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: Something Beautiful

 "It never loses suction."

I was going to use a certain quote concerning gold nuggets, but decided I'd better not. Anyway...

This is a fascinating episode, which has the air of calm before the storm. Not that Nacho's extraordinary actions- faking a hit, including having himself shot and wounded twise, in order to cover up the death of that bloke- are exactly calm. But these are the lengths he has to go to, conflicted between his loyalty to the cartel and towards his father. He's badly conflicted and he can't, surely, keep getting away with this. He's lucky to survive... for now. And that doctor has such a wonderful bedside manner.

These things create ripples. Gus isaffected, with supplies disrupted and having todeal with conflicting demands from on high. Yet we also see him interact with an ambitious Gale for the first time, another old face.

Jimmy, meanwhile, is "masterminding" another dodgy scheme... eventually, when he can persuade a patsy to do the cat burglaring. I love how we spend such a long, tense scene with things almost going very badly indeed, yet with intentional bathos as the rather pathetic victim has been kicked out of his house by his wife. This is all sort of comic relief, but I suspect I ought to be seeing this as a clue that things are about to get serious.

We see Kim, working to hsrd while she should be resting, but... it she reaching some sort of crisis? Chuck's letter to Jimmy is actually nice, and it is she who tears up while Jimmy remains cold, as he always is deep inside, because what she loves is the mask, not the man. Is she beginning to realise...?

As ever... wow.

Better Call Saul: Nailed

 "Like two hundred bucks expensive...?"

Oh Jimmy. Oh Kim. Oh Chuck. This penultimate episode is where, if I can play fast and loose with metaphotrical cliches, the chickens that are Jimmy's sabotage with the photocopier last episode come home to roost. Which is... yeah, a terrible sentence. But I'm going to leave it as it is, because I'm a terrible person.

Chuck, in court, is humiliated, meant to look a buffoon. Then, and shortly after, it's made clear that, while in recovery, he's mentally fragile, however intellectually sharp he may be, and however easily he may be able to realise what's happened... which leads us to a truly fascinating scene played with utter sublimity by three actors of the very first rank. Chuck explains to Kim what he believes Jimmy did, with great perception and accuracy. Bob Odenkirk is superb in playing Jimmy's blustering, while Rhea Seehorn is extraordinary, giving us a seething emotional reaction from Kim which could mean either she believes Chuck or she doesn't. Despite initial appearances, for Chuck's benefit... she does. And this is going to remain unspoken and drive a wedge between her and Jimmy.

As an interlude... Mike's subplot is the fun one, aa he stages a caper to steal huge wodges of cash. Very clever. Very Zorro. Well done. Drinks all round. Except... Nacho can put two amd two together. Will Hector? Worse: a "Good Samaritan" died because of Mike's actions. Yes, Hector was the killer, but... consequences.

So it is for Jimmy. He sees, with his own eyes, the consequences of his actions as a Chuck who is stressed, upset, not well... hits his head on a counter. Jimmy is charming, personable, likeable. It takes a while to realise what a malevolent, destructive, evil man he is. And yes, he is. You're right, Dave.

This extraordinary series gets deeper and deeper into the human condition.

Better Call Saul: Fifi

 "Things work out the way they're supposed to, I guess..."

We begin with an extraordinary tour de force of direction with a van crossing the border from the part of Mexico run by the Mexican government to New Mexico, a part of Mexico occupied by the United States since 1848. He said innocently. But this is all one shot, with so many camera angles, as exacting as theatre but in more dimensions. Exquisite.

This is part of Mike's sub plot where, as well as having a nice grandad/granddaughter scene, he plots his revenge against Hector. But that's for later. This episode is about Jimmy, Kim, and Chuck.

Kim, as I may have occasionally mentioned, is doomed. Yet the die is cast. She resigns to an oddly gracious Howard who, once again, shows himself to be tough but not necessarily a total bastard or without integrity, much as his management style is, thank the gods, frowned upon these days.

Thing is, she has all her eggs in the Mesa Verde contract. She does well, is about to get it, but... is sabotaged. By Chuck. Whose first day in the office without the tech hocus pocus is all aboit screwing over Kim, which Jimmy is somewhat displeased by, hence... and I never expected to type these words... a MacGyver-style photocopying montage.

Jimmy has, basically, set Chuck up to fail. And, in so many ways, his arrogant older brother deserves it. But Chuck expressesa his gratitude for Jimmy staying with him, which he disn't. Ouch.

Two episodes to go.So many twists and turns. This episode feels primed and ready to emit intense dramatic stuff. Simply masterful writing. And that's not without even deploring the characters' sadly realistic ignorance of the Pacific theatre of the Second World War.