Similarly stuck between two masters but in a much more
literal way is Gus Fring. Not only does he need to keep the appearance of peace
between himself and the Salamancas in order to not upset Don Eladio, but we
find out that he also has to play nice with Peter Schuler, the head of the fast
food division of Madrigal Electromotive GmbH, Los Pollos Hermanos’ parent
company. Breaking Bad fans may remember Peter as the Madrigal executive that
immediately committed suicide when the police arrived to question him about the
death of Gus Fring, and here we clearly see his nerves about his illegal
activities, such as the funding of Gus’ super lab.
Everything about Gus, from the way that he arranges his
items in his hotel room, screams that he’s a man that needs control and craves
precision. Having to cater to the whims of Don Eladio and the antagonizations
of Lalo, while constantly reassuring Peter, is probably one of the more
frustrating things that Fring can experience. He needs to be in charge calling
his own shots, but we know that in pursuit of that imperative need he’ll be
sidetracked by many folks trying to throw chaos into his world of strict order.
At least “JMM” finds Kim and Mike back on the upswing. Kim
faces down Kevin after the disastrous ending of the Tucumcari plotline, and
instead of playing contrite and waiting for Kevin to declare her fate, she
decides to take an aggressive approach, blaming Kevin for repeatedly not taking
her or Rich’s legal advice. The hardball move pays off, and Kim leaves with the
Mesa Verde account secured. Meanwhile, Mike is back watching Kaylee and tells
Stacey that he’s better now. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of darkness behind
that statement. Mike may have come back from the brink, but only because he’s
aligned himself with an immoral criminal. “I decided to play the cards I was
dealt,” he says, resigning himself to a dangerous existence.
Little defeats like that make Better Call Saul such a tragic story. They’re inevitable, and somehow they feel even worse after something goes right, like Jimmy and Kim’s semi-blissful celebration of their marriage. We can’t even enjoy watching our favorite characters act romatic and sweet because we know the other shoe is going drop, and it does, with Jimmy’s life as Saul Goodman infecting the moment. It’s only a matter of time before it infects everything.
