Gloves Off (''Better Call Saul'')

Teaser

Mike returns home to rest after having been in a fight. He tosses a stack of hundred dollar bills onto his kitchen table, pulls a bag of frozen vegetables out of his freezer and presses it to his face. He sinks into a chair, his swollen eye shut and his face gruesomely beaten.

Main story

Despite Jimmy's assertion that his commercial to recruit clients for the Sandpiper Crossing lawsuit was a success, the partners at Davis & Main lambaste him for airing it without their consent. Even though the majority of the partners want to fire Jimmy for cause, Cliff decides to give him a second chance with the understanding that he'll be under a great deal more scrutiny going forward.

Jimmy leaves Kim an urgent voicemail requesting that she call him before speaking to Howard. Jimmy's too late, because Kim is already being grilled by Howard and Chuck at the HHM offices over her failure to warn them about Jimmy’s ad. Not wanting to get Jimmy into even more trouble, she takes responsibility for not letting them know in advance that the commercial would air, explaining that didn’t think it was necessary. A furious Howard reprimands her, and she promises it won't happen again.

Nacho and Mike monitor a small Mexican restaurant. Nacho tells Mike he and Tuco meet at this location regularly to settle accounts with their dealers and it would be easy to kill Tuco as he enters or exits. Mike refuses to kill Tuco, asserting that it would attract retaliation by the Salamancas and the cartel. Instead, Mike plans to remove Tuco from an active role in the Salamanca drug business, which will satisfy Nacho's needs. Mike fakes a minor accident in the restaurant parking lot which involves his car and Tuco's, and then goads Tuco into striking him repeatedly just as police arrive. Because Tuco was carrying a gun when he beat Mike, he is arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Tuco is taken away in handcuffs and Nacho later pays Mike.

Ratings

Upon airing, the episode received 2.20 million American viewers, and an 18-49 rating of 0.9.^[2]

Critical reception

The episode received critical acclaim from critics. It holds a 100% positive rating with an average score of 8.76 out of 10 on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. The critics' consensus reads: "Gloves Off" finds Better Call Saul coming further into its own with an enthralling episode that highlights Jonathan Banks' contributions."^[3]

Terri Schwartz of IGN gave the episode a 9.2 rating, writing "Better Call Saul highlights the need for a better way."^[4]