"Something Beautiful" is the third episode of the fourth season of Better Call Saul and the thirty-third episode of the series altogether.

Summary

Teaser

On a desert road, Victor lays down a spike strip and drives Arturo's car over it, shredding the tires. Nacho is following in the Cadillac Escalade while Tyrus scatters glass shards and bullet casings. Nacho watches as the two men remove a recently murdered Arturo's body from the trunk, place it in the driver's seat of his car, then shoot up the vehicle with their pistols. After emptying two magazines each, Victor puts a bullet in the side of Arturo's head. Nacho is then forced to get in the vehicle, where Victor shoots him in the shoulder. After Nacho exits the car, Victor comes up behind him and shoots him in the gut, which Tyrus says is needed to "make it look real." Arturo's death has been staged to look like an ambush, with Nacho as a witness. As Nacho lies writhing on the ground, Tyrus leaves him a cell phone and advises that he call for help while he still can.

Act I

At Loyola's, Jimmy meets with Mike and details his latest scheme: he wants Mike to break into Neff Copiers, steal Mr. Neff's valuable Hummel figurine, and replace it with a near-identical knockoff, after which Jimmy and Mike will split the profit when they sell the original. Mike passes on this opportunity for "easy money," saying that this job isn't for him or for Jimmy. Mike offers his condolences over Chuck's death. Disappointed, Jimmy leaves the diner. Outside, he phones Caldera's Veterinary Office.

The Cousins arrive at the scene of the staged shooting and examine clues. They find Nacho's blood trail and follow it to Nacho himself, who is weak from blood loss and exposure. Inside their own vehicle, Marco examines Nacho's wounds and asks about the shooters, who Nacho claims drove a silver Firebird. Leonel sets Arturo's car on fire before he and Marco drive away with Nacho.

Act II

Kim returns to work at Mesa Verde with a new paralegal, Viola Goto. During a meeting with Paige discussing Mesa Verde's pending acquisitions, Kevin enters the room. Kevin greets Kim, offers his condolences about Chuck, and asks how Jimmy is handling his death. Kim claims that he's "getting through it." She is then shown a room with architectural models of Mesa Verde's many planned branches and appears apprehensive. In the lobby, Kim feels overwhelmed by her task ahead and asks Viola to get started on the new Mesa Verde filings instead of her. She further asks to be driven to the courthouse instead of home.

At Caldera's office, a frustrated Jimmy waits for Caldera to finish a cell phone call in an adjacent room. Jimmy barges into the room and Caldera tells him that his contact is not interested in the job. Despite Caldera's protests, Jimmy breaks protocol by taking the phone and talking to the contact directly, managing to set up a meeting. He leaves Caldera's office with his goldfish and passes Leonel as he walks out the door.

Act III

The Cousins enlist Caldera into stitching up a delirious Nacho, driving both of them to an undisclosed location. After the procedure, Nacho wakes up to find that Caldera has set up a blood transfusion between him and Marco. Caldera informs Nacho that he had to leave the bullet in his shoulder, advises him to visit doctors with imaging equipment, and gives him instructions on properly healing his injuries. He further tells Nacho that he never wants to see him again, as he doesn't want to get caught up in the business of the Cartel.

That night, Jimmy's contact, Ira, uses a credit card to bridge the door alarm at Neff Copiers and sneak inside Mr. Neff's office. There, he manages to switch the Hummel figurines. He is startled when Mr. Neff emerges from a bathroom adjoining the office; he has been kicked out of the house by his wife after he got her a vacuum cleaner as a gift. Ira, trapped, is forced to hide underneath Mr. Neff's desk, listening as he drinks scotch, argues with his wife over the phone, and calls to order pizza. Eventually, Ira is able to phone Jimmy to explain the situation, demanding that he come pick him up.

Act IV

Ira continues hiding under the desk while Mr. Neff eats pizza, plays solitaire, and listens to a self-help CD. Both men hear a car alarm go off outside, which Mr. Neff realizes is coming from his vehicle. He steps outside the store to deactivate the car alarm, but Ira is not able to leave the office. Outside, Jimmy tries to use a clothes hanger to break into Mr. Neff's car, again tripping the car alarm. Mr. Neff, now irritated, leaves his office again and sees his car rolling backwards through the parking garage. As he chases after it, Ira is able to leave the store. In an alley nearby, Ira compliments Jimmy on the trick he pulled with the car.

The following day, Gus gets a call from Juan Bolsa informing him of the apparent attack on Arturo and Nacho. Noting the similarities to two prior hits on Hector's trucks (both of which were actually Mike's doing), Gus and Bolsa agree to run dummy loads over the border until the culprits are identified. When Gus tells him that no more than a week's supply of product is left, Bolsa orders him to go ignore edicts from Don Eladio and find a supplier north of the border. After ending the call, Gus walks into a college chemistry lab, where he meets with Gale Boetticher. Gale presents Gus with samples of crystal meth, which he labels "dreck" because of their impurity, and asks for an opportunity to produce higher-grade samples himself. Gus refuses for the time being, telling Gale he is meant for "better things."

At Kim's apartment, she looks over Viola's filings when Jimmy wakes up late. After Viola leaves, Kim approaches Jimmy with some documents from her meeting with Howard, namely a release stating that Jimmy agrees to not contest his $5,000 inheritance from Chuck and the unopened personal letter. Jimmy opens and reads the letter aloud, in which Chuck, writing before the events of the series, expresses approval of Jimmy for turning his life around by working in the HHM mailroom and says he is proud of Jimmy as a brother. Jimmy is not emotionally affected by the letter given that it was written before he became a lawyer and Chuck's final words to him. Kim however breaks down crying and leaves the room.

Official Photos

Trivia

• The duration of this episode, 42 minutes, makes it one of the shortest of the series with "Five-O", "Amarillo", "Inflatable", and "Something Stupid"
• The music played during the scene in which the Cousins find Arturo and Nacho in the desert comes from the first soundtrack of Breaking Bad ("The Cousins" by Dave Porter) and has been heard in several episodes of Season 3 of Breaking Bad. ("No Más",  "Caballo Sin Nombre",  "One Minute") Additionally, it is also heard in "Wine and Roses".
• This episode marks the earliest chronological appearance of Ira and Gale, who first appeared in Breaking Bad, it also marks the final appearance of Arturo Colon.
• Mr. Neff orders a pizza and confirms that he wants it to be pre-sliced. Once delivered, the pizza box shows Venezia's Pizzeria. This is an easter-egg that refers to the episode "Caballo Sin Nombre" of Season 3 of Breaking Bad, in which Walt throws a pizza on the roof of his house by frustration. In order to make the throw possible, the pizza was not pre-sliced, which led to a debate in the fan community and a wink in episode "Thirty-Eight Snub" of Season 4.
• Jimmy's theft of a Hummel figurine was also perpetrated by Marie Schrader in "Open House", incidentally also the third episode of the fourth season of Breaking Bad.
• When Victor shoots Arturo's head, he does so from the side. However, when Nacho gets into the car, the wound, blood splatter, and cracked front windshield indicates he was shot in the back of the head.
• While Ira is hiding in Mr. Neff's office, a self-help CD can be heard talking about prioritizing "importance" and "urgency". This is a reference to the Eisenhower Principle, which describes how to prioritize using those two values to avoid distractions. Ironically, Mr. Neff falls victim to Jimmy's distraction later in the episode.

Production

Credits

Featured Music

• "The Cousins" by Dave Porter (when the Cousins inspect the scene of the staged shooting)
• "The Elements" by Tom Lehrer (Music By Sir Arthur Sullivan)

Memorable Quotes

"I have one question for you: do you shit gold? It's a simple "yes" or "no." Do - you - shit - gold? (inaudible response) No? All right, then. Because unless you currently have a large gold nugget traversing your colon, this is the easiest money you'll ever gonna make."

―Saul motivating Ira to accept the job.

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"Listen, I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job, but..."

―Saul to Caldera.

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"Now understand this: After I walk out here, I never wanna see you again. Never. This cartel shit is too hot for me. You got it?"

―Caldera to Nacho.

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"It's undated. Okay, here it goes: 'Dear Jimmy, I have left many things unsaid in our relationship through the years, rather than allow - allow these unspoken thoughts to die with me, I've chosen to record them here for you. I hope you will take my words in the spirit in which they are intended.' New paragraph. 'I remember quite clearly the day you came home from the hospital, you can't imagine the joy on Mom's face, I can honestly say I never saw her happier than she was on that day. You brought a shine to her life that nothing ever else ever did, and I'm glad of that.' New paragraph. 'We have not always seen eye to eye, I expect that will continue to be so in the future, however, nothing will change the fact that we are brothers, flesh and blood, and though we are very different people, I want you to know how much I respect what you have made of yourself in these last few years. You have taken the opportunity I gave you in the mail room, and you have run with it, becoming a valued member of the HHM family, for all the problems in your past, I'm proud we share the name 'McGill.' I sincerely admire your energy and resilience. I used to worry about you finding a place in the world, but I'm not worried about that anymore. I'm certain now that no matter what the future may bring, you'll land on your feet, and I hope when you read this you remember me not only as your brother, but as a person you knew was always in your corner.' And he signed it just 'Chuck.' Well, say what you want, the man could write a letter."

―Jimmy casually reading Chuck's final letter to him.

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Gus: "Someones knows our business."

Bolsa: "Possibly. It resembled the attack on Hector's truck a few months ago. And they knew the Salamanca men were heavy."

Gus: "Don Juan, we are about to run another shipment. If you think we're compromised..."

Bolsa: "Run dummy loads. We'll see what we see. No product crosses until we're certain."

Gus: "I'll take care of it."

Bolsa: "How long before our dealers run dry?"

Gus: "No more than a week."

Bolsa: "This is a problem. Find a local supplier on your side of the border. Cut a deal."

Gus: "Don Juan, with all due respect, Don Eladio forbids buying from outsiders. He's been very clear."

Bolsa: "Let me worry about Eladio. Do it. Now."

―Gus and Bolsa after the attack on Arturo and Nacho.

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Gale: "Oh, I tested your samples. They range from 39 percent to 58 percent pure. Except this one, which hovers around 67. Top of the glass, so to speak. You should tell the chemist to check his or her cookware. It's introducing contamination, which would be easy to avoid."

Gus: "Well, thank you very much, Gale. That's very useful information. Well, I should let you get back to your work."

Gale: "Mr. Fring. I don't want to cast aspersions, but I have to tell you, these samples aren't great. In fact, they're-- They're not even good. Basically, they're dreck. I could do -much- better."

Gus: "Gale--"

Gale: "Much-higher-grade. I could make a kilo or more right here, no one would know. It wouldn't take more than a few days."

Gus: "I wouln't want to interfere with your studies."

Gale: "These are my studies. Please, it's the least I can do. I wouldn't let you down."

Gus: "I'm certain that you wouldn't. But I'm afraid I can't allow it. Not yet. You were meant for better things. I'll see you soon, Gale."

―Gale and Gus about the purity of meth samples that Gus asked Gale to check.

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