Black and Blue

Another great, dark and serious episode with a few hilarious moments. This episodes sums up "Better Call Saul" great. It's a drama series with a hilarious protagonist who adds much-needed bits of comedy. This is why Saul Goodman is such a great character. "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" would be too dark and serious without Saul's charm.

Gus is still waiting for Lalo to make his move. It's so interesting to see how Gus and Mike run their business. They have clever solutions for everything and it's engaging to see how afraid Gus is of Lalo. We have never seen him act this way. He is always cool and in full control, but he fears Lalo too much.

The tension is sky-high. Where will this story end and how are they going to wrap everything up in the remaining episodes. There's no way to know, but the writers will definitely pull it off with excellence.

Don't get me wrong, I think Lalo is a wonderful and thrilling villain. Having watched the entire BB 'verse, initially he gives me the awe feel that Gus first struck.

I guess Lalo may eventually suffer "villain decay" as the Tropes people say, just like Gus, but Lalo feels very much like a real person you could meet.

Anyway, I do think they have veered a few times into making Lalo a character with 007 level skills.

That strains credulity, but more importantly, Lalo doesn't need it. Note that almost no character sees his most extreme abilities.

What makes him so effective is Dalton's performance. He swings from charming life of the party to terrifying at his whim.

8.5/10 Howard was not out of character to do what he did I don't understand why I see reviews of people saying this. If anything if he did something beyond the scope of boundaries then it makes sense... Saul literally hauled 2 bowling balls at his car and damaged it badly, embarrassed him with those hookers and when he confronted Jimmy the right way he lashed out on him like a maniac, Howard decided to just carry on and now Jimmy is going the extra mile even more. Howard being who he is thinks it's Saul behind all of this but little does he know it's Kim. This episode highlights all what has happened up until this point and focuses on that. Gus has every reason to be as cautious as he has been for Lalo. It all makes sense, it creates this tension in the show. My only question is what was the point of that intro in the show if it just later becomes a prop in the last 3 minutes of the episode that goes nowhere... does the character use that prop (item) ?? Is that a clue?? Last scene I saw the character with this item that I won't be spoiling they simply put it back on the shelf, I'm not sure if they took it with them... the intro to this episode was kind of like okay... but when it leads up to the moment of why that was the introduction it's somewhat flat in that scope, so I can see why people will rank it a little lower, there's necessarily no payoff on this episode it's all buildup into what's to come... which is fine I guess, it creates the tension and builds it more, breaking bad has had these moments too, just not in the LAST season of the show lol this season needs to start picking up like NOW if it wants to be anywhere near the legendary season 5 of BrBa, now we did have the first 3 episodes of the seasons which were just legendary moments in TV show history, but I'm wanting a bit more, we needed these last 2 episodes for the buildup of what's to come. Hoping Axe & Grind delivers!

Black & somewhat Blue 8.5/10

*gave it the edge to a 9 for IMDB*

Howard confronts Jimmy, whilst Lalo does some investigation.

This is a strong episode with some entertaining moments and suspense.

There is not huge amount of plot development but it feels like the writers are laying some important foundations for what is to come, particularly involving characters like Kim, Howard, Gus, and Lalo.

I particularly like the scenes with Howard, which are humorous and also change the dynamic of Jimmy and Kim's campaign against the him. Patrick Fabian is great as ever. I love his speech to the Sandpiper crowd; very slickly written and delivered.

The other interesting part of the story is the appearance of Lalo, whose scenes are intriguing and at times very uncomfortable. There is some decent suspense generated towards the end of the episode. Tony Dalton is suitably charming and creepy as always.

As always the cinematography and editing tell the story with great visuals and set the appropriate tone.

A careful, more thoughtful episode with a window into the fastidious and precise mind of Gus Fring, building tension for an inevitable showdown.

A fine performance from Giancarlo Esposito, displaying Gus and his careful, attentive, OCD behaviour. This is the external expression of his ultimate high-stakes duel with the Lalo living rent-free in his head. There is an impression that others are humouring him like a slightly eccentric uncle who sees monsters under the bed.