Summary: Jimmy and Kim hire Francesca as a receptionist. Mike tracks down his tracker and it takes him to Los Pollos Hermanos. He gets Jimmy to go inside to scout but Jimmy gets noticed by Gus. Mike is then led to a road int he middle of nowhere where he picks up a phone left on the ground which rings for him. Ernie tells Kim about Chuck's tape and she tells Jimmy and prepares for the legal battle. Jimmy is visibly depressed and snaps heading to Chuck's house. This is part of Chuck's plan though as he has hired a PI to serve as a witness to Jimmy breaking into his house. Jimmy does so and destroys the tape in full view of Howard, Chuck and the PI.
The Good: This was a very entertaining and plot-heavy episode, which delivered total pay-off to everything which was set up in the last episode. This more than met my expectations. I'll tackle the Mike story first for this review. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Mike follow the man all over Albuquerque doing whatever he was doing (see: The Unknown). At first glance it is a dull sequence, and sometimes it can be slow to watch, but I feel that this show is able to do so well with the smallest things because the execution is good. There are a lot of extremely impressive shots which feel totally cinematic, with the highlight of course being that illuminated bridge with the city lights behind it. While this part of the episode was slow, it was absolutely gorgeous and was a pleasure to watch despite the fact that not much actually happened. And of course this also helped build up the ultimate Los Pollos Hermanos sign reveal. We all knew it was coming, but it was still awesome to see and the way it was revealed was absolutely masterful and totally delivered on expectations. Staying on Pollos Hermanos, I was happy to see Mike call Jimmy once more to do a quick job. Their interaction were fantastic as always and I was very intrigued to see exactly what Gus' men were doing. But of course I need to talk about that outstanding sequence inside the restaurant. If it wasn't for one other scene, this would absolutely be my favourite moment in the episode. It was so tremendously shot, and was genuinely tense, creative and funny throughout. We usually see professionals doing stealth missions like this in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, so there was something really refreshing about seeing somebody so woefully bad at it. Jimmy never felt forced or fake when h watched the man and there were a number of hilarious moments as he tried to "discretely" keep an eye on him. More fantastically, the reveal of Gus was tremendous. I love that he was introduced in the background as a bright yellow shirt. There was complete restraint here and that was great because it drew on the fact that the viewers know who Gus is and they know how to identify him. This reveal created a genuine sense of unease for the rest of the scene as we know Gus did something to cancel the meeting and we don't know what he is about to do to Jimmy. Their conversation later on was excellent too and I love that Jimmy was smart enough to put his watch into the garbage when he was confronted by Gus for scavenging the trash. There were so many fantastic little details in this scene and I could discuss them for hours. It was just brilliantly put together and very well thought out. Probably my single favourite sequence of this show. There were a few nice Breaking Bad cameos in this episode too aside from Gus. It was great to see Victor again for a brief role. I would love to see Tyrus later on too. And of course Kim introduced us to Francesca earlier in the episode. I love how Jimmy took an instant liking to her as he just wanted to get a receptionist as fast as possible. It was an easy way to keep Jimmy and Kim at odds despite their partnership and relationship. Francesca was excellent and I love that she was played with more energy and happiness than in Breaking Bad. It will be very interesting to see how Jimmy turns her into the cold and unhappy person she is in Breaking Bad. The Jimmy and Chuck storyline still managed to remain a standout in this episode despite all the other excitement. Ernie's role was very well done and he comes across as a very likeable guy through what he's doing. I like that he tried to keep things secret but continued to screw up when he talked with Kim. I like how Kim took full control and prepared to fight for Jimmy, which really does well to show how much she cares for him. Better yet though was Jimmy's reaction to all this. Bob Odenkirk has played the character with such energy that it's really noticeable when he displayed Jimmy's change in heart. It's sad to see Jimmy so broken and his disheartened state makes it much easier to believe that he would lose all rational thought and go straight for Chuck's house. Speaking of Chuck, I enjoyed his preparations too. It added some intrigue since we didn't know what his plan was, and it added to the tension when we learned what the plan was near the end. Also, Howard jumping fences was absolutely fantastic. More of that please. And now finally I get to the titular "witness" scene which closed the episode. Needless to say, it was tremendous. Bob Odenkirk acted his heart out as he let all of his rage out at Chuck, showing his complete displeasure of being taken advantage of because of his are for his brother. It's completely justified for Jimmy to be angry and it helps build our sympathy for his cause when we see Chuck coldly use his brother's good heart against him, making us firmly want to side with the person who is a kinder soul. Chuck crossed a line here and seeing Jimmy's reaction to all of this confirms that. The stunned and angry look on Jimmy's face when Howard and the PI say they are witnesses is painful to see and feels very cathartic. This final scene more than delivered with the intended emotions. The Bad: The Mike tracking scene was very slow which still did hurt my enjoyment a bit despite the gorgeous cinematography. Also the predictability of the Los Pollos Hermanos reveal did lessen the impact greatly. A surprise would have been fantastic, but it was pretty much expected by this point. The Unknown: How is Jimmy going to defend himself against Chuck? Will this be the end of Jimmy's law career? Will this conflict be what leads to Jimmy changing his name to Saul? What was the phone call at the end about? Gus is definitely onto Mike, but what will he want from him? And who is the one talking to Mike? Is it Gus? Victor? Or someone else entirely? What was Gus' man doing while Mike was following him? I presume he was picking up money through dead drops. This would makes sense as Gus' business would presumably be less polished since he wouldn't quite have as much experience as he does in Breaking Bad. I hope this means that we will get to see Gus' business and control expand over time. That would be very exciting to follow right alongside his conflict with Hector. Best Moment: The ending scene was fantastic and powerful. A great moment that raises the stakes for the next episode. Character of the Episode: Gus for finally making his debut on this show. Conclusion: This episode was awesome. Last episode was mostly set-up despite being extremely enjoyable, and this episode delivered on what was set-up. With two standout scenes and consistent quality throughout, this is absolutely one of Better Call Saul's finer instalments. Score: 73
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|