[rating=8.00] “Fall”
After eight episodes of set up, the intricacies of Better Call Saul are making themselves known in these final two episodes of the season. The dominoes began their long process of crashing down and while this was mostly just a momentum building episode, the stage is set for a mind-blowing finale next week. A lot of our questions seem on the verge of being answered, though you can bet that they’ll draw the process out. But the cracks in the universe have started to show, and at the center of it sits Jimmy McGill.
We’ve been rooting for Jimmy for three season now, this despite everything we already know about him from Breaking Bad. That’s getting increasingly harder to do now, especially after watching him systematically destroy an old lady. Having no source of legitimate income, Jimmy’s sole hope right now is his share of the Sandpiper settlement—ostensibly still years away, but Jimmy is not without tricks. Using his conman skills, he targets Irene, the Sandpiper resident who’s leading the class action suit against the company.
It was sickening to watch how easily he tore Irene’s life apart. In this case, he really did kill them with kindness. Irene had no cause to be concerned about Jimmy, but when he’s got ulterior motives his is a shark’s smile. Slowly and methodically, he turns the other residents of Sandpiper—her best and only friends—against her until she’s got nothing. She seems to be in a place where her only option, against her actual attorney’s advice, is to agree to the settlement that’s been offered. That’ll net Jimmy a cool million, solving his financial woes for at least the remainder of his suspension.
Those same financial woes are what’s keeping Kim busy while she attempts to keep their business afloat. The endless hours, the extra workload. She barely has time to sleep. Or do anything, really, except work. It was no real surprise when this all led to her one car accident on the way to the meeting of her life. With her new client’s livelihood on the line—to say nothing of her reputation—there was something especially poignant about her standing on the side of the road, her papers flying across the desert, her car crumpled, and her arm broken.
This is what happens when you rely on Jimmy McGill. At the end of the day, all you can do is stand amidst the ruins of your dreams and ambitions. It was a poetic image that seems to encompass everything you need to know about Jimmy and those who are unfortunate enough to love him. All her efforts, all her desires, everything she’s ever worked for is now on the brink, and the only thing she can do is look at the wreckage.
Whether or not this is directly Jimmy’s fault is immaterial. He’s the inciting incident for all the madness taking place in this world, not the least of which the impending collapse of HHM. With Chuck’s malpractice insurance rising, and the company looking to raise the rates on the entire firm, a civil war is brewing between Howard and Chuck, and it doesn’t look pretty. Of course, the simple solution is Chuck retires. He’s far too proud for that, however.
HHM is about all Chuck has left. His family life is ruined with Jimmy not even acknowledging he has a brother; he’s got no friends or prospects. Lawyering is all he knows and it’s all he’s got. Howard’s efforts to get Chuck to see reason led to Chuck filing suit against his partners—if they want him gone, they’ll have to pay out his share. That’s money they don’t have. On the other hand, Chuck could be overplaying his hand. He’s still very clearly not well, and Howard is absolutely right to lose trust in his partner.
The simple solution is that HHM takes whatever money they make from the Sandpiper settlement (assuming Irene takes it) and uses that to pay off Chuck. But when have things ever been simple in this universe? The coming beef could be fractious, potentially bringing down HHM as we know it. That most likely won’t be settled next week, so you can bet that this will be one of the driving factors of season four (if it happens—as of writing, that’s still unconfirmed).
Things are the cartel side are developing slowly (compared to Jimmy’s side, anyway) but not uninterestingly. We got a small taste of just what Lydia and Madrigal offered Gus with their agreement to hire Mike on as a way to launder his money. This gives us some insight into how they helped Gus establish his empire; it runs way deeper than we thought. Previously it was just a relationship between suppliers and movers. But Madrigal and Lydia seem to be more involved than we knew.
That all works well for Gus, who’s slowly winning his war against Hector. Don Eladio has given word that Gus will be in charge in shipping and distribution, putting a severe cramp in Don Hector’s business strategies. That doesn’t sit well with Salamanca, who’s going forward with his plans to use Nacho’s father’s shop as a front for importing drugs. The scene between Nacho and his father was gut-wrenching to watch. Until now, Nacho has been a solid, no prisoners kind of guy. Seeing him beg for his father’s forgiveness at the announcement that Hector would soon be coming in was heartbreaking.
Hopefully his medication switch pans out sooner rather than later. There was a moment when it seemed as though Don Hector was going down (for a brief moment, he even made the contorted face he was known for on Breaking Bad), but still he stood.
Which just goes to show that you should expect nothing when it comes to Better Call Saul. Gilligan and Gould have laid out an intricate path, full of unpredictable twists that makes things exciting even with the conclusion is foregone. Next week’s episode is sure to be a shocker; who knows how they’ll wrap things up or propel the series along. Hopefully they wrap up agreements for a fourth season sooner rather than later. We deserve so much more from this series.
One Response
Reading this recap just reminds me that this is the best show on TV, bar none.