Andrea Hammack
Staff Writer
Season four of “Better Call Saul” has recently wrapped up, leaving fans wanting more as the storyline moves closer to merging with the world of “Breaking Bad.”
If you have been keeping up with the spin-off focusing on Jimmy McGill, or soon-to-be Saul Goodman, then you know season three left us with some devastating cliff-hangers.
Here’s a recap of season four (although watch out, because there will be spoilers):
After the end of season three, viewers were uncertain of Kim’s future and were left with the final scene showing Chuck’s house in flames.
After over a year of waiting, we entered the fourth season a bit skeptical of where it could be heading.
Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM) is going downhill as Howard Hamlin is blaming himself for Chuck’s death, while Kim is lashing out at Howard in regards to Jimmy. Jimmy, unsurprisingly, has no remorse towards his brother’s death.
As a committed viewer, I can’t say I blame Jimmy. Not because Jimmy doesn’t have his own faults, but I believe Chuck, along with the rest of HHM, has instilled this “need” to get to the top with no concern with who it effects in the process.
In season three, Varga replaces Hector Salamanca’s heart pills, causing him to have a heart attack/stroke which ultimately causes him to be in his condition in “Breaking Bad.”
Gustavo Fring is frustrated over the recent downfall of Salamanca, caused by Nacho Varga.
Salamanca is alive but physically handicapped, as he can only respond by tapping his finger and eventually ringing the famous bell.
Meanwhile, Mike Ehrmantraut is working for Fring on constructing the meth lab underneath the laundromat seen in “Breaking Bad.”
Things get complicated for the hired German engineer, Werner Ziegler ,because he decides not to heed Mike’s warnings of finishing the job when he sneaks away to see his wife.
This greatly upsets Fring and ultimately ends in Ziegler’s death and the dismissal of his team. This leaves the question of who will finish the job and how?
As we continue to move into the season, Jimmy is selling “untraceable” cellphones as an odd job and somehow gets Kim to join in on his not-so-truthful plots.
He is still holding on to the hope that they will work together in the future, although at this point, Jimmy is still on suspension, and Kim wants to only use their powers for “good”.
Their relationship has become very strained throughout this season, but even through all of the fighting, Kim stays by Jimmy’s side, helping him present his appeal because he was denied reinstatement the first time.
(Side note: His story was unconvincing to the committee the first time due to his “insincerity” and his lack of mentioning Chuck.)
This time, he not only mentions Chuck but milks it for all it’s worth. Even Kim shed some tears.
Once they are in the hall, however, Jimmy reveals it was all an act, and Kim looks extremely disappointed.
In this scene, Jimmy also reveals he will not be practicing under the name McGill anymore, but rather Saul Goodman. This is where we are left hanging.
End of recap.
Personally, I fell in love with “Breaking Bad” during high school and was super excited to learn about the spin off, which put faces to characters only mentioned once or twice in the original show.
Now that the two timelines are starting to meet up, I can see the parallels between the two stories, so I can pick out small details and go “Oh! So that’s why that happened.”
Season four was a little milder as far as cliffhangers and violence goes which almost makes it feel like they’re tantalizing the audience with minute details so for the next season, they can bring everything crashing down at once.
I feel like as we move closer to Jimmy becoming Saul Goodman, the creators may be taking their time getting there because they don’t want to see Saul come back. Jimmy still seems to have sympathy and morals left in him, as minute as they may be.
Now that we are getting so close to the time period of “Breaking Bad,” it leaves the door open for so many questions, which will hopefully be answered next season.
What happens to Kim Wexler (who is not mentioned at all in “Breaking Bad,”) and how fast will the progression of Jimmy to Saul be?
As the possible fifth and final season draws near (mid-2019 most likely), will we finally be saying goodbye to Jimmy McGill for good?
For anyone who loved “Breaking Bad” as much as I did, “Better Call Saul” is a great watch because it adds more pieces to the puzzle which you didn’t realize you were missing.
