Piñata (Better Call Saul)
"Piñata" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of the AMC television series Better Call Saul, a spin-off series of Breaking Bad. The episode aired on September 10, 2018, on AMC in the United States. Outside of the United States, the episode premiered on streaming service Netflix in several countries.

Plot

Opening
In a flashback from 1993, Jimmy McGill collects ballots for an office pool predicting the outcomes of the 65th Academy Awards and Howard Hamlin announces that Chuck McGill has successfully closed a lucrative case for Hamlin Hamlin & McGill (HHM). The staff applauds and Kim Wexler takes the opportunity to show Chuck her own legal acumen. Jimmy tries to congratulate Chuck, who is dismissive. Jimmy passes the firm's law library while delivering mail, checks to make sure no one is watching, and silently enters.

Main story
Late at night, Kim reviews Mesa Verde documents but is drawn to her pro bono cases. The next morning, she meets with Rich Schweikart and makes a successful pitch to join Schweikart & Cokely as head of a new banking division. She informs Jimmy over lunch, falsely telling him that Rich sought her out. Kim’s news appears to cause Jimmy to have a panic attack in the restaurant’s kitchen; he then returns and encourages her to take the job.

A relative of Geraldine, his first elder law client, calls Jimmy and says she died. Jimmy breaks down afterward, and later re-watches his first elder law commercial, which featured Geraldine.

Gus Fring and Mike Ehrmantraut arrange to house Werner Ziegler and his crew while they build the meth lab. Mike explains the living and security arrangements to Werner and his crew. Crew member Kai appears dismissive, but Werner vouches for him. Mike apologizes to Stacey for exposing Henry at the support group, and Stacey allows him to see Kaylee again.

Gus visits a hospitalized, unconscious Hector Salamanca and recounts a childhood story about a coati that ate the fruit from a lúcuma tree Gus had carefully tended in Chile. He trapped the coati, which broke its leg while trying to escape. Rather than killing it, which would have been humane, Gus held it and let it suffer until it died.

Jimmy visits HHM to pick up his $5,000 inheritance check. Howard explains that clients are leaving because HHM’s reputation has been damaged by recent events. Before departing, Jimmy tries a "tough love" pep talk to rouse Howard into action.

Jimmy uses his inheritance to buy pay-as-you-go phones for resale on the street. The three teenagers who previously robbed him attempt to rob him again, and Jimmy springs a trap. After the three teenagers are bound and suspended upside down, Huell Babineaux and Man Mountain use bats to smash piñatas close to their heads. Jimmy obtains their fearful agreement that the boys will both leave him alone and spread the word that he is off limits.

Production

This episode features the return of Michael McKean (Chuck McGill), who last appeared in the third season finale when his character was killed off-screen after he deliberately set his house on fire in an apparent suicide.

This episode was directed by Andrew Stanton, who is better known for writing and directing several Pixar films, including Finding Nemo and WALL-E. He also had directed John Carter, which had given him the idea of doing more live-action directing work. "Piñata" is Stanton's second television production, following directing of two episodes of the second season of Stranger Things, an opportunity given to him by Shawn Levy. From Stranger Things he spoke to more people about his interest in further television productions.  During such a conversation with Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein, the show's executive producers, they suggested the opportunity for him to direct a Better Call Saul episode, which he jumped at, as he had already been a fan of both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and wanted the opportunity to work with the creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould.

The scene with Gus and Hector ends with a shot of Hector's right hand as Gus walks out; this was intended to allude to the scene in the Breaking Bad fourth season episode "Face Off," in which Hector uses the same hand to trigger the explosion that kills both him and Gus. Two takes of this scene were shot, one with Hector's finger twitching and one without, as there had been debate on the production team over which version would be better. The episode as broadcast did not include the twitch.

Reception
"Piñata" received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, it garnered a perfect 100% rating with an average score of 8.52/10 based on 11 reviews. The site's critical consensus is, "Though more of an expositional creep than previous episodes, 'Piñata' maintains the season's emotionally charged character growth and provides a powerful, mildly petrifying performance from Giancarlo Esposito."

Emmy nominee Giancarlo Esposito submitted this episode for consideration for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards

Ratings
"Piñata" was watched by 1.40 million viewers on its first broadcast, earning a 0.4 ratings for viewers between 18 and 49.

Notes

References

External links
 "Piñata" at AMC
 

Better Call Saul (season 4) episodes
Television episodes directed by Andrew Stanton
Television episodes written by Gennifer Hutchison
Fiction set in 1993