His car is parked behind a dilapidated billboard that reads, Oasis Motor Court.
We get a series of close-ups: a cactus, hammer and nail, truck dashboard.
The street hews the beige landscape like a poorly-healed scar.
Credit: Ursula Coyote/AMC
He exits the truck, gun in hand; hes been here before.
He handles the gun like a pro.
The man in black sneaks behind him, holds a gun to his head, ties him up.
He removes his mask: Its Mike.
Visual details, like points of punctuation in legalese, change everything here.
Chuck adjusting his tie, trying to look normal, or the numbers1and6being switched on a legal document.
Chuck says, I find victory laps very comforting.
Every shot during the approval hearing scene is immaculately composed.
When Chuck enters the court, he comes into focus, his face tightening as he approaches the camera.
The row of Mesa Verde representatives sitting parallel to the officials are shot to be flush, precise.
I dont understand, Chuck later says, trying to ascertain how this could happen.
Hes so careful, so assiduous.
Everybody makes mistakes, Howard assures him.
But Chuck knows better.
This was no mistake.
Kim gets a call.
(Remember when she told Jimmy not to be colorful?)
She tells him she got Mesa Verde back but doesnt know why.
Kim and Jimmy head to Chucks, where Jimmy finds out the locks have been changed.
He sabotaged me, Chuck says of Jimmy.
I did all of this for some business?
He did this foryou, Chuck says to Kim.
I feel sorry for him.
I feel sorry for you.
Kim now knows, beyond a doubt, what Jimmy did, who Jimmy is.
Hes emasculated her the way Chuck emasculated him.
Or because Jimmy is better than him?)
that it just might be his own undoing.
She says he would make a fierce adversary.
Leave nothing for him to find.
Is Kim telling Jimmy this because she cares about him?
Or because she cant afford to lose Mesa Verde?
Also, Jimmys toothbrush is green.
Some of the best scenes have involved Jimmy shooting his ambitious commercials.
Last week we had Jimmy with a faux veteran standing in front of an airplane.
This week its another wheelchair dolly low-angle shot moving in as an American flag waves triumphantly behind him.
Hes an Americanauteurthrough and through.
Wanna be a filmmaker?
If Mike had just killed the driver, the Good Samaritan wouldnt have been killed.
Gould directs the way he writes: Every movement, every frame, has meaning.
He offers him $100.
You will go far, my young friend.
Chuck arrives and, to put it succinctly, loses it.
The camera wiggles and wavers, the frames shaking like they have motion sickness.
The electricity seeps into Chuck, who shakes and trembles.
His eyes roll back and he falls, cracking his head on the counter.
Outside, standing in the shadows, Jimmy watches.
He mumbles, Call 911… Come on, call 911…
