Short Summary is an original series in which I write brief reviews of movies, TV shows, video games, books, and more. Spoilers ABOUND!

“Smoke”

Ahh, I’m back, reviewing the latest season of another TV show I love: Better Call Saul. I just caught up with BoJack Horseman, and I’m still catching up on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, both of which I’ll write about soon. But for now, I get to, figuratively, return to my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and rejoin these Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad characters to see what they’re up to next.

Chuck McGill committed suicide. Hector Salamanca had a stroke. These are the two huge events that closed season 3. After another cold open with “Gene Takovic” in Omaha, season 4 picks up immediately following those events, although Chuck’s death obviously receives more attention. Jimmy McGill is looking for work, and Kim Wexler is still recovering from her car wreck when Howard Hamlin calls them, simply stating, “… It’s Chuck.” Jimmy is clearly devastated when he and Kim arrive at the burnt remains of Chuck’s house. Kim learns from the first responders that Chuck likely died of smoke inhalation, free of any pain. Jimmy spends almost the rest of the episode in silent grief. I’ll circle back to Jimmy/Gene shortly.

Meanwhile, Gus Fring and Nacho Varga show up for a short time right after Hector is taken away in an ambulance. At that very location, Nacho tries to dispose of the pills he switched, but Gus is still close by and onto him. Even as Nacho waits and goes to the Rio Grande to toss the evidence, Gus has sent his henchman, Victor, after Nacho and begins tracking him. Later on, Mike Ehrmantraut continues to prove why he’s my favorite character of Better Call Saul with yet another delightful montage. He’s working at Madrigal Electromotive, seemingly embracing his new security consultant position and doing a damn good job. However, as we all know, Mike has deeper reasons for everything he does. He won’t only take a big paycheck and act the part. He’s learning inside information about Madrigal, and that knowledge will be a key factor at some point, although we’re not sure how or when.

Surprisingly, it’s Howard that gets emotional and really drew sympathy from me in this episode. We can recall that Howard has been quite a dick throughout Better Call Saul, from treating Jimmy like crap to dragging Kim through the mud, all the while being awfully smug about it. Most recently, though, he bought Chuck out of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM). Howard reads Chuck’s obituary to Jimmy over the phone as though it’s a eulogy, which I think is why we don’t see much of Chuck’s funeral. But this speech confirms that Howard actually respected Chuck once and cared about him. In the last scene, Howard confesses to Jimmy and Kim that he thinks Chuck committed suicide because of him. It’s honestly sad to see.

That’s when we witness another glimpse of Saul Goodman. Hearing Howard’s admission, Jimmy snaps out of his funk and stops mourning in a second. He’s his normal self again, much to Kim’s shock. Howard appears too bereaved to notice the change. Jimmy even says to him, “I guess that’s your cross to bear.” Oh man, that made my skin crawl! Jimmy instantly absolves himself of any blame and supposedly no longer feels any guilt, when it clearly wasn’t just Howard that tipped Chuck over the edge.

This gets me back to Gene. Last season, he collapsed on the floor of his Cinnabon, and in the cold open, we see him get carted to the hospital. While his health episode is a false alarm, he’s still anxious. He fears being discovered when a nurse can’t run his driver’s license or social security number through the system. Yet it turns out that she only typed the number wrong. Then, when Gene hails a taxi, the driver doesn’t speak to him and appears to be after him. When Gene frantically asks to be dropped off early and walks away, the cab seems to be pursuing him. But is it truly? We won’t find out until the next one.

Phew, what a season opener! “Smoke” is an episode already tugging on the heart strings and quickening the pulse. It’s a great start to season 4, and I can’t wait for episode 2.