Rhea Seehorn and Bob Odenkirk do career-best work in a boldly disturbing, downbeat aftermath.
Better Call Saulreturned in July at a moment of cliffhanger calamity.
Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) and Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) looked on, horrified.
Bob Odenkirk as Gene on final season of ‘Better Call Saul’.Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
Blood, bullets, and burials ensued.
What I’m describing sounds so much likeBetter Call Saulthat it actually sounds nothing likeBetter Call Saul.
Across six seasons, the AMC series followed a relatively small core cast.
Carol Burnett as Marion and Bob Odenkirk as Gene on ‘Better Call Saul’.Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
(Apparently, some of them never will.)
This was a show that simmered.
The hugest thing Gus ever did was start (then halt) construction on a hole in the ground.
Bob Odenkirk as Gene on ‘Better Call Saul’.Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
This midseason premiere, “Point and Shoot,” was something else entirely.
There was even a genuine showdown.
That almost rendered the next episode, “Fun and Games,” an epilogue.
Gus mopped up cartel problems.
Jimmy and Kim kept a poker face during Howard’s funeral.
But two depth charges awaited.
First, Kim left everything: the law, Jimmy, New Mexico.
Then came moral oblivion.
By my count, I’ve just described three perfectly good TV drama endings.
And the leap forward fulfilledSaul’s prequel purpose.
Except it isn’t a prequel anymore.
The three episodes after “Fun and Games” mostly move far past theBreaking Badtimeline.
This future is white, black, and bleak.
Co-creatorsPeter GouldandVince Gilliganhave demarcated the shift with extraneous clues.
The “and” episode titles of season 6’s first nine parts are gone.
The familiar has become unfamiliar.
Where didBetter Call Saulgo?
You could argue the show, and its title character, have assumed a new identity.
The episodes aren’t justaboutMonochromatic Omaha.
)“Breaking Bad” features long-promised cameosin Albuquerque flashbacks.
“Waterworks” reveals Kim’s future as a Florida phantom.
But Gene gets primo real estate.
Trust theSaulwriters for fearful symmetry.
“Waterworks” pushes those characters together for a disturbing, revelatory climax.
Suspicious about her son’s recent arrest, Marion Asks Jeeves about Albuquerque Con Men.
Up pops Saul Goodman, clear as day.
“There never was a Nippy, was there?”
It’s a hall of fame moment for 89-year-old Burnett, majestic and betrayed, tough but visibly heartbroken.
I have no idea what will happen on Monday.
Maybe Gene assumes yet another identity.
Maybe the finale is aSlippin' Jimmyfeature cartoon.
Maybe the four actresses who’ve played Kaylee Ehrmantraut will join forces to rescue the Kaylee-verse.
It’s certainly possible the last episode will immediately undercut literally everything I am about to say.
But I’ve noticed a wild array of feelings about the last few episodes.
Personally, I’m in the “masterpiece” camp.
This is the best and boldest run of final episodes of any TV drama I’ve ever seen.
Now we’re in much freakier territory.
So I understand the clash of opinions.
The Omaha shift feels singular, and willfully unconcerned about frustration.
The appearances byBad’s stars feel cannily low-key, avoiding any moments of canonical drama.
Instead, the show opted for Walt and Jesse (Aaron Paul) at their most Laurel and Hardy.
The mind leaps for comparisons.
The ending trapped him in hippie Eden, only reachable by telephone.
HBO’sThe Leftoverssplit everyone up on a climactic trip to Australia, but that show wasalwaysdoing weird tangents.
It also lasted, like, three brisk seasons.
Actually, over the course ofSaul’s life, the whole notion of a six-or-seven-season TV drama has faded.
In between those two hours came “Granite State,” a chilly trip to New Hampshire purgatory.
Fugitive Walt lives entrapped in a nowhere cabin.
The former meth-cooking dark lord quietly disintegrates, wracked by cancer, nothing to do but watch bad DVDs.
“Granite State” was written and directed by Peter Gould, who becameSaul’s showrunner and guiding light.
No big jump to see the black-and-whiteSaulepisodes as an expansion of thatBadepisode’s breakaway sensibility.
Amazingly,Saul’s approach to its own finale has been much, much more downbeat.
Crucial to note, I think, that the Omaha crimes areexciting.
The cops are outside!).
Is it brutal to cut the leads off from each other this late in the game?
Yes, but with a purpose.
I think Odenkirk and Seehorn are both delivering career-best work, partiallybecausetheir character’s circumstances are a silent torment.
They’re both living in secret; their eyes are tinted windows into tortured souls.
My parents are dead… my brother is dead…
I got no wife.
If I died tonight, no one would care."
IsSaulheading for its own “Felina,” a high-octane ending with a conclusive showdown?
Or will “Saul Gone” venture further into the unknown?
“I’m still the good friend you thought I was, okay?”
“Jeff understands me.
And you will, too.”
He sounds pitiful, and monstrous.
(FreakingBuddyunderstands you???
)Breaking Badoffered Walt one final big awesome moment, mowing down badder guys and rescuing his old partner.
In its final hours, the show has pushed its main characters further than most ever shows dare.
Worse for them,Betterfor us.
