Better Call Saul 402 – Breathe
With the guilt of Chuck’s death lifted off his shoulders, Jimmy is back to his motor mouth best. Up and at ‘em early he’s out looking for a job and is uber attentive to Kim’s needs. Jimmy’s at his best when he’s on a verbal roll and when he takes command of a job interview for a company that specializes in photocopiers he’s firing on all cylinders. Jimmy being Jimmy, however, there’s always something else going one beneath the surface and when he charms the owners to waive their customary protocol and hire him right away he admonishes them for not properly vetting him.
Hector’s stroke and health condition, while it may seem like a win for Gustavo Fring, is anything but. The need to exact revenge consumes him so much that he feels robbed of the opportunity to be the one to cause Hector harm. Wanting Hector to return to health so that he can finish him off personally, Gus arranges for Hector to get care from a specialist from Johns Hopkins University.
Mike does double duty taking care of his grandfather and conducting business with Madrigal. His exploits in the Madrigal warehouse have raised a few eyebrows and he has a meeting with Lydia to delve deeper into the reasons for his actions. Not seeing eye-to-eye on with her on how to go about performing his duties as their security consultant, Mike lets his expertise do the talking and eventually sets his own terms for the job. Lydia lets thing stand as they are but not without tossing a stern warning his way.
The most powerful scene in Breathe is centers around Howard, Rebecca and Kim settling Chuck’s estate. Kim’s quiet rage explodes on Howard and the irony of the exchange is searing. Kim’s defense of Jimmy is passionate and shakes Howard to his core but the fact that she’s got it completely backwards is a testament to how much she loves the younger McGill. It’s ironic how everyone, aside from Chuck who knew his brother better than anyone, continually stick their necks out for Jimmy. This is hammered home even more when Jimmy’s dark side resurfaces and the real reason he turned down the photocopier job is revealed.
Breathe is a standout episode that gives several of the players on Better Call Saul the opportunity to shine. Nacho, Kim and Gus all have stellar moments throughout the nearly 45 minute runtime and the final moments before things go black cements Gus’ status as one of the best big bads in TV history. Now that the lines of communication between Gus and Nacho are quite clear it will be interesting to see how events unfold between them in the episodes to come.
