![]() ![]() On the other hand, Chuck goes on an epic “I’m not crazy” rant about Jimmy that seals his fate, and the sad irony is that he is right about not making a mistake about the numbers-as it was Jimmy’s scheme that created the “mistake.” For Jimmy, he pulls a classic Saul trick to get a cellphone battery into Chuck’s pocket with the help of Huell (demonstrating to the judges that his brother is not well), and his charisma, as always, is on full display. “Chicanery” has a case to be higher than this, as it was a masterful hour of television that pits Jimmy and Kim versus Chuck and Howard-highlighting the McGill brothers by showing their true selves. Then, the episode concludes with Jimmy/Gene contemplating killing Marion before relenting and being forced to go on the run once again. We also get conversations between Jimmy and Kim over the phone (with her not showing much love other than saying she’s glad he’s alive), the flashback of their divorce during which Jimmy compartmentalizes his sadness (“Have a nice life, Kim.”), and a final appearance for Jesse Pinkman in a captivating conversation with Kim as the two shows continued to collide. Having some sort of tears for “Waterworks” felt like a certainty based on the episode title, and Rhea Seehorn didn’t disappoint as the one to breakdown as the present-day version of Kim-uncontrollably crying on the bus after telling Cheryl Hamlin what really happened to her husband. Before that, Gus and Mike set out to put a hit on Lalo with the forced cooperation of Nacho-which sets up a memorable season finale. To defuse the situation, Kim steps in to essentially lecture Lalo about what her husband went through for him, and the villain quietly looks at them for what feels like an eternity before walking out without saying a word to end the episode. So, when Lalo drops in on Jimmy/Saul after the events of “Bagman” with questions (“Tell me again.”)-while Mike has a sniper trained on him from outside-all we really know is that Jimmy will live. It doesn’t take long for Lalo Salamanca to be a feared individual after being introduced late in Season 4, and by the penultimate episode of the penultimate season, viewers and characters alike have truly no idea what he might do in any given moment. Tragically, Howard is buried next to the man who killed him, adding another layer (no pun intended) to Breaking Bad. For the intensity to be cranked up to “10” despite knowing Gus obviously makes it out alive was quite a filmmaking feat, and Lalo’s showmanship gets the best of him by allowing an opening for Gus to shoot him dead with the gun he planted in the under-construction lab. Of course, Mike stops Kim at the door, and Gus eventually goes to the laundry to be outsmarted by Lalo for a short while. ![]() The action picks up right where the midseason finale left off, with Jimmy convincing Lalo to let Kim be the one to kill Gus (simply to get her away from the homicidal villain)-leading to a scene reminiscent of Jesse being forced to kill Gale in Breaking Bad. The consequences of Lalo killing Howard-or perhaps more appropriately, Jimmy and Kim playing games that resulted in an innocent’s death-were fully felt to begin the second half of Season 6. It turned out to be their final conversation. This episode also had an overlooked tie-in with the series finale-with Jimmy wanting to talk about his regrets while a defeated Chuck dismissed him by saying he’d never change. By the end, Chuck had been on bad terms with both Jimmy and Howard, and to kill himself in such a horrific manner showed just how damaged his brilliant mind had become. The early seasons of Better Call Saul included multiple episodes worthy of consideration-from “Five-O” and “Pimento” in Season 1 to “Nailed” in Season 2-but “Lantern” gets the final spot based on the ending (Chuck’s suicide by fire) being the culmination of everything built up through 30 episodes. This article might be a little more subjective with so many options, which shows just how good of a series the prequel turned out to be. After ranking the best episodes of Breaking Bad last week, we’re now ranking the top Better Call Saul episodes following last night’s tremendous series finale. ![]()
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