Note: Major spoilers for the episode of Better Call Saul, you have been warned.
I finally got the episode that I have been looking for this week, and I would put this episode in one of the top two or three episodes of the series so far. This could quite possibly be because Mike was featured so much, as I have noticed that my favorite episodes normally revolve more around Mike more than Jimmy. We did get some follow up on the issues that arose last week for Jimmy, but by and far, the story involving Mike, Nacho, and Tuco stole the show this week.
We start the episode with Mike coming home late at night. He throws an envelope full of money onto the table, and goes to the freezer, grabbing a bag of frozen vegetables out of the freezer. He get a drink and then goes in to the living room, putting the bag of frozen vegetables over his eye. He takes the bag away, and we can see that Mike has taken quite a beating. Since he has the money, we are to assume that he did what Nacho wanted him to do, even though we haven't been told just what that is yet.
Jimmy is talking to the partners at Davis and Main, showing them the commercial that he made. He tries to explain how he didn't mean to cause any problems, and keeps talking about how successful it was, but the partners don't want to hear it. He doesn't see what the problem is, but they inform him that the problem is that he cut them out, and didn't get their approval. It looks like Jimmy is going to get fired, but then they tell him that they believe in second chances, but he will be watched very closely moving forward. We also see that Kim getting in trouble because she knew about the commercial, but she doesn't tell Chuck and Howard that she thought Jimmy had gotten approval before airing it. She is assigned to do some tedious work as a punishment.
Later, Jimmy comes and tries to apologize, but she doesn't really want to hear it. She tells him that she just wants to be left alone, but that she is not breaking off their relationship. Jimmy then goes to Chuck's house, finding him having an episode in the middle of the night. Jimmy stays with him until the morning, where they have an argument over the whole situation. Jimmy then tries to get Chuck to agree to let Kim off easy if he quits practicing law, but Chuck says that is extortion and he won't do it. This was a really good scene, as we see Jimmy trying to bring Chuck down to his level, because he thinks that anyone would do what he himself is willing to do to get what he wants. Chuck leaves him with the statement, "I'm not the bad guy here."
Nacho tells Mike that the person he wants to get rid of is his cousin Tuco. He says that Tuco is on drugs and acting crazy, and he fears for his own life, so he wants to take Tuco out before that happens. He sets up a plan, but Mike doesn't think the plan is very good, so he tells Nacho that he will get a sniper rifle and take him out from a distance. Mike goes to meet with a guy, and looks at several guns, but then he tells the man he changed his mind and won't be needing a gun after all.
Mike goes back to Nacho with a new plan, and tells him that he isn't going to kill Tuco, but is going to still get rid of him. He says he will do it for half of the money he was originally supposed to get paid, which is $25,000. Nacho agrees to go along with the plan, and what may be the best scene in the series begins to play out.
Tuco and Nacho are collecting their money from their dealers, when Mike pulls in and grazes Tuco's car. He comes in to order some tacos, and Tuco approaches Mike to tell him that he saw him just hit his car. Mike says he didn't hit any car, and continues with his order, taking his food and leaving the restaurant. Tuco follows him and says that he is going to need some money to fix the damage to his car, which amounts to pretty much nothing. Mike says he will give him his insurance information, but Tuco demands cash instead, having seen how much money Mike was carrying inside the restaurant. Prior to all of this going down, Mike called the police and told them that two men were fighting outside the restaurant, and now we hear the sirens. Nacho says they need to go, and Tuco tells him to leave. He tells Mike to give him the money, and Mike grabs Tuco by the shirt, causing Tuco to pull his gun. Mike knocks the gun away, and then Tuco slams him up against the wall, punching him repeatedly in the face. As the cops pull in, Tuco lands one more big punch, knocking Mike out.
Mike meets Nacho that night, and gets his money, with his face all battered as it was at the beginning of the episode. Mike tells Nacho that with the gun and the assault, Tuco would be going away for at least five years. Nacho asks him why he would do all that for only half the money, when he could have easily killed Tuco instead and gotten the full amount. Mike says nothing, and drives away.
The pacing of this episode was very solid, as it built up the big climactic ending. I was happy to see Tuco again, as he was a fun character in Breaking Bad, and is still just as crazy in this show as he was on that one. The interaction between Mike and Tuco was wonderful, and the way Mike set him up and was able to keep his moral fiber intact was very well done. As I noted above, any time that Mike gets a large amount of screen time, the show is just simply better. I don't have a problem with the other characters in Jimmy's primary storyline, it just feels like a bigger show when Mike and his storyline is playing out. Hopefully soon they will really mesh the two together, and I feel that more episodes will feel like this one then the first three of the season.
My rating for the episode is 9/10
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