Five-O (Better Call Saul)

"Five-O" is the sixth episode of the first season of the AMC television series Better Call Saul, the spinoff series of Breaking Bad. The episode aired on March 9, 2015.

Plot

The episode begins in a flashback showing Mike Ehrmantraut arriving by train at Alvarado Transportation Center in Albuquerque. After re-bandaging a fresh bullet wound in his shoulder, he meets his daughter-in-law Stacey and her daughter Kaylee. The adults briefly discuss the recent death of his police officer son Matty. Stacey expresses concern that Matty might have been involved in something illegal, based on his behavior during their final encounter. However, Mike brushes off her concerns. After the meeting, he questions a cabdriver as to "how well" he knows the neighborhood, and is later seen having his shoulder wound treated by a local veterinarian, who inquires as to whether Mike might be interested in any work. Mike replies that he is not.

In the present, Philadelphia police detectives Greg Sanders and Abbasi attempt to question Mike, who requests a lawyer and gives them Jimmy's card. Mike asks Jimmy to spill his coffee, as if accidentally, on the detectives so he can steal their notebook, but Jimmy balks at the idea. The detectives explain that Mike's son was a rookie police officer who was ambushed and killed when responding to a shots-fired call. In addition, Matty's partners, Troy Hoffman and Jack Fenske, were shot and killed in a similar ambush six months later. The detectives know Hoffman and Fenske were dirty, and suspect Mike of killing them since he had left Philadelphia shortly after the officers' death. Jimmy ends the interrogation, and indeed assists Mike in stealing the notebook by spilling coffee.

At home, Mike discovers from the notebook that Stacey summoned the detectives to Albuquerque. She tells Mike that she discovered several thousand dollars hidden in one of her suitcases and decided to report it, hoping that it would help lead to the capture of Matty's killer. She believes Matty might have been dirty, which angers Mike.

In another flashback, Mike is seen breaking into a police car parked outside a bar. He enters the bar, and after a few drinks, confronts Fenske and Hoffman, telling them "I know it was you". A few hours later, as Mike is the last customer and the bar is about to close, he announces to the barkeeper that he plans to move to Albuquerque and leaves. As he staggers home, Fenske and Hoffman drive up in their patrol car, offer him a safe ride home, and seat him in the back seat. They take away his handgun and ask him what he meant earlier in the bar. Mike, apparently still drunk, slurs that he knows that it was them who killed Matty. As the two drive Mike to an abandoned factory site, he retrieves a hidden gun from the backseat cushions. When it becomes clear that Hoffman and Fenske intend to kill Mike, he reveals that his drunken stupor was faked. Fenske attempts to fire at Mike, but discovers the gun he took from Mike is empty. Mike promptly shoots Fenske twice in the chest. Hoffman tries to pull out his gun, but Mike quickly dispatches him with a bullet to the head. Fenske is able to draw his duty-issue pistol and fires off two rounds, one of which strikes Mike in the left shoulder. Mike returns fire, hitting Fenske in the neck. Though mortally wounded, Fenske tries to crawl away. Mike slowly walks towards him and steps on his leg, preventing him from reaching for his weapon again. Fenske raises his other hand as if to beg for his life, but an unmerciful Mike finishes him off by shooting him in the head. Mike collects his gun from Fenske and walks off, preparing to depart for Albuquerque.

Back in the present, Mike admits to Stacey that everybody in Matty's precinct was corrupt, including Mike himself. When Hoffman started accepting bribes from a gang, he offered to cut Matty in. Matty approached Mike for advice, and Mike warned him that he would put his life and family in danger by whistleblowing and that he would be better off accepting the money. He further had to break his son's spirit by admitting that he, the father he looked up to, cooperated with this corruption. Matty ultimately accepted the bribes, but Hoffman and Fenske murdered him anyway for fear that he would rat them out later on, due to his hesitation. Mike is tormented over the fact that he corrupted Matty for nothing, saying in tears of anguish "I broke my boy!" Stacey asks who killed Hoffman and Fenske, but Mike says "You know what happened. The question is--can you live with it?"

Production

The script was the first-ever television script written by Gordon Smith, who was previously a writer's assistant on Breaking Bad.^[1][2] It was directed by Adam Bernstein, who directed several episodes of Breaking Bad.^[3]

Reception

Jonathan Banks received critical acclaim for his performance in the episode, which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Upon airing, the episode received 2.57 million American viewers, and an 18-49 rating of 1.3.^[4]

The episode received universal acclaim, with unanimous praise for Jonathan Banks' performance, which some critics considered award-worthy. On Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 reviews, it received a 100% approval rating with an average score of 8.8 out of 10. The site's consensus reads, "In a departure from the existing Better Call Saul narrative, 'Five-O' provides essential backstory for Mike's character, delivered in a gripping, award-worthy performance by Jonathan Banks."^[5]

Roth Cornet of IGN gave it a score of 9.7 out of 10, praising the performance of Jonathan Banks, the episode's pacing and interwoven storylines, as well as the final scene of the episode. She concluded, "Better Call Saul continues to deliver some of the best of what television has to offer as both those familiar with Breaking Bad and new viewers alike were given a shattering look at Mike's tragic past."^[6] Tim Surette of TV.com also highly praised the performance of Banks, and wrote it is worthy of an Emmy, and called it "one of the best episodes to date of 2015's best new show to date".^[7]

"Five-O" has received two Primetime Emmy nominations. Jonathan Banks has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and Gordon Smith has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards for this episode.^[8] While Peter Dinklage won the Emmy award instead of Banks, in his acceptance speech when doing the common theme of "I can't believe I won with all of the competition in this category", he did a highly unusual callout to Banks (and only Banks) by name, suggesting that he thought Banks should have won the award.^[9]

References

External links

• "Five-O" at AMC
• "Five-O" at the Internet Movie Database