Summary: Chuck is taken by police officers and is exposed heavily to electricity and is put in the hospital. Jimmy meets new clients and finds little luck. He realizes a niche is available in elder law and so specializes in it. He is called by Howard regarding Chuck and more is revealed about his condition, most importantly that it is likely all in his head. Jimmy is given a decision to commit Chuck but refuses to. Mike is confronted by police officers from his past.
The Good: Once more the storytelling and writing was beyond impressive. Though this show is slow (see: The Bad), it's impossible not to enjoy it a lot because everything is put together so well and it's evident that maximum effort was put into every single scene by all involved, be it the writers, showrunners, directors, cameramen, editors and actors. Everything is put together brilliantly and it is really what holds this episode together to help it overcome its flaws. I enjoyed the follow-up with Chuck. Once again the writers impressed me by making the newspaper stealing scene in "Hero", which would have been just a comedy scene in a lesser show, an important part of the plot as it allows for the show to organically get to tell us about Chuck's condition and his relationship with Jimmy. The sequence from the previous episode with Chuck going outside really paid off here as it allowed us to understand why Chuck wouldn't want to open the door and it made us feel tense during the opening scene since we knew what would happen if he police didn't cooperate with Chuck. It's really good writing that made what would usually be a throwaway scene one of the best parts of the episode. I really liked the examination of Chuck and Jimmy's relationship here. By showing Jimmy deal with Chuck in the hospital, we get to see how much he cares for Chuck and his decision not to commit Chuck is made purely because he does care for Chuck and doesn't want him to suffer. We also see that Chuck isn't unfriendly with Jimmy like he was in the flashback scene from "Nacho", letting us know that Jimmy's sins have been forgiven and that Chuck has accepted him and genuinely does want him to succeed. In the Jimmy storyline, we got some very interesting scenes. The scenes were very long (see: The Bad), but they were funny and really drove home the fact that getting good clients as a lawyer isn't a breeze. It also gave us a good reason for Jimmy to start thinking about elder law and the montage near the end with the Jello where Jimmy visited the retirement home was very well done as expected. I was also very happy to see Jimmy modelling his suit after an older TV star who I didn't recognize. The devil s always in the details and thankfully the attention to detail in this show is beyond impressive. The humour scenes were great too. The first client really teased Jimmy getting his big break but we knew it wouldn't happen; it was just a matter of waiting to find out what is going wrong. And the reveal of the money being fake was well done and the quick cut away to Jimmy leaving was good for laughs. Even funnier though was he whole sex toilet gag. The whole invention is so ridiculous and funny, and Jimmy's reactions and comments about it made the scene all the more hysterical. It's undoubtedly the best comedy scene from this show for me. I also like that the show had patience to dedicate like 1-2 minutes to showing an old person going to meet Jimmy. It was humour created in a really unique way. The Bad: Despite all that is good, this episode may test the commitment of many viewers of this show. Last episode was notably slower than the first three episodes and this one is much slower than that. Not much happens and when something does happen, it takes place in a very long scene which may have some viewers losing interest. While I do think the slow pace is good as it ensures that there will be no rushed developments, it makes the show suffer from being too boring and difficult to sit through. The long scenes in the episode really didn't help either. While I praised the comedy, it takes a long time before it reaches the punch line (with the exception of the brilliant sex toilet gag). While it is funny, it doesn't feel like it is worth the wait. This wouldn't be as much of a problem if it was just one or two comedy scenes, but in this episode it feels like almost every scene seems to linger for longer than it should. Lengthy scenes are good to slow down the pacing, but include too many and it really makes the episode drag and feel slower than it should be. The Unknown: Does Chuck know the illness is in his head? How will he react if he finds out? What is going to cause Jimmy to leave elder law behind? Because Saul Goodman most definitely did not specialize in elder law. The ending sequence with Mike is mostly a large question mark. Who was the girl he was watching? What does she have to do with him? Is she involved with the cops that showed up? Why are the cops looking for Mike? It seems they came from Philadelphia since Mike said they were a "long way from home". What do they want from Mike? I remember in Breaking Bad that Hank said Mike's police job ended "dramatically", so what went down? It seems we will be getting the backstory of that next episode. At least I hope so. Best Moment: Probably the opening sequence for how well it was set up and executed. This show remains masterful at the small things. Character of the Episode: Jimmy again probably, though it was a little tougher to choose with Chuck getting involved more. Conclusion: This was more solid stuff, but the poor pacing really hurt things. The pacing needs to be sorted out for the rest for the season, or it risks the stellar writing being wasted because the show is too slow. So long as the pace quickens again, this show will surely continue to be good fun. Score: 62
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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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