It is with regret that I write this criticism, knowing that with the phenomenal end of season 4, there is a year's wait for season 5.
Unlike the previous seasons, Better Call Saul: Season 4 gained momentum quickly, after the suicide of Jimmie's brother, Chuck. From the first episode, Jimmie suppresses any sign of emotion regarding Chuck's death, most likely because allowing himself to feel would imply accepting responsibility and that would be enormously inconvenient for his plans to go ahead. Instead, he cruelly allows Howard to take the blame and walks as if nothing had happened, much to Kim's surprise.
Of course, at the end of the season, Kim finally sees Jimmie talk about his brother's death in his heartfelt speech to the jury. Kim's eyes turn tearful at the sight of Jimmie admitting what his brother meant to him in a sincere and truly moving moment at last.
At least, that's what we think. By the time he leaves the meeting room, Jimmie laughs, mocking the "fools" on the board who really shed a tear. Kim stays there in shock, realizing that she is one of the suckers who believed that Jimmie was capable of being honest. It's with Kim's surprised expression and Jimmie's satisfied smile that the season is ending. Jimmie is now officially a lawyer again, only he no longer practices on behalf of McGill. He proudly announces that after weeks of deception, he has emerged victorious: "Every good man!"
Jimmie's transition to Saul was fascinating to watch and viewers have expressed surprise at the fact that Jimmie made the transition completely while still with Kim. Many of us wrongly predicted that it would be Kim's loss that tipped him to the edge of morale, so to speak. Instead, Jimmie beats Kim in the ambiguous land of the moral gray area in a shocking transformation of character. However, even though Kim participates in Jimmie's elusive schemes and even organizes his own, it is still clear that his humanity is completely intact. This is more than we can say to Jimmie, who not only cheats on a bar association, but terrorizes two troublesome teenagers by hanging them upside down while Huel comes running to them with a baseball bat in "Piñata." It has become evident that he is willing to do anything to cut corners and move forward.
The history of Salamanca and Fring was also more than exciting this season. The treatment that Gus gave Hector is the closest thing to the pure and unmotivated evil that someone has gone so far in the series. Anyone who has seen Breaking Bad and found that Gus's secret meth lab is incredibly amazing, will also be pleased to learn the limits he had to go through to build it. The introduction of the eccentric Lalo Salamanca was also very well received and the chase of the car in the final was a highlight of the series. Mike's chewing gum trick to shake Lalo was very, very satisfying and the death of the German architect who missed his wife was moving and beautifully directed.
In general, season 4 of Better Call Saul was phenomenal and Wrapped perfectly. It would be almost a satisfactory ending to the whole series if the question of what happened to Nacho and Kim was not yet over our heads. The wait of a year for the fifth season will be long, but for now, all we can say is a big congratulation to Vince Gilligan and the Better Call Saul team for producing another incredible television season. [19659003] 5/5
