Following the fallout from last week Nacho and the Salamanca brothers are once again running tasks for Gus Fring’s operation, Jimmy gets a new job, and Mike finds himself in counseling.
This week’s episode found itself splitting off the characters in terms of emotional depth and turmoil. On the one hand you have Jimmy and Kim only having a few scenes this week. Then on the other, Mike and Nacho have had stellar character arcs recently, especially the past few episodes this season.
First, there was the conclusion to last week’s episode where Kim watched Jimmy’s emotionless reading of Chuck’s letter. She gives him a number to a shrink. She’s smart enough to realize that Jimmy is turning into somebody she can’t quite recognize anymore. In response, Jimmy ducks the issue telling Kim that he got a job as a shift supervisor at a cell phone store.
The fact that Jimmy finds it just that much easier to hide things from Kim makes it ever more clear for what’s in store for their future. And speaking of store, Jimmy at the cell phone store! It was painful to see how soon Jimmy was able to lose interest in the job due to no action. After painting the windows to drum up business, which is another precursor to Saul, Jimmy closes shop to meet up with Ira, and is giving a handsome reward for the scheme they pulled, deepening their bond together.
The opening scene finds a young boy watching his father work. We see its Matty, Mike’s son. The quick glimpse leads to a group meeting where Mike has just finished telling the tale to the now speechless room. Aside from the moments where Mike is usually his Jack-of-all-trade badass self it was nice to see some beneath the surface moments that make Mike who he is. His battle with grieving his son is a battle he will always lose, and he knows it.
Regarding Mike and Gus’s business relationship, things are speeding up at an alarming rate between them. Gus is rapidly getting stronger in his empire growing story and although he and MIke quite often don’t see eye to eye on matters, he respects him and knows he possesses a skillset needed for Fring’s operation. I suspect that there will be some unforeseen obstacle ahead where Mike will duly prove himself beyond reproach with Gus. My only fear is that Nacho will be that obstacle.
And what about Nacho? He’s in a tight spot right now. While being at odds with Gus, the compound shootout with the two death twin Salamanca’s proved to both weaken the Espinoza’s and give Gus a big win. At this moment Nacho is what stands in the way of Mike and Gus. And while Nacho is no master strategist he is more than capable of having an ace up his sleeve, even if that ends with his death. But if it does maybe it’ll hurt Gus in some way. I love Nacho’s character and keep holding onto that fleeting hope that Nacho will manage to get out of this whole story in one piece.
All in all, things are progressing fast this season and getting much more violent by the episode. This isn’t the same Better Call Saul we saw in Season 1. We’re getting ever more close to Breaking Bad territory and that definitely is not a bad thing. Jimmy and Kim are starting to come apart by lying to each other and I suspect that Jimmy may even begin resenting Kim for suggesting a shrink.
Rating: 9/10
Better Call Saul Season 4 Episode 4 air is currently airing on streaming services everywhere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDYyUR2uagI
