Better Call Saul: Smoke

 "Well Howard, I guess that's your cross to bear..."

We begin, as season openers tend to do, in the monochrome, smaller-than-life present day, with Jimmy existing, if not living, as a a small business owner with a rubbish moustache in Nebraska, recovering from the incident with the vault, with every arty shot simply dripping with existential ennui. For Jimmy, this is a Hell indeed. And, as we emphasise, there's the constant stress of discovery. He's miserable, depressed, and forever looking over his shoulder. We're reminded that, however much of a terrible person Jimmy is, it will lead only to darkness in the end. His sins will not go unpunished.

Nacho, in the usual timeframe (2003-04?)- is unwittingly in a similar position. Don Hector has had his stroke... but his replacement wants everything to continue as before. Was it all for nothing? Worse, he's under suspicion, and Gus is eloquently concerned about a gang war filling the gap left by Hector. This is all going to get complicated.

For Mike, though, things are looking up. He leaves his old job and receives his first monthly paycheque of more than $10,000!!! We haven't seen much of him lately, so it's great seeing somre cool, fun scenes, including a warehouse montage(!) where he checks Madrigal's security.

But Jimmy... oh, Jimmy. He's very down after Chuck's death, but still very much not the grown-up. Both Kim and Howard do a lot of adulting here: Jimmy does none whatsoever.Worse, Howard, who comes across as more and more decent the more we gets to know him, confesses that he feels responsible for Chuck's death. Jimmy, who has far more cause to blame himself... just lets him. Wow. 

Jimmy deserves his eventual fate. Terrible moustache and all. I can't help wondering, though... what next? We can see where Mike's thread is going, and all the gangland intrigue. But what next for Jimmy?

I am, needless to say, gripped. The camerawork, the depth of the characters... I'm running out of ways to praise this show.