Change Your Image
sawa-h
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
The Shield: Tar Baby (2005)
Rated 7.1?
Why is this episode rated so low (7.1)? In my opinion, it deserves above 9.
Vic is keen to obtain a conclusive evidence for Antwon's involvement with drug business. Shane tries to get Vic off the track because it is highly likely to lead to his relationship with Antwon, but can't do that ostensibly for the very same reason. Antwon in turn takes advantage of Shane to ward off Vic's pursuit.
The three plots, entwined with each other, leads to the tragedy in the last part. And it in turn is going to be a driving force to move the characters in the following episode. This episode is a good example of what an episode of a series drama should be.
Better Call Saul: Lantern (2017)
Great Episode!
This episode is the very "lantern" that illuminates the real theme of this drama.
I think that to many including me, Better Call Saul does not appear as interesting as Breaking Bad. One of the reasons is that BSC lacks desperate or dilemmatic situations the best episodes of Breaking Bad have.
The difference seems also to result from the difference between the protagonists. Jimmy McGill hasn't been driven into a corner like Walter White. Walter is cut off the retreat and often has no choice. Think about Gale's murder in BB, which is the only option Walter can take to survive. There is no room for morality and conscience. Compared to Walter, Jimmy looks stale and weak.
But I realized I might be wrong while watching this show. And this episode confirmed me again about it. First of all, Jimmy is different from Walter. Jimmy hasn't reached the point where Walter stands. This means he has options to take and can consult his conscience. It isn't impossible to undo what he's done, though it isn't always possible. And I guess this is the very setting that Vince Gilligan's deliberately chosen to pursue the theme of the drama: what a person like Jimmy, selfish, cunning but still having a good heart, does to benefit his own interest or to solve his predicament. The interaction between selfishness and good heartedness, in other words.
This episode has good scenes to support the theme. First, Jimmy comes to Chuck to apologize about the court case where he beat him relentlessly employing the cunning trick as is his habit (Episode 5). Though Chuck accuses him that his words are false, Jimmy really regrets that he went too far and hopes that he makes up with him.
The second is that Jimmy sacrifices a good relationship with Irene and her friends and instead helps Irene win back the relationship with them, which he damaged when he snatched money from their court settlement by cunningly turning her friends against her (Episode 9).
A reference to "To Kill a Mockingbird" is also a good part. Kim tells Jimmy that she as a girl student worshiped Finch (Gregory Peck). Jimmy replies to her that Chuck is that type but he isn't. Certainly, he isn't a type of lawyer who fights against discrimination. Actually, he is a dirty one, but he is a good lawyer in a different sense. Many of his clients are elderly or low-income people. Not one of them is super rich or a big corporation.