Lantern (''Better Call Saul'')

"Lantern" is the tenth and final episode of the third season of the AMC television series Better Call Saul, the spinoff series of Breaking Bad. The episode aired on June 19, 2017.

Plot

Teaser

In a flashback, a young Chuck reads The Adventures of Mabel to a younger Jimmy in a tent outside their family's house. The camera zooms in on a lantern as Chuck continues.

Plot

Kim is hospitalized following her car crash, with her broken arm put in a cast. A distressed Jimmy visits her room. After she is discharged, the two return to the car crash site and Jimmy picks up her scattered Gatwood Oil papers. The following morning, Jimmy tells Kim that he feels partly responsible for her accident by making her keep Wexler McGill open. Kim tells him that she alone is responsible for the accident, expressing guilt at the possibility that she could have killed someone by falling asleep at the wheel. Jimmy promises Kim that he will "fix everything."

Meanwhile, Chuck confronts Howard and promises to abandon his breach of contract lawsuit against Hamlin, Hamlin, & McGill in return for keeping his position with the firm. Instead, Howard presents a severance check taken from his own personal funds, neutralizing Chuck's financial leverage over HHM. Howard calls out Chuck for putting his personal vendettas ahead of the well-being of the firm and betraying their friendship in the process. Chuck is forced to watch as Howard informs HHM's staff of his immediate departure. He is sent off with applause as he leaves the building.

Hector arrives at Nacho's father's shop and attempts to bribe him for his loyalty. Nacho's father, Manuel, initially orders Hector to get out of the store but, after Nacho reminds him of their relatives, reluctantly accepts the bribe. However, Hector tells Nacho that he remains suspicious of him. Meanwhile, Francesca presents Kim with get-well gifts from her clients. Kim tells Francesca to cancel her meeting with Gatwood Oil and postpone her other appointments. The two women go to a Blockbuster store to rent DVDs, which Kim watches with Jimmy while taking time off of work.

Driven by Kim's earlier comments, Jimmy tries to make amends with Chuck. However, Chuck tells Jimmy that it's in his inherent nature to hurt everybody around him. Chuck concludes by telling Jimmy that he had never particularly cared for him anyways, which absolutely devastates him. Later, Chuck's EHS symptoms re-emerge, causing him to shut off the power to his house. Upon finding that something is still drawing power from the meter, Chuck becomes obsessed with finding the source, first by removing electronics from his house and eventually resorting to destroying the meter itself and tearing down the walls to search for hidden wiring.

Jimmy checks on Irene, expecting her friends to have forgiven her now that the Sandpiper settlement is done. However, to his shock, he discovers that Irene's friends still don't trust her, as they now think that she'll simply do anything to get on their good side. Ironically, all of his attempts to deflect the blame away from Irene and onto himself only make her friends respect him more and further distance themselves from her. He resorts to recruiting his former co-worker Erin Brill to stage an argument where he "accidentally" admits his fraud in front of his clients, which both vindicates Irene and cancels the Sandpiper settlement.

At night, Nacho quietly follows Hector, intending to assassinate him to protect his father. However, he is caught up in a meeting between Hector, Gus, and Juan Bolsa. Bolsa reminds Hector that it is under Don Eladio's orders that all smuggling operations will be handled by Gus, which enrages Hector and triggers a heart attack. Hector attempts to medicate himself with the fake pills and collapses, prompting his bodyguards to call for an ambulance. In the chaos, Nacho is able to switch Hector's fake medication back with his real pills. Gus seems suspicious of Nacho, but says nothing.

Later, Jimmy and Kim move out of their office space at WM. They apologize to Francesca for laying her off, but she says that she will be able to return to her job at the Motor Vehicle Division. Kim then insists that Jimmy keep his contact list, despite the fact that his actions have guaranteed that no elderly person would ever hire him again. After admiring the WM wall mural, the two leave.

That night, a broken Chuck sits in his wrecked house with several books around him. He intentionally kicks his gas lantern off a table, starting a fire.

Production

Michael McKean made his final regular appearance as Chuck in this episode.

The episode was directed by series co-creator Peter Gould, who previously co-wrote "Mabel" earlier this season, and written by Gennifer Hutchison, who previously wrote the episode "Sunk Costs".

This episode marks the final appearance of Chuck McGill, as he is seemingly killed off at the end of the episode. In the final scene, when Chuck commits suicide by kicking the lantern off his table and burning his house down, speculation arose over whether or not it was fatal. However, McKean has confirmed that Chuck is dead in an interview with Collider, stating:

"It seemed like this was kind of the end of Chuck’s chapter in the life of Jimmy McGill slash Saul Goodman. It’s almost like the rock and a hard place — they can’t be too comfy together for too long or else you have to ask, what is the point of having Chuck? If Chuck is the person that Jimmy cared for and took care of, and who transformed into his antagonist, and then transformed into this wreck — this person who has no choice but to try and fix himself and has no tools for himself — it seemed like a logical step."^[1]

Reception

Ratings

Upon airing, the episode was watched by 1.85 million American viewers, and an 18-49 rating of 0.6.^[2]

Critical reception

The episode received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 91% rating with an average score of 8.79/10 based on 11 reviews.^[3] Terri Schwartz of IGN rated the episode 9.5/10 stars, saying "Better Call Saul pulled off a fantastic Season 3 finale that perfectly balanced its storylines and brought a big lesson to Jimmy's doorstep. With some hugely impactful moments that were both incredibly emotional and long-awaited by fans, "Lantern" proves that Better Call Saul is better than it's ever been with Season 3."^[4] Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx praised the final scene, remarking "the focus was primarily on sending off Chuck, and the finale did it right, in painstakingly painful fashion."^[5]

References

External links

• "Lantern" at AMC
• "Lantern" on IMDb