'Better Call Saul' Recap: 'Something Beautiful'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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Normally, when I hear the cast and crew of a particular television series declare their upcoming season to be the ‘darkest’ to date, I’m naturally quite skeptical of that claim. Because darkness and television really don’t mix that well since it’s a slippery slope to go down, one that can alienate an audience if it goes to places far bleaker than expected and often times a ‘dark’ season just means a few of the characters on a particular series deal with some tough times before things get back to normal. But when the cast and crew of Better Call Saul made that particular claim earlier this year, I definitely felt a chill going down my spine. Because this is a show that doesn’t mess around, and it isn’t afraid in the slightest to venture to ugly places that most shows avoid.
 
Yet, while the first two episodes have been bleak in their own right as we've watched Jimmy McGill struggle with the death of his brother, I’ve honestly been surprised that we have yet to see a true downward spiral come to fruition storytelling wise and well, as the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for, because last night’s episode of the series, ‘Something Beautiful’, finally allowed for that to happen, and I will admit that I was completely and utterly unprepared for the proverbial storm that this particular tale unleashed upon all of us. Because this story, was filled to the brim with nervous breakdowns and challenging, life threatening moments the likes of which we’ve never seen on this series and really, I suppose the best place to start today, would be to look at Nacho’s harrowing journey in this tale.
 
Because this episode more or less picked up immediately after the events of ‘Breathe’, wherein we found Nacho in another precarious place, on cleanup duty with Fring’s men in order to make it seem as though an interested party or rival cartel had made a move against the Salamancas and well, Nacho had to go through hell to sell this grand and sweeping lie, to the point where he took a pair of bullets and suffered greatly after that. For he had to spend who knows how long aching in the desert and he was forced to endure some sub-par medical care, all in the name of forwarding Gus’ plan to eventually corner the drug market in Albuquerque and well, this ugly part of the story was sobering to say the least, and it truly set the tone for how this episode was going to go and really, it was all downhill from there. 

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​Which brings us to Jimmy’s journey in this tale, which may not have been as disturbing as Nacho’s journey, but it was still tough to watch none the less simply because, Jimmy is continuing to break down and others are taking notice. After all, Mike was quick to show genuine surprise over Jimmy’s push to pull off the heist at Neff Copiers and did his best to console the man, but Mike’s concern is warranted because Jimmy is hell bent on getting the unwholesome fix that he needs, and he eventually managed to get the heist to come to fruition, with mixed results. If anything, the heist sequence itself was really the only comic relief we received in this tale, and it was neat to see the reintroduction/introduction of Ira (and Gale as well) into this whole universe but really, Jimmy’s obsession with doing something bad to feel good is of serious concern, as was the final breakfast scene.
 
For in that moment, Kim finally decided it was high time for Jimmy to deal with the final matters concerning his brother, and she gave him the five-thousand-dollar buyout for the Will and the letter that she was concerned would shatter his psyche and well, that letter ended up breaking her in surprising fashion. Because Jimmy was actually happy to read the letter and did so in the coldest of fashion and well, that brought Kim to tears, implying that she believes that Jimmy is falling to pieces and burying his pain and while she’s right, the concern that I have when it comes to this scene is that, Jimmy isn’t giving her the full story. After all, she doesn’t know about that devastating final conversation between these two brothers, the one that ended their relationship and well, Jimmy’s lack of communication with someone that loves him is disconcerting to say the least and likely damaging during this precarious time since he is in essence pushing away someone that cares for him deeply and well, all storylines aside, the complexity and subtlety of this scene was downright brilliant and downright heartbreaking.  
 
If anything, it’s tough to watch Jimmy’s downward slide continue and well, when all is said and done, this episode was a mess, and I mean that as a compliment. Because everything in this tale was a powerful yet compelling disaster, making the title ironic and the darkness of this tale definitely gave me pause because this one was tough to watch and tough to write about and well, I tip my cap to the Writer’s Room and the cast for delivering the darkness they promised and, in all honesty, I’m nervous yet curious to see what comes next. Because this show isn’t messing around in the slightest and it’s not offering any easy path forward for the characters and things are likely only going to get bleaker from here on out, which is going to make season three all the more incredible, and all the more painful to watch. Until next time.  

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