Better Call Saul is back for a second season and continues
the story of how Jimmy McGill “broke bad” and became the infamous Saul Goodman.
For the uninitiated, the first ten minutes of the episode summarizes the highlights from the first season. Notably, Jimmy’s struggle with his mentally
ill brother is omitted. Although the
pacing is somewhat slow, the series employs stunning cinematography to
highlight the story and paint a complex canvas of emotions. The story is as
much in the visuals as in the dialogue, which makes for amazing television.
Somewhere at a mall in Kansas, the man formerly known as Saul
is closing up shop at Cinnabon. Shot in
black and white, the mall is abandoned with the song, “Funny How Time Slips
Away” playing in the background.
Sporting a mustache and huge glasses, Saul takes two large bags of trash
to deposit in a dumpster located down an indoor alley. After depositing the bag, the door slams shut
and he is locked inside. After several
minutes of calling out, he looks longingly at the “Emergency Exit.” However, if he opened that door it would
summon the police and perhaps expose his true identity. He decides to wait, looking at the bleak
walls filled with graffiti. Shortly
before midnight, the night janitor opens the door, freeing him. In tiny letters the viewer can read, “S.G.
was here.”
The next scenes are in color and summarize Jimmy’s struggles
last season with a large fraud case Jimmy exposed involving a nursing home
company and trying to garner respect from his brother’s law partner Howard
Hamlin. Jimmy pines for Kim, another
lawyer at the Hamlin firm. Kim has
affection for Jimmy but her job under Hamlin complicates their
relationship. Another flashback
highlights the moment where Jimmy speaks to Mike Ehrmantraunt about the large
sum of cash they could have split instead of “doing the right thing.” (Turning
the stolen money over to the police.) Jimmy told Mike, “That is never stopping
me again.” The final flashback is when
Jimmy returned to his office at the nail salon, and drank the customer’s cucumber
water from the dispenser. He walks into
his office, ripping the paper sign off the door.
Mike waits for a client at a large parking garage. A large yellow Hummer with spinning rims
pulls up. Mike tells his client they
should not take the obnoxious SUV to the “meet” and that it’s “the opposite of
restraint.” The man in the SUV doesn’t
agree with Mike and thinks he no longer needs Mike’s protection, especially
since he’s been paying Mike triple the price.
The man has a Canadian accent and fires Mike while apologizing. Mike walks away.
The Canadian hops out of his Hummer with shoes that match
the yellow and red monster SUV. The
license plate reads, “PLAYUH.” (Conspicuous as Walter White found Jesse
Pinkman’s garish red car, which also had THECAPN as a vanity plate.) Nacho pulls up in an old Chevy van and asks
the man why he’s alone. The Canadian
states he and the “old man” parted ways.
Nacho admires the Hummer, and the Canadian brags about its features and
encourages Nacho to sit inside. Nacho
pulls out the car’s registration and obtains the man’s address while the man
babbles on about the Hummer.
Jimmy floats in a horseshoe shaped pool in a blue chair with
nachos and his phone nearby. He receives
a call and informs the caller he’s no longer a lawyer. Kim approaches the pool and asks, “Is this
what a mid-life crisis looks like?” Jimmy
responds he’s not having a crisis but rather clarity. Kim asks why he walked away from the job
offer from the other law firm. Jimmy
invites Kim to get in the water with him but she declines, ordering him out of
the pool and into the bar if he wants a chance to explain himself to her.
At the bar, Jimmy states he’s simply “quit law.” He finds a shot of tequila on the menu for
fifty dollars and orders it. Kim cancels
his ridiculous order and orders the house tequila and a glass of house red
wine. She asks him “What happened in
Cicero?” (When he went back last season and reanimated his “Slipping Jimmy”
routine with an old friend.) Kim persists on asking why he seems to have
changed his life long dream of becoming a respected lawyer. Jimmy explains he feels like his whole life
has been trying to please his older brother Chuck. Kim counters that he’s a great lawyer. Jimmy admits other people tell him how they
see him and it’s not as a lawyer but as a criminal. As they speak, across the bar a loudmouth
trader makes deals speaking thorough a Bluetooth device. Jimmy reports he’s looking at “other
opportunities outside the law.” Kim
notes how hard he worked for his law degree.
Jimmy says there was no reward
for all his hard work and asks, “Doing the right thing, where has that gotten
me?” The obnoxious man continues to talk
loudly and Jimmy can’t resist. He asks
Kim to “Follow my lead!”
Jimmy approaches the man and introduces himself as a
“Viktor” and Kim as his sister Giselle. He
asks, “What’s the limit one is allowed to invest?” Jimmy paints himself as a rube to the market that’s
just inherited a large sum of money from his uncle. The man jumps at the chance to help them
invest their money. (They say it’s over a million dollars.) The man invites
them for a drink and Jimmy orders the fifty-dollar tequila shots for the three
of them. At the end of the tequila
bottle, they receive the exclusive copper cork. Jimmy signs a contract with the man and
promises to keep in touch. The man
accepts the bill, unaware of high priced tequila. Outside, Jimmy tosses the “contract” into an
outdoor brazier. Kim and Jimmy are in
high spirits and kiss.
After a night of passion, Kim brushes her teeth as Jimmy
pesters her to use her toothbrush. He
playfully uses her finger on his teeth in lieu of a brush. He gives her the tequila cork to keep as a souvenir
of their wild night. (Fun fact, the
Zafiro Añejado is the same brand Gus Fring used to poison his partner in
Breaking Bad. Zafiro means sapphire in Spanish and is a nod to the blue meth.) Jimmy
asks, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could do that every night?” Kim dresses for work. She asks Jimmy what his plans are for the
day. Jimmy squirms at the question
perhaps regretting his decision to leave the law.
On a suburban street, police arrive at an adobe house with
the bright yellow Hummer parked in the driveway. The nerdish Canadian invites the officers in
to take a report of a burglary. The
living room has been tossed and the man complains his expensive baseball card
collection has been stolen, as well as cash. The officers remain calm and skeptical as the
man passionately describes his card collection and how the officers need to
investigate the robbery. The man
theorizes the robbers were “hopped up on speed!” The police ask him about the Hummer in the
driveway, which the man claims he’s leasing. (Leased vehicles don’t get
customized!) The officers ask what kind of work the man does and he states he’s
an IT specialist for a pharmaceutical company. The man dramatically suggests the officers,
“Round up the usual suspects!” When the
man steps out, the police notice the “robbers” left the television and computer
and the leather loveseat is suspiciously undisturbed. They look behind it to find a loose
baseboard. Behind it is hiding spot remeniecent
of Walter White, a hole in the wall. The
officers move the loveseat back into place.
Jimmy floats on his chair in the horseshoe shaped pool and
calls Kim and gets her voicemail. Jimmy
observes an attractive woman saddling up to an old fat hairy man. Jimmy calls
Kim again and describes the scene between the strange couple, calling the man a
“water buffalo” and describing himself as a lioness ready to pounce, springing
a trap on this new prey. He tells Kim
he’d like her to “join the pride.” He
wishes Kim could be his permanent “partner in crime.” Jimmy is literally and figuratively adrift.
Jimmy makes another call, to the law office that had offered
him a job. He dresses in a suit and tie,
and heads to the firm of “Davis and Main.”
Inside, the rustic office is the antithesis of cold modern space where
Kim works. Jimmy is back in his element,
meeting dozens of employees at the firm and shaking hands all around. An assistant tells Jimmy about the office
features and perks, including a choice of company car. Jimmy is shown to his
new office complete with large wood furniture and a southwestern fireplace. Jimmy tells the assistant he’s “low-maintenance”
but then decides to request the brand of desk Howard Hamlin favored. Perhaps it’s a symbolic status Jimmy would
like to achieve, that he is equal to his brother.
Jimmy looks out the window at his garden view. He notices a light switch that has a typed
sign affixed warning, “Do not turn off for any reason.” Jimmy pauses, removes the tape, and flicks the
switch off. Nothing seems to have changed and after a moment, Jimmy replaces the tape and note on the switch. The metaphor is clear; Jimmy can’t resist
breaking the rules even for no clear reason. What will be his next flirtation with the dark
side? Will Kim keep him straight or push him to break the rules to impress her? I'm looking forward to another great season of "Better Call Saul."
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