The fire is out, the smoke has cleared, and Better Call Saul has finally returned for its highly anticipated fourth season. What begins as a normal day for the now-suspended lawyer, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), quickly evolves into one of the most devastating when he gets a call from Hamlin letting him know that something has happened to his brother.
We already know what happened.
The end of last season showed the complete destruction of Chuck (Michael McKean), who after being forced out HMM, broke down psychologically and killed himself by kicking over one of the lanterns and setting his house on fire. The episode begins the morning after Chuck’s suicide with Jimmy and Kim (Rhea Seehorn) arriving on the scene with Hamlin beating them there. Jimmy doesn’t even get a chance to see the body, but notices that all of the electronics that Chuck has brought back into his house after making great strides into becoming healthy, were thrown out into the backyard signaling that Chuck must have reverted back to his old state or, as Hamlin said, “relapsed.”
The rest of A plot storyline deals with the aftermath of Chuck’s death. Patrick Fabian was an absolute gem in this episode. Hamlin is devastated by Chuck’s death and tries to write the perfect eulogy in hopes that it may right the wrong of forcing him out of their company. At the tail end of the episode, you see the guilt-ridden Hamlin confess to Jimmy and Kim that he thinks Chuck committed suicide because of what happened between them. It was an overall rockstar performance from one of the most underrated actors working today. Give this man an Emmy nom already!
While Hamlin is broken from Chuck’s death, Jimmy has become numb to everything, whether it’s hearing Hamlin’s eulogy, talking to people at the wake or even the final moments of the episode when Hamlin confesses to forcing Chuck out. The only moment Jimmy breaks from his fog is when Hamlin brings up the real reason for Chuck’s outing, the insurance company raising their rates after Jimmy informed them of his condition. Jimmy realizes at that moment that this may be the reason that ultimately led to Chuck’s mental condition to deteriorate. But this isn’t the Jimmy who idolized his brother and only wanted to make him proud, this is the Jimmy who was told by his brother that he never mattered much to him and who betrayed and didn’t want him to succeed as a lawyer. Odenkirk plays equal parts grief-stricken and almost relieved that Chuck is out of his life. Chuck’s death pushes Jimmy one step closer to becoming Saul Goodman when he agrees with Hamlin that it was his fault for Chuck’s death.
We also got an update from Nacho (Michael Mando) and Gus (Giancarlo Esposito). The season 3 finale showed us how Hector Salamanca ended up in his famed wheelchair and “Smoke” dealt with the ramifications of Nacho poisoning the druglord. We don’t spend too much time with either character, but it looks like Nacho has gotten away with it (for now.)
The highlight for this week’s episode was seeing Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) investigate Madrigal, the parent company of Los Pollos Hermanos. After receiving his first paycheck from the company, Mike sneaks into their headquarters are starts investigating the entire operation in a well-crafted and enjoyable montage with an incredible ending showing Mike listing off every single security problem with the company. Mike isn’t the type of person to sit around and collect a paycheck, and if he is working on the books for a company and doing some not so legal activity, he wants to know that his job is secure.
Although the loss of Michael McKean on the show is devastating, if “Smoke” is any indication, this will be Better Call Saul’s best season yet.
Rating: 9 out of 10
