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Spoiler warning for anyone who hasn't yet watched Better Call Saul's penultimate Season 4 episode.
Unsurprisingly, Better Call Saul has spent its first nine episodes building to a finale where Jimmy, Kim, Mike and Gus are all reaching positions of peak turmoil, and each of those characters experienced their respective points of no return in "Wiedersehen," the ninth installment of Season 4. The episode started off in such a relatively happy place, too, with Kim running a scam (on someone played by the actress who got brutalized in the first season of The Leftovers, which left a visual scar that hasn't healed). Alas, with only dread filling up our World's Best Lawyer Again cup, let's take a look at Jimmy's latest disaster and beyond.
"Jimmy" Still Can't Be A Lawyer
The second half of the episode contained one of Better Call Saul's most obvious inevitabilities -- that Jimmy would attempt and fail to regain his law license after his year-long suspension -- but it was still truly devastating to see all of Jimmy's anguish rush to the surface after he learned of his denial. There was the anticipation of him doing something completely out of the box and soaked in vengeance, which is a feeling that will bleed into next week's finale, titled "Winner."
Perhaps even more painful to watch was Jimmy outwardly blaming everyone but himself, even when his words conveyed that it was his fault for not being convincing enough about his love of the law. He nearly sent a final torpedo through his already-crumbling relationship with Kim, though there's still room for at least one more spark or two. And he definitely imploded any potential future for Jimmy McGill, Attorney at Law, so long as anyone from that trio is part of the re-evaluations. So it's no stretch of the imagination to think that Jimmy will officially find himself with a brand new moniker by the time the finale's credits role.
Fring vs. Lalo
While this season initially seemed like it was setting up Fring and Nacho to be direct friends or foes, both men once again found themselves at the tentative mercy of a Salamanca brute. Lalo Salamanca's smile barely veils his inherently suspicious nature of anyone but his uncle Hector, and it doesn't stop him from trying to get whatever information he deems important. Of course, we all know that to break the seal around Gus Fring's private business is to pencil a signature on one's own death warrant.
In "Wiedersehen," fans learned that Lalo is the reason why Don Hector is using a call bell as his main mode of communication in Breaking Bad. And seriously, has there been a scene on this show more absurdly chilling than Hector's manic rings over Lalo's unhinged laughter? It's obvious that Fring is going to win this war in the long run, given his status in Breaking Bad, but I'm not counting against Lalo leaving a permanent mark on the lives of both Fring and Nacho. The finale seems like a good place to start dishing out some of that damage, too.
Mike Is On The Hunt For Werner
Who is truly to blame for the way the episode ended? Is it Rainer Bock's overworked Werner, who took advantage of each olive branch he was offered by Mike, including the strip club visit and the extended phone call to his wife? Or is it Mike, who believed in Werner's claims about how quickly and efficiently his crew would be able to complete the superlab's construction, possibly only because Mike was sick of already having dealt with other applicants?
Oh, right, Werner is definitely to blame. He spent all that time out there in mostly solitude, only to sabotage it all in the end by plotting an escape to go back to his home. Knowing Mike -- who is definitely not comparable to Walter White, according to star Jonathan Banks -- the German team leader's home won't actually be his final destination. Instead, I think he'll end up taking a long nap somewhere in the desert, perhaps even beneath the superlab's floors. And that's not even considering the fate of everyone else on the construction team. Kai has had a target on his head all season, but will the others also get murdered in quick haste?
I can hardly stand waiting another week to watch the final episode of Better Call Saul's simmering fourth season. Alas, it won't be airing on AMC any earlier than Monday, October 8, at 9:00 p.m. ET. To see what else is coming to the network and beyond in the coming months, head to our fall TV premiere schedule.