Better Call Time

Sometimes Better Call Saul is a bit insubstantial. I seriously thought about skipping past the Gus stuff in last night's new episode. I saw his picture in the thumbnail on Netflix and thought, "Gee, I sure hope we get to watch Gus stand around with a blank expression again." Actually this time we got to watch him scrub bathroom grout with a toothbrush.

Like Bob Odenkirk, Giancarlo Esposito is visibly much older than the character he's playing now. And he's put on some pounds, visually working against that fastidiousness we're supposed to be seeing. Which doesn't help his scenes feel like they have any more of a point. I think there's supposed to be tension around the possibility of Lalo showing up but we already know Gus survives. So it's not there.

I may sound like a hypocrite after I've gushed so many times about Twin Peaks and I suspect the makers of Better Call Saul are quite consciously influenced by Twin Peaks. But every episode of Twin Peaks season three felt like a feast while episodes like this of Better Call Saul feel like thin soup. It reminds me of a bowl of ramen I ordered back in San Diego once that was mostly just hot water. I tell that story to people here in Japan to illustrate how much better the ramen is here. Even that infamous scene where a guy sweeps the floor for a minute at the roadhouse on Twin Peaks felt more substantial than watching Better Call Saul once again show us that big underground structure to remind us that Gus has a big underground structure.

I'm afraid there was only one moment I really liked last night, the scene where Kim wakes up at 3:17am and sits smoking on the couch. And we see the bedroom light click on and we see little signs of her frustration that Jimmy's woken up. That was nice and felt like an authentic relationship. But, come on, this is the last season, let's use time a little more economically.