There were some pretty big revelations during this episode, from Chuck’s past to Mike’s future, but the guts — and the glimmer of hope — in “Rebecca” was Kim Wexler. She is crawling through a personal hell in the basement of HH&M doing doc review, trying to find a way out and back into Howard’s — and Chuck’s — good side.
This episode’s cold open is a flashback to the events after Chuck first git Jimmy out of Chicago. He and his wife? (it is mention that Yo-Yo Ma attended their wedding, but I might have misheard that) are preparing for a visit from Jimmy after his first week at HH&M, doing janitorial work and fixing Xerox machines. As they are cooking dinner, Chuck wants to set up a “call” so that when one of them tires of Jimmy, the other notices and they work together in ending the evening politely. So they agree on the old Carol Burnett trick of tugging on an ear to signal to the other.
Unfortunately for Chuck, Jimmy is a machine that oozes charisma, and as he begins telling lawyer jokes at the dinner table, she doesn’t notice Chuck nearly ripping his ear off in wanting this night to end. Chuck even tries later to tell a lawyer joke as they are going to bed, and it falls flat. I have a feeling something happens to Rebecca that causes Chuck’s fear of electricity and his need of Space Blankets.
Now Kim is trudging along in doc review when Jimmy comes in, wanting to fix everything. His plan: Kim should sue her own law firm. It is a terrible idea, one that Kim wouldn’t even entertain the idea of for a second. She tells him to leave; she will save herself from this situation. Jimmy at this point can only make it worse.
And she does come up with a plan. She needs to land a big account to get back into the good graces of her bosses, Howard and Chuck.
Jimmy is also experiencing his own personal hell, and her name is Erin. She is a co-worker at Davis & Main who they have put on Jimmy-watch. She is obsessed with the House Style (double spaces after periods, and how they place roman numerals) in filing paperwork, and caught him throwing a soda can in the garbage instead of the recycling bin. She especially gets upset when Jimmy tries to bribe a clerk at the courthouse with a Beanie Baby. In short, she is the bane of Jimmy’s existence after Chuck right now.
Kim does land a new client, after busting her ass off networking with old associates and so forth. Kim lands the Mesa Verde Bank account. Her reward: Howard tells her he is putting someone else on the job, because she is obviously too busy down in doc work to help. Howard, in short, is a real d-bag here. I wasn’t sure if this was his call, or Chuck’s. Howard’s name has been sullied by her pushing Jimmy for the Davis & Main gig.
But never fear, because all the electricity is shutdown at the vampire hours of between midnight and 8 a.m., when Chuck arrives to work. He does this so he isn’t exposed to too much electricity, and more likely, not ruining everybody else’s day by working on typewriters instead of computers. He sees Kim and they sit down for a chat. Though he does make her make him coffee. He doesn’t trust the electricity in the coffee maker.
Chuck tells Kim a story of how Jimmy and his’ father was a good man. A man who fed his family and strived to own his own business. And he did, and gave Jimmy a job. Jimmy, according to Chuck, ripped of about $15,000 from his dad’s business. The shop was sold, and their father died shortly thereafter. “At the funeral, nobody cried harder than Jimmy,” Chuck tells Kim. “My brother is not a bad person. He has a good heart. He just can’t help himself. And everyone’s left to pick up the pieces.”
Chuck is telling Kim’s emotions how Jimmy can ruin everything around him. He is doing it now. And it is moments like these that I love about the show. I go one minute hating Chuck to the next sympathizing with him.
The big reveal at the end of the episode is the arrival of *DING DING* (sorry, had to do it) Hector Salamanca. We know him from “Breaking Bad” as Tuco’s uncle, as well as an enemy of Gus Fring and, yup, Mike. Here he is walking and talking, not in a wheelchair and ringing a bell to communicate. Most viewers assume his ailment is from a stroke, but now his world has collided with Mike’s, I’m not so sure anymore.
Anyway, he wants Mike to lie to the cops, so Tuco doesn’t serve 8 years for beating the crap out of him. He offers Mike $5,000, and a personal apology. Is this where Mike goes down his dark path? I’m not so sure, but if we have Hector now, I’m guessing Gus isn’t far around the corner.
THOUGHTS:
- I loved the Gypsy Kings’ rendition of “My Way” as Kim is networking for clients.
- I like how Kim just up and asks Chuck if she has a future at the firm.
- I still do not like Howard.
- Mike really took a beating. Half his face looks like a raisin.
- The exchange between Bill and Jimmy in the bathroom was hilarious. Bill is just seething as he is cleaning vomit off his shirt and Jimmy has a fancy company car.
The JOE-DOWN 