"I am asking you to take a few ounces of lukewarm coffee and spill it on him."
Bob Odenkirk is certainly in this, an episode of the show in which he's the nominal star. He even gets a moderately meaty and typically enjoyable supporting role, which nicely develops the relationship between him and Mike. But this, for one episode only, is The Mike Ehmentraut Show. And Jonathan Banks, after several episodes of him being a mysterious figure in the background if not for the obvious dramatic irony, gives us an extraordinary star turn.
The revelations keep coming as the mystery is develops. Mike's son Matt, a cop too, is dead, leaving Mike's daughter-in-law Stacey and his beloved Kaylee. And so we learn the devastating story of how Mike came to Albuquerque.
The episode is cleverly structured, like a whodunit. But it also shows how damned clever Mike is, with the trap he lays for his son's killers. Yet the most extraordinary part of this extraordinary piece of television is Mike's monologue to Stacey at the end. Jonathan Banks gives us, for the first time ever, a deeply emotional Mike. And his performance is an absolute tour de force. Incredible.
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