Winner (Better Call Saul)

"Winner"
Better Call Saul episode
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 10
Directed by	Adam Bernstein
Written by	Peter Gould Thomas Schnauz
Original air date	October 8, 2018 (2018-10-08)
Running time	60 minutes
Guest appearances
Michael McKean as Chuck McGill David Costabile as Gale Boetticher Rainer Bock as Werner Ziegler Tony Dalton as Lalo Salamanca Dennis Boutsikaris as Rich Schweikart Josh Fadem as Joey Abby Quinn as Kristy Esposito Hayley Holmes as The Make-Up Girl Jeremiah Bitsui as Victor Ray Campbell as Tyrus Kitt Brandon K. Hampton as Ernesto Colleen Flynn as Committee Member James Austin Johnson as Fred Whalen Nick Bush as The Milk Shake Guy
Episode chronology
← Previous "Wiedersehen" Next → "Magic Man"
Better Call Saul season 4
List of episodes

"Winner" is the tenth and final episode of the fourth season of the AMC television series Better Call Saul , the spinoff series of Breaking Bad . The episode aired on October 8, 2018, on AMC in the United States. Outside of the United States, the episode premiered on streaming service Netflix in several countries.

In the episode, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) attempts to convince an appeals panel of the New Mexico Bar Association that he should be reinstated as a lawyer, after the original hearing panel's chairman informed him he was "insincere" in expressing regret over sabotaging his brother Chuck's (Michael McKean) legal work. After Werner Ziegler (Rainer Bock) escapes from the high-security construction site owned by Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), Gus' fixer, Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), attempts to locate him and bring him back. Mike races against the simultaneous search of Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton), who wants to obtain information from Ziegler about the construction site.

Plot

Opening

In 1998, HHM's staff visits a karaoke club to celebrate Jimmy McGill attaining admission to the New Mexico bar. ^{[lower-alpha 1]} Chuck and Jimmy return to Jimmy's apartment where they fall asleep in Jimmy's bed as they sing "The Winner Takes It All" by ABBA, the song they sang together at the bar.

Main story

In 2004, Mike Ehrmantraut tracks Werner Ziegler to a money wire agency and convinces the clerk to let him view security camera footage. Mike guesses Werner is going to meet his wife at a hot spring resort and begins calling hotels. He notices Lalo Salamanca's car following him and evades it. Lalo goes to the money wire agency, kills the clerk, reviews the agency's security footage, then calls hotels until he locates Werner. Pretending to work for Gus Fring, he extracts some details of Werner's work before Mike arrives at the hotel to end the call. Gus decides Werner must die and offers to send men, but Mike accepts responsibility. He has Werner call his wife and convince her to return home, promises to make Werner's death look accidental, and guarantees the safety of Werner's crew. He shoots Werner, then reports to Gus as Gus and Gale Boetticher inspect the unfinished meth lab, which is being created according to Gale's design. ^{[lower-alpha 2]}

Kim Wexler and Jimmy stage several events where Jimmy feigns remorse over Chuck's death to influence the appeals panel considering Jimmy's reinstatement. ^{[lower-alpha 3]} Later, Jimmy sits on a panel reviewing candidates for scholarships in Chuck's name. Jimmy tries unsuccessfully to persuade Howard Hamlin and the other members to award a scholarship to Kristy, ^[1] whose background includes a shoplifting charge. Afterward, he encourages her not to stick to the upright path she is attempting to follow, but to do whatever is necessary to succeed because "the winner takes it all".

At his appeal, Jimmy initially reads the letter he received from Chuck, ^{[lower-alpha 4]} but pivots into a seemingly heartfelt speech about how much his brother meant to him and how he wanted to be "worthy of the name McGill". His speech moves the appeal panel, as well as Kim. However, he later stuns Kim by revealing his performance was insincere. He soon wins reinstatement, and asks a clerk for a doing business as form, stating his intention not to practice under the name McGill. Kim expresses confusion to Jimmy, who replies "s'all good man!" as he leaves.

Production

"Winner" was written by Peter Gould and Thomas Schnauz. ^[1] It was directed by Adam Bernstein, who also directed the episodes "Five-O", "Gloves Off", and "Slip". ^{[2] [3]}

This episode includes guest appearances from Michael McKean as Chuck McGill and Brandon K. Hampton as Ernesto, both of whom appear in the flashback. ^[1] The directors had written the cold open with the desire to utilize McKean's background as a singer. In Episode 1 of Season 1 ("Uno"), Jimmy displays post-meeting frustration with Howard by kicking a trash can located inside the doorway between the HHM office building and parking garage. ^[1] In "Winner", Jimmy passes the dented trash can, which is still visible inside the doorway. ^[1]

Reception

"Winner" received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, it garnered a perfect 100% rating with an average score of 9.1/10 based on 19 reviews. The site's critical consensus is, "An excellent ending to a bittersweet season, 'Winner' ties up loose threads while priming each of Better Call Saul's excellently drawn characters for the coming danger." ^[4]

Accolades

The episode received four nominations at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Bob Odenkirk, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Jonathan Banks, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Peter Gould and Thomas Schnauz, and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Michael McKean.

Ratings

"Winner" was watched by 1.53 million viewers on its first broadcast, earning a 0.5 rating for viewers between 18 and 49. ^[5]

Notes

1. As seen in "RICO".
2. Gale's design is contained in the same notebook seen in the Breaking Bad episode "Bullet Points".
3. As seen in "Wiedersehen".
4. During the episode "Something Beautiful".

References

1. Sepinwall, Alan (October 8, 2018). "'Better Call Saul' Season Finale Recap: Winner Takes It All" . Rolling Stone . New York, NY: Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on April 29, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
2. Ramos, Dino-Ray (October 8, 2018). "'Better Call Saul' Season 4 Finale Gives Birth To A Brand New Jimmy". Deadline.com. New York, NY: Penske Media Group.
3. "Adam Bernstein (I): Director". IMDb. Seattle, WA: Amazon . Retrieved April 20, 2021.
4. "Winner". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
5. Welch, Alex (October 9, 2018). "Monday cable ratings: 'Better Call Saul' finale holds steady, 'Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood' dips". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2018.

External links

• "Winner" at AMC
• "Winner" at IMDb