Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 8 Review: A Return With A Bang On Netflix | Point and Shoot
Here we are the countdown begins today that will lead us to attend the Better Call Saul Season 6 finale on Netflix on August 9th. The only other certainty is that before that moment we will see the return of Walt and Jesse in Better Call Saul, crossing the destinies of the spin-off of Breaking Bad with the mother series. So far, apart from a few subdued situations, the series by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould has given great satisfaction, confirming itself as one of the most inspired and successful dramas of recent years.
The journey that transformed Jimmy McGill into Saul Goodman has not yet come to an end, but the end of the line is on the horizon and the beginning of this second part closes the ranks of Lalo Salamanca’s plan, determined at all costs to unmask the plans of Gus Fring and to obtain revenge for his uncle and himself, after the attack hatched by the character masterfully played by Giancarlo Esposito. The warp intertwines with the lives of Jimmy and Kim, who we had left terrified after the shocking final midseason we analyzed in the Better Call Saul 6 Episode 7.
Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 8 Review: The Story
Episode 8 starts with a very curious pre-credits sequence. Two men’s shoes scattered on the beach, Howard’s distinctive car with the door open, soft music playing, his wallet on the dashboard with his wedding ring on it. The picture is clear: they are going to simulate their suicide and continue to support the false testimonies against the famous and insufferable lawyer, Jimmy’s nemesis. What happened for this to end like this? Who has prepared for this stage? We will know soon, although it is not difficult to sense where things will go.
Next, we pick up exactly where Season 6 Episode 7 left us: Jimmy and Kim were stunned when Howard was shot by Lalo Salamanca, who had discovered all their tricks and threatened to dedicate his life to destroying them. Now he orders Jimmy, at gunpoint, to take the car, put a few shots into Gus Fring, photograph the corpse of his great adversary, and return without attracting attention. Kim will be held hostage in the meantime. Desperate, Jimmy convinces her to be the one to follow her plan and he the one to wait for her, thinking of protecting her in some way.
But… nothing goes as they expect. Lalo ties Jimmy up as Kim walks out the door and chases after her. She is intercepted by Mike and his men when she is about to fulfill the assignment and everything is cleared for Gus and Lalo to face each other alone inside the hidden laboratory of the king of fried chicken. We had come to a standstill. A desperate Howard after Jimmy and Kim’s attempts to discredit him had joined the two for a final confrontation. Too bad that Lalo Salamanca had the same idea, more and more determined to eliminate Gustavo, but not before shedding light on the underground works at the chicken man’s industrial laundry; the same structure that will house in the future the methamphetamine laboratory where Walt and Jesse will work, and thanks to which Gus Fring will obtain an undisputed advantage over the competition.
However, that moment has not yet come and therefore we are once again projected into the next phase of the scrupulous plan that Lalo hatched after the escape from Mexico following the failed attempt on his life. From here on, the fates of Gus, Kim, Jimmy and Mike are intertwined under the guidance of Hector’s nephew, but to rule it is an action that, given the circumstances, leaves not too much room for the introspection of the characters that we have rocked up to this fateful moment, although everything necessary is still expressed on the screen. There is no room for slowdowns, but during the journey perhaps it would have benefited an additional one for the beating heart of this splendid drama.
Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 8 Review and Analysis
One of the maxims of Better Call Saul is to tell the minimum and essential with words: it is the actions of the characters that guide the fiction and this episode is obvious in this regard. Only in the face-to-face do we witness a dialectical set that, in truth, is designed to “mask” the escape strategy. But above all, what this first episode of the final stretch of the season leaves us with is the feeling of despondency of the characters, that there is no turning back, that when they repeat themselves as if nothing had happened, they feel just the opposite: there is no escape. They have sealed their fate.
To think that we only have five hours left to meet again with Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, to understand how Jimmy ended up assuming the identity of Gene Takovic and above all, to finally figure out what happened to Kim, makes your hair stand on end! It is more than likely that by taking over from Breaking Bad, returning us to Walter White, the two universes will collide to forge something new and different: lasting in the collective imagination, unique as a fictional reference. Thank you, Vince Gilligan!
A heart that still beats with arrogance, staging a chess game in which many times it is the language of the camera that returns the writing subtexts involved in the looks and awareness of the characters, especially as regards Jimmy and Howard, to which the episode’s teaser renders a well-deserved “Namasté” (a foreshadowing that is a custom in Gilligan’s shows). In any case, we cannot help but consider how successful this episode is, even in the light of a diegetic time that almost balances with that of the vision. Everything happens live and is tied to the frenzy and feelings of the moment, in a game of action and reaction that involves all the pieces on the board.
The staging translates exactly this state of mind, becoming more and more gloomy as we approach the end of the episode, with expressionist references in the photography that plays on the contrast between light and darkness, on the points of view and the alternation of fields and floors with an impeccable style as always. The episode bears the signature of Vince Gilligan, who resolutely faces the pages of the script just like his characters, once again the flagship of this show, with a Giancarlo Esposito who always succeeds in the incredible magic of giving undisputed depth to his Gustavo. A beginning that also represents the closing of a chapter and that takes us directly to the events to come.
Better Call Saul Season 6 starts exactly where we left off and does so with writing that, not leaving too much room for the introspection of the dialogues, balances the action element with good management of the emotional subtext, returned by a decisive and flawless direction, who manages to enhance the descent into hell represented in this television hour through a photograph that sinks into expressionism. A highly anticipated confrontation that relaunches the show and its characters towards the last race, the decisive one.
Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 8 Review: The Last Words
The final stretch of the sixth season of Better Call Saul starts with an episode in which there is no lack of emotion, tension, or an important death. And yes, when they told us that we would see Breaking Bad with different eyes, they were not wrong: it makes entire story arcs more satisfying. The performances, the details, the timing… Everything is designed to keep you on edge, even when you know which characters will survive!
Stars: Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn
Director: Vince Gilligan
Streaming Platform: AMC and Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4.5/5 (four and half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
