Big6 Blog: Better Call Saul: S4E2 “Breathe” Review

By JASON MARTIN (August 13, 2018)

“I decide what he deserves. No one else.” Gus Fring is just one of those characters, folks. He’s one of those select few that speaks in such an authoritative and cold way that any line immediately becomes more effective. As I said last week, Better Call Saul is usually a better show APART from much of the cartel content that exists as a means to tie the spinoff to Breaking Bad. But, that’s not to say all the Hector Salamanca vs. Gustavo Fring content isn’t good.

I’m just more interested in Jimmy McGill’s story than anything else.

And, in “Breathe,” we got plenty of that. The entire scene with Jimmy on his job interview at the copy company was the kind of thing this show understands, because those in charge of it know how to do this. We are watching a long-form story of a man’s descent into self-destruction as he skirts the rules and becomes his own worst enemy. He’s not an idiot, but he’s impulsive, and he can’t get out of his own way. The idea that he would browbeat the two men that just hired him, with very little experience in sales, because of his awesome speech, is mind boggling. But it was so good.

Jimmy McGill can’t even let a good thing lie. He has to find a way to complicate what should be simple. Sure, it did seem crazy they would hire him because he cut an impassioned monologue to them, but why check the teeth of that gift horse? Just take it, Jimmy. He ends up not working for them because they were dumb enough to take his word for it. It seems, even if McGill wants smart employers, that the idea these people are a little naive might actually benefit his scheming. It would make them easy marks. They would definitely buy into his jello act at the retirement center.

“Why wait when we can get you rolling?” In that moment, they seemed like the accountants that always wanted nothing more than Ben Wyatt to work for them on Parks & Recreation, and just like that never worked out long term, Jimmy storms out after declining the offer. He found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory yet again. Maybe that’s not the job he wanted, but any job is better than looking for a job. We’ve all been in that unstable ocean before, and it’s not a fun place to be. He pulls the pin on a grenade he keeps in his hand afterward so often its insane. And it’s going to cost him his relationship eventually. It’s coming, as sad as it is.

Speaking of his better half, how about Kim Wexler just unloading on Hamlin after Rebecca leaves the room? We were all Kim in that scene, because as Howard was attempting to gain absolution for his own guilt, all he was really doing was hurting Jimmy with the suicide insinuations. “I felt I owed it to him.” She exploded with facts and logic as she said he didn’t need to hear that Chuck may have intentionally set himself on fire, and if Hamlin were being genuine, why didn’t he feel the need to tell Rebecca the same thing? Then she moves on to bury him for suggesting he go through the charred remains of the house where his brother died screaming to death engulfed in flames. Rhea Seehorn has always been great on this show, but she’s NEVER been better than she was in this scene. Go ahead and submit this one to the Emmys, although maybe the best is yet to come.

Mike gets scolded just a bit by Lydia, but Ehrmantraut couldn’t care less. He’s GOING to find out all he needs to about Madrigal, and he’s going to do it in a way where he looks like he’s smarter than everyone around him, not just to us, but to Gus. When she mentions her concerns to Fring, his response says it all. He’s reliable, his methods are working, and “I suggest you give the man a badge.” He wants a face behind those checks, and not just Fring’s, but the identity of the very business he’s involved himself in for the future.

Fring remains in charge of everything he touches, and its been a while since half his face disappeared courtesy of Walter White. We’re way back in time, watching Giancarlo Esposito play the American (Fast Food) Psycho exquisitely well. We saw Hector in the hospital, but not with the best doctor possible, so enter Dr. Bruckner from Johns Hopkins, who isn’t there to “step on any toes,” which none of us believe. She thinks the answer is to stimulate the brain, not just try to repair the parts damaged by the stroke. She tells Don Hector’s nephews to talk to him, because there’s a good chance he can hear them.

Then Nacho and Colon say things are good on the street, the business is working, and things are being taken care of. Famous last words there, as we know now they didn’t realize how bad it was going to get before the episode came to a close. Maybe they should have taken the five kilos after all? Colon had a mouth on him and it got him killed. And then, here’s Gus once again to stare Nacho down with knowledge no one knew he had.

“I know what you’ve done. The Salamancas, they do not. Do you understand what I’m saying? Look at me. From now on, you are mine.” And right there, Nacho’s hopeful exit from this life, which his dad so desperately wanted for him as well, vaporizes into the thin air Colon spits out as he whimpers his last breath into the plastic bag. And right there, as he sees that proverbial door slam shut, we can see definite parallels between Nacho and another troubled young man that got into trouble but also began to desire more than anything…a way out and a fresh start.

A young man once nicknamed, “Captain Cook.”

A young man named Jesse Pinkman.

Jimmy offering Mike work to perhaps steal the rare Bavarian figurine is an example of the brand of scheme he could easily have pulled off had he taken the job. I’m not entirely certain that’s what’s going on, but that was the one part of the episode that left intrigue and also a sense of, “What exactly is this?” We’re two episodes in and Better Call Saul continues to impress. Thomas Schnauz wrote a strong hour here, and Michelle MacLaren has become the best drama director on TV. Among many heavyweights, she’s number one. Whenever you see her name, you know something heavy is coming in that hour, and you know its going to be shot in as devastatingly effective a way as possible.

“Breathe” had the Breaking Bad style of pulse-pounding conclusion you want, but had the classic Jimmy McGill I increasingly want more, especially when Kim is on fire like she was and Mike is amidst a caper. These episodes are the direct opposite of chores to watch. The balance of the two stories was excellent, and I eagerly await each new installment.

I’m @JMartZone. Stubbornness and persuasiveness are two of my top qualities.

 

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