âJesus, Howard said you were a little eccentric, he didnât tell me you were a goddamned arsonist!â
Jimmy McGill just canât help himself. He can spin it however he wants, but when he sent that commercial out to air without showing it to Cliff for approval he knew what he was doing. Whether he did it out of some natural instinct to needlessly fight against authority, or because heâs uncomfortable in the world of legitimate law and was intentionally trying to burn his career to the ground, doesnât really matter. The more frustrating part is that he knows what that kind of action means to Kim, and he still canât stop himself from screwing this up.
Last week ended with a quiet but significant moment between the two of them, where she let him know she canât hear about his questionable methods, and he assured her that she won’t (note he didn’t say anything about not doing them). So this week, following worst-person-in-the-world Chuck subtly calling Jimmy out for his methods, Kim let him know the real stakes of his schemingâher reputation, and as a result her future.
She put herself out there for him, and when he does any kind of stunt it may burn him and set her career on fire too. Thatâs why Cliffâs incredulous line was so perfect. Itâs one thing to be eccentric, but what kind of person does something like that to his new boss and company? Worse, what kind of person does it to someone he cares about personally, someone like Kim?
There wasnât a whole lot of new ground broken this week, even for Jimmyâs story, but the show did take another step forward. I wouldnât be surprised if Jimmy either loses his job at that meeting or holds on longer, but this is the end one way or another. Cliff knows who he is now. For us though, one of the more interesting subplots of the entire Jimmy-McGill-becomes-Saul-Goodman story is whether or not heâll destroy Kim too.
As for Mike, this week saw a resetting of his story, with a renewed focus on his granddaughter Kaylee and (possibly losing her mind) daughter-in-law Stacey. We know Mike is a former dirty cop who (as far as weâve been shown) only killed his sonâs murderers (after giving them a chance to show they were going to kill him). Tonight he was reluctant to break legs for a bookie, but with Stacey (seemingly) hallucinating threats, could this be the start of âquestionably ethical Mikeâ becoming a murderer for hire? The kind that would work for Gus Fring? Nachoâs significant offer seems like a good place to start down that path.
Just a couple of other notes before we head out to Birdieâs Homestyle Buffet.
–I called 505-242-7700 for you. It brings you to the hot-line for the Sandpiper class action lawsuit from Davis and Main. It’s not funny and you get a ârobot.â
–I have a vase of those exacts balls in my house. I have no idea why, come to think of it.
–Some of the best jokes on this show are some of the most subtle, like Jimmy having them use the chair on the stairs as a dolly. Thatâs good ingenuity!
–I constantly find myself feeling terrible that Jimmy McGill will become Saul Goodman, but yet I love every single âSaulâ moment on this show, like the opening scene on the shuttle.
–How does one decide when it is okay or not okay to play âfootsiesâ under the table?
What did you think of this weekâs Better Call Saul? Talk about it with us in the comments below.
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Images: AMC