Change is in the air on “Better Call Saul,” though it is still up in the air just how well things will turn out. I mean, we do know what Jimmy ultimately turns into — as well as Mike. But for my favorite character this season, Kim Wexler, we do not know what her fate is. And that is both exciting and chilling, because if there is one thing about this world of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” it is that it’s unpredictable.
I also want to say this: I love how the show is pacing itself. It would have been easy to jump right into the Saul Goodman story and into the meth-fueled world of Gus Fring and the rest. But this show is taking its time. It is giving us interesting characters and more depth than most of us expected from Saul Goodman.
This episode’s cold open shows us a young Jimmy working (well, slacking off) at his father’s shop. We see that Chuck was right, their father was a kind man who trusted people. We see that because a grifter comes in trying to get $5 from him with an elaborate story. Jimmy immediately knows it’s a con, and even tells his dad so. But his father gives the guy money and wants to help with his car. We see Jimmy working the register and making the guy pay for two cartons of cigarettes (from a wad of cash in his pocket). Jimmy then pockets that money from the register, setting him down the path that is Slippin’ Jimmy.
After this, we see Jimmy acting as Mike’s attorney to get the gun charge thrown out of Tuco’s case — he has already taken the $50,000 from Hector. This does not bode well with the attorney’s seeking to keep a psychotic like Tuco in prison. But, through Jimmy, Mike has that confession purged with a threat if Tuco goes to trial, he will testify it was not Tuco’s gun.
This really doesn’t seem to sit well with Mike. He is, after all, a former cop and now he is in the mud with gangsters and drug cartels. Just his mannerisms and facial expressions show just how uncomfortable he is being in this situation. But he has family to protect.
This episode also sees big changes for Jimmy and Kim. Jimmy wants out from Davis & Main, and he figures he already has his bonus check, so he might as well resign. Only problem is if he resigns, he’ll have to pay that money back. So while at a stoplight, he sees one of those obnoxious inflatable dancing dancing men and comes to a revelation. If he can’t resign, he can keep the money if he gets fired. And it has to be because he is insufferable, not because he is incompetent at his job.
This leads up to the highlight of the episode: The montage of brightly colored suits and ties Jimmy wears to work, him being a general pain in the ass to his co-workers with a juicer and ultimately to his firing from the company after he is belting out awful noises from some bagpipes. Cliff has to fire him, and he knows Jimmy is doing what he is doing so he can keep the bonus.
After this, Jimmy goes straight to Kim, who is typing up her letter of resignation to Howard. Jimmy has another option: Join him to start a law firm Wexler & McGill. He tells her Rick Schweikart will just be another Howard. That together, they will be able to do what they want. And it looks like Kim is interested.
And we finally get Jimmy admitting he can’t change who he is. If she joins him, he will continue his “colorful” ways. This was refreshing, and not it is out in the open Kim knows exactly what she will be getting if she teams with Jimmy.
And he gets stuck in her mind. Why choose a lateral move like that? Hell, she even accidentally calls Rick Schweikart at the end of her interview “Howard.” She has no real future at HHM, and this new job does have possibilities — but those are years down the road. Kim has some thinking to do.
And then we have Mike helping his daughter-in-law buy a house in a safe neighborhood — it is still not clear if she is crazy (this was suggested a few episodes back). But he wants the best for what is left of his family. Even if that means going further into the muck.
Jimmy has got his old office back at the nail salon, and his former assistant Omar helped him move his nice desk from Davis & Main (which he paid for) into the old broom closet. He may be at square one again, but he generally looks much happier in this environment.
And Kim meets with him at this crappy office. She has thought about his offer, but doesn’t want to be his law partner (smart move, since Jimmy is unpredictable). They would be two law firms in one office. That is her offer, and while not exactly what Jimmy envisioned, he seems happy enough to be able to work along side her. We will have to see how this ends up.
THOUGHTS:
- When Jimmy takes Erin’s soda can, crushes it and throws it in the garbage — not the recycling basket — was great. She looked horrified.
- I felt bad for Omar when Jimmy was having him write that letter of resignation. It was almost like he took it personally that Jimmy was trying to escape. It wasn’t you Omar, it was that nut Erin.
- Mike driving and eyeing Hector’s place was interesting. Does he work for the Salamancas before Gus? That would be an interesting twist.
- We find out Kim is from the Midwest, and her hometown grocery store was called the Hinky Dinky.
- Again, I am finding Kim to be one of the most interesting characters on this show.
- I love how Omar helped Jimmy move that desk. You are a good man, Omar.
- It was nice to see Jimmy actually felt bad for what he did to Cliff at Davis & Main. It was even better when Cliff called him an asshole for all of this.
- Jimmy didn’t flush the toilet at Davis & Main during his campaign to get canned, and that is disgusting.
- “You’re the nerd, make it cheap,” Jimmy tells those two filmmaker who helped him make the commercial about what dolly they should get.
The JOE-DOWN 