‘Better Call Saul’ Review: “Something Unforgivable” Brings the Show’s Best Season Yet to an Ominous Conclusion

This week on Better Call Saul:

• Kim and Jimmy have a conversation!
• Lalo has some folks over to his house!
• Nacho is in deep trouble!
• Everything is so tense that I want to scream!

Lalo and Nacho

What a season this has been. I’ve long maintained that Better Call Saul is currently the best show on TV right now, and season 5 as a whole has justified that opinion. Season 5 has somehow become the best season of an already great show, and now with one season left, almost all bets are off. In many ways, season 5 and the finale, “Something Unforgivable”, have been about defying expectations. Sure, we have a good idea of what happens to many of the characters on this show – we’ve seen their fates on Breaking Bad. But season 5 has managed to take what we assume is coming and smash it to smithereens.

Case in point: Lalo. I’ll admit that as much as I enjoy Tony Dalton’s performance – a blend of charm and menace – it took me a long time to figure out what the hell the endgame was for Lalo. But now I have a much better idea. Because next season is clearly going to involve Lalo on the warpath. And how can it not? He returns to his family home in Mexico with Nacho at his side. But Nacho suspects Gus and Mike (and Bolsa) are up to something back home – and he’s right. There’s an entire team of assassins coming to kill Lalo, Zero Dark Thirty-style.

After some very uncomfortable time spent with Lalo – and also Don Eladio – Nacho manages to slip away while also opening up the gate and letting the assassins in. But Lalo is very hard to kill, and manages to get the upper hand over the entire team, slaughtering them all – but not before they kill some people Lalo cares about. And, more importantly, Lalo realizes that Nacho is nowhere to be found. If he wasn’t in on the hit, surely his dead body would be on the grounds. But that’s not what happened – Nacho is in the wind, and Lalo now knows he had something to do with the attempt on his life. This is very bad news for Nacho. And everyone else.

The Lalo sequence is staged beautifully – tense, action-packed, and brutal. There were one or two moments where it felt like Lalo was too good at beating his would-be killers – almost as if he’s inhuman. But that doesn’t make the scene any less thrilling. And I can’t wait to see what the character has up his sleeve for the final season.

Kim and Jimmy

Why does Kim Wexler stay with Jimmy McGill, aka Saul Goodman? It’s a question that has hung over the series, and just when you think you might have things figured out, the show’s writing flips the script and introduces us to a new angle on the relationship. All this time, though, the general assumption was that Jimmy was destined to ruin Kim in some way. That his criminal lifestyle was going to destroy the one good person he has left in his life. And in this episode, after everything that’s happened this season, Jimm seems to finally have realized this himself.

“Am I bad for you?” he asks Kim. You might be tempted to shout, “Yes!” from your couch. But Kim greets the question with a smirk and a shrug. The pair have run off to a hotel just to be sure they’re safe from Lalo, but once Jimmy is ready to go back home, Kim pushes him to stay. She wants to enjoy the hotel – and all its amenities. But more than that, she wants to pitch Jimmy on something.

Early in the episode, Howard pulls Kim aside and tells her about Jimmy’s “pranks” involving bowling balls and prostitutes. He also warns Kim that being with Jimmy is dangerous. Kim’s reaction? Loud laughter. Is she faking? Putting on a show for Howard? No, apparently not. Instead, later, when Kim and Jimmy have pigged out on room service and are together in bed, Kim comes up with an idea: ruining Howard. Pulling off some sort of scheme that gets Howard fired from his law practice, which will then result in the Sandpiper settlement money going to Kim and Jimmy. And it’s a lot of money. And Kim is all-in on the idea.

This time, it’s Jimmy who attempts to be the voice of reason. At least at first. He thinks that they might be about to go too far. And, more than that, he’s actually afraid of what Kim is proposing here. Season 4. ended with Kim getting a rude awakening to Jimmy’s true nature, and not season 5 has turned the tables. Now it’s Kim who appears ruthless. Why does Kim Wexler stay with Jimmy McGill? Maybe, just maybe, it’s because she’s exactly the same as him.

Sidebar

• I can’t believe there’s only one more season left. I’m not ready to let this show go.
• I’ve said it all damn season, but one more time won’t hurt: give Rhea Seehorn all the awards.
• I’m very nervous for Howard next season.
• I felt like some of the early marketing for this season made a big deal about the return of Hank, but ultimately, he had almost nothing to do this season. His part was little more than a tiny cameo. Honestly, that’s fine. If I want more Hank, I’ll just rewatch Breaking Bad.
• And that’s a wrap on Better Call Saul season 5. See ya next season, folks!

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