Quite a Ride

This is an amazing show and this one episode is quite special.

It's wonderful to see clear references to The Sopranos (the "remaining board" "S THE MAN" on CC Mobile), to Tarantino's movies (what was the song "Street Life" playing while Jimmy selled those mobile phones? Yeah!!), to BB itself (double "you're goddamn right!" with Huell), and, last but not least, the issue with the mobile phones itselves, a signature of The Wire. All subtly and intelligently put on the screen.

Direction and screenwriters really shine on this show, which has already become one of my favorites.

Over the course of it's 4-Season run, Better Call Saul has never felt more like Breaking Bad than "Quite A Ride", the season's fifth episode. Each of the three storylines get equal weight and attention, resulting in an altogether fantastic episode.

Kim/Howard Storyline: 8/10 The Kim/Howard Storyline is still by far the weakest of the three storylines that take up Better Call Saul's episodes every week, but it is certainly getting better. Depending on the episode, the storylines involving these two characters could come across as a bit boring, but in the case of this episode, it is quite the contrary.

Kim trying her hand at becoming a criminal lawyer is incredibly entertaining. Certainly she seems to be enjoying this side of the law much more. Just watching her communicate with different people who have committed crimes is so incredibly thrilling to watch and I hope that this storyline continues to get better and better, because it has been running a bit slow recently. However, one has to wonder, what happens to Kim and Howard that makes them not end up on Breaking Bad. I guess we'll just have to wait and see then.

Mike/Gus Storyline: 10/10

This storyline is without a doubt the greatest storyline currently on Better Call Saul. Watching Mike work more and more for Gus is so incredibly entertaining. We know that at some point Mike will be working full-time for Gus, but for now, we will wait in anticipation.

This episode certainly does a very good job of taking the viewer slowly back into the world of Breaking Bad by introducing the Superlab shown in Breaking Bad. Incredible cinematography is displayed as we see Mike try to find a person who can restore the lab. It's exciting to see where Vincent Gilligan and Peter Gould go from here in terms of this storyline.

Jimmy/Kim Storyline: 9/10

Normally I would give this sequence a 10/10, but this episode brings it down one point. We spend the whole episode showing great character transformation for Jimmy, by showing him go around town selling pay as you go phones to criminals. Stunning cinematography and acting from Bob Odenkirk once again as he sells the phones and runs into several thugs in a familiar Breaking Bad restaurant, Dog House. We are also treated to the first actual scene with Odenkirk acting as Saul Goodman in the beginning of the episode. The scene takes place in between two top-notch Breaking Bad episodes, Ozymandias and Granite State. Getting back to the current storyline, everything is going so wonderfully until everything goes down-hill for Jimmy. After making money from selling the phones to different criminals, he gets robbed by three teenagers. The scene was stunningly executed, but I felt a little bit robbed because we spent the whole episode with Jimmy finally scamming people, and acting like Saul, and then it all gets undone. I have no doubt however that this episode ended up with Jimmy closer to becoming Saul than he ever has been before, which is fantastic.

Overall, this episode was a great episode of Saul, really showcasing all of it's incredible, top-notch actors, all while retaining a good tone and pace, with excellent cinematography as well.

"Quite A Ride": 94% -two points taken off for Jimmy still not entirely transforming into Saul -two points taken off for backtracking Jimmy's transformation by having him get robbed (also telling guy that he still has the intention of continuing partnership with Kim, even though he's probably not going to do that) -two points taken off a little bit of a slow pace for Kim/Howard Storyline.

This episode features the first proper overlap with the breaking bad timeline and boy do we want more of these. Hopefully these overlaps will feature more prominent events and characters from the breaking bad timeline in the future episodes ofbetter call saul.

Jimmy's evolution towards Saul takes some big steps in this episode, particularly with the scenes involving the mobile phones. You feel this transitional period in his arc is gathering momentum. The pre-intro scene was a strong reminder of where is his headed.

Little moments such as the scene featuring Howard add further detail to Jimmy's frame of mind. His relationship with the character Kim is one of the main reasons to keep watching. It has the same horrible inevitability about it like Walt's relationship with his family.

Kim's scenes at work are some of the most intriguing as hers is an unknown fate in the Breaking Bad universe. Rhea Seehorn does a great job of conveying pent up emotion as always and makes the character extremely watchable.

Mike's scenes of Fring related business involve some very well done fan service. We know where it is all heading, but I have to admit I find this Breaking Bad related backstory compelling.

I was starting to get a little worried about the slow pacing (particularly concerning Jimmy's arc) but this episode managed to cover a lot of ground and I personally think it's the best they've done this season so far. It was great to see a post-BB cold open and it tied in perfectly with the events of the episode. As well as Jimmy's fantastic (yet tragic) storyline, it was nice to see Kim doing what she does best but also to see her fatal flaw at its most prevalent. The only gripe I have with this episode is the Mike/Gus storyline which, while necessary to the plot, felt a little drawn out.