Up until this episode the ruthless Gus we all know and love hasn't emerged. Well, HE'S BACK. He viciously jumps Arturo and ties a plastic bag around his neck with a zip tie, strangling him. The words he utters to Nacho are classic Fring "I know what you've done....from now on...you are MINE." Esposito delivers....again. But how about the girl power from Kim?! This was a moment ALL of us BCS lovers waited for. Her explosion on Howard and boy we weren't disappointed. She seems to twist the knife Jimmy set into Howard's chest in episode 1. Acting this episode was solid. Tension seems to be mounting with Salamanca twins. Cant wait to see what's next.
33 Reviews
Jimmy Ready to Explode
Hitchcoc16 March 2020
Jimmy is so inward right now. He is trying to lead a normal life, contrary to his entire personality. The loss of his brother has set off a volcano under the surface that will eventually find it's way to an eruption. Gus and the gang are doing their thing. The mild mannered guy who would cut his own mother's throat has moved in while the opposition is trying to figure out what to do as their leader lies in a coma. Excellent episode, setting up everything to follow. I don't mean to keep harping on those who are giving ones and twos, but for crying out loud, this is a continuing story. I also think there has been plenty of action.
!Rhea Seehorn!
esuoyd15 August 2018
I am not one to write a review. Yet, the extraordinary acting of Miss Seehorn has compelled me to praise her excuisite work. The way Rhea dumped her heart out and completely overwhelmed ¨Howard¨ was like nothing I have seen in a VERY long time. This is an extremely undervalued actress in which I would be running to for the lead role in my new film(if I had one). She has pleasantly surprised me and even though she does not have a major role in this series, her acting has driven the perception of her character to have now become a crazy chess game of life for not just this one person, but for this couple. ¨Better call Seehorn¨
Rhea Seehorn
geeboy3723 August 2018
I have to agree with another review on here about Rhea Seehorn since her scene where she exploded on Howard Hamlin was beyond amazing(Literally brought me to tears). I've loved her right from the beginning but she just gets better with each episode. Peter Gilligan is not only a fantastic show creator but whoever is in charge of casting is also brilliant.
For the couple reviewers on here who said this was boring or nothing happens I don't think this show is for you since if you're not understanding, or more so feeling, what's happening then you probably would be more content with a show that's more spoon fed and doesn't require you to think so much.
For the couple reviewers on here who said this was boring or nothing happens I don't think this show is for you since if you're not understanding, or more so feeling, what's happening then you probably would be more content with a show that's more spoon fed and doesn't require you to think so much.
Best scene of the series
AlmaSoulAmor26 August 2020
A very involving series
85122227 July 2019
Greetings from Lithuania.
"Better Call Saul" has to be an example of how to create an involving series. You have to have great writing, good directing and good actors. But to mix it all together in a way that viewers would be involved almost in very scene is a thing of masters. And i think creators of this show are such masters. All in all, "Breathe", 2nd episode of season 4 was involving, intriguing and superbly made. Watching "Better Call Saul" 46 or so min. runs like a wind.
"Better Call Saul" has to be an example of how to create an involving series. You have to have great writing, good directing and good actors. But to mix it all together in a way that viewers would be involved almost in very scene is a thing of masters. And i think creators of this show are such masters. All in all, "Breathe", 2nd episode of season 4 was involving, intriguing and superbly made. Watching "Better Call Saul" 46 or so min. runs like a wind.
A strong piece setting episode
jay-9557818 August 2018
Breathe is undoubtedly a strong episode which continues to set up the central tensions for season 4. It's great to see Gus Fring once again at his most demonic but Rhea Seehorn in particular steals the show this week. Also, I'm always surprised by how much sympathy I always have for poor Howard Hamlin. He's a slime ball but he's got integrity.
It's also great to know Michelle Maclaren is behind the camera again. Although the tension here can't match up to her best work on breaking bad ('One minute', 'gliding over all', 'to'hajilee') there is still that same dutiful precision which wrings out the serious tension throughout the epsisode, especially in Rhea and Gus's big scenes.
It's also great to know Michelle Maclaren is behind the camera again. Although the tension here can't match up to her best work on breaking bad ('One minute', 'gliding over all', 'to'hajilee') there is still that same dutiful precision which wrings out the serious tension throughout the epsisode, especially in Rhea and Gus's big scenes.
Kim did her best!
pavlomatnenko11 November 2019
Gripping plot development with more to be revealed
scottfreemail14 August 2018
This series does not feel like it is made for television - scenes are slowed down, lead actors are left in long camera shots musing on their lives (Jimmy on the sofa in E1), and the plot ticks over as Jimmy inexorably transforms into the Saul character.
In this episode the brutality that has been primed under the surface from the world of Breaking Bad, explodes one scene, and it reminds us that this series is soon going to drift away from sentimentality and move towards a darker place.
The director has done a good job of maintaining continuity from the BB world, but also sketching multiple characters with empathy and detail, to ensure new viewers get immersed and care about how these characters will develop in episodes to come.
Jimmy's character flaws are taken by plot twists into unexpected directions (office manager interview, phone conversation with Mike), and this unpredictability will keep me interested and desperate to find out more.
In this episode the brutality that has been primed under the surface from the world of Breaking Bad, explodes one scene, and it reminds us that this series is soon going to drift away from sentimentality and move towards a darker place.
The director has done a good job of maintaining continuity from the BB world, but also sketching multiple characters with empathy and detail, to ensure new viewers get immersed and care about how these characters will develop in episodes to come.
Jimmy's character flaws are taken by plot twists into unexpected directions (office manager interview, phone conversation with Mike), and this unpredictability will keep me interested and desperate to find out more.
THE REAL GUS IS HERE!!
ashisharpan9414 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Awesome performances by each character, peak performances were:
Kim's (Rhea Seehorn) emotional confrontation with Howard(Patrick Fabian)...Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) returning back to the interviewers
And man o man the ending.....the Gus we've all been waiting for is BACK.....
Everything excels
Leofwine_draca26 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This was everything I could hope for in an episode. Mike being badass, Gus in a scene of phenomenal surprise and power (almost as good as the box cutter episode) and Jimmy relying on his mental ability to make him shine. Plus, Kim gets a stand-out scene too. Everything excels here.
Breathe
bobcobb30119 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
This did not have the kind of developments I was hoping for and yet it ended up as another strong Better Call Saul.
It had on the comedy front and it had by accentuating why these characters are all so great. Mike bickering about actually want to earn his paycheck and clamp down on suspicion is just too good.
It had on the comedy front and it had by accentuating why these characters are all so great. Mike bickering about actually want to earn his paycheck and clamp down on suspicion is just too good.
Good Episode
marsellidavi26 August 2020
Empty
born_naughty25 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers
This review says nothing about my overall opinion about Better Call Saul. I love BCS and it's one of my favorite shows ever. This, to date, is by far the weakest episode. Then I say the rating and the reviews and I was so surprised that I felt like writing a review. The main problem is that so little happens in this episode that you could skip it entirely and not miss anything. That's never a good thing no matter how you look at it. Apart from that it didn't have any of the usual ingredients of BCS. It wasn't funny, tense, didn't have any character development and didn't have the great writing that the show usually has. On top of that I, so many scenes in this episode were really dark, literally, for no apparent reason. Darkness can set a certain atmosphere but apart from the last scene there was really no need for any of it to be covered in darkness. Normally I wouldn't even notice but it's so apparent in this episode that I couldn't miss it. Especially because it was clearly light outside and yet somehow that light didn't enter the open windows of the room, how does that work? Really weird, and bad, episode of Better Call Saul but I'm confident the show will pick up again next week.
Ka-Chunka-Chunka-Chunk
unkommon20 June 2020
Season 4 of Better Call Saul, in hindsight, is one of the pinnacle tour-de-forces of acting. Season 3 ended on an incredibly deep and somber note, and season 4 picked up the pieces of such a breathtakingly bitter note. Chuck was a mainstay of the series until this point, and picking up the pieces of his wake truly made this season one of the greatest of all television. Season 5 was certainly more thrilling, but season 4 was by far the most human. And the most heartbreaking. We see Jimmy in a state of unaware shellshock. He hurts badly, and it is this hurt that shuts him down, and though he can't admit it, he responds to it in the most cynical of ways, turning Jimmy into Saul. With some great strain, I have to admit Better Call Saul has removed some of the caricature that is "Saul". I am afraid that what we are getting in Better Call Saul is so far beyond removed from that picture that we end up with a better character story than any in Breaking Bad. In Breaking Bad, all we have is Walter White and Jesse Pinkman to hang our story on, characters who, while fantastic, have a series of unfortunate secondary players who ultimately play their part. Better Call Saul is quite the opposite. Saul, Jimmy, is torn between some of the most human and relatable characters throughout television. No one exists for a purpose, they exist to Jimmy because they exist as troubling and deep characters in their own right and Jimmy has to feel and lose them to become Saul. But how he gets there still remains to be seen, that said, we see such a brevity in who matters how and why to make Saul into a two bit lawyer that at this point I fear the humanity in Better Call Saul is too great to defame Jimmy into the character of Saul. That is why the show is so good, and I worry that season 6 will come to sacrifice that greatness for effect. That remains to be seen (as of this writing, post-season-5, pre-season-6), but I have hope Gilligan and Gould will keep up the pace and keep Better Call Saul the astounding character study it is that, to me, makes it much more compelling than Breaking Bad. This episode is in fact one of the best examples of the heart of what makes Better Call Saul the cross between the humanity in the characters of The Sopranos and the thrill of Fargo. Truly at the crossroads, or perhaps the paramount of television, Better Call Saul carries the fantasticism that is Breaking Bad into the quixotic and Kafkaesque character study that is Better Call Saul. Lalo will make or break "Saul", but for the first four (really, five) seasons, "Saul" truly astounds and excels at being one of the most thrilling and effective pieces of television to date.
Not your usual Breaking Bad vibe
manthanrtarafdar14 August 2018
Season 4 episode 2 of better call saul has made sure that this season has quite the capacity to be a brilliant one, and the audacity to give its almighty prequel a run for its money.
Kim is wonderful, so is jimmy and mike, but it is gustavo fring that steals the show.
From his dead-cold pragmatic judgements to brutal acts, Gus Fring is pretty much like walter white, only better.
Promising episode
delamartre16 August 2018
At some point I was quite fed up with Chuck and his radiation issues. Now that Chuck left the stage, it seems, in this second episode, that other storylines get a boost. Great show, great acting, very promising for the remainder of this season.
Incredible acting!
LightFlux16 August 2018
What does goldfish symbolize?
greggwager15 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
What does goldfish symbolize? Saul's new family.
While Kim sleeps, Saul juices blood oranges and fries bacon, even adding cinnamon to the morning brew for the first time. Goldfish looks on, Saul's only company until Kim wakes up.
One night after the day's events create intense emotions, Kim follows the guy she thinks is Jimmy to the couch for a romantic evening. An eerie blue glows nearby from goldfish's aquarium. Nonetheless, she pounces on the man she thinks she loves. Goldfish jealously observes. Three's somehow a crowd now. Kim may not belong anymore.
Kim denies something is wrong, taking her confusion out on Howard and his ridiculous theory of Chuck's suicide. She'll still no doubt get curious and snoop, perhaps finding bitter truth at Santa Rosa Insurance in episodes to come. Will she then try to stay for better or worse with Saul and goldfish? Might this put her life further in danger?
Meanwhile, Saul is either interviewing for jobs or casing joints. Either way, he wants to bring Mike in to score on a rare Hummel figurine (what is "Bavarian Boy" supposed to symbolize, if anything?). Would a careful ex-cop be interested in assisting Saul's petty theft? Perhaps Mike is too busy souring his relationship with Lydia, with Fring's apparent blessing.
Fring secretly monitors Don Hector's health, twistedly hoping his archenemy improves. He employs a fancy bilingual doctor from Johns Hopkins-thanks to a generous grant that falls into her lap.
Above all, "Breathe" ironically and sadistically says adios to poor suffocating Arturo, during the violent final scene when Fring grabs Nacho squarely by the cojones. Not even goldfish's bubbler gives a further hint as to who else is metaphorically inhaling and exhaling.
While Kim sleeps, Saul juices blood oranges and fries bacon, even adding cinnamon to the morning brew for the first time. Goldfish looks on, Saul's only company until Kim wakes up.
One night after the day's events create intense emotions, Kim follows the guy she thinks is Jimmy to the couch for a romantic evening. An eerie blue glows nearby from goldfish's aquarium. Nonetheless, she pounces on the man she thinks she loves. Goldfish jealously observes. Three's somehow a crowd now. Kim may not belong anymore.
Kim denies something is wrong, taking her confusion out on Howard and his ridiculous theory of Chuck's suicide. She'll still no doubt get curious and snoop, perhaps finding bitter truth at Santa Rosa Insurance in episodes to come. Will she then try to stay for better or worse with Saul and goldfish? Might this put her life further in danger?
Meanwhile, Saul is either interviewing for jobs or casing joints. Either way, he wants to bring Mike in to score on a rare Hummel figurine (what is "Bavarian Boy" supposed to symbolize, if anything?). Would a careful ex-cop be interested in assisting Saul's petty theft? Perhaps Mike is too busy souring his relationship with Lydia, with Fring's apparent blessing.
Fring secretly monitors Don Hector's health, twistedly hoping his archenemy improves. He employs a fancy bilingual doctor from Johns Hopkins-thanks to a generous grant that falls into her lap.
Above all, "Breathe" ironically and sadistically says adios to poor suffocating Arturo, during the violent final scene when Fring grabs Nacho squarely by the cojones. Not even goldfish's bubbler gives a further hint as to who else is metaphorically inhaling and exhaling.
Kim
hamzahr-1807226 June 2022
Brilliant, just fantastic
miikkagerhard14 August 2018
Breathtaking
TheDonaldofDoom14 October 2018
This ingenious episode a first glance doesn't show much development for Saul. But his interview and rejection of the job is a crucial moment for him. It shows he's not willing to make money in a legal, honest way, and he'll find any way to justify that to himself.
There are plenty of comedic scenes, which makes the shocking bag scene all the more shocking.
9/10
There are plenty of comedic scenes, which makes the shocking bag scene all the more shocking.
9/10
A bit of action
dierregi29 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Jimmy springs back into action, although his direction seems to be definitely a twisted one. Kim is still supporting him and gets really furious with Howard. Her tirade was totally unexpected and very well delivered.
However, the focus of the episode is the descent into the criminal world of Gus and Nacho. Things are bad and getting worse for Nacho, while I still don't get why Gus is so fastidious about keeping Hector alive - a very wrong move, as facts will prove.
Wouldn't it have been easier to acknowledge the Salamanca clan as too weak to keep their territory and split it?
However, the focus of the episode is the descent into the criminal world of Gus and Nacho. Things are bad and getting worse for Nacho, while I still don't get why Gus is so fastidious about keeping Hector alive - a very wrong move, as facts will prove.
Wouldn't it have been easier to acknowledge the Salamanca clan as too weak to keep their territory and split it?
when will something happen??
f49422 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Struggling with all the 10 star reviews, are these paid reviews? This show has never quite got going and still spinning its wheels, its so slow so it doesn't catch up with the breaking bad timeline its ridiculous. I'm done with it.
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