Black and Blue

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.

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.

Many reviews here already have used the term "buildup;" I've yet to see one review, even the low ones, to say "filler." That's because every story has to have some level of slower, more detailed, less explosive storytelling that brings the story along its path, otherwise the Ozymandias's of the world would not be 10/10's. Big, explosive, pay-off episodes are that way because they have weight behind them, weight created by disciplined, careful storytelling that slowly raises stakes until everything comes to a head (hence the term "pay-off"). BCS and BB will forever be masterclasses for this kind of storytelling, which essentially every writer/showrunner should reference since they're all trying to tell some type of story... the difference between filler and buildup is the writer of a filler episode doesn't know how to get where they're going let alone where they're going at all, but needs to fill space to fill quota so they can "get to the good part." The writer of a buildup episode understands where they want to go and how to get there and is willing to take the time necessary to get there organically and realistically, through character development and careful plot details that some less patient viewers might call "slow." BCS has never been a victim of filler episodes. This is classic and perfect buildup.

But the most important thing it's if they are good ones. This is actually a very good one. Slow, but meaningful. Full of visual story telling, smart details, forwarding (and "Howarding") reasons to view it with a glass of wine. Sometimes you just need episodes like this, here and there.

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*