Better Call Saul Review: Smoke (Season 4 Episode 1)

After what seems like an eternity, Better Call Saul returns to grace our television screens. The Breaking Bad spin-off has done nothing but stand on its own in the last few years, and is now on the brink of Breaking Bad territory.

Better Call Saul Season 4 Episode 1, “Smoke,” immediately follows the events of Season 3, in which Chuck intentionally knocks his lantern off the coffee table and takes his own life. (This is common knowledge after Season 3, get out of here with that spoiler nonsense).

But first, we get maybe the longest scene we’ve ever gotten with Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman in his post-Breaking Bad persona, Cinnabon Gene. What’s so powerful about the scenes with Cinnabon Gene is the constantly mounting tension in seemingly simple scenes.

Any normal character giving their driver’s license to a hospital employee would be a bore, but because Gene is constantly looking over his shoulder, these become some of the tensest scenes on the entire show.

The best part was the Albuquerque Isotopes decal hanging in the window of the cab Gene takes away from the hospital. I’ve been wondering ever since if that cab driver was just creepy or if he knew something about Saul Goodman.

Either way? Chills.

Cinnabon Gene is my fave, but getting back to the regular timeline of Better Call Saul is equally riveting. After the initial shock of Chuck’s death, Jimmy’s grief for his brother is relatively non-existent. It seems that Chuck was dead to Jimmy prior to his actual death.

Jimmy doesn’t react the way you’d expect, and that is amplified ten-fold after Howard’s confession. Howard believes he’s responsible for Chuck’s suicide because he forced him into retirement. Jimmy (who knows it’s not Howard’s fault) not only lets Howard believe that but SHRUGS IT OFF AND GOES TO MAKE COFFEE

Sidenote: This may be the best work Patrick Fabian has done on this show yet.

My biggest complaint about the episode, I don’t think there is enough for Rhea Seehorn to do in this episode. She’s proved time and time again that she can do the heavy lifting and that she’s an integral part of this show.

#FreeRhea

You can tell that Jimmy (if he hadn’t already) is about to break bad. I’m here for it.  Bring on Saul Goodman!

A few other thoughts:

• Mike Ehrmantraut has often gone unsung as a hero of this show, and this episode was no exception. He barely has any lines but can still create laugh out loud moments on top of quietly tense ones.
• Speaking of quietly tense, Michael Mando and Giancarlo Esposito could teach a masterclass on it.
• I know what happens to Hector Salamanca, but I can’t stop being interested in the saga. The how and why of his incapacitation have become an extremely compelling part of the show, thanks in large part to Mark Margolis’ acting.
• Was that guy Mike stole the ID card from supposed to look like Walter White? Because he did.
• A phone call that the producers (probably) had: “Hi? Ed Begley Jr.? We want you back on Better Call Saul.” “Oh, no, not much, you’ve just gotta say I’m so sorry to Jimmy.” Easiest. Guest. Spot. Ever.

What did you think of this episode of Better Call Saul? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

Better Call Saul airs Mondays at 9/8c on AMC.

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

Vince Gilligan and Bob Odenkirk Discuss ‘Better Call Saul’ at the ATX Television Festival