Better Call Saul (TV Series) Something Beautiful (2018) User Reviews

Powerful episode.

[fitzwolf-65782 · 8/10 · 21 August 2018]

I think it's pretty clear that things are warming up for something shocking. The last moments of this episode are one of the best I have seen on TV. Stunning job, extraordinarily series. Pure art.

Not the most dramatic, but sometimes you have to recognise great craftsmanship

[jay-95578 · 8/10 · 21 August 2018]

Something beautiful is great on all fronts. In Nacho's world things get especially dangerous. I loved the opening sequence showing Gus's henchmen doing their thing in the desert, it's gorgeously shot and methodically told. Breaking Bad had many more scenes of clandestine activities taking place out in the desert than your average better call saul episode and I've often missed that Wild West/Sergio Leone atmosphere, let's hope we get some more sequences like the one shown here so that Better Call Saul can balance the books.

Jimmy also has some fun this week as he continues to compartmentalise his guilt over chuck's death and relapses into his criminal ways. I suppose it's some form of rebellion against his brother, or even an acceptance of responsibility and recognition that some of the things his brother said about him were true which is driving Jimmy to behave as such.

His reading of Chuck's letter to Kim was oddly devastating in the way Jimmy was seemingly unnmoved, and of course Rhea Seehorn acting as Kim reacts is remarkable. Having Chuck's words come floating from a happier time in their brotherly relationship stings especially harshly.

Great episode this week, and I haven't even mentioned Gale!

Balanced episode

[manthanrtarafdar · 8/10 · 22 August 2018]

Its all there..in bits and peices. Some might say the episode is a bit slow and boring, but i feel all these hours are just paving the way for something catastrophic.

The return of the dancing chemist

[strider-54453 · 10/10 · 21 August 2018]

The directors and writers of BCS promised us a cameo we wouldn't forget and boy BB fans weren't disappointed. As soon as Gus enters the classroom and we hear the singing of elements we know exactly who it is. None other than the tea drinking, child singing whacko chemist, GALE! The scene was done brilliantly with the reveal, acting as always and some fun Easter eggs. Gale mentions how he wants a job badly and Gus responds "not right now, you're meant for better things." How cruel! (Considering we in now jesse pinkman shoots him in the face because of his job.) I don't think this will be the last we see of this relationship materialize. On Jimmy's front he finally reads the letter from his brother but in the most Saul Goodman way. He could care less what Chuck has to say from the grave while his love breaks down from her stress enduced job and watching her man slip slowly away from the man she cares for. Saul is here. Nacho Vargas is playing both sides while barely escaping with his life. The salamanca twins saved his behind. Imagine that. That story is getting juicier by the minute. All in all a very strong episode of acting and the cameo was done superbly. 'To W.W. My star, my perfect silence."

Something Beautiful is Something Murky and Sinister

[greggwager · 10/10 · 21 August 2018]

"Let's do something beautiful," says Jimmy to Mike, as they sit together in a dreary diner going over the caper to snatch Bavarian Boy. Mike serves as voice of clarity and declines.

Those copy machine salesmen somehow pissed Jimmy off, suggesting there's more than money meeting the eye. Mike hints at an ulterior motive when consoling Jimmy on the loss of Chuck.

After all, Howard's offer to pay off any challenge to Chuck's will means more money than Bavarian Boy. Jimmy finally signs the underhanded no-contest agreement without much thought, followed by a nonchalant reading of Chuck's posthumous letter while slurping breakfast cereal. Kim doesn't recognize him anymore, let alone herself, and starts bawling.

Chuck's letter even obliquely mentions how mother loved Jimmy more than Chuck, as also evidenced in "Klick" (season 2, episode 10). That's a big clue as to what caused all the ire leading to Chuck's divorce, hypochondria, and suicide, not to mention Jimmy's descent into Saul.

While this knotty psychological drama plays slowly out, Kim now smells a rat at Mesa Verde; Gale Boetticher makes a surprise appearance singing Tom Lehrer's "The Elements;" and Nacho takes a few bullets to go deep undercover for Gus Fring. Jimmy ends up recruiting Ira for his caper, the guy that headed up Vamonos Pest in Breaking Bad.

So what does Bavarian Boy symbolize, now that Jimmy vents some of the same anger he showed when his father paid off an obvious grifter in "Inflatable" (season 2, episode 7)? "Suckers," he repeated in the previous episode.

What does Saul really want? It's not the money.

The build-up is utter suspense

[lyndalgoodman · 10/10 · 10 January 2019]

I love how Jimmy's deals build and build. The stories interwoven are wickedly clever and I can't wait for each new ep. People saying it's boring just don't get it.

So brilliantly written and a perfect leadup to Breaking Bad. How can you call the desert scene boring???

Jimmy's Program

[darbski · 10/10 · 21 August 2018]

***SPOILERS***We all knew that Jimmy couldn't just walk away from an easy mark, didn't we? Still, I think that Gilligan has his point made that Jimmy LOVES living on the edge - so much so that he's willing to risk everything on an $8G snatch. He gets himself involved with an unknown quantity (the burgler), will NOT listen to Mike when he gives specific advice to stay away from this mark, and has to pull the nuts out of the fire to salvage the day - temporarily, that is. I'm sure that everyone else noticed the glove. I said to the t.v. right then "don't take off your glove". I bet it will bring more grief later, too. It will be found, immediate curiosity will compel the Neff's to call security,,, The cops will probably notice that the Hummel piece is not dusty, will start looking for the one that was (and was taken), find it when it is dealt off, and corner Jimmy and friend. People just don't want to listen to their elders (Mike).

I wondered what Nacho's problem's were going to blossom into, but what an introduction into the path of revenge that Gus has laid out; all he wanted was out, and the nature of the business is like a snake eating it's prey; inexorable strangulation and swallowing whole - that's drugs, my friends.

I think Kim isn't happy at all with the growth that her client has planned, and, frankly, I don't think that HHM is done at all with either of them. I think that Howard's attention will eventually be re-directed toward Kim. Remember that Howard was Chuck's very willing partner in making Kim pay heavily for a small indescretion, and the attempted ruination of Jimmy. The letter supposedly from Chuck? Obvious forgery. It was ALL generalities, slithering up to Jimmy's heart to put one more rotten squeeze on him from the "grave". Certainly from Howard. He's probably figured out that Jimmy did the insurance blip that fixed Chuckie up. I think that if you step back, it is easy to see that Kim is the almost polar opposite of Chuck, and Howard. Both are extremely intelligent, but where they are cold and calculating, she is warm and human. I also think that she will want to move away from her client and the danger from too much expansion and HHM's potential payback. This one's a 10.

Fantastic episode.

[mpw-23506 · 10/10 · 23 August 2018]

I'm just going to talk about the letter because that's the freshest in my mind. Of course the rest of the episode is fantastic too, I wouldn't rate this 10/10 if it wasnt. Chucks letter is clearly the something beautiful and when Jimmy opened it up I was so close to forgiving chuck for all that he did to Jimmy. As the end of the episode was nearing and he was still reading I was hoping that he would bring up their mothers real last words. I may have forgiven Chuck a little bit, but Jimmy deserves to know the truth (not for long though with the outcome of Saul getting ever closer). Kims reaction was great, this episode was truly "something beautiful."

Another breathtaking addition to the series!

[jericw16 · 10/10 · 24 August 2018]

First thing, Perlshop, you need to spell check or possibly shut down your IMDb. Secondly, and undoubtedly more importantly, the cinematographer is a genius. What a story that's being told on top of the acting. Amazing.

Masterful Storytelling

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 17 March 2020]

This is really a tight episode. First, we have the Salmalanca brothers going bananas with Nacho taking a beating. Then it's the effort to steal the little Hummel doll from that store where Jimmy interviewed. It is a valuable collector's item. Then we find Kim is up to something, using her lawyerly talents along with Viola. The conclusion is very emotional with the letter being a bit of a surprise (sort of).

Exceptionally strong

[Leofwine_draca · 9/10 · 27 November 2021]

Another exceptionally strong episode. The sub-plot featuring Nacho is shockingly violent and very well acted with subtlety throughout. Mike isn't a strong contender here, but Kim excels and Jimmy's plan boasts oodles of suspense.

Improving and picking up!

[mm-39 · 7/10 · 23 August 2018]

Improving and picking up! Something Beautiful is slowing building speed from the previous two stories. Sal is slowly going for the easy money in life, and makes the viewer ask was Chuck right about his brother!?! A few insights into the drug world. The beginning is interesting with a what are they doing moment. Gus is playing drug world chess, and the side story of a bank buy out are moving together; why so? A main story-line is merging! Well directed, acted, with great sets! Better Call Sal keeps the movie quality for a T V series. 7 stars.

WHAT are you all watching? Has the whole world gone insane?

[elijah-tabere · 2/10 · 24 August 2018]

This show, especially season 1 and 2 used to be SO MUCH BETTER. The last two seasons, apart from one episode each year, were utter GARBAGE.

This episode again, same as the first two eps this season, NOTHING HAPPENS.

We were LITERALLY watching a guy under a desk for 10 minutes. Then we watch Kim listening to pointless ramblings from her former boss for another 5 minutes. Then we watch Jimmy make cereal again for another 2 minutes.

NOTHING HAPPENS. NOT IN THIS EPISODE, NOT IN THE ENTIRE SEASON SO FAR.

I'm seriously starting to wonder what everybody is praising. People are rating 10 out of 10 stars. It's just mind-boggling to me.

Don't believe the hype (then again, is there really any left at this point??), season 3 and 4 of this show are an utter disappointment and have NOTHING in common with the greatness that used to be Breaking Bad.

Something beautiful

[gedikreverdi · 8/10 · 7 September 2021]

Gustavo's man killed the guy that came with Nacho and they set it up to look like a murder in the middle of the desert in the car. He shot Nacho too to make it look even more realistic. Him fighting for his life was so real. Jimmy had a guy steal a Bavarian boy from the copier that he had a job interview earlier. The guy was still at the office and jimmy found a way to save the guy as usual. Kim gave him the letter from chuck and he read it out loud. It was sincere. Jimmy is acting like he didn't feel anything bad about anything at all.

Decent, but nothing groundbreaking

[heisenberg12 · 6/10 · 24 August 2018]

BCS, like it always has, continues to have some good parts scattered about here and there. It would just be difficult to find them if you went back to search through as they're usually short and caught buried in a lot of boredom and mediocrity. This episode is no different. The potential is there, I've always said, but it's like it has always been missed due to time distribution, and that's mostly editing and pacing, but also some writing. Nevertheless, it remains a watchable and decent show, but just one that hasn't been able to break any new ground.

Gus Fring is menacing and the only truly transcendental aspect of the show thus far besides Gene's post-Breaking Bad parts. Smaller details like Juan Bolsa's farm are absolutely amazing, but that scene only lasted for a total of about thirty seconds. I no longer look forward to Monday's releases, but instead catch up when I have absolutely nothing left to do and can't sleep.

Saul/Kim- 5, Mike- 5, Gus- 9, Nacho- 7.5

Total= 6.5/10.

Nothing is happening..

[perlshop · 5/10 · 23 August 2018]

I have been waiting patiently for the last 2 episodes that maybe it is part of a buildup, but in this episode too nothing much happened. It's like Bcs had a baby with a sitcom and it came out all slow and confused.

It's just not the kind of stuff from Season 1 or 2. The pace is missing. There is just too much random stuff happening and lot of blabbering and drama. I've still got hopes for the next episode, hoping this ep too was part of something bigger.

Something Beautiful

[bobcobb301 · 7/10 · 21 August 2018]

Not excited about the Gale character returning, I hope it is a one time thing, but I do want to download that elements song, if it is available anywhere.

This episode had a lot of laughs, which is kind of surprising given how little a role Mike played in it. We need Jimmy committing these schemes every single week though.

100% garbage episode

[vnflr · 1/10 · 1 October 2018]

50% of it is shot in complete darkness The other 50% is annoying repetitive noise like the car alarm that goes on for 2 minutes or the deliberately annoying song Gus' scientist is listening to.

100% trash.

Alright

[parkerchristman · 6/10 · 21 August 2018]

I've really enjoyed the season thus far. This is my least favorite episode out of the first couple. The last scene left a bad taste in my mouth. On paper, it sounds good: Jimmy callously reads his brother's final words while Kim wells up with emotion. While the actress portraying Kim gave a powerful performance last week, her quick descent into a blubbering wreck came off as, I'm sorry, cheesy. It took me out of the moment. Again, the premise of the scene was quite good, the execution came off as a bit clunky. I'm happy to see 2 other Breaking Bad faces (the catburgler guy and Gale). The only faces not present, outside the main cast, would be Huell and Bill Bur, which I look forward to their eventual return. But as always, I'm left wanting more and look forward to the next episode.