Lantern

Season 5 was outstanding but nothing can top this ep. the portrait of a sick man like chuck losses all that he had left and going crazy really makes you feel bad for a man you've disliked since the show started. That montage with the best soundtruck of BCS was so intense. Add to that Hector's collapse and Irene Landry, the great, and you got yourself a masterpiece. Absolutely my favorite ep.

I hate Chuck. He's not a good person, set aside the clear mental illness, he's envious, ignorant, a bad friend and brother, plain rude and so much more.

The Nacho and Salamanca storyline is amazing. And Jimmy is something else for sure. He made poor Irene cry and took her friends away from her. I think Kim is the only truly great person. Don't get me wrong I love all the characters and the show is amazing but these are just the few points I made.

I find this show fascinating and satisfying to watch, and this third season continues on what has made it that way from the start. On the very base level, the linkage to the Breaking Bad stories is coming on very well, with clever shading and constructing of the situations and characters. On this level the show does its job and there is a certain pleasure in that. If that was all there was though, it would be a much lesser beast. With greater focus, the show fills in around these isolated dots and connecting points, and puts lots of character, and smaller moments in there. The narrative is really something I marvel it; here we have a show that has back-to-back scenes which involve drug dealers making potential fatal moves within their organization, then in the same breath we have a scene involving a broken fraternal relationship, or the smoozing of old women for their business.

The marvel is that it all works as well as it does. On top of this challenge, the show does have a slow pace; there is really no ratcheting up of the tense or stakes as the story continues but rather it continues doing what it has been doing thus far, letting everything play out. This slow pace and sense of breathing room pays off in the characters. There are plenty of small moments which add character and detail to each person within the show – it takes patience at times, but it generally pays off because we understand the characters better, and are engaged with them even when we maybe don't like or support them. This patience is asked for, but is helped by the style of delivery. For example Mike has many long sequences of minimal but important plot movement – scenes where we watch him working or waiting (or both), trying to figure something out; done badly these scenes would be awful, but in the way they are delivered here it works well.

This high standard of delivery continues across all the other aspects of the production. The writing is great, and the cast respond well to it, with strong and consistent performances across the board. Odenkirk brings so much to his character, and makes the most of such a complex character. He is well supported by Banks (more and more off on his own threads), although the two performances could not be more different in nature. McKean is very good throughout – could have been one-note, but there is a lot there. Seehorn is solid but perhaps not as well served by the writing. Mando's Nacho has a lot more to work with in this season, and does well with it – while Margolis, and Esposito are as reliable as you expect.

As a total package it is a stylish but well-filled drama, which does ask patience as it takes the path it wants, but it is consistently engaging and rewarding as it does it.

The season finale was heartbreaking, shocking,emotional ,breathtaking Amazing episode that concluded lots of storylines 👌👏 10/10 Expecting new chapters to come !

Lantern is a downbeat but unforgettable finish to the third series.

For me all the most powerful scenes involve the character Chuck. The post intro sequence is excellent, likewise his dialogue with Howard and Jimmy, plus the visual storytelling of all his scenes whilst alone in the house is incredibly effective. As ever the cinematography and editing

Jimmy's evolution toward Saul Goodman is brilliantly incorporated within his relationship with Chuck and the writers pretty much spell it out in their scenes together.

Another great plot involves Jimmy's dealings with Irene and the elderly clients. Just when you thought there was not much of Jimmy's soul left the writers come up with this sacrificial moment akin to Walt's moment of pretence on the phone to Skyler in Ozymandias. A very clever strategy writing to stop us completely turning against the lead character.

The scene with Nacho and Hector are also very strong, as it seemingly answers an important question of Breaking Bad backstory and continues Nacho's character arc, which is important in a show with so many character fates already known.

All actors are on great form, but for me the standout performances come from Michael McKean, Mark Margolis, and Patrick Fabian.

For me it is a 9.5/10, but I round upwards.