Need to catch up? Check out our previous Better Call Saul recap here.
Better Call Saul wrapped up its third season with some big life changes for Jimmy and company… and a very grim cliffhanger for one character in particular.
BE KIND, REWIND | Kim is pretty banged up after last week’s car crash: her face bloodied and bruised, her broken arm in a cast. Jimmy picks her up from the hospital, and valiantly tries to collect all the Gatwood Oil documents that scattered when she crashed, but that’s a losing battle. He fixes her breakfast the next day, and suggests they sublet the office, so she could work from home. Even with the Sandpiper money, Kim asks? “I don’t give a s–t about the office,” Jimmy firmly tells her.
Francesca visits Kim to offer her support, in maybe not the most helpful way: “People die on that road all the time.” (Gee, thanks!) She also tells Kim she could still work the Gatwood case, with a little rescheduling. Kim starts frantically leafing through her day planner, slipping back into Super Lawyer mode… but then she stops herself. She tells Francesca to cancel Gatwood and push everything else back, then treats herself to “Relaxathon 2003” with lots of snacks and a stack of DVDs from Blockbuster. I love Relaxed Kim, don’t you?
DON HECTOR IS DOWN | Nacho brings Hector to his dad’s car-upholstery shop and shows him around, and when Hector spots Nacho’s dad, Nacho reluctantly introduces them. Hector tries to win the dad’s loyalty by laying out stacks of fifty-dollar bills, but Nacho’s dad lashes out, telling Hector to get out before Nacho can calm him down. Dad eventually relents and takes the money, but Hector tells Nacho, “I don’t trust him” — which, when it comes out of the mouth of Don Hector, sounds like a death sentence.
Nacho isn’t about to wait for the pills to kill Hector: He follows Hector at night with his gun drawn, ready to finish the job. But before he can, he gets roped in to backing Hector up, with Gus and Bolsa arriving. Bolsa informs Hector all of the drug running will go through the chicken trucks from now on… and Hector doesn’t like that one bit. He screams at Bolsa, “The boss can suck me!” He flies into such a rage that he has another attack, and before he can reach his pills, he collapses. Gus rushes to administer CPR, telling the others to call 911. And Nacho quietly scoops up the pills Hector spilled on the ground…
When the ambulance arrives, Nacho tells the EMT that Hector was taking these pills, handing her a bottle. But was it the same bottle Hector was holding? Gus must have the same suspicions, because he’s eyeing Nacho the whole time. Does he know what Nacho is up to? At least Nacho survived Season 3 — an outcome that was very much in doubt heading into the finale.
UNBURNING A BRIDGE | Jimmy feels terrible for what he did to poor Irene, trying to cheer her up with a cake and balloons. But when he suggests she use her settlement money to take a cruise with her friends, she doesn’t think anyone would go with her. And Jimmy finds her Sandpiper friends are still holding a grudge against her, even though she did what they wanted and settled. He tries to bring them back together, but nothing works.
Jimmy comes up with a last-ditch solution: He volunteers to lead the Sandpiper ladies in chair yoga when Erin from Davis & Main barges in. She leads him outside and yells at him for manipulating the ladies into settling, and he admits it, complaining about having to listen to the women’s “insipid feelings” and trashing them — all while he’s still wearing his chair-yoga microphone. When he goes back in, the ladies leave in disgust. But of course, it was all a ploy: Erin agreed to play along, as long as they drop the settlement and go back to court. It’ll cost Jimmy a cool million… but at least Irene has someone to take a cruise with now.
Kim and Jimmy solemnly move out of their law office, and have to let Francesca go. He ditches his Rolodex of senior clients, too, thinking he’ll have to rebrand when his law license kicks back in. But Kim assures him they’ll get another office together one day, and a better one. So, a happy ending? Well, maybe not…
UP IN SMOKE | This week’s cold open is short and bittersweet: a flashback to a young Chuck patiently reading a story to a young Jimmy in a tent pitched in the backyard. And he reads that story… by the light of a buzzing lantern, of course.
Back in 2003, Chuck faces Howard and an army of HHM lawyers, offering them a solution to his threat to sue them out of existence. Rather than go to court or negotiate a costly buyout, he suggests they just go back to the way things were, with him as partner. He offers Howard a handshake… but Howard eyes his hand like it’s dripping with raw sewage. He hands Chuck a check for $3 million, the first of three payments. And it won’t bankrupt the firm, either: Howard’s paying out of his own pocket, with some loans on the side. “You won,” he tells him. He walks Chuck out, telling the whole firm Chuck is leaving. Chuck plasters on a fake smile as they applaud him… but he and Howard glare at each other as he leaves.
Jimmy visits Chuck to make sure he’s OK, and marvels at seeing so many electrical appliances on and humming: the fridge, some lamps, a turntable, the works. Chuck points to all the devices as proof he’s fine, and Jimmy offers a semi-apology, admitting he could’ve made different choices. Chuck can’t understand why, though: “You’re just going to keep hurting people… that’s what you do.” He doesn’t think Jimmy’s capable of changing, and wishes he’d just embrace his lack of morals already. Then he delivers the final blow: “You’ve never mattered all that much to me.” Jimmy sadly shows himself out.
But Chuck’s not as well as he seems. He gets up one night in a panic and shuts off all the fuses in the house, cutting off all power. But he sees the next day that his power meter is still running. He calls the electric company to complain, he unscrews every light bulb in the house… but still, the meter edges forward. Then he really goes off the deep end, taking an axe to his walls and feeling around for any source of electricity. He tears out kitchen tile, yanks out wires… but still, the meter keeps going. He finally takes a baseball bat to the damn meter. Well, that stops it, finally.
Chuck’s not done yet, though. The last we see of him, he’s huddled up in his house, holes in every wall, all electrical devices thrown into the yard. Wrapped up again in his Mylar blanket, he kicks at a lantern that sits in front of him on his desk… until the lantern topples over and starts a fire.
(Note: AMC hasn’t officially renewed this show for a fourth season yet. But after a finale like that, they just have to, right? Right?!?)
Alright, Saul fans: Give the Season 3 finale a grade in our poll below, then share your post-finale thoughts in the comments.
Almost impossible to watch chuck self destruct I had to fast forward what a tragedy
He is such and asshole I for one am glad to see him fall…hopefully he’ll end up in a institution.
He’s dead so probably not going to happen.
I loathe Chuck with every fibers of my being.people kept make excuses for his terrible treatment of his brother&its all bull.so Jimmy got to account fir his conny way but ok for Chuck to be the world’s biggest dick just because his brother got charisma&chuck just a Tool? That made it ok to be a shelfish ass hole?
Where was Mike? I could have used a little less valuable finale time on Chuck tearing up his house and a few minutes with Mike. I thought it was good but not awesome.
That is the one thing they did a lot of this year is drag out scenes. Just wasted time watching Kim get dressed, and many other scenes like that could have been cut down and they could have actually added more compelling story to each show. I FF thru a lot of those scenes with no dialog and just someone doing tedious things or just staring at something.
What a snooze-fest. I’ve suffered long enough and I’m done.
If you found that a snooze fest then yes please be done because you don’t deserve it.
where was mike no need for him to continue the story line ?
I loved this finale. Michael McKean is so good as Chuck. I am sort of dreading what the endgame for Kim will be. Gus trying to revive Hector was hilarious.
Loved every minute. Don’t know how anyone could say it was a snoozefest. I love how Jimmy loves Kim so much. And if he has any “moral compass” left at all – Kim is it. Even trying to get all that paperwork off the road for her. Chuck is so cruel. His walk of shame down those stairs (and it WAS a walk of shame) was worse on him than Cersei’s! I don’t wish him a fate like that or his illness but – did he plan suicide all along after leaving HHM? The blockbuster (it was 2003 after all) scene was epic. Correct me if I am wrong but isn’t Nacho the guy Gus – well you know – slits the throat of – in Breaking Bad? Gus definitely is figuring out what he did to Hector. Yes, I would’ve loved to have had a Mike scene too but this was a stellar season finale if there ever was one. Perfect set up for another season (hopefully). Can’t end here.
My mistake. I think it was Victor that Gus kills with the box cutter in Breaking Bad.
Kind of lame that the writers and producers felt the need to do a “cliffhanger”. It’s the worst kind too. If Chuck didn’t die in the fire, it’s a total cop out. If he did die, why not just make it definitive so that the audience has to sit with it until next season thinking of how the consequences will affect Jimmy.
Every damn episode finish with a clifhanger. That’s like a “breaking bad’s/better call saul’s” signature mark. Season finale’s are always the worst one. ;-)
It’s actually not a cliffhanger. McKean was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly and confirmed that Chuck is dead.
The season finale was so good. Glad Kim is ok & relaxing. Glad Jimmy found a way to make things right with the ladies even that it cost him of clients leaving him. Surprised what Howard did to stop Chuck’s lawsuit from happening. Glad Nacho doesn’t have worry about Hector now just only Gus. Surprised what Chuck did at the end!
Overall, I thought the season started way too slowly, but became interesting in the last couple of episodes. When I have to wait so long for a new season, and the season is only ten episodes, I’d prefer more concentrated action, like this episode. As for the future, I’m guessing Kim will blame herself for Chuck’s suicide causing her to leave her law practice (and Jimmy).
May be something wrong with me but I think some of the Good characters on the show are too stuck on being either good or bad. The way I saw the world is mostly gray.Chuck’s &Kim’s self righteousness seem one dimensional. No one in real life operates that way.
My wife and I wanted to do chair yoga at our local Senior Center in Santa Fe area. However when got there we were treated a bit rudely (first time there and we did not know protocol) and one woman protested when I was taking “her” chair! So we walked out. Would have made a great scene in Saul!
Loved the scene where the cleaned out office of Saul and Kim showed two trash dumpsters, one white and the other black. Guess which one was larger?
I re-watched the scene when Hector has his heart attack. He drops his pill bottle. It’s nearly empty– one or two pills fall out and only one or two pills remain inside.
Then we see the ambulance. Nacho hands over a nearly full pill bottle. Sure as hell, Gus notices and immediately understands the implications. Of course he’ll want to understand why, and I don’t think he’d have much trouble finding out even if Mike didn’t already know.
IMO the last piece of the puzzle that we’re missing is how Jimmy, Mike, Gus, and Nacho come together. Recall one of the first Saul Goodman scenes in Breaking Bad is when Walt and Jesse kidnap him and try to intimidate him out of a DEA deal. Saul immediately assumes that it is the Cartel and that they’re going to kill him. He pleads, “It wasn’t me! It was Ignacio!” I’m curious about how they close that circle, and I wonder if Hector really is incapacitated yet or if Gus/Mike/Nacho/Saul have to give him one last furtive shove to put him over the edge.
On another note, who is Chuck’s next of kin? Who’s the heir? His ex-wife? Will Chuck donate it to a law school and insist that a building be named after him? I’d be stunned if the heir is Jimmy… but I would NOT be stunned if a will was produced which did leave all or most of it to his brother.
There had BETTER be a fourth season, right??? Right!!!!!
There is!
My wife and I wanted to do chair yoga at our local Senior Center. However when got there we were treated a bit rudely (first time there and we did not know protocol) and one woman protested when I was taking “her” chair! So we walked out. Would have made a great scene in Saul!