Lantern (Better Call Saul)
"Lantern" is the tenth and final episode of the third season of the American television drama series "Better Call Saul", a spin-off series of "Breaking Bad". Written by Gennifer Hutchison and directed by series co-creator Peter Gould, "Lantern" aired on AMC in the United States on June 19, 2017. Outside of the United States, the episode premiered on the streaming service Netflix in several countries. In the episode, Jimmy plans to help Irene recover the trust of her friends at Sandpiper Crossing at the cost of his reputation, while Chuck is forced by Howard  to resign from HHM, eventually causing a relapse of his condition. Meanwhile, Kim recovers at home from her wounds from the car crash, and Hector collapses from a stroke caused by Nacho. The episode was seen by an estimated 1.85 million household viewers upon release, the most watched episode of the third season. This episode marks the final regular appearance of Michael McKean (Chuck McGill). Plot. Opening. In a flashback, a young Chuck reads "The Adventures of Mabel" to a younger Jimmy in a tent outside their family's Cicero, Illinois house. The camera zooms in on a lantern. Main  story. Following her car crash, Kim's broken arm has been put in a cast. Jimmy and she return to the site of the crash and Jimmy picks up her scattered papers. The following morning, Jimmy feels partly responsible for her accident because she took on a second client. Kim says she is responsible and expresses guilt that she might have killed someone by falling asleep at the wheel. Chuck promises to abandon his lawsuit if he can stay at HHM. Instead, Howard presents Chuck a check for $3 million—the first installment of Chuck's buyout. Howard criticizes  Chuck for prioritizing his vendetta against Jimmy but praises Chuck profusely as he informs HHM's employees of Chuck's immediate retirement. Hector pays Nacho's father Manuel for use of Manuel's upholstery shop as a front for Hector's drug business. Manuel reluctantly takes the money so Hector will not retaliate against Manuel's family. Jimmy tries to make amends with Chuck but Chuck says Jimmy was never all that important to him. Chuck's EHS symptoms return and he destroys the walls of his house while trying to find the device that is making his electricity meter  run. Unable to find the source, he destroys the meter in frustration. Jimmy expected Irene’s friends to forgive her after she agreed to accept the Sandpiper settlement. Instead, he finds they still do not trust her, because now they think she will do anything to get on their good side. He stages an argument with Erin Brill and "accidentally" admits to tricking Irene, vindicating her and causing her to withdraw her acceptance. Nacho plans to ambush Hector but is pulled into a meeting between Hector, Gus, and Juan Bolsa. Juan says Gus's organization will permanently handle cross-border  smuggling for both Gus's operation and Hector's. An enraged Hector suffers a stroke. As Mike advised, Nacho takes the remaining fake nitroglycerin capsules that Hector dropped, and replaces them with the real ones. Gus looks at Nacho suspiciously. The next day, Jimmy and Kim vacate their office to save money by having Kim work from home. That night, a despondent Chuck lays on a couch and intentionally kicks a table several times, knocking over a gas lantern and starting a fire. Production. The episode was directed by series co-creator Peter Gould, who previously co-wrote "Mabel" earlier  in the season, and written by Gennifer Hutchison, who previously wrote the episode "Sunk Costs". Casting. This episode marks the final regular appearance of Chuck McGill. In the final scene, when Chuck appeared to commit suicide by kicking the lantern off his table and burning his house down, speculation arose over whether or not the act was actually fatal; the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's toll-free number also appears onscreen. However, McKean confirmed that Chuck is indeed dead, stating: Reception. Ratings. Upon airing, the episode was watched by 1.85 million American viewers, and an 18-49 rating of 0.6 . Critical reception. The episode received a great deal of critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, it attained a 92% rating with an average score of 8.79/10 based on 13 reviews. Terri Schwartz of IGN rated the episode 9.5/10 stars, saying ""Better Call Saul" pulled off a fantastic Season 3 finale that perfectly balanced its storylines and brought a big lesson to Jimmy's doorstep. With some hugely impactful moments that were both incredibly emotional and long-awaited by fans, "Lantern" proves that "Better Call Saul" is better than it's ever been with Season 3." Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx praised the  final scene, remarking "the focus was primarily on sending off Chuck, and the finale did it right, in painstakingly painful fashion."