There’s only so much one person can take. That seems to be the running theme so far in the first half of Better Call Saul’s final season. We have poor Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) dealing with a failing marriage — his wife doesn’t even appreciate his cappuccinos — and Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) and Kim’s shenanigans, designed, it seems, to push him over the edge. We have Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito, who also directed this episode) teetering on the edge of insanity waiting for Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) to appear and unveil his grand plan. Mike (Jonathan Banks) is running himself ragged trying to keep his boss, his granddaughter, and his crew happy. And Kim (Rhea Seehorn) keeps receiving so many accolades for her work, you wonder whether she’ll be able to execute her and Jimmy’s grand design to bring down Howard.
Let’s dive into the latest episode of Better Call Saul, which, as it turns out, was not the mid-season finale. That’s next week. While “Axe and Grind” felt more filler than a necessary episode, there’s plenty of great stuff in here to make the episode worth your while.
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Kim
The episode opens with a young Kim (Katie Beth Hall) seated in a dark and rather creepy-looking back office. Her leg bounces from nervousness. Before long, her mother (Beth Hoyt, who looks like she could be related to Rhea Seehorn) enters with a manager. Kim, it seems, got caught stealing a necklace. Her mother chastises Kim and then pulls a con — her anger is so over the top it makes the store manager feel remorse. When she tries to pay for the necklace ($35.53 with tax) with only a small amount of cash, the manager brushes her away.
“You’ve got a fine mother,” the man tells Kim once everyone is outside.
Mother walks Kim back to the car and laughs at the situation before unveiling the necklace the young girl wanted. “I didn’t know you had it in you,” she says. “Relax, you got away with it!”
Kim looks genuinely puzzled. A whole slew of emotions splashes across her face — astonishment, surprise, shock, anger, amusement. We see these same emotions over adult Kim’s face at the end of the episode — we’ll get to that.
The acting in this opening scene is phenomenal by all involved. Better Call Saul is one of those shows that lures you in with its believability in a way that’s startling. There are times I find myself getting lost in its world to the point where commercial breaks seem to yank me out of whatever spell the series has me under. It’s really strange.
Howard
After the break, Howard methodically goes through his morning ritual. This series loves expanding characters through visual means, most especially through daily routine montages that reveal quite a bit about the person. Howard makes a cappuccino in a manner that makes you wish he was running a Starbucks. He’s meticulous in his actions, careful to clean up any spills, and nearly perfect at everything right down to that peace sign he designs with the cream.
Howard’s wife appears and he sets the cappuccino down for her. “That is for you,” he says. She looks more annoyed than pleased and brushes by him to retrieve a traveling mug that she then pours the liquid into. Poor Howard. The man simply can’t catch a break. Then again, we see how his seemingly perfect mannerisms might drive someone up the wall. How can you live with someone who will never accept anything less than an A+? Howard has always been infuriatingly nice, which is why it’s actually kind of refreshing to see him veer slightly off course, morally speaking.
For whatever reason, he brings up the issue with Jimmy and promises to take care of it. “You mean with the bowling balls and … so on?” she says.
“It’s possible you might hear or see something. I couldn’t say what,” Howard replies. “Just know that — if you do — whatever it is, I’m handling it.”
Howard says this almost as if he expects such a proclamation to win back his wife. And though her response is minor — “Duly noted,” she says flatly — one gets the feeling that Howard will ramp up his battle with Jimmy as a means of overcompensating for his failed marriage.
The next scene stays with Howard as he flips through photos of Jimmy taken by his private investigator. On one occasion, Jimmy breaks his routine to withdraw $20K in cash. This delights Howard, who sees this as a possible way to take Jimmy down. Of course, at this point we know everything the man does is part of Jimmy and Kim’s plan to take him down. Howard believes he has total control of his life, but has no idea that his every step has been planned by his enemies. There’s an aura of inevitability here that’s quite alarming — Howard will fall, no matter what actions he takes. In truth, the best thing he could do is tap out, but he’s never going to do that.
Jimmy & Kim
Jimmy and Kim meet with everyone’s favorite criminal pet doctor, Dr. Caldera (Joe DeRosa). The good doc just gave Jimmy a dose of a mystery substance I’m thinking has something to do with Howard.
Before the pair leave, they’re given another ominous sign. Caldera tells them he’s leaving to pursue a simpler life outside of his criminal activity. He plans to sell his little black book with all the names of his contacts and then jump ship. Jimmy can’t help but feel saddened. “What a waste,” he says and Kim can’t help but agree.
Could Jimmy be the one who buys Caldera’s book? When flipping through its pages, we catch a familiar business card for Best Quality Vacuums, or the business front of that one dude who knows how to hide people looking to start over. Hmm.
Kim
Next, we see Cliff (Ed Begley Jr.) sit in on one of Kim’s court appearances. He’s obviously impressed by her abilities but still confused at why she does what she does — by his count she’s making minimum wage all the while drinking really bad coffee for her efforts. He suddenly asks what she thinks of Howard. Kim rolls out a perfect response, almost as though she had been practicing for this very moment. Though, what she says isn’t exactly a lie. “I owe Howard and HHM a lot.”
You can see the gears turning in Cliff’s head. He’s suspicious enough that he felt the need to ask the question, but still can’t process Kim operating on the wrong side of the law. Cliff then downshifts to discuss a reform program he wants Kim to lead — no matter how hard she tries, Kim can’t help but come out ahead.
We stay with Kim as she heads to Jimmy’s office and enjoys a brief exchange with Francesca (Tina Parker). They discuss the waiting room, which looks a lot more posh than I remember. Francesca is a genuinely sweet person at this point in her life. Eventually, her dealings with Saul leave her, well, bitter. And with good reason.
Jimmy works his go-to geek squad film crew, working with a man who bears a passing resemblance to Sandpiper judge Casimiro. What are you up to, Jimmy/Kim?
Stepping outside for a moment, Kim tells Jimmy the good news. “The Jackson Mercer Foundation,” he beams. “Holy shit. That’s like Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.” The one hiccup is that she has to travel on D-Day, or the day where they fully unveil their plan to bring down Howard. Jimmy tells her she doesn’t have to be there and that he will handle it.
Uh-huh.
Lalo
Following the happy scene, we cut to one of the darkest moments on the series entire. Kai, the demolition engineer who worked on Fring’s lab, chops wood out in the wilderness when Lalo casually strolls up. Kai senses danger immediately and flees to his cabin. Lalo pursuits and nearly bits the big one when Kai smashes a few of his ribs with his axe.
Alas, rather than make a break for it — or kill the monster on the spot — Kai pulls a Prince Oberyn and allows Lalo to regain the upper hand. The criminal cuts Kai’s face with a razor and then cuts off one of his feet. Yikes!
Lalo tosses him a belt and instructs him to tie off his wounded leg so they can talk as the camera pans down to the axe. Kai could be in for a long night.
Saul
Back at Saul’s office, we see a bunch of nasty-looking people draped all over Francesca’s nice furniture. I’m guessing her next trip the store will return, ah, cheaper equipment for Saul’s clients to put their cigarettes out on.
Still, abused furniture is the least of her worries. Saul wants her to make a kinda, of sorta illegal phone call to HHM and retrieve the call in info for the mediation involving the Sandpiper residents. Francesca is having second thoughts and he reminds her how much she’s getting paid – “To whom much is given, much is expected.”
Like Walt, everyone who falls into Saul’s inner circle ends up morphing into the worst version of themselves. Case in point, after her phone call, Francesca and Saul go back to his office and see a client urinating on a piece of the decor. “Where are you going,” Jimmy asks his secretary. “Cleanup on aisle nine!”
“You clean it up,” she retorts angrily. There’s the Francesca we all know and love.
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Mike
We then cut to Mike who tiredly wanders the halls of Fring’s laundry shop. He goes at it with Tyrus, who questions why Mike pulled some of the guards from a particular locale while keeping a crew at Alameda Street, which has no ties to Fring. “My guys stay on Alameda,” Mike says bluntly. We know why. That’s where Mike’s grandkid lives, and we get a cute moment where they stargaze together over the phone.
Jimmy & Kim
Jimmy and Kim pour over their “Bring Down Howard” board – filled with notes such as “Redbull,” a drawing of a nuclear bomb, “casting,” and other such oddities – when he says they should go out. We then cut to the pair having a late night picnic on the lawn of HHM. What are these two planning to do? Will they get away with it? Or, are we seeing two people who constantly ignore the signs spiraling down a rabbit hole?
Well, D-Day arrives and Jimmy goes to purchase an expensive bottle of booze and happens to bump into Sandpiper judge Casimiro, who unexpectedly has a broken arm.
Jimmy ditches the booze and calls Kim, who is on her way to meet up with Cliff. Apparently, part of the plan involves pictures of Jimmy “pretending” to give Casamiro a mysterious envelope. That’s what Jimmy’s film/photo crew were up to with that actor. (Oddly enough, the photos are the same size as those taken by Howard’s Private Investigator.) Now that Casamiro’s arm is broken, the pictures won’t work.
Trying to remain calm, Jimmy says they should abort and we see Kim run through a whole slew of emotions (similar to those made by her younger counterpart at the beginning of the episode) before finally deciding, “It happens today.” She makes a U-turn and heads back to Jimmy.
ODDS AND ENDS
- Okay, so next week is the mid-season finale before the show returns in July. I expect the next episode will deal with Lalo so that the latter half can smooth out the transition into Breaking Bad.
- Admittedly, I watched this episode like it was the mid-season finale, and I was really disappointed when it ended. Watching it again knowing the finale takes place next week cast the episode in a new light. While certainly more filler than we’re used to, all of these quiet character beats go a long way in making the big moments hit harder.
- I’m surprised Jimmy was okay with shutting down the Howard operation so quickly. That’s not like him. His best moves usually come from improvisation, and this seems like an easy fix – just retake the photos. Unless I’m missing something.
- Lalo is terrifying.
- Oddly enough, no Gus this episode. I suppose his story is established as far as it can go and now we just need the payoff.
Until next week, folks!
