Margaux and I discuss last night’s Better Call Saul and the wonderful character it (re)introduced.
Trevor: So I’ve said before how much I love the look of this show, which isn’t exactly a trenchant insight, because everyone loves the look of this show. But one thing I’m really starting to admire, which I just noticed, is how much of Better Call Saul’s third season takes place outdoors. Seasons one and two were claustrophobic by comparison. But here we see so many of those vast New Mexico expanses, as if the show is forcing isolation on both the viewer and the characters by showing us how alone everyone is, how insignificant, how easy to miss. And it also does a good job of opening up the world, literally, as characters’ lives change and new people are introduced.
None of that is super germane to the review we’re writing. “Sunk Costs” is definitely a table-setting episode, and while I liked it a lot, as usual, it definitely felt like the show was hitting the brakes a little, especially after the intense pacing of “Mabel” and “Witness.” How did you like it?
Margaux: What you said about the show depicting literal isolation dovetails nicely into the theme of “Sunk Costs,” forming alliances – you can’t take on the cruel world alone. But that doesn’t really quite happen until the end, but Jimmy is gonna need all the help he can get to take on Chuck and his true intention of the consequences he intends to inflict upon Jimmy. The sanctimonious speech he gives Jimmy on the curb before the cops – Jimmy’s “ride” – show up demonstrates that this one-sided brotherly rivalry has been building to this conclusion since they were kids and Jimmy’s parents found Jimmy to the be the affable of the two. The way Chuck towers over Jimmy – I understand Jimmy is sitting versus Chuck standing over him – it seems like winning at something over his brother is the only medicine Chuck needs, all the free electrons in the air outside didn’t see to affect him much. And Jimmy’s (accurate) “here’s what’s going to happen to you” rebuttal sounded exactly like how Chuck is gonna die, alone.
Trevor: I’m glad you brought up Chuck, because, man: what a dick. Thanks for reading GAMbIT’s insightful reviews, everyone!
Margaux: Did you guys know…Chuck is the fucking worst!
Trevor: Michael McKean has really angled hard into Chuck’s more objectionable qualities this season, and I don’t think anything he’s said up until this point has pissed me off as much as when he offered to let Jimmy wait inside for the cops. And their dueling monologues – “Here’s what’s going to happen” – were so expertly done by McKean and Bob Odenkirk. Chuck speaks with certitude and condescension, Jimmy with something between resignation and fury. Such a small thing, wonderfully done, which I guess is BCS as a whole.
Margaux: Chuck’s act was emotionally abusive, plain and simple. Kick him while he’s down, right before he sends Jimmy off to be humiliated in his former place of work. And we’ll get to Chuck’s crocodile tear-laced performance to the outsider DA, it redefines “blood-boiling.”
Trevor: It was a lot of fun to watch Jimmy go from (in Chuck’s eyes) beaten and chastised, to kind of getting in his groove at the police station. First of all, excellent montage, DUH. But this is Jimmy’s wheelhouse, and he knows everyone here. You think anyone else is getting $2,500 bail on a felony? Granted, the new DA doesn’t give Jimmy the hometown advantage he expects, but (especially with Kim in his corner) he stands a pretty good chance. A small detail I loved happened when Jimmy was telling Kim that he didn’t want to bother her with his case. He says “I will take care of this; me, Jimmy McGill,” emphasizing his name, which we know will soon be changing forever. Until he moves to Nebraska and becomes Gene.
Margaux: Jimmy’s jail intake montage juxtaposed with Kim’s morning routine, if anything, underlines how doomed their relationship is. Naturally, I was heartbroken when Jimmy rebuffed Kim when she shows up to his arraignment, and then he barfs out that apology when he gets back to the office that he painstakingly practiced in that cab (probably, you have to speed through something that wordy). It was nice to see them back on the same page by the end, but what will this do to Kim’s career and more importantly, her make-or-break client Mesa Verde? After all, don’t all road lead back there anyway?
Trevor: I love seeing them on the same side (just look at that shot of them sharing a cigarette, calling back to her time at HHM when they would sneak smokes together in the parking lot), but yes, I do worry about her career. In a lot of ways, Better Call Saul is a tragedy, and Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, and the whole writers’ room have done such a great job making Kim a fully-rounded, sympathetic character that it’s going to break my heart when she becomes collateral damage.
Now: shall we talk about Chuck some more, or would you like to discuss a certain purveyor of fried chicken?
Margaux: Casting Kimberly Hebert Gregory as Chuck’s council, Kyra Hay, was refreshing – she’s one of the best parts of Vice Principals and I look forward to seeing what she’ll bring to the character, especially in a Gilligan/Gould joint. And after we discover the details of the plea deal, we have our confirmation, Chuck simply wants Jimmy disbarred (which serves to highlight your point about “I, Jimmy McGill will fix this” is the most obvious foreshadow to Saul).
Alright, let’s talk about the man in black.
Trevor: This role fits Giancarlo Esposito like a fucking glove. He’s so natural, so magnet in the role that it feels like he was never gone from TV (well, he was on Revolution and Once Upon a Time, but those shows are dumb). And I’m glad you brought up the black clothes he wears; it’s such a stark difference from the first time we saw him, sweeping up in that yellow shirt. Gus Fring is effectively two different characters, and the best part of Esposito’s performance is that you never have to guess which one you’re watching.
Margaux: The way they frame Gus when he meets Mike on that back road; his backdrop is a bright blue sky, and here’s this man of Prince’s stature with a tailored black suit, it was like looking at an angel of death. Which I’m sure was the point. Seems like Mike attracted attention when he stole one of Hector’s trucks, and even though Gus intimates that they are each other’s competition, Gus doesn’t want to Hector dead. Yet.
Trevor: And I love how this works as a reintroduction, as a reestablishment of Gus and the unwavering control he exerts over every aspect of his life and business. Even Mike recognizes it; he doesn’t cower from Gus, but he senses that Gus is in the Wu Tang Clan – meaning he’s not to be fucked with. But I think Mike gains a lot of Gus’s respect by insisting he’s not done with Hector Salamanca. (Also, the way Mike sabotages that drug shipment is another great example of Mike being the smartest guy in whatever room he’s in.)
Margaux: And thanks to the cold open, we know that Mike’s Sabotage Part Two: More Guns, More Coke leads to Gus’s operation using the same route Hector used to. Watching Mike have to try more than once to the sneakers full of coke up on the telephone line was jarring, I assume Mike is good at everything, he never needs to try more than once.
Trevor: I also assumed that Mike, and Jonathan Banks, would get that on the first try.
Margaux: Overall, I wasn’t as smitten by “Sunk Costs” as I was with “Mabel” because in order for the story to move forward, we had go through a few moments we’ve touched on than once to finally get to the point. I loved the re-introduction to Oakley and his bizarre obsession with Davis and Main (I wonder if they’ll ever hire the poor bastard, he really wants a fucking company car, and I don’t blame him). And the Wexler/McGill secretary seems to be a real boon to their business; who else will reschedule an entire day’s worth of appointments, touch up the paint on that depressing stock market crash logo, AND take you back to your car at your asshole brother’s house? Give her a fuckin’ raise, already!
Trevor: I love Francesca. MWP of WM. Well now that I nailed that sweet joke, let’s go out on it – you want to talk stars?
Margaux: I would give “Sunk Costs” a damn near perfect score just for the final scene between Jimmy and Kim; it definitely gets most heartwarming team-up in TV history. But as much I want to, I can’t judge an entire episode based on one scene (or at least, I shouldn’t do that). A pretty engaging episode that was a lot of set-up for the rest of the season to fall like dominos.
3.5/5
About Author
