Breaking Down ‘Saul’: Season 3 Finale, “Lantern”

“I’m gonna need a whole new business model when I get my license back.”

Better Call Saul‘s music team was not kidding when they called the Season 3 finale “unbelievable”, and we don’t know how we’re going to wait another year for a new season. Last night’s episode, “Lantern”, gives us a quick glimpse of Jimmy and Chuck as children, reading a story in a tent by a lantern’s light. It’s a sweet moment – if you don’t think about where they end up. At present, we pick up right where last week’s cliffhanger left off – with Kim (Rhea Seehorn) receiving treatment for her exhaustion-induced car accident. Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) is devastated, clearly reassessing his recent selfish behavior and now committed to helping Kim recover. He takes her home and picks up all the legal documents that spewed from her car in the accident, and makes sure she’s hydrated and fed. He tells her that they can get out of their office lease and take some time off, and she’s surprised, but evidently relieved.

At HH&M, Chuck (Michael McKean) faces Howard (Patrick Fabian) and the rest of the board, insistent on resolving their dilemma amicably. Howard doesn’t buy into it, and excuses the rest of the board to tell Chuck how disappointed he is in his willingness to dismantle the firm because he feels he’s been wronged. Howard then proceeds to give Chuck the first of three payments out of his own pocket, and then announces Chuck’s departure to the entire firm. Chuck is met with applause and handshakes as he leaves, but it’s a painful moment. His life’s work has been ripped away from him.

Nacho reluctantly brings Hector and the Salamanca crew to his father’s shop to explain how their new operation will work, and Nacho’s father is less than enthused when Hector introduces himself and offers him money. Nacho talks him down, but as they leave, Hector tells him he doesn’t trust his father. This seemingly seals the deal for Nacho. He can’t let his father’s life remain in jeopardy any longer.

Determined to keep up her work pace, Kim is visited by Francesca with her files and they discuss how quickly she can get back in the game to keep her promise to Billy Gatwood and maintain her relationship with Mesa Verde. When it becomes clear that this kind of rushing is just going to lead her down the same toxic rabbit hole as before, Kim tells Francesca to cancel everything for the foreseeable future and give her a ride (they go to Blockbuster, where Kim picks out as many DVDs as Francesca can carry). Jimmy, feeling reflective after Kim’s accident, goes to check in on Chuck and apologize for how things have played out, and is shocked to find all the lights on and music playing. Chuck is unimpressed, and tells him it’s just not worth it to have regrets, and that despite his best intentions, Jimmy is always going to hurt everyone around him. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but the truth is, you’ve never mattered all that much to me,” he tells him. Jimmy crumbles. He’s destroyed by this, and seems to try to think up a response on his way out, but he’s got nothing.

Combined with everything else, his ousting from HH&M has clearly done a number on Chuck, and he becomes undone. He awakes in the middle of the night and tries to log his reaction in his journal as Dr. Cruz has taught him, but it’s too late. He’s regressed. He switches off all the power breakers and desperately tries to find the source that’s still causing the power meter outside to spin, tearing walls apart and grasping at wires and whatever he can find. He bails on therapy and continues his quest until he finally becomes to distressed that he smashes the power meter altogether and goes back inside, where he remains.

Back at Sandpiper, Jimmy keeps grubbin’ for his money, trying to seduce Irene with cake and balloons to celebrate their settlement. She’s still too sad about being ostracized by her friends, however, so Jimmy also meets with them to try to get them back in her corner. It’s no use – he’s done too much to repair it with smooth talking. Sure, he might get his money. But he’s left a poor old woman lonely and sad. Later, Jimmy returns home, clearly still stung by Chuck’s comments. Kim is snacking and movie-watching away, enjoying “Relaxathon 2003”. (You deserve it, girl!) He recounts his attempts to reconnect the Sandpiper women with Irene to no avail, and after they decide to watch To Kill a Mockingbird together, Jimmy realizes what he must do to fix things for the poor lady.

Jimmy infiltrates the Sandpiper chair yoga class to sub in as instructor, and his faaaavorite former co-worker, Erin, soon appears to chew him out about what he did to manipulate Irene. Jimmy being Jimmy, he’s orchestrated all of this, and he’s still wearing the microphone he put on to instruct the class – the whole group hears this. He really makes a show of it and sounds completely despicable; when he returns to the class, they’ve all turned on him, and Irene’s friends are back by her side. It’s a stunning moment of redemption for Jimmy, a moment of him using his skeezy, showy powers for good, and sacrificing personal gain to help someone else – perhaps all hope is not lost for him. Outside, he thanks Erin for her cooperation, and he returns to his office to pack everything up. He apologizes to Francesca and says he’ll call her if they ever open another office again, but she assures him she’s got her old job back and she’ll be alright. After Francesca leaves, Jimmy and Kim reminisce and survey the empty office, gazing at their W/M wall. “We’ll get another,” Kim tells him. “A better wall,” he responds, in typical Jimmy fashion. Kim kisses him and they go home.

Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) and Hector are finally brought together in an attempt to make amends and remind Hector that the only route that Don Eladio permits is the “chicken truck”, but as expected, Hector is not satisfied with this. Hector then launches into a helluva monologue, revealing his pain over having built this business with his family and now being pushed out of it. Nacho’s plan finally plays out when Hector gets so riled up that he has a total fit and collapses, and Gus is the first to rush to Hector’s aid and insist that they call 9-1-1. “No te mueras, cabron!” he repeats, performing CPR, which roughly translates to “do not die, bastard”, and Bolsa bolts while Nacho picks up the pill bottle and retrieves all evidence of him having changed out the medication. When the EMT asks if Hector was on any medication and Nacho hands over the bottle, Gus proves he’s no fool. The look he gives Nacho as the ambulance drives away says it all.

At his wit’s end, Chuck sits in his destroyed house, kicking his desk and jolting the lantern that sits on it. He can’t do this anymore. Eventually, the lantern crashes to the ground. Fire catches.

That was a finale for the books, and we couldn’t be more satisfied – and anxious (talk about those cliffhangers!) What will Chuck’s death mean for Jimmy? Is Hector going to be ding-dinging away the next time we see him? What will happen to Nacho now that Gus knows? Will Jimmy and Kim make it? We can’t answer these questions quite yet, but we can take a look at any Breaking Bad Easter eggs hidden by Gilligan, Gould & Co. Let’s go!

What do we have?

Hector tries to charm Nacho’s father with some cash before they enter their deal, and a bell sits on the counter in front of him.

Seem familiar?

This seems like a moment of foreshadowing for what we know is ahead; Hector will eventually be confined to a wheelchair with a similar bell as his only means of communication. We first meet Hector (and his bell) in Breaking Bad Season 2, Episode 2, “Grilled“. (The fit Hector has at the end of “Lantern” may also be what leads him to this state).

What do we have?

When Chuck lies in bed and starts to log his emotional state, he checks his watch and lays it back down on the nightstand.

Seem familiar? 

This feels like a nice visual callback and potentially a foreshadowing of Chuck meeting his end (or running out of time), as Walt (Bryan Cranston) is pictured in Breaking Bad Season 5, Episode 16, “Felina” placing his watch on top of a payphone before he heads out to meet his fate.

What do we have? 

Jimmy tells Francesca that if they ever open another office, she’d be their first call.

Seem familiar?

We know that’s true, since Francesca works in the office of one Saul Goodman, first seen Breaking Bad Season 2, Episode 8, “Better Call Saul“. (Admittedly, she seemed a lot happier in the Wexler/McGill days).

A few other stray observations on this stunning finale: Chuck’s send-off felt very thorough – one Redditor even caught the symbolism of Chuck leaving HH&M and walking “into the light”, another thinks that Mike (Jonathan Banks) placed a bug in Chuck’s house and that’s what was drawing the power, and a very clever viewer caught that Chuck seems to be neighbors with Jesse Pinkman’s aunt.

That’s all till next season, folks! Watch out for fires and fake friends!