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: Rock and Hard Place

 "Today you are going to die..."

Obviously this episode is all about Nacho. Jimmy doesn't even appear until sixteen minutes into the episode. Not that things don't happen with him: his and Kim's plans to screw over Howard proceed apace. Yet again we see that she's really into him. Huell, by contrast, sees right through him in a nice little scene. And Kim and Jimmy learn that Lalo is supposedly dead, while Jimmy has an off ramp for his complicity with Lalo... but will he take it?

Still, this episode is not about Jimmy.

My thoughts keep drifting to those opening few seconds as the camera lingers on some flowers that survive, precariously, in the New Mexico desert. This episode consists of Nacho slowly learning that there's no way he ends up surviving this, however much he begins the episode with some optimism, having escaped for now. Yet in order to dodge being immediately caught he has to literally submerge himself in oil. There's only one way his being on the run can end.

The phone call with his dad is heartbreaking: you feel, suddenly, that this is their last goodbye, and his dad is still disappointed at how Nacho's life has gone. Nacho suddenly realises that the cartel could get at his dad.

And so... he, Mike and Gus work out an ending in which his death is with dignity, on his own terms, and protects both his dad and Gus himself. But watching the events play out is gut-wrenching and unforgettable. Nacho getting the satisfaction of telling Hector what he really thinks... and that final shot, with Hector impotently shooting at a dead man.

Wow. This episode will haunt me.

Better Call Saul: Carrot and Stick

 "Lalo Salamanca lives!"

We don't see Lalo in this episode at all. But his influence is seen everywhere. 

We begin with... domino rally! Mike, again, has his moral code, and is trying to protect Nacho's dependents. But for Nacho things look much bleaker. His hiding place is discovered and, in sloooow scenes, we feel the tension deeply on his behalf as he realises his likely fate. In the end, he only just survives in an incredibly tense and dramatic sequence as the Salamancas (including those terrifying twins) arrive looking for him.

It's all devilishly complex: Gus talks to Don Hector who, of course, knows that Lalo is alive... and Gus sees, from Hector's expression, that this is the case. Giancarlo Esposito is exquisite here: he communicates this through facial expression alone.

And sothe way lies open for Mike to point out, according to his principles but also correctly, to Gus that he must lookafter Nacho. Because if thre Salamancas get to him, and get him to talk as they undoubtedly would... Gus is surely finished. Mike is bravely defiant on this: if Nacho hadn't rung, and asked to speak to Gus, I'm not sure what would have happened... but I suspect, in the longer term, Mike is earning even more of Gus' respect.

The other thread of the episode, with Jimmy and Kim putting their plot against Howard into operation, is similarly complex. It not clear what's going on yet, or meant to be, but it's fun to see this unfold, much as it was with the scams of old... much as it's also fun to see the entitled and arrogant Kettlemans get their comeuppance.

But this seems to be a turning point: Kim is turning very dark here, thoroughly corrupted by Jimmy. It's subtly and brilliantly done, and very much feels earned.

Better Call Saul was already exquisite. But we seem, crazy though it sounds, to be moving to another level altogether.

Better Call Saul: Something Unforgivable

 "Am I bad for you...?"

For tne record, Kim, the answer is YES. Sigh....

This is, of course, a superb finale. Script and acting top notch as we've come to expect, as well as some very nice directorial touches.

But I must confess: it got me. I was convinced, perhaps through deliberate misdirection, that Kim was going to die this episode. So many of what seemed to he hints. She's "in the game" as of last episode. She and Jimmy are on the run in a hotel, looking over their shoulders. She's making plans for a pro bono future. She breezily ignores a dire warning from Howard about what Jimmy is like. She and Jimmy spend what seemed like possibly a last night together.

But no. And nor does Lalo die. There's lots of tension for him, of course... and for Nacho, who gets out alive, as arranged, before the hit. But the hit going south leaves Nacho in a dangerous position. But then, something had to give.We spend time here with Don Eladio- menacing as ever- by THAT swimming pool. All this tension as Eladio sizes him up, but the life of a double agent is always an impossible one, expendable to both sides.

But the events with Kim and Jimmy are just as dramatic in their eway.Jimmy opens up about the events in the desert and his PTSD, although not about the context. And their bond, if anything, only deepens. Yes, even when Jimmy confesses that the bowling ball and prostitute incidents actually happens. And, even more scary, she's the driving force- the Jimmy- in a plot to get rich by screwing over Howard, a decent man, in a deeply ethical way. Indeed, even Jimmy is shocked. She may not die this episode but, well, is this where she finally turns to the dark side...?

One season to go. Damn.

Better Call Saul: Bad Choice Road

 "How about a day without drama?"

Oh boy. What an episode.

Kim is, of course, the focus of our sense of mounting dread and, naturally, the episode itself. But let's do a tour of the other plates that are spinning during this penultimate episode of the season...

Jimmy and Mike finally get out of the desert and can begin to recover... but Jimmy is not so battle hardened as Mike, who can afford to be philosophical, true stoic that he literally is. Jimmy is physically worse for wear (although he has Kim, ooooh he has Kim...) but more; he hobviously has PTSD following his experiences.

Gus, chilling as ever, is debriefed by Mike, works out exactly what's going on, and gets back to his usual chillingly amoral ten-dimensional chess, played with typical cold intensity by the sublime Giancarlo Esposito. Mike may sympathise with Nacho's wish to get out of this cartel life, but to Gus, Nacho is just another pawn. Once you become a "friend of the cartel", you don't get out... are you listening, Kim?

But Kim... oh, so many bad decisions. Shockingly, she gives up her job so she can focus on her pro bono workm much less well paid. This is... unwise, and ties her even more to Jimmy's criminally adjacent, "friend of the cartel" life. The final scene, with Lalo demanding andswers from Jimmy, is a masterpiece of tension, with Kim very much present, involved... and showing real guts in resolving the situation.

But she's in, now, irrevocably. Her decision to quit her main job wasd, ironically, so she could focus on work with which she feels much more ethically comfortable rsather than driving old men off their land... but she's driven into the hands of Jimmy, who may not like getting his hands dirty but has zero morals as long as he isn't personally close to the bloodshed.

Oh Kim. I'm now certain. Her downfall will not just be the ruin of a genuinely good person. The moment has come: I'm certain that we're going to see her die. Itr's her only possible trajectory.

Better Call Saul is not Jimmy's tragedy. It's Kim's.