'Better Call Saul' Recap: 'Sabrosito'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

There was a special air of anticipation that came with settling in to watch this week's episode of Better Call Saul in that, it truly seemed as though the grand showdown between the Brothers McGill was finally about to come to fruition with brother staring down brother in a courtroom. 

However this is a series that thrives on surprising the audience as often as possible and that was never more evident than it was last night, since 'Sabrosito' went in quite an unexpected direction, by examining the consequences of everyone's actions to date this season and by exploring, in depth, Gus Fring's relationship with Hector Salamanca for a fair chunk of the episode, allowing for the whole McGill mess to take the backseat for a bit. But despite this unforeseen twist, last night's tale was still the tour de force we've come to know and love because the dynamic between Hector and Gus was downright fascinating through and through. 

In fact the show was so determined to truly answer any and all questions about why these two men cannot stand one another that it even showed us the genesis of their rivalry; taking us to a moment in time many years ago where Hector tried to please and impress the drug kingpin both he and Gus work for and he failed miserably in doing so since Gus' man delivered far more money and appeared far more professional than his counterpart, utterly embarrassing Hector. That mattered because in present day, with his supply lines cut thanks to Mike's fine work, Hector needed a new mule and took a little trip to Los Pollos Hermanos with his boys to intimidate the staff and cripple the business in order to extort whatever he needed from Gus. 

But the true centerpiece of this part of the story, is Gus himself. This was an incredible look into the mind of a man who will one day become a powerful drug kingpin in Albuquerque, and the speech to his staff the day after Hector and his thugs arrived at the restaurant was worthy of an Oscar and it spoke to Fring's ability to inspire and build trust since everyone ate that speech up and it was a fine reminder of how charming this man can be. He truly knows how to get people on his side and stand by him regardless of the circumstances, unless of course your name is Mike Ehrmantraut, who despite helping Gus out last week, wanted nothing to do with Fring's money for his services. He firmly believed that they were square and that his penance was paid, but Mike didn't close the door on any future work with Gus if the job in question, was a proper fit...

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If anything, Mike served as the connective tissue for this episode, since he found his way into both storylines this week, but before we discuss that, we have to take a moment and talk about the fact that it was nice to see the human side of Mike once again. He's been in quite the dark place since last season, so to see him sit down with his family was refreshing to say the least, as was the moment of regret he expressed as well, since it let us know that poor Mike knows he's crossed a lot of lines over the past few years, ones that there are no return from and while he will spend much of his future working in grey areas, this was a nice reminder that deep down, he is still a good man.

As to how he connected into both storylines however, well...he owed Jimmy a favor as well since Jimmy did that recon work for him at Los Pollos Hermanos, so in order to square up with his attorney he posed as a repair man and made his way to Chuck's doorstep to handle repairs on the elder McGill's broken door, making use of power tools to scare Chuck off and get photographs of his living situation, that he later turned over to Jimmy who was over the moon when it came to getting such quality intel. It would seem based on this that the younger McGill is planning something special for his brother, but before we could figure out what exactly he has up his sleeve, the time had come for the Pre-Prosecution Diversion hearing and well...this was heartbreaking to watch all around since let's be honest, this is brother against brother, and it's not supposed to be this way.

It was simply strange to see them sitting on opposite ends of the table, staring one another down in frosty fashion and it was equally as weird to see Chuck haggle over the price of a cassette tape. But one moment in particular sticks out in my mind from this scene, one that tugged at the heart strings for certain...when the prosecutor asked Jimmy to apologize to his brother. Because not only did Jimmy struggle with giving said apology directly to Chuck, he made a point to emphasize that a brother shouldn't act in negative fashion against his brother and well...he's right. This whole mess is stupid to say the least, they're family, the only family they have left and this is how they spend their time, working hard to discredit the other in the most machismo of fashion and the cold nature of this whole hearing was a fine reminder of how much hurt they've imposed on one another...and that there may be no way to reconcile... 

However, once the hearing was over, it was back to business with Kim putting Howard and Chuck on notice while at the same time getting Chuck to admit to the fact that he made copies of the tape. It's something that apparently both Kim and Jimmy were banking on as they continue to build their little surprise for Charles and when all is said and done, this was quite the fascinating episode for several reasons. For starters, I am a little surprised they moved the showdown between Chuck and Jimmy to next week (based on the teaser), and second...it almost felt like we were saying goodbye to Gus for the time being as well. Between his impassioned speech, extra screen time and conversation with Mike about the future, it really does seem like Mister Fring is about to be put on the back burner for now. Either way, while this episode did have the feel of 'filler' it was still incredibly entertaining thanks to top notch performances and by stretching out the brotherly showdown, the wait to see it finally happen is actually getting worse because now, I'm dying to know what exactly Jimmy has up his sleeve...until next time...

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