Better Call Saul: "Hit and Run"

After the cartel-heavy first three episodes of the season, "Hit and Run" focuses almost exclusively on Jimmy and Kim's storyline and their plan to discredit Howard It's a much slower episode than the previous ones, but not less captivating due to having the same level of quality we've come to expect from this show.

Jimmy and Kim continue their scheme to paint Howard as a drug-addicted low life, with a hilarious sequence involving Breaking Bad alum Wendy as Jimmy steals Howard's car and pretends to joyride as him while kicking Wendy out of his car right in front of Cliff Main and Kim. The plan is seemingly a success as Cliff's image of Howard is once again shaken, with the added bonus of Cliff offering to give Kim access to a group of lawyers that specialize in pro-bono work, Kim's true passion.

 But not all is well. Jimmy is now a pariah at the courthouse due to the knowledge that he scammed the courts to get Lalo Salamanca off of murder charges and has received an influx of criminal clients now that he's known as "Salamanca's guy". Kim realizes she's being followed by a mysterious car and eventually confronts them head-on, only to have a conversation with Mike who reveals to her that Lalo is still alive. It's an excellent scene between Seehorn and Banks as we see Kim's stoic demeanor crack at the possibility of Lalo coming after her and Jimmy. 

Both of these storylines intersect at the end when Jimmy takes Kim to his new "temporary" office (the same office that will be his main office in Breaking Bad). Kim is clearly apprehensive, yet she chooses to withhold the news of Lalo's survival from Jimmy, an inversion of last episode where Jimmy chose to keep his knowledge of Lalo's assassination attempt from Kim. We know Jimmy will eventually learn of Lalo's survival given that years later he will name drop him when Walt and Jesse kidnap him. It's only a matter of when he'll learn it.

Notes:

* Rhea Seehorn directs this week's episode and proves to be just as talented behind the camera as she is on-camera. Here's a link to an article where she talks about her experience with this episode, it's truly infectious.

* While the episode mainly focuses on Jimmy and Kim, we also get a scene with Gus and Mike where we get to see Gus' growing paranoia over the Lalo situation and his dissatisfaction with Mike's hired help. Giancarlo Esposito has always been a great actor, but we get to see new depths with Gus' normally unflappable demeanor shaken.

* Wendy isn't the only Breaking Bad character to appear in this episode. Among Jimmy's new clients is a much healthier-looking Spooge, who will get his head crushed by an ATM in Season 2's standout "Peekaboo".

* I feel like the writers missed an opportunity to have Howard's therapist be the same as Marie Schrader's therapist, but it probably would've felt too cutesy in an episode with 

* Kim identifies Mike as the person who saved Jimmy in the desert in last season's "Bagman". It's also in her character to recognize him as the parking lot attendant from way back in Season 1.

* Lalo has been MIA for the past few episodes, but it's a testament to both the writers and Seehorn's performance that his presence is still felt. Hopefully he'll show up soon though, if only because I miss Tony Dalton's charismatic and terrifying performance.