"Three Thousand Years" is a Rarity

George Miller's long-awaited follow-up to "Mad Max: Fury Road," "Three Thousand Years of Longing," is the kind of movie that nobody makes anymore.  Well, it's a movie that nobody makes with this kind of budget and gives a wide release to, anyway.  It's a romance for one thing, starring two very good, mature actors, Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba.  It's also an orientalist fantasy patterned off the tropes of "One Thousand and One Nights," and those have been tricky to navigate in a modern context.  There's a self-awareness to the film's writing that makes the tales of exotic Djinn and sultans palatable, but some lingering concerns remain.  Still, I couldn't resist the spectacle that Miller and his team managed to orchestrate, or the breathlessly earnest tale of love and romance that accompanies it.   

Swinton stars as a British "narratologist," Alithea, a scholar of stories.  She comes to Istanbul for a conference, and acquires a bottle that happens to contain a Djinn, played by Elba.  Most of the film is simply the two of them sitting in Alithea's hotel room, discussing the Djinn's requisite offer of three wishes to Alithea, who doesn't want them.  The Djinn's freedom, however, requires the fulfillment of these wishes, which leads to him recounting his history as a Djinn in an attempt to persuade her, starting three thousand years ago when he was in love with the Queen of Sheba (Aamito Lagun).  His history also involves stories about Suleiman the Magnificent (Lachy Hulme), his sons, a slave girl named Gulten (Ece Yuksel), and a passionate scholar named Zefir (Burcu Golgedar).  The Djinn himself is sometimes an active participant, and sometimes only a passive observer.

These stories are familiar, about wishes and consequences, and the folly of human nature.  What's interesting is the framing of them, from the point of view of the wish-granting Djinn.  He is an immortal creature depicted as otherworldly and inhuman, but has very human appetites and weaknesses, especially when it comes to love.  Elba and Swinton have no trouble selling their unlikely characters, and are on roughly equal footing throughout the film.  I would have been happy with the film if it simply stayed with the two of them in the hotel room, "Leo Grande" style, debating the intricacies of making wishes and getting involved with the wrong people.  However, George Miller chooses to depict the stories with all the colorful fairy tale flourishes that he can fit onscreen.  As Elba narrates, Miller brings us into sumptuously constructed Middle Eastern fantasy worlds, full of exotic images of bygone kingdoms and empires.  The characters include shapeshifters, storytellers, giants, geniuses, and magicians.  It's not as bombastic as something like this summer's "Elvis," but I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.    

Fantasy media has gotten rather less fantastical over the last few years, with many of the big franchises being  very concerned with their own internal logic and echoing real world issues.  I appreciate that "Three Thousand Years" is not remotely interested in this.  It never explains why things happen, or how, but stays focused on telling entertaining stories and presenting interesting characters.  Because it's George Miller at the helm, these stories have some adult material, some dark humor, and quite a lot of violence.  There are some nods to the plight of women in these bygone and not-so-bygone patriarchal Middle-Eastern societies, particularly in the story of Zefir, the unhappy youngest wife of a rich Turkish merchant.  However, the movie isn't interested in really questioning these inequities in any depth.  Likewise, the Djinn never remarks on the fairness of being trapped in his bottle for thousands of years, or the logic of having to grant wishes in order to earn his freedom.  It's only at the end, when Alithea takes over the narrative, and we're only able to perceive the Djinn from her point of view, that the film seems to be prodding the viewer to be more critical of how the story is being constructed and presented.  

If you want to dig more into the themes, I'm sure that there are plenty of other little metatextual goodies in the film that I didn't spot.  However, what I ended up loving it for are its visual ambitions and cinematic adventurousness.  This is clearly a passion project for George Miller, full of wild concepts like King Solomon (Nicolas Mouawad) wooing Sheba with magical musical instruments that play themselves, or one of Suleiman's sons having a penchant for giantess concubines.  When the Djinn is first released, Alithea's first look at him is of his giant toes, intruding into her bathroom.  Miller does so many wonderful things with scale, and color, and motion in this film.  I'm so glad he got to make it, even though it was probably always doomed to be a bust at the box office.  There's a reason they don't make them like this anymore, and that's a terrible shame.  

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Notes on "Documentary Now!"

 I've known about the IFC series, "Documentary Now!" for a while now, but I was apprehensive about starting it.  "Documentary Now!" parodies various documentaries, both good and bad, and there were a lot of the show's targets that I had zero familiarity with.  However, as time went on, and the kudos piled up, it got more and more tempting.  Finally this year, after learning the fourth season featured episodes that would spoof Werner Herzog and Agnes Varda films, I gave in.  I just limited myself to watching the episodes based on documentaries I'd already seen, and had no trouble at all.  

I'd argue that this is the best way to tackle the show.  While many of the individual installments are absolutely watchable without any outside knowledge, it's much easier to appreciate the work that goes into these spoofs if you have some familiarity with the originals.  For instance, in the third season the show did a parody of "Original Cast Album: Company," a 1970 documentary where D.A. Pennebaker filmed the recording session for the cast album of the Stephen Sondheim musical.  The episode is called "Original Cast Album: Co-Op."  In addition to reproducing filming and technical details to make the whole episode look like it had been made in the '70s., writing multiple original songs in the style of a Sondheim musical, and getting Broadway veterans Renée Elise Goldsberry, Alex Brightman, Richard Kind, and Paula Pell to come sing them, "Co-op" takes the time to specifically riff on incidents from the "Company" recording, such as Sondheim delivering notes on pronunciation, and later a cast member storming out.  Best of all, it's funny.  Richard Kind wheezing his way to the finish, and everyone learning the show has closed after only one night had me in stitches.  

"Documentary Now!" is largely the work of "Saturday Night Live" veterans.  Seth Meyers and John Mulaney have writing credits on most of the episodes I saw, Bill Hader and Fred Armisen are recurring performers, and Alex Buono and Rhys Thomas are directors or co-directors of every episode.  The series often feels like an outlet for these funny people to tackle more ambitious, more highbrow material than mainstream audiences would accept in their other work.  And clearly, they have no shortage of willing collaborators.  Helen Mirren serves as the "Documentary Now!" host, introducing every episode with poised perfection.  Cate Blanchett plays the Marina Abramovic stand-in for "Waiting for an Artist," which both sends up performance art and displays a healthy appreciation for it.  A bevy of New Hollywood talent, including Peter Bogdanovich, Faye Dunaway, and Peter Fonda pop up in "Mr. Runner Up," the memoir of a serial awards chaser.  And the amount of passion and care that's put into the show is frankly thrilling to see.  No detail, from title fonts and production logos, to film grain and lighting setups, are too small to factor into a spoof. 

The quality of the various episodes is as different as the documentaries they send up, including concert films, profiles of interesting figures, and investigative narratives.  A mediocre documentary, like "Dear Mr. Watterson," can inspire a fantastic spoof like "Searching for Mr. Larson," which tears into the narcissistic director's self-aggrandizement.  On the other hand, arguably the greatest movie "making-of" documentary of all time, Werner Herzog's "Burden of Dreams," begets the rather unfocused "Soldier of Illusion," that feels lost in the mountains along with its stars, Alexander Sarsgaard and August Diehl.  At least Diehl makes for a magnificent Klaus Kinski figure.  The show is at its best when it manages to hone in on particular, idiosyncratic details, like the father/son dynamic in "Juan Likes Rice and Chicken," a South American take on "Jiro Dreams of Sushi."   I've long been a fan of Agnes Varda, and it was so heartwarming to find "Trouver Frisson," a loose parody of her autobiographical documentaries like "The Beaches of Agnes" and "Faces Places."  Not only does it nail her particular first person narrative and editing style, but her gentle, fanciful sense of humor.  

The series is incredibly niche, but so good at being what it is, I don't see how its intended audience of cinephiles could resist.  At least two episodes have even found their way into Criterion Collection disc extras for the films that they are parodying.  Frankly, I now have a list of documentary films I want to watch, just so I can go back and check out the "Documentary Now!" episodes that they inspired. 

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The Gen Z Horror of "Fall" and "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies"

Gen Z is now firmly in their 20s, and Hollywood has started tackling the particular foibles of their generation in recent horror films - really the only genre in American film that attempts to stay current with social change with any success.  "Fall" is a survival film, directed by Scott Mann  and co-written by Mann and Jonathan Frank, that often feels like it succeeds in spite of its pointedly Gen Z heroines.  "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies," directed by Halina Reijn and written by Sarah DeLappe, is a more interesting slasher film that comments on and criticizes some common Gen Z hallmarks.

"Fall" is about two young women, Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Garner), who are thrill-seekers.  On the anniversary of the death of Becky's husband Dan (Mason Gooding) in a climbing accident, Hunter convinces Becky to join her on a stunt, climbing a freestanding, two thousand foot TV tower in the middle of the desert.  When the stunt goes wrong, and the women are stranded on the tallest part of the tower without a safe way to get down, they have to figure out a way to call for help.  They have very few supplies, and have to contend with injuries, vultures, bad weather, and no reception.  

I feel like I'm picking on "Fall," because it's clearly a small budget affair made by people who are all a little wet behind the ears, and its creators should be praised for putting together a clever scenario with some good moments of suspense.  The heroines are clearly smart and resourceful, trying multiple methods to attract attention and signal for rescue.  However, the characters are otherwise pretty awful.  Becky's entire personality comes down to still grieving her husband every spare moment she has, while Hunter is one of those social media creatures who comes up with the idea to scale the tower so she can film herself while doing it.  This provides a handy explanation for why the two women are doing something so incredibly stupid, but it doesn't mean they don't still come across as incredibly stupid.

I tried very hard to root for the protagonists, but honestly the film lost me around the third act, when the filmmakers try to pull off a big twist and somewhat bungle the execution.  Otherwise, they do a very good job of making the peril feel real, and progression of events feel mostly plausible.  Technology is used in a smart way, and this is one of those films that wouldn't work as well in the pre cell-phone age due to the way the ending plays out.  However, Becky and Hunter fit the image of the attention-seeking, social media obsessed airhead way too well for it not to have been a deliberate choice, and it's awfully grating.  "Fall" is a pretty good watch in spite of this, as a no-frills, high tension thrill ride. 

Now "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies" leans into the faults of its twenty-something characters, a friend group of mostly rich, privileged young people, who are having a hurricane party at the home of one of their absent parents.  Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) brings Bee (Maria Bakalova), her new girlfriend, to meet her bestie David (Pete Davidson), his actress girlfriend Emma (Chase Sui Wonders), other friends Jordan (Myha'la Herrold) and Alice (Rachel Sennott), and Alice's much older new boyfriend Greg (Lee Pace).  Immediately tensions are apparent when Sophie shows up, because nobody knew she was coming, and they didn't part on the best terms with her.  The party soon devolves into heavy drinking and drug use, and then someone comes up with the bright idea to play "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies," a murder game similar to "Mafia" or "Werewolf."  

The filmmakers present a very unflattering look at these characters, who are all terrible people, and display toxic behavior with each other.  As the evening progresses and the hurricane hits, all kinds of dark secrets come spilling out about cheating, addiction, mental health problems, and general bad behavior.  Everyone is a likely suspect, and the actors playing them represent a nice collection of young talent.  Rachel Sennott stands out in particular, playing a podcaster and influencer without much self-awareness, and very little filter.  The more fun characters unfortunately get killed off quickly.  However, my only real complaint about the film is that it never struck me as very scary or very thrilling.  It works fine as a black comedy, especially as the characters start turning on each other, but I never found much of a sense of urgency except right when the first murder happens.

I suspect that like "Fall," it came down to not having anybody to root for.  "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies" looks great, with the fantastic central visual metaphor of a McMansion being systematically destroyed by both the partygoers and the hurricane.  The use of glow-stick lighting, cell-phone lighting, and panic room lighting are all a delight.  However, the script is a little too good at demolishing all the players.  Or maybe the problem is with me, a rapidly aging Xennial, who is finding herself on the wrong side of a generational divide.  And who probably has to work  on that.   

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The Prophetic "Pantheon"

The AMC series "Pantheon" is a rare U.S. produced animated drama.  It reminds me of the late '90s and early 2000s science fiction anime that used to be popular in nerdy circles, before the YA action franchises took over.  There are direct references to "Ghost in the Shell" and "Neon Genesis Evangelion," but the obvious precursor to "Pantheon" is "Serial Experiments Lain," which is as much of an existential horror series as it is a terribly prescient story about the early internet age.  

"Pantheon" is based on the short stories of Ken Liu, and revolves around the concept of Uploaded Intelligence, or U.I., where human minds are scanned and uploaded into computers to live out a purely digital existence.  A teenager named Maddie Kim (Katie Chang) receives strange messages from someone online - maybe her father David (Daniel Dae Kim), who died four years ago.  Her mother Ellen (Rosemarie DeWitt) is obviously keeping secrets.  Meanwhile, a disaffected young hacker named Caspian (Paul Dano) discovers that his parents (Taylor Schilling, Aaron Eckhart) aren't what they seem, and have ties to Logarhythms, the company founded by deceased tech genius Stephen Holstrom (William Hurt).  Then there's Chandra (Raza Jaffrey), a brilliant engineer who we see being kidnapped in the first episode, and then having his mind forcefully and horrifically uploaded to the cloud in the second.  

While not as cerebral or as scientifically rigorous as some of its progenitors, "Pantheon" succeeds at being a techno-thriller that is both intelligent about the ideas it explores, and also genuinely thrilling to watch from episode to episode.  With a little shadowy espionage, a little body horror, and a stellar voice cast, "Pantheon" is genuine hard science fiction aimed at discerning adults.  The mysteries unfold at a satisfying pace, and come together in a gratifying way.  The animated medium allows it to be more ambitious than anything comparable in live action.  I want to tread lightly because of the spoilers, but how the U.I. appear and interact with each other, their virtual environments, and how everyone uses technology is all very thoughtful and well considered.  There's a lot of nerdy content here, from Maddie having emoji-only chat sessions, to Caspian running through logic problems at the dinner table.  At the same time, the writers are careful to keep relationships and emotions at the forefront.  A lovely, self-aware  tidbit of information from an early episode reveals that U.I. are less productive in the absence of emotion, because emotion is a prime driver of problem solving.      

One area where there's room for improvement is the show's animation.  "Pantheon" is a rare animated series where the episodes are forty-plus minutes, and even for an eight episode season, the budget couldn't have been insubstantial.  However, I wish the designs weren't so bland and familiar - the whole main cast could blend in with the background extras from "Invincible" or "The Boys: Diabolical."  We get some interesting depictions of digital spaces, but so much more could have been done here.  While I appreciate that "Pantheon" is very accessible and the writing and characterizations are especially strong, I wish it would take more chances when it comes to the visual storytelling.  A big reason why anime like "Lain" and "Ghost in the Shell" are so iconic is they pioneered so much of the visual language of how we depict the internet and virtual worlds.  Pantheon is clearly very fluent in this language, but also feels a little compromised in how literal and dialogue-heavy it is, always careful not to step too far into abstraction and ambiguity.  

And while "Pantheon" flirts with darker horror and paranoid conspiracy elements in the early episodes, eventually this gives way to a much more straightforward narrative about the morality and philosophy of creating a new technology.  I love the way that the show keeps escalating from episode to episode, never letting the status quo remain unchanged for too long.  It really commits to exploring multiple facets of the U.I. from several different points of view.  The societal implications are wonderfully grim, though never nihilistic.  I want to stress that this is a series for adults, despite the relatively low incidences of onscreen violence.  There are deaths and disturbing subject matter galore, about on par with something like "Black Mirror." In the end, though, "Pantheon" is more optimistic, and more about the better side of humanity than I was expecting.

Best of all, a second season has already been greenlit.  I can't wait to see more.

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My 2022 Holiday Wishlist

2022 has been a hopeful year in some ways and an ominous year in others.  Theaters are still limping along, the streaming wars continue, and the further consolidation of the entertainment industry continues to make everyone nervous.  As a consumer, I still feel like we're in an okay place, but that could change quickly.

So, this year for the holidays I want… 

A record breaking year at the box office.  We know that the demand for the theatrical experience is still there, and we saw some promising success stories last year.  Hopefully the studios won't be so quick to make so many of their less promising films streaming exclusives the way we saw this year.  2022 ran short on theatrical films in certain months, but the same shouldn't be true in 2023.  Lots of old favorites and big names are back, and I'm personally looking forward to the Christopher Nolan/Greta Gerwig showdown the most.

The resurrection of the DCEU.  I'm incredibly curious about all of those DC films that have been delayed and delayed, and the subject of so much behind-the-scenes drama and speculation over the past year.  With the MCU on autopilot, and Sony's superheroes showing few signs of life, this is Warners' opportunity to really take center stage with four DCEU films currently on the schedule.  At the very least, the suspense over the fate of Ezra Miller as the Flash has to be resolved one way or another.  This mess has been dragged out for way too long.  And speaking of Warners…

For Warner Bros. Discovery to successfully reorient.  I hope the current leadership got the slash and burn impulses out of their systems, because they can't afford to keep alienating the creative community.   The quick reinstatement of the diversity workshops after the DGA made their displeasure known, is a sign that Zaslav and company can be reasoned with, so I'm trying to stay optimistic.  They have a lot coming up in 2023, including their merger of the HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming services.

A good Oscar season.  I know that the Oscar race has been losing ground with mainstream viewers for years now, but I still enjoy the fuss every year, and I'm hoping some of the bumpy broadcast issues can be worked out.  The Golden Globes are back, at least for this year, and the Oscar ceremony is in the hands of producers who know how to put on a good show.  I don't have any specific suggestions for the ceremony, except that I think we're all past the point of pretending that the Oscars aren't anything more than a marketing event - so they should embrace that and really put on a show.  

 

The MCU's Phase Five to improve on Phase Four.  It's not that I didn't enjoy most of the movies and shows that came out of Phase Four, but all of the Marvel content on Disney+ came out depressingly similar in tone and structure, with few exceptions.  The "Star Wars" content has the same problem, but the MCU really feels like it's at a turning point with better opportunities to regroup.  I hope that eventually Disney+ will be able to rely less on existing IP, but it's going to take a while to get there.

For streamers to proceed with caution regarding ad tiers.  We've got a lot of these coming in 2023, in the wake of Netflix's recent launch.  I'm not happy about this development at all, but if ad tiers are the only way to keep the streamers in business, it's hard to argue against them.  However, this is likely going to be a very slippery slope, leading straight back to the promotion-riddled hellscape where cable television ended up.  Remember when cable channels didn't have commercials?  At least there are some minor benefits that come with them - more transparency about audience habits, and hopefully more varied and better ads.  

For Peacock to find somebody to bundle with, because there's no way I'm paying for them as a standalone service.  

For a smooth transition for the new Doctor Who.  I'm always behind, but I'm still watching!

And finally, for all the media coming next year to exceed my expectations, and the creators behind them to have every opportunity to do good work.

Happy holidays!

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My Favorite John Waters Film

At some point during the last year, I wrote my one hundredth "Great Directors" post, and there are so many directors I'm aghast that I haven't profiled yet.  Chief among these is Baltimore's own John Waters, the beloved purveyor of filth and trash.  His transgressive cult films of the '70s attacked good taste and were designed to shock.  However, he slowly transitioned to more mainstream comedies over time, often spoofing the media of the '50s and '60s.  Waters films are characterized by their celebration of the seedier, uglier, side of life.  He embraces the outcasts, the perverts, the vulgarians, and the unfortunates, casting his films with a regular band of inelegant, but ferociously talented actors, dubbed the Dreamlanders.

His most iconic star was the great drag queen Divine, who played monsters and maniacs in Waters' earliest films, and then troubled women and lovable maternal figures.  I find most of John Waters' films fascinating, but there's only one that I truly adore, and that's because of Divine's performance as the tragically neglected suburban housewife, Francine Fishpaw, in "Polyester."  Francine is meant to be a spoof on the heroines of women's melodramas of the '50s.  In modern times, she'd be the protagonist of a Lifetime Original Movie.  Francine is a good Christian woman who is plagued by a horrible family - an abusive pornography-peddling husband, a thieving harpy mother, and two degenerate children.  She also deals with drug abuse, abortion, alcoholism, infidelity, murder, mayhem, and a wide variety of other social ills.  Her only friend is her former housecleaner Cuddles, now a fabulously rich socialite.     

I frequently forget that Divine is a drag queen when watching "Polyester," and that the movie is meant to be a satire.  Sure, it's funny when she's cavorting around with ex '50s hunk Tab Hunter in typical movie romance scenarios.  The awfulness of her relatives is wildly over the top.  However, Divine plays it straight as Francine, full of familiar feminine vulnerabilities and insecurities.  This is one of her first films where she isn't made up to be garish and off-putting, and easily passes as a biological female.  There's something wonderfully empowering about seeing an obese woman, so often a figure of ridicule, as a heroine.  Cuddles, played by the snaggletoothed, graying Edith Massey, is someone you'd never see cast in any other movie, except as a grotesque.  Here, she's the most positive, adorable creature onscreen.

"Polyester" in many ways follows the usual Waters formula of charting his heroine's fall from grace, following Francine as she becomes a victim of a parade of salacious and sinister vices, each more gasp-worthy than the last.  However, there's a much more cohesive story this time out, with an unambiguously happy, crowd-pleasing conclusion.  Francine doesn't get her man in the end, but she does get revenge and she does figure out who really loves her, which is plenty.  I think of "Polyester" as the last hurrah for the Dreamlanders, as John Waters' subsequent films would put them in smaller and smaller supporting roles as he moved toward the mainstream, and started working with more well-known actors.  

"Polyester" was Waters' first film with a substantial budget, thanks to the newly formed New Line Cinema, and he used it as an opportunity to really skewer suburbia in a way he hadn't been able to before.  He toned down his usual incendiary style and content to achieve an R-rating, and "Polyester" remains one of his most accessible films.  However, as with all of his projects, he set and shot it in Baltimore, and took pains to feature the local community.  HIs filmmaking was noticeably improving with each picture, as he took on more and more ambitious scenarios.  I think he plateaued around "Hairspray," but to his credit, John Waters never sold out and he never betrayed his origins as a schlockmeister.  

I have to mention the Odorama, the William Castle-esque gimmick that invites the audience to scratch-and-sniff

their way through the film with special cards. I have not had the pleasure of attending a screening with the full Odorama experience, and have no real wish to. The gimmick sounds fun, but I find it unnecessary. I love "Polyester" as an audio-visual experience, and don't need to involve any other senses.


What I've Seen - John Waters


Mondo Trasho (1969)
Multiple Maniacs (1970)
Pink Flamingos (1972)
Female Trouble (1974)
Desperate Living (1977)
Polyester (1981)
Hairspray (1988)
Cry-Baby (1990)
Serial Mom (1994)
Pecker (1998)

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My Top Ten Episodes of "Better Call Saul"

Spoilers for the whole series ahead.  This was a hard one to get down to ten entries, because there were so many good options, as the long list of honorable mentions makes clear.  The episodes below are unranked, and ordered by airdate.

"Mijo" - This is the second episode of the series, where Jimmy manages to talk Tuco out of killing the skater guys, representing his first brush with the cartel and demonstrating his wiliness in a bad situation.  The negotiation sequence is one of the most intense and hilarious of the entire series.  I'm thrilled that they brought Raymond Cruz back, and some of the other "Breaking Bad" alumni.  This also has the first encounter with Nacho, and Michael Mando is already firing on all cylinders. 

 

"Pimento" - The episode where the tensions between Chuck and Jimmy boil over, as HHM is brought on to the Sandpiper case.  Jimmy learns what Chuck actually thinks of him, and his legal career, with all the consequences that this entails.  It's incredibly poignant in retrospect, knowing that Chuck was right, but also more responsible for the creation of Saul Goodman than anyone.  This is also the episode where Mike takes on a bodyguard job and gets to show off being a competent badass.    

 

"Nailed" - I couldn't choose between the last two episodes of the second season, so I included both.  "Nailed" has one of the next examples of the Chuck and Jimmy dynamic, where even when it seems like Jimmy has pulled off a brilliant maneuver, Chuck is so relentlessly arrogant, stubborn, and intelligent that he simply refuses to concede.  The shock of him unraveling Jimmy's plan so quickly, and the cliffhanger at the print shop make this one of the most exciting hours of "Better Call Saul." 

"Klick" - And here's the follow-up, where the whole episode is spent getting us to let our guard down, and believe that Chuck has finally turned a corner after his health scare.  Instead, we get that great final shot, promising that the war between the McGill brothers will not only continue, but is bound to escalate to new heights.  The visual of Chuck's house plastered in space blankets is one of my favorites.  Also, special kudos to Ernesto, a character we sadly didn't get to see much more of.  

"Chicanery" - The theatricality of the bar association hearing being prepared for Chuck's arrival is so good at setting up the fireworks to come, and I love that ominous shot of the "EXIT" sign that comes back in the finale.  Jimmy pulls off one of his best misdirections with Huell's help, setting up a chance for Michael McKean to give what's probably his best performance as Chuck McGill.  His rant in the final scene is so heartbreaking because the consequences are so immediately apparent.  

"Winner" - The fourth season suffered for the lack of Chuck and some format changes, but the finale managed to leave me and Kim Wexler speechless.  The transformation of Jimmy McGill into Saul Goodman started long before this, but the reinstatement hearing makes it clear that Saul has been pretending to be Jimmy for longer than we may have realized.  It's fitting that we get Chuck back briefly in the cold open for some karaoke.  Oh, and the whole Mike and Werner plot finally resolves.  

"Wexler v. Goodman" - I did not expect Kim to be okay with what Saul pulled, but as the heartbreaking opening scene flashback makes it clear, we don't really know a lot about Kim Wexler up until this season.  While watching Saul go after Kevin Wachtell and Mesa Verde is a lot of fun, it's also nerve wracking in light of the impact on Kim's career.  Rhea Seehorn gets a juicy final scene to excoriate Saul, and then to pull the rug out from under him. Also, the ongoing Howard harassment campaign gets funnier.     

"Bad Choice Road" - This one narrowly edged out the episode immediately before iit, "Bagman," where Mike and Saul have to make a trek through the desert.  "Bad Choice Road," however, is more interesting because it's all about the resulting consequences.  Tony Dalton's Lalo takes his place as "Better Call Saul's" most dangerous villain, ending the episode with a visit to Saul and Kim's apartment that is one of the best things the show has ever done.  And Kim's not only in the game now, but a very good player.

"Carrot and Stick" - I'm sorry that I haven't given more time to Nacho and Mike, but their parts of the story honestly paled in comparison with Saul and Kim's.  Even here, the excellent suspense and action sequences with Nacho facing off against the Salamanca cousins end up not being as entertaining as Kim threatening the Kettlemans, now running a memorable kitschy tax scam.  I really wanted more out of Nacho's storyline, and his exit in the next episode feels more like a wasted opportunity than anything.   

"Plan and Execution" - The climax of the Howard Hamlin harassment campaign is initially a lot of fun to see come to fruition, without all the complicated emotions involved in the similar one Saul waged against Chuck.  However, the consequences catch up to Saul and Kim even faster, with the return of Lalo.  Saul realizing the whole situation is out of his control, and the fact that the show's two major storylines haven't converged at all this season until now, ratchets up the tension to new heights.

"Saul Gone" - Finally, we see the end of Saul Goodman as Jimmy finally decides to do the right thing and it costs him everything.  I love the cinematography, the callbacks, the flashback to Saul's conversations with all the other "Better Call Saul" and "Breaking Bad" tragic figures, and finally that final meeting with Kim.  I have my quibbles with some choices - it really feels like Howard and Nacho should get some acknowledgement - but this is as good a finale as I've ever seen a show get.

Honorable Mentions: "RICO," "Switch," "Rebecca," "Fifi," "Fall," "Lantern," "Wiedersehen," "Bagman," "Something Unforgivable," "Rock and Hard Place," and "Nippy."

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