*Spoilers Ahead*
The thing I’ve come to enjoy most about Better Call Saul is how invested it has made us in the morality of Jimmy McGill and what it is going to take to turn this man into Saul Goodman. It was obvious from the beginning that this would be a tragedy of some sort but this feels like it’s building to something, by letting us get to know Jimmy McGill and what he believes in, that might manage to be more tragic than the arc of Walter White. Walter’s bitterness and hubris led to his end. From what we’ve seen so far, all Jimmy wants is to be considered legitimate.
This first comes into focus with our opening. Taking place sometime in the past we see Jimmy working as a mail clerk for HHM. He confides in Kim that he has finally passed the bar and he quickly goes to tell his brother the news. Chuck can’t believe it, he’s never imagined that Jimmy had that type of work ethic in him. When Jimmy hopefully asks his brother if the firm will hire him Chuck says he’ll discuss it with Howard. Howard meets with Jimmy later, during a mailroom party for him. In a clever scene, where we hear nothing but the sound of the copy machine, Howard crushes Jimmy’s dreams and coldly promises to “reassess” with him in six months. This flashback is a great way of showing us just what drives Jimmy McGill and it establishes why he’d be willing to go to the lengths he does this week.
It all begins when Jimmy meets with one of his clients and discovers that she doesn’t have the money to pay him. When he hears her mention getting an “allowance” from the nursing home he checks her statements and discovers exactly what sort of scam is going on here. The elderly folks are being overcharged for their items, a clear case of fraud. When he returns to attempt to find more evidence he is turned away at the front desk and can clearly hear the sounds of shredding in the office. He uses their bathroom and toilet paper to hastily writes a demand letter. He gets thrown out regardless.
Later that night, in an equally hilarious and disgusting scene, Jimmy, desperate for anything, jumps into the dumpster, filled with used diapers and god knows what else, and attempts to find the shredded documents. He suffers the indignity of having trash thrown on him and, even worse, gets a call from the lawyers of the home and is immediately discredited, the toilet paper letter probably didn’t help. The real kicker comes when Jimmy exits the dumpster, kicking it for good measure, and then notices the recycling bin.
Chuck finds Jimmy at his house the next morning attempting to string together the shredded documents into their original forms. He falls asleep as his brother prepares some coffee for him and Chuck begrudgingly begins piecing the shreds together. When Jimmy awakens the sun has set and Chuck has put most of the documents together again. Having gotten the itch due to all this work, Chuck offers to assist Jimmy in his case and Jimmy becomes ecstatic at the possibility of working with his brother. Then, in a moment that will surely comes back to bite them in the ass, Chuck tells Jimmy to give his code to Kim for her to print out some files for them. I imagine it won’t be long before Hamblin finds out what the McGill brothers are up to.
Jimmy eventually contacts the other lawyers to meet them at Chuck’s and discuss their findings. Chuck is terrified at the prospect of coming back into the world of law and spends most of the session staring blankly. Thankfully, Jimmy sells the case just as well as he probably would have with Chuck speaking up. He does eventually speak up when Jimmy reveals that this case could easily involve charges of racketeering and the lawyers concede to give whatever amount Jimmy feels is necessary. Chuck however demands $20 million, the lawyers refuse and the case truly gets under way. Chuck suddenly snaps into full on lawyer mode and becomes focused on this case. So focused in fact, that he doesn’t even think about it when he goes outside of his own will to retrieve papers Jimmy left in his car. At least not until it’s already too late.
Elsewhere, Mike gets a call about babysitting his granddaughter and when he speaks with Stacey later he finds out that she has been keeping the money she found from Matty. Even with that money she fears she might not be able to pay for everything. Everyone who’s seen Breaking Bad knows exactly where this is going and it is only confirmed when Mike visits his old veterinarian pal from “Five-O” and asks for some work from the people he knows.
Better Call Saul is building up for the end of it’s 1st season and in many ways this episode is almost exclusively set-up. The key, something that’s passed on to this series from it’s predecessor, is that the set-up is rarely ever seen as such. As much as I want Jimmy to succeed and triumph over all those who doubt him, tragedies rarely side with the winners.
Bits ‘n Pieces
- Turns out the degree from the University of Samoa might be legit after all. Although the one in Breaking Bad is made out to Saul Goodman so who knows.
- This show isn’t a smart one to predict but I get the feeling that Nacho might end up showing up in whatever ends up going down with Mike.
- “You can’t say it’s private if a hobo can use it as a wigwam!”
- “I still remember his code: 1933, same year Hitler came to power.”
If you’d like to give me feedback or just chat about Better Call Saul you can email me at theSuperAlbino@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter @JesseSwanson