Better Call Saul season 4 episode 1 review: Chuck McGill’s funeral; Mike’s move
The reintroduction to the character tonight was interesting, to say the least. Gene returned from the hospital, deathly afraid of being found out, and continues to live out his meager existence. He is suffering and doesn’t want anyone else to know it. Yet, this is the existence we want to see more of the most given that it’s such an isolating life and it does feel like there’s a way in which it could change in the future.
We’ll just have to see if that happens down the road…
In getting now back to Jimmy McGill, he learned not too long after returning to his timeline the truth about Chuck: He’s gone. He had to come to terms with that, and also everything that came along with that in between the obituary, the sadness, and the broken end of their relationship. The funeral was someone quick and hollow for Jimmy, as after the fact he did his best to find respite in Howard, who was intent on telling Jimmy the truth about he died: Suicide. Howard blamed himself for Jimmy’s death, and Jimmy didn’t deny it. Instead, he told him that it was “his cross to bear” and went over to feed the fish. He was acting totally different than how anyone expected and he was … okay? That’s at least the image he put across.
Jimmy spent most of this episode trying to come to terms with Chuck’s, but the entirety of the episode wasn’t about that, either. There were some other things that the show wanted to get to, which is understandable given how Better Call Saul has increasingly become a little bit more of an ensemble show over time.
Speaking of the ensemble, let’s move over to a few other highlights.
Mike makes his own rules – Given some of his underhanded work, it absolutely makes some sense for him to want to be away from the sticker booth. For those of you wanted drama tonight, we got that in the form of Bald Blake, a man from Madrigal who found out that his car was halted (and his ID badge stolen) by Mike. He went into the office instead and, rather shockingly, nobody seemed to care. Dude even signed a birthday card and ordered around people in the warehouse about proper lift belts.
Eventually, Mike actually uses his break-in to Madrigal in order to find himself a new position of power — he knew so much more about the operation than anyone else there!
Nacho starts to move forward – He’s done a good job of finding a place for himself within the criminal underworld, but he’s also somewhat blind to just how dangerous Gus Fring can truly be.
CarterMatt Verdict
Overall, Better Call Saul season 4 episode 1 was a testament to how to handle grief — and also how to get ahead. For Mike, tonight’s episode was a fine example of why he finds himself in a position of power on Breaking Bad — he is willing to do whatever he needs with such confidence, nobody seems to suspect him of anything.
The premiere episode did move along rather slowly at time, but it did hit some of the right emotional notes and progressed towards what was a fascinating funeral in which other people seemed to be just as unnerved about Chuck’s death as Jimmy was — if not more so.
What did you think about Better Call Saul season 4 episode 1 overall? Be sure to share right now in the comments!
(Photo: AMC.)