'Better Call Saul' Review: Jimmy Is In Danger Of Doing 'Something Stupid'

Welcome to our weekly review-recaps of Better Call Saul season 4. Each week, we'll delve deep into the Breaking Bad prequel series, with spoilers galore. This week we examine episode 7 of season 4, "Something Stupid."

Things aren't going smoothly with the construction of Gus Fring's super-duper meth lab. The German team is growing restless – a fact illustrated when an accident involving a fallen pipe almost leads to a full-blown brawl. Mike observes all this with his trademark weariness (although he does flash some emotion briefly by yelling in German!).

While the men themselves appear to be very unhappy, head engineer Werner Ziegler is still very cordial with Mike. The two share some tall glasses of beer and discuss the problems plaguing the group. As Werner puts it, the men originally thought they would only be here for eight months, but it's clear it's going to take a lot longer than that. As Werner sees it, you can't expect to keep men locked away for so long and not expect some sort of madness to set in. They need fresh air...and more.

"Rest and relaxation," Mike grumbles. Werner agrees. Mike understands, but he also remains wary of Kai, who hasn't really done anything bad yet, but is clearly trouble waiting to happen. Mike even asks Werner if it would be okay to send Kai back to Germany, but Werner counters that Kai is his best demolition man, and it would be in everyone's best interest if he stayed. Mike is stuck with Kai for now. But it's obvious that something bad is going to happen between these two men real soon.

Hector Salamanca appears to be getting better...and Gus is ready to change-up his plan. After Hector had his stroke (brought on by Nacho's actions), Gus brought in Johns Hopkins doctor Dr. Maureen Bruckner to take command of Hector's treatment. Dr. Bruckner has done extraordinary work, rehabilitating Hector faster than any other doctor might have.

When she gibes Gus a progress report on Hector, Gus makes an observation: a video Dr. Bruckner shot in the hospital reveals Hector intentionally knocking a glass of water over, just so he can ogle the rear end of the nurse cleaning it up. This triggers something in Gus – he realizes Hector is much better, and also that the Hector Salamanca he "used to know" is making a come-back.

With this in mind, Gus tells Dr. Bruckner that her services will no longer be needed. The good doctor is confused by this – she thinks her work with Hector is just beginning. But Gus has other plans. It's not clear what those plans are right now, but my guess is it won't be pretty.

"Something Stupid" opens with a show-stopping split-screen montage (kudos to director Deborah Chow for the construction of this sequence). The montage hammers home something alarming: Kim and Jimmy are growing apart. We see them both going about their days: Kim starting her new job at Schweikart and Cokely, and eventually getting her cast off, while Jimmy continues his lucrative side job selling burner phones. Once again, Saul Goodman has reared his ugly head – Jimmy is using the Goodman name to sell the phones, and has gone so far as to have business cards made up. Little by little, Jimmy and Kim's paths diverge. It gets to the point where even when they're occupying the same room, they're still divided by the black split-screen bar.

The divide widens later when Kim brings Jimmy to an office party and Schweikart and Cokely, where Jimmy proceeds to make a drunken ass of himself. Driving home from the party, Kim dryly comments: "Well, that was something." Jimmy cranks up some loud music, oblivious.

Jimmy's phone business is booming, but he runs into trouble when a plainclothes cop comes calling. Even though Jimmy has a permit and is apparently doing everything legally, the cop is perturbed. He takes issue with the fact that Jimmy is selling to drug dealers and other criminals, but Jimmy counters that's none of his business. The exchange turns heated. So heated, in fact, that when Huell – hired by Jimmy as security – shows up, he whacks the cop across the back of the head with a bag of sandwiches. This, of course, leads to Huell's arrest, and now Jimmy is scrambling to help. Huell would rather just skip bail and go on the run, but Jimmy doesn't want that to happen. Instead, he turns to Kim, and tells her everything – including the fact that he's selling burner phones.

Kim is taken aback by this confession, and even more taken aback when Jimmy asks her to help clear Huell by smearing the cop's name (the lawman has a drinking problem). Kim won't have it – she decides to take a more ethical approach and serve as Huell's lawyer. But even the impressive Kim Wexler law skills aren't enough – the D.A. doesn't want to cut a deal, or reduce charges.

This realization inspires something stupid in Jimmy. "You do your thing and I'll do mine," he tells Kim, before speeding off to find Huell. Kim mulls this over, and then has an epiphany of her own. She speeds off to an office supply store and loads up on stationary – pens, paper, post-its. While shopping, she places a call to Jimmy, and ensures him she has a "better way" to help Huell. But what is it?

This makes for quite an ending, because it effectively brings Jimmy and Kim closer together again. All through the episode, it seemed like Kim was drifting further and further away from Jimmy's orbit. Now, she's suddenly inspired to help him out. She doesn't even seem particularly bothered by the burner phone scenario by the time the episode cuts to black. This is good news for Jimmy, but potentially bad news for Kim. How much further will he drag Kim down into his spiraling lifestyle? I'm afraid to find out.