Summary: Kim resolves to fix Acker's situation and makes a proposition to Kevin and Paige but they decline. Unwilling to give up, Kim approaches Jimmy, who has been using increasingly unethical actions, with a proposition. Jimmy had a meeting with Howard who gives him an offer to work at HHM. Jimmy is pretty unwilling to join HHM and immediately accepts Kim's offer. Jimmy becomes Acker's representative to fight against Mesa Verde. Jimmy goes to Howard's house and throws bowling balls onto his car. The DEA watch over Gus' dead drops and capture 3 guys and $700,000. Gus falls victim to anxiety as he awaits a response from Victor signifying that the plan was a success and nobody too major was busted. Mike tries to reconcile with Stacey and is unsuccessful. He provokes the gang people again and is beaten up and stabbed. He later wakes up at an unknown location likely in Mexico, having been saved.
The Good: This was another strong episode of character exploration that gave the characters genuine conflicts to deal with and made this season's central storylines become a little more clear. A great example of this is the Jimmy/Howard storyline that is told throughout the episode. It's telling of this whole conflict that the first thing we see during the scene where Jimmy meets with Howard is Jimmy toying with the ring he got from Marco. As ever, Jimmy is trying to balance out his inner conflict of the good lawyer vs the con man. We haven't seen this uncertainty from Jimmy this season, but now it emerges as Jimmy likely has a good idea of what Howard has to say and remembers how all he ever wanted back in season 1 was to just work with HHM. But it only stays for a brief moment. Pretty quickly, Jimmy ends up distancing himself from Howard during their discussion. He's unnerved by Howard being the same egotistical businessman as before, especially considering how much he has changed as a person since Chuck's death. Not only does Howard's offer to work at HHM clash with Jimmy's desire to play Saul Goodman at court, but the essence of how Howard has returned to normal clashes with Jimmy's unorthodox method of moving on where he became an entirely new person. For Jimmy, Howard represents one final chance for him to stay Jimmy McGill, get over his problems, and to achieve everything he could have dreamed of back in season 1. But Jimmy rejects all of what Howard stands for by the end of the episode where he gleefully throws bowling balls at Howard's car (set up by a wonderful cold open that builds mystery in a classic "Better Call Saul" way). It has been an absolute joy to see Saul in action. It looks like Jimmy's dealings with Lalo and Nacho in the last episode actually had a very positive effect on his mind. He dipped his toes into the criminal underworld, had a heavy payday, and he wants to succeed like that again. The way he manipulates the two junkies early in the episode is superb, proving that he isn't above sacrificing his own clients to get more money. His ethical values are all but gone, as we see once more in the courtroom where he uses underhanded tactics to get a mistrial. Jimmy enjoys doing this more than anything, and he's becoming more and more destructive than ever, especially with how he commits wholeheartedly to his new life as Saul. And as always, Kim can't seem to escape Jimmy's destructive nature. Once again, we see Kim turning back to Jimmy's sly methods in an attempt to help one of her clients. It's a horrible thing to see because Kim is risking her career in a big way by conning Mesa Verde, one of her own clients, in an attempt to help Acker, something that she feels she has to do. Now there isn't anything wrong with Kim wanting to help Acker, knowing how much she relates with "the little guy". But going to Jimmy seems like a huge mistake. She's expecting to face up against Jimmy in this case, but she's going to get Saul Goodman which won't be good. This episode emphasizes a fundamental difference between Jimmy and Kim. Jimmy is happy to make a mess without any regard to whoever is left to face the heat or clean it up. But Kim does care about the consequences of her actions, and I get the sense that this fundamental difference between both of them will lead to a lot of conflict. It's only a matter of time before Jimmy takes things too far in this case, and I'm very afraid about the blow-back that this will have on Kim. The stuff with Gus was also very impressive. Gus has gotten some development throughout the show, but it hasn't been anything that we couldn't have already guessed about him. But here we get a new insight on his behaviour, as he sits at his desk, brimming with anxiety and taking it out on poor Lyle, who is left scrubbing the fryers for a man who will never be satisfied. Gus has almost always been in control when we have seen him. But here is one of the very few times where Gus' fate rests on the actions of others, and the idea of not being in control eats him alive. It's a wonderful bit of development that is subtly included, and wonderfully edited into the episode as we intercut between the DEA's operation and Lyle scrubbing. The inclusion of Hank and Gomez was pretty fun as well. They played a specific role in the story, so their inclusion certainly wasn't just fanservice. But we also got a nice tie-in to "Breaking Bad" as we see the over-the-top Hank providing a rousing speech after being disappointed that he hasn't yet busted the guy that we know he ultimately will. It felt like a conclusion for Hank and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't appear again in the series. Mike's story was very curious in this episode. His story continued naturally as he fell further into grief and self-loathing. In this episode we see him get rejected by his family, and having no motivation to do anything else, he purposefully looks for a fight so he can get beaten up and punished for what he has done. Mike has hit a new low and looks like he is ready to die for all he has done. But the ending of the episode provides a very interesting twist with Mike waking up in an undisclosed location, having been saved by somebody unknown. This is a good cliffhanger that provides an intriguing mystery. I'm intrigued to find out who has Mike and how they will help Mike get back to working for Gus. The Bad: There's nothing bad about this. But one thing I have to note is that despite this season being very enjoyable so far, it hasn't succeeded in engaging my emotions to the next level in ways that the show has done before. Usually the show has turned some pretty ordinary episodes into something terrific by providing some outstanding scenes ("Slip" and "Breathe" are good examples) or by emotionally engaging me into a character's plight ("Rebecca" and "Quite a Ride"). This season hasn't quite hit that level yet. I'm sure it will in future episodes, but it's worth noting that these early episodes have been missing that spark. The Unknown: How will Gus' anxiety be explored in future episodes? Will he somehow overcome this flaw before "Breaking Bad"? Where is Mike? The way the scene is shot suggests Mexico to me. What happened to him at the end of the episode? Who saved him from the beating he was taking? Was Gus watching him? Was it Lalo who was absent this week? Or was it somebody else entirely? Best Moment: Jimmy and Howard's meeting was wonderfully well done. The acting was top-tier and the scene brilliantly conveyed both Jimmy's conflict and Howard's transformation. Character of the Episode: Jimmy. Conclusion: There's no better show on television right now at exploring inner conflict. Not a whole lot happens in this episode, but there is some stunning character exploration as the season makes some very important moves towards setting up its climax. The first 4 episodes haven't been the show at its absolute best, but they have laid very important groundwork in a wildly entertaining way. This season has started very well. Score: 68
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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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