before Gus swiftly attacked Arturo. Lastly, I enjoyed Mike's storyline in this episode. Mike and Lydia both detest each other in "Breaking Bad" and it looks like we are getting some story to flesh out their history. There are already tensions between them presented in this episode and I enjoyed seeing them essentially write each other off. I especially liked seeing Mike scoff at the thought of going to some fancy hotel to meet with Lydia, clearly thinking she is pretentious and overly cautious in bad ways. The Bad: The final scene had a problem with tension. While it's interesting and exciting to watch, it doesn't have us as engaged as it should because it doesn't hit us with as much tension as it thinks it does. The problem is that we know that Victor and Tyrus survive until "Breaking Bad" and we also know that Nacho won't be dying in this episode because it won't be satisfying. This means only Arturo is in actual danger and that removes majority of the tension from the episode. The Unknown: What does Chuck say in his letter? Will Kim choose to give it to Jimmy? Or will Jimmy find it himself? How will Jimmy react to Kim withholding information from him? Why does Jimmy want Mike to steal the figurine? Is it just a way to punish the store owners? More importantly, what was with Jimmy's interview? Why did he turn so suddenly on the owners? Was it because they reminded him of his father? Or was it because he is still torn on what kind of person to be? Perhaps both? Perhaps something else entirely? Best Moment: Kim attacking Howard was one of the best scenes in the entire show so far. It was so damn powerful. I love the subtle detail with Kim not even bothering to properly dress up o meet with Howard, subtly foreshadowing that she may not keep her emotions in check. Anyways, Howard trying to cut Jimmy out and offload his guilt has rubbed Kim the wrong way and her rage slowly comes out at Howard as she exposes everything he has done to Jimmy and how selfish it is. Rhea Seehorn kills it in this scene and delivers her best performance yet. But most impressive is Howard, who does a terrific job of adding even more power to this scene. Howard is evidently a good person and he clearly didn't intend for things to be taken this way. When he asks how he can fix things he feels sincere. He has been through a lot and is now trying to do whatever he can to bring things back to normal for himself but he is in over his head. It's easy to sympathize with him throughout the scene despite Kim throwing all of her rage at him. The scene has so many layers of depth, emotion, character, conflict and more to it, making it all the more impressive. Character of the Episode: Kim. Conclusion: This was a really solid episode raised up by an outstanding scene between Kim and Howard. It's an easy watch and continues the story in very fulfilling ways. Score: 70
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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