Better Call Saul Season 4 - Fallen
Structure is essential in a show like 'Better Call Saul', it has the tough job of being a prequel that has such a unique voice it wants to tell that is much more concerned with exploring the characters it has, rather than making them who we expect them to be. There a fair few critics of this show that are impatient with the show's pacing, the eagerness to see Jimmy become Saul and see the return of this iconic character is something that I agree is more than exciting, but the show is much more concerned on taking things slowly and exploring the character of Jimmy McGill before he becomes Saul Goodman. As a result of this Season 4 is a very in-between, slow and quite depressing series, it follows the death of my favourite character and is about setting the pieces for Jimmy's transformation. I'd say it is the toughest series of the show, the pace has never been slower and often the focus is on the minute details that never have an immediate payoff, the entire series often feels frustrating as the payoff to every element doesn't arrive until that finale. It isn't easy to get through, the show maintains interest but there's something much darker and more inaccessible than previous seasons here, Jimmy feels a lot different and it almost feels like that tough transitional stage between status quo's that comes with uncomfortable unfamiliarity.
Chuck's death is such a gigantic turning point in the show that I'm glad we spend a whole series to really explore the consequences and what it does to Jimmy. I remember that overwhelming feeling of dread that 'Lantern' fills you with and knowing that this is going to break Jimmy, the opening few episodes are painful to watch and Chuck's death echoes throughout. The opening segment is the continuation of the Gene timeline, these little teasers of Saul's fate grows and grows each season and they are brilliantly done, this follows on directly from the cliffhanger of the previous Gene segment. It is about paranoia and consequence, about how fragile and terrifying Jimmy's life has become, in a series dedicated to showing Jimmy taking steps to Saul Goodman it is fascinating to see the depressing reality of where these steps take him. There is this duality that the entire Season is based around, the audience is waiting in anticipation to how Jimmy becomes Saul but we begin with this reminder that his life is dangerous, paranoid and entirely not worth it, this creates a really quite dower tone for the season which I can understand is a bit uncomfortable in places. All the characters feel a bit more malleable and mortal, there's a real dark sense to the whole season that is quite out of the norm of the show, even when it reached it's earlier spouts of brooding brilliance there was a sense of levity and excitement, this season leans much more into the tragedy.
What I adore most about this season is the fact that Jimmy dealing with Chuck's death is always played as subtext, most of the events and actions he goes through aren't directly linked but do all echo back to Chuck. Jimmy spends the season becoming what Chuck thought he was, his actions are much more introspective and desperate, he realises that he can't help but be Slippin' Jimmy and instead of confronting and changing, he runs away and separates himself entirely from Chuck. In the second episode he goes job searching and swindles his way into a well-paying printer company but immediately explodes in anger at the people hiring him because they had the wool pulled over their eyes so easily. He repeatedly gets frustrated at what he is penned into being, Chuck's death doesn't seem to impact him as we expected instead it rattles his own perception of his identity. Howard and Kim begin as placeholders for what we expected the response to Chuck's death to be, Howard is overwhelmed with guilt and unloads it on to Jimmy to try and cope with it. Whilst Kim is angry and bitter at Chuck and Howard for what they did to Jimmy, her grief is a product of resentment and it is painful to see her try and help Jimmy naturally process this grief. Instead, he seems unfazed and like he has a much stronger affinity with his identity, the death of his brother doesn't seem like a step backwards for Jimmy it seems like removal of an obstacle.
I'm not a massive fan of the Mike/Gus plot this seasons, it becomes a bit lost and loses the enticing drive the other seasons have. Unlike Jimmy's story, this is a stepping stone story that is meant to set up the conflict in Season 5 more than it is to grow the current conflict in this season. Don't get me wrong, what it amounts to is fantastic, the finale is incredible but the steps there just arent that interesting and Mike as a character takes a bit of a backbench in his development. He's kind of already reached the point he needs to be at, I do enjoy the subversion that Mike is working for Gus but the entire season is built around him losing trust and questioning his morality. There just doesn't seem as much drive to his arc as previous seasons, his character gets a lot of focus in the first half of the season but it doesn't especially do much for him as a character, it essentially boils down to beginning the Werner Ziegler plot and once that gets underway the conclusion is worth it but still a bit lacking. Mike's final moment in the series with Werner is one of my favourite moments of the show, the slow realisation from both of them about what is going to happen is heartbreaking and you can really feel this as a turning point for his character. As for Nacho and Gus, this is brilliant, seeing the aftermath of Hector's downfall is wonderful and playing Nacho as a rat is a wonderful addition. I love how this becomes a quite tragic and tense story for Nacho, we sympathise with him a lot more and his actions begin to really have consequences we think this may be the end for his character and then Lalo Salamanca arrives and everything turns on its head. It is about a rise of an empire for Gus Fring, but really exploring how this isn't the Gus we know and his actions are more ruthless and less diplomatic, Lalo provides the turning point and puts his character in perspective.
As Jimmy slips further and further, Kim begins to rise higher and higher. The two feel like they are at odds and drifting apart this series, by the end we expect their inevitable separation to be sad but expected. However there's something about Kim's character this season that fascinates me, she begins to dip her toes into Jimmy's world and understands him more and more, she spreads herself thin over her work because of how she perceived Jimmy. The explosive argument in 'Wiedersehen' is cathartic yet upsetting, she sees right through Jimmy whilst he slips further away from her, she can't ever quite sever their connection. I find their dynamic to be fascinating, this season is about subversion, we really expect their breakup to be here and they are pushed to the edge of each other but those closing moments are a bridge into season 5 and the decline of Kim Wexler. She sees him as a broken person and almost excuses his actions due to her empathetic nature and looks at him as a damaged man committing damaging acts rather than a criminal that is dangerous for her. She feels like she understands Jimmy more than anyone else, her morally grey deception comes from a place of wanting to help Jimmy, Gilligan makes a clear point to show her succeeding more and more with Mesa Verde yet still stooping to Jimmy's levels. It all boils down to their final scene together that honestly makes this entire slow build-up worth it, she watches Jimmy confess the true extent of Chuck's impact in this heartbreaking display of honesty and that cathartic look on her face is exactly what she needed. However they flip that on its head immediately, the reveal that Jimmy was being insincere is like punch to the gut and the birth of Saul Goodman isn't triumphant but incredibly heartbreaking.
Season 4 is a darker and more upsetting season, Chuck's absence is felt throughout and I find it so mesmerising with how they deal with this. His small appearance in that incredible 'Winner Takes It All' scene is beautiful, one of the only times we have seen these two brothers act like brothers is only witnessed after seeing the true extent of their rivalry played out. The memory rears its head like a depressing reminder that nothing is ever black and white, just when we thought Jimmy has forgotten completely about Chuck and the two are a traumatic part of each other's past, Gilligan reminds the audience that they had a connection and this is a tragic end for both of their character's. Last season was the death of Chuck McGill, this is the death of Jimmy McGill, in my opinion, the last time we see these two characters is that flashback, the memory is happy and nostalgic indicating that we are moving towards something darker in the form of Saul Goodman. It is a truly fantastic season, much slower and tougher to get through than previous seasons but more than worth it for the payoff to these characters and the style and beauty of 'Better Call Saul' is never more enticing.
Thanks for reading!