Written by Ryan Demarco
What. Just. Happened.
Want to know when a show is effective in nearly every aspect? When you’re left holding your hand over your mouth for five minutes after the show has ended. That’s exactly the situation I faced after watching this week’s episode, titled “Nailed.” And it didn’t require a drop of blood, or any cheap, hacky tricks. Just brilliant.
So Chuck (Michael McKean) hit his head on the corner of a counter pretty hard. Is he dead? Could be. I don’t believe he is though. I think I would just miss this character too much if he was killed off right now. While trying to catch his brother, Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) red handed at the Printing Lab, Chuck simply collapsed from the enormous amounts of energy that he exposed himself to. It’s obvious this will have a major impact on Chuck going forward, if he’s alive. Not to mention this will put Jimmy in a pretty awful position in next week’s finale when he’s left facing the outcome. How will he carry this guilt?
Jimmy was instantly caught by his brother Chuck for sabotaging the Mase Verde files, although not being able to fully prove that it was him. Jimmy’s plan worked, however, causing HHM to lose the suit and having Kim get her old clients back. It was sweet justice in Jimmy’s eyes. Again, as mentioned in nearly every review, the cast did phenomenal work. Most notably in the scene with Jimmy, Kim (Rhea Seehorn), and Chuck. You could feel the tension between Chuck and Jimmy. Chuck is the smartest lawyer around, he knows his brother and his cons. However, fearing serious consequences on Jimmy’s behalf, Kim stood by Jimmy and shamed Chuck for how he has always treated and viewed his brother.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiCfWSbDrs8
Chuck can’t stand allowing Jimmy to get the better of him. He has every right to feel embarrassed and angry for losing a big suit simply from his brother’s tricks. The relationship between the two has always been a huge draw for me. They may not always like each other, but they’re still brothers.
It was great to see Mike (Jonathan Banks) again this week, given how strained his time was. We picked up right when he knocked over the truck that Hector Salamanca uses to transport drug money over the border. However, he let the driver live. Even though Mike made the proper precautions to hide his identity, he still doesn’t get a satisfying win. He found out through a furious Nacho that a Good Samaritan was able to help the driver escape, contact Hector, and subsequently get killed by Hector. In an attempt to attract the cops on Salamanca’s trail, he inadvertently let an innocent bystander get killed.
Mike’s story this season has been really good as well. Given that Mike has had a no kill stance recently I’m left to wonder if that’ll chance next week when things most certainly come to a head.
With better pacing this week, “Nailed” definitely did just that, making this possibly the best episode of the season. Jimmy and Mike are both at points in their story where it’s about to hit the fan. With Chuck’s life hanging in the balance Jimmy will need to prepare for some miracle to avoid some troubling matters.
Rating: 10/10
