Summary: A flashback shows Hector being one-upped by Gus in the eyes of Don Eladio in the drug trade. In the present, the DEA ransacks The Winking Greek to shut down Hector's business. Hector goes to Gus and demands that Gus transports his product too, but Hector has played right into Gus' hands. Jimmy enlists Mike to help get some pictures of Chuck's house anonymously. Jimmy and Kim hatch a plan to fight Chuck and Howard which involves the recorded tape in some way.
The Good: This was an excellent episode of Better Call Saul. This episode had a unique Breaking Bad feel to it, making it very different from what we have seen before. And honestly, I loved it all. From the Breaking Bad humour with Mike and the drill, to Don Eladio making an appearance, I really loved the different tone to this episode as it added some great things for fans of Breaking Bad to enjoy. I have said in the past that Better Call Saul needs to be careful not to go full-on Breaking Bad, but I feel like once in a while it's fine if Better Call Saul draws some inspiration from its parent series. There were lots of cameos to enjoy in the early parts of the episode too. Seeing Don Eladio and Bolsa again was lovely for Breaking Bad fans, even if the 2 weren't featured that much. It was still a pleasant surprise. I also loved the opening moments of the episode. Any fan of Breaking Bad will instantly know where we are in terms of story from the shot of the swimming pool alone. Also, seeing Eladio in the pool, eyes wide open, is reminiscent of his death which was a wonderful little touch. Lastly, I also enjoyed seeing Ximenez return briefly (he was the driver who was killed back in Klick). Now to the actual episode. I'll tackle the Gus storyline first. The flashback was really well done in my eyes. Don Eladio was excellent as always with his excess amounts of charisma for a drug kingpin. It was a joy to watch him taunt Hector and Ximenez throughout the scene while keeping things light. More than that though, the scene also helped develop Hector's character so we can understand why he hates Gus before Gus even did anything to him. We see Hector's jealousy and we can understand his hate now, which is essential for his entire conflict to work. I do like the comparisons in efficiency between Hector and Gus too, as they really let us know how much better Gus was as a businessman. The Pollos Hermanos sequence in this episode was fantastic. It felt similar in tension to a Breaking Bad scene, and I really loved it. The tension was amped up brilliantly and Hector was excellently portrayed as an intimidating man despite his age, and having Arturo and Nacho back him up helped a lot. I did enjoy the little touch of Nacho getting Arturo to let the family leave. In addition to that, the workers were portrayed well in their desperation too as Hector poses a very obvious threat. The following meeting with Gus and Hector was nice too. They mostly talked business, but Better Call Saul did an excellent job of quietly showing us their hatred for each other through simple things like Hector scraping gunk off of his shoe's onto Gus' desk. I enjoyed their conversation too as Mark Margolis brings in a lot of fire to Hector in every word he says. I am very interested to see where this story goes, and I really want to see more, so in that regard this episode really succeeded. Mike and Gus had a good scene too. I like that Mike refused to take the money, not wanting to work for Gus since it will likely involve him doing more brutal things. It makes sense for his character and I'm interested to see what kind of story leads to him finally choosing to work with Gus full-time. I also liked seeing Gus let out some of his hate towards hector to Mike. Now on the other half of the episode, Jimmy managed to keep his story just as interesting. I really enjoyed seeing Kim and Jimmy working on strategy, as details like that are always highly entertaining to watch. The meeting with Ms. Hay supervising was fantastic too. I really enjoyed Chuck and Howard arguing with Kim on the wording of the "damaged property", which was a great tease of the battle for details we are about to witness soon in court. I also loved Jimmy apologizing to Chuck while also throwing in the fact that "no one should treat their brother that way", as a hidden shot to Chuck treating him poorly. A small thing I really enjoyed was the intro to the scene too. With some brief greetings consisting of somebody's name, we got a complete examination of where each of the characters stand with each other. It was very impressive and did a tremendous job of showing the current emotions of all the characters prior to this courtroom battle. And finally, I enjoyed the final shot of Jimmy and Kim leaving the building together. Its artful shots like that which make Better Call Saul so special. Mike finally meeting Chuck was another welcome surprise in this episode. I really love the entire plan put together behind that scene too. I enjoyed Kim trying to call all the different repair locations, as it shows how hard she will work to do what she needs to. I was happy to see Jimmy and Mike working together again and their conversations were hilarious as always. The actual scene with Mike and Chuck was excellent as Mike exploited Chuck's allergy to electricity in hilarious fashion to drive him away from where the door us being repaired. The Bad: I was a little off-put by Kim working with Jimmy on the calls. Wouldn't she be morally against that? It was an odd detail to add in there. If the show wants Kim to be working desperately and sacrificing her morals to save Jimmy, there absolutely should be more focus on that. The Unknown: What are Mike's pictures for? How does Jimmy plan to use them in court? It seems he wants them as evidence, but how will he get them in as evidence? Is that what Kim was looking for from Chuck and Howard after the meeting? Did she want to determine how easy it would be to declare something as evidence? Or was it something else? Could Jimmy and Chuck be planning to use the tape in their favour somehow? How does Hector joining businesses with Gus benefit him? I'm curious to see what Gus' overall game plan is. Best Moment: There are many great scenes to pick from. I'll go with Mike and Chuck finally interacting. Character of the Episode: Hector. Conclusion: This was a very strong episode. Better Call Saul has drawn on Breaking Bad sparingly, making a heavily Breaking Bad-influenced episode all the more successful. this was a real joy to watch and hyped up all of the season's storylines in a shockingly enjoyable fashion. This episode was a very well-disguised set-up episode and I applaud the writers for making me never realize the nature of this episode. Score: 75
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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