Better Call Saul: Fun and Games

 "What you talk about is not justice. What you talk of is revenge. It never ends."

Thus speaks Nacho's grieving dad, and he speaks for decency. In a world where all the main characters- including Jimmy, Mike and now Kim-  are tainted by association with a morally reprehensible cartel, that destroys lives and exploits the hopeless, he speaks the truth. And a truth at the core of the show: Chuck and Howard, arrogant though they could be, were right. Because the law, despite its flaws, is everything. The alternative, as has been known ever since Aeschylus' Oresteia, is a never ending cycle of revenge.

And ironically this arises from Mike, with his code of ethics, trying to do the right thing. But there is ethics and there is ethics. This episode seems, for most of its length, to be about tidying up loose ends from last episode's momentous events. But it's so much more.

We see Gus defend himself, successfully, to Don Eladio from the accusations of Hector. It seems he's won, and is now master of all he surveys. Yet only now do we get a glimpse intoa different Gus, a wine snob, a sophisticate... and, secretly. I'm sure, from the probable bigotry of the cartel, gay. Of course he is. It never crossed my mind before, but of course he is. And it's fascinating that we see this further layer of the character now.

But we also see the consequences ogf Howard's humiliation and death. HHM is destroyed, the names of Hamlin and McGill both now discredited: Jimmy destroys all he touches. And yet, in an excruciating scene with Howard's wake, it is Kim who cruelly gaslights his widow.

But then... wow. It hits hard. Kim loves Jimmy (he thinks he loves her, I'm sure, but is he capable of feeling the real thing?), but she leaves him, as they're morally bad for each other. And she's no longer a lawyer. This is her penance, her redemptive sacrifice, her quest for atonement.

And these are things that Jimmy will never understand.

No.

Not Jimmy. Saul. All ties to Jimmy's past are now gone. We end the episede with the Saul we know from Breaking Bad. Wow. Things are moving fast. Television has seldom been better than this.

Better Call Saul: JMM

 "No rings. Okey dokey..."

After last episode's deeply dishearening last line, we begin the last line with the world'd least romantic wedding ever, presided over by a very bored and disengaged judge. No rings, no wedding guests, witnesses who are not exactly friends, no celebration... and let's say the two new spouses are not exactly equally invested. Poor Kim. This is the wedding she gets... and this is the wedding she gets. Even worse, she really should know what she's marrying, and gets more reminders later when she realises Jimmy- no, Saul- is being forced to get Lalo out on bail and is quite happy to use this to get money. Oh, Kim...

She isn't in Breaking Bad, of course. I fear for her. Perhaps a fate even worse than ruin awaits. And she's a good, decent person.

Interestingly. Kim, the other lawyers and Kevin all reconcile, after a little brutal honesty on both sides, in a situation of genuine mutual respect. No Jimmy here: these people are all grown-ups.... and that makes the situation worse. Kim is decent, professional, respected. As Kevin says, she could do a LOT better.

Mike is a grown-up too- we see him doing the patient hard work of making amends to his family, and successfully. But the ongoing cold war between Gus and Lalo, with Nacho and his dad in the middle, is getting increasingly complex. Lalo's engaged Jimmy to get him out on bail so he can skedaddle... so why is Mike, on Gus's behalf, handing him the means to do so on a plate? Gus has reason to be furious at Lalo: I suspect the latter is not long for this world, and Gus has plans to kill Lalo in ways thst won't start a "war". The discussions with Lydia and Gus' desperate old German friend is fascinating, pointing ahead to the Madrigal stuff but hinting at quite a long history. Giancarlo Esposito continues to play Gus with such exquisite nuance.

Yet it feels very much as though big things are being set up. Despite this, the episode is as gripping as ever.

Better Call Saul: Wexler v Goodman

 "Because it's cold pizza fondled by community actors..."

For the first time, the pre-credits shows a small episode from Kim's childhood: she refuses to get intothe car with her mother, who's been drinking, and bloody well sticking to her principles, even back then. Not hard to see what the subtext is here. Kim has her strong moral principles. We know that. But alas, she seems to be in love with Jimmy for some reason, and I'm sticking to my own guns: Jimmy will be her ruin and her downfall.

Bizarrely, we then see a young Kevin in an old Mesa Verde commercial, zand get a long montage of Jimmy trying to film stuff in his plot against Mesa Verde, getting stuck in to the writing, the directing, anything but lawyering... and along comes Kim. She wants out, unnerved by Rich's suspicions. It's gone too farand she's even willing togive some of her own money to the old man so there can be compromise. And... Jimmy agrees, so that's that, right? I mean, it's not as though he's the unscrupulous type, right...?

We then shift to Nacho who, like Kim, won't be in Breaking Bad. But with him, I suspect, we're looking at literal death. He simply lives too dangerously, inforning Gus and Mike of what Lalo is up to... and wow, as ever, Gus isquite the presence. It looks as though we'll see a lot of Mike and Nacho together from this point. Lalo may appeal to Mike's morals... but, of course, Gus owns Mike. We're so far into Better Call Saul at this point that the nuances between all the characters are utter perfection.

And so cue another series of scenes where we get to see how Mike operates, this time manipulating a librarian and the local police into dropping Lalo right in it... ending in what looks like Lalo's arrest. Nut this, I suspect, is a mere opening skirmish. I note that Lalo has a pet lawyer... although, of course, on this occasion, I use the word "lawyer" in its loosest possible sense.

Still, yes, there's an interlude of Jimmy being an utter **** to Howard but, as the episode comes to an end, it looks as though Kim's going to get her was with Mesa Verde... and then Jimmy REALLY goes for the kill, harassing Mesa Verde to the max, and Kim is furious, very visibly so, to be thrown under the bus like this. This threatens to have dire consequences for her, despite her very visible and real anger.

Kevin, incidentally, has a very clearidea of exactly what Jimmy is, and he certainly isn't a lawyer.

Finally, we have the confrontation. Kim really laying into Jimmy and there's a sense that even he may now realise that he may have gone too far. Is this it? Kim is beginning to sound like he might dump him, as she should have done long ago....

"Maybe we get married".

Oh Kim....

Obviously, this is televisual perfection. Yet again.

Better Call Saul: Dedicado a Max

 "You never told me that he was a side sitter!"

Another gripping episode this time, one that may well spell doom for Kim. Of course, Jimmy's antics trying to impede the seizure of Old Man Acker's house provide the main amusement this time round, but rather av lot happens.

Interestingly, once more we havean A plot and a B plot, with many characters- chrefly Nocho and Lalo- not appearing for the time being. The B plot is Mike, who is in rock bottom receiving medical care across the border... provided by Gus, thus indebting Mike to him.Gradually, throughoutbthe episode, Mike realises, with increasing injury to his pride, that Gus does indeed own him... and the moment where Gus puts the phone down with a terse "not now" is a brutal reminder of that.

Even so, Gus's interactions with Mike at the end make sense- Mike was indeed washed up, without purpose, drinking heavily and starting to alienate himself frpm a family whom he hasn't even told where he is. Much though he hates to admit it, he may well need Gus. It's just that, well, we know where this leads.

But Kim, oh Kim. It may feel like fun with here and Jimmy on opposite sides, but this is no game, whatever Jimmy may think, casually dismissing another call from Howard about a job offer we know he won't take. And... the gambit fails: Kevin simply doubles down. Worse, Rick seems to be on to Kim. She absolutely needs to back down, she's done what she can for the old man... but she doesn't.

I've been certain for a long time that Jimmy's baleful influence is going to end up ruining Kim's professional reputation. I'm increasingly worries that this may be the start of her fall.

As if it needed saying... superb bit of telly.

Better Call Saul: Inflatable

 "There are wolves and sheep in this world, kid."

Oh Kim. We know you're doomed. The dramatic irony is blatant. The script wants us to know what you don't: turning down the awesome job to rely on Jimmy is going to destroy you. And it's not as though you haven't been warned. You're a sheep, Kim. Remember what Chuck told you about Jimmy?

Mike, you are obviously a wolf, but a fascinating one. You have principles. You're a genuinely great father-in-law, your ulterior motives are good...but you're a world-weary cynic who knows the world and how to survive in it.

And Jimmy... you're no alpha male. But you're a wolf. In possibly ironic contrast to Chuck- not in this episode- who, desapite his career and material success, is a man of sheeply principle. But you have no principoles, Jimmy. The opening flashback tells us how this came about- and yes, your dad was the sheepiest of sheep, even if that 70s newsstand was awesome to behold.

But Kim... oh, Kim...

Wolves and sheep aside, this episode is obviously awesome, and the "trying to get fired in a way which doesn't forfeit the bonus" montage is Office Space levels of funny. Telly seldom gets better than this.

Better Call Saul: Bali Ha'i

 "The price is fifty thousand dollars..."

This is another episode of set-up... yet the tension is nicely set simmering. Indeed, it's inherent in the very structure of the episode. The pre-titles sequence shows Jimmy, unable to sleep, symbolically unsettled and disaffected, an obvious metaphor for the fact he doesn't belong at the firm, and his days there are numbered. To drive the point home, he sees the advert for Sandpiper, with his ideas ignored. The episode ends similarly, with the same old cupholder metaphor we saw before. But this time he acts forcefully. Perhaps this harbingers his quitting?

There is, quite deliberately, no trying to hide anything here. It's all foreshadowing. Similarly with Kim. Howard hates her, even if the worst of her disgrace may be over, courtesy of Chuck. She's headhunted for a better job... but won't take it, out of her self-defeating love for Jimmy. She's clearly doomed, and it's tragic. She's a good, loving, loyal persaon whose faith in Jimmy, despite even Chuck's warning from last episode, is going to ruin her. It's quite clear, a slow motion car crash.

Completing the triptych of doom is Mike, a decent man forced to make moral compromises through necessity while remaining decent- he behaves with extraordinary honour towards Nacho. On the face of it, he's forced to an arrangement, although he shows guts in a successful attempt to save face. But they threatened his grandaughter. He isn't going to let that slide...

They're all doomed. But the pacing, the nuances, the acting... this is sublime stuff.

Better Call Saul: RICO

 "Blow my magic flute..."

It's getting increasingly difficult to find new ways of saying that each episode of Better Call Saul is bloody excellent telly, but my God this is gripping. Jimmy gets properly stuck into a new case where old people in a homde are being defrauded, things seem to go well... and even Chuck seems to get his mojo back. And potentially be cured? We shall see. I'm certain he's doomed.

It's great seeing the whole story unwind. There are moments of simultaneous comedy and ingenuity, such as jimmy writing a legal document on toilet paper. And the David vs Goliath nature of all this is shown by a posh, espensively dressed lawyer calling Jimmy while he's stuck in a bin.

We also see Mike as doting grandfather, and hints that he's looking for a new job. And we get a fascinating flashback to Jimmy's relative youth, with him being resourceful and Howard being, as ever, a dick.

Writing, direction, acting... all are excellent. And the story is unfolding very nicely indeed.