Jimmy wakes up in the middle of the night alone in his
double bed. Unable to fall back asleep,
he goes to turn on the television and flips channels; advertising “Chia Pets”,
C-SPAN and a station sign off with playing of the “Star Spangled Banner.” He lands on another station airing the remade
ad for the Sandpiper case by Davis and Main. The ad is words against the hypnotic blue
background, narrated by a stranger. It
is completely devoid of Jimmy’s creativity and spunk. The dreamy instrumental “Sleepwalker Blues”
plays as Jimmy rummages through the fridge. He plays with the “ornamental
balls” that Kim had made fun of by using them as bowling and basketballs. He finally ends by throwing them down the stairs.
Jimmy takes his car and arrives at his
old office in the nail salon wearing his “University of American Samoa”
sweatshirt. He pulls out his old sleeper
sofa, content at last in an environment of his own choosing.
The next morning Kim brushes her teeth alone, perhaps
remembering when Jimmy insisted on borrowing her toothbrush. As she gets dressed and ready to head out the
door she looks forlornly at her answering machine, which displays no new
messages. A second after she leaves the
bedroom, the phone rings and its Jimmy. He sings to her “Bali Ha’i” a song from
the musical South Pacific. As his voice
cracks on the recording, Kim smiles. She
may not be able to call him back yet but clearly she misses him.
The nail salon boss is not happy that Jimmy has returned,
despite the fact he is still paying rent for the room. She scoffs at him thinking his cushy new job
already no more. He asks her to make him
some coffee, promising he’ll leave the premises faster if she does. Jimmy leaves the salon with his “Second Best
Lawyer” mug; it still won’t fit in the Mercedes cup holder so he holds the mug
between his legs.
Kim slowly unpacks her belongings into her former office.
Howard notifies her the bank clients have returned and they walk to the conference
room to meet them. Kim tells Howard she didn’t want Chuck to intervene on her
behalf. He says nothing until they reach
the conference room and then puts on his fake lawyer smile.
Mike pulls up to his home and notices a man waiting on his
front doorstep. The man has a dark complexion
and has partially shaved head and a ponytail tied with a red bandana. Mike approaches the man and asks him what he
wants. The man says, “He needs an
answer.” Mike responds, “Respectfully,
no.” The man leaves. Mike returns home later with some purchases
from “Bed, Bath & Beyond”, a welcome mat and some carbon paper and regular
printer paper. He obviously has a plan.
Kim appears alone in court against the defense team for
Sandpiper. She eloquently argues that
her clients’ medical records should not be disclosed, as it will be used
against her clients to intimidate them. Kim
notes Sandpiper benefits from being able to claim their residents were
competent when signing the agreements when it benefits them and now declare
them incompetent when it comes to filing the lawsuit. The judge listens but states he’s leaning
towards the defense but will think about the matter further.
As Kim exits the courtroom, Rich Schweikart congratulates
her on her performance but notes there was no way she could win. He adds wryly, “That’s why your boss wasn’t
there.” He invites her to lunch and she
accepts.
At lunch, Rich notes she has been with HHM for ten years,
starting in the mailroom. (Is that where she first met Jimmy?) The firm paid
her law school tuition, which is being paid off through her work there. He tells her a story about when he was a young
ambitious attorney. He had to buy a new
suit on credit and was set to argue a case against four seasoned lawyers with
his boss. However, like Howard, his boss
never showed up and he describes the situation as “A BB gun against four Howitzers.”
He explains how his boss laughed off the
incident later admitting it was his plan all along to have Rich face his “trial
by fire” alone. But Rich never forgave
the man.
Kim asks him the obvious question, “Why are we here?” Rich states he admired the deal she procured
in the Kettleman case and offers her a job with his firm. He says it will be an opportunity for her to
“spread her wings.” He elaborates that
they will pay off her remaining tuition debt and adds it is a partner track
position. Kim has a lot to consider,
especially given Howard’s abuse of her recently.
Mike stares at his darkened house from his car. He approaches the doormat and looks under it
to find the carbon copy marked by two pairs of shoe prints. He hesitates at the door and turns the knob
slowly. Once inside, he pulls out his handgun
and walks slowly through his little home. He opens one closet, but finds nothing. He knows the men are hiding behind the last
door and he switches on the television. The
men emerge and he shots one and disarms and hits the other in a swift motion. Once the men are subdued, he asks, “What’s the
message?” The men reply, “Take the five
thousand.” They admit they were there
simply to scare him. Mike growls, “Try harder next time.” He orders the men out and they flee. Mike goes to kitchen sink to rinse his hand
and gun of blood. His hand right
trembles and he grabs it with his left hand to steady himself. Despite his bravado, this attack scared him.
Kim works in her office when an assistant informs her Howard
needs her to finish some Sandpiper paperwork on a deadline. Kim protests she was about to leave for lunch
and the woman offers to order something from a local bistro. Kim walks out.
Mike is babysitting his granddaughter Kaylee. The girl is enjoying the motel’s swimming
pool. He asks how she likes the place
and she says it’s ok. He fakes becoming angry and throws her beach ball then
threatens to come in the pool himself. Mike sees two men standing on the roof
of a nearby building. It’s the homicidal
cousins from Breaking Bad! One cousin
points his finger at the pool like a gun.
Shaken, Mike orders Kaylee out of the pool. He holds her in a protective embrace as he
towels her off. How will Mike react to
this direct threat to his family?
Kim returns to the restaurant where she had lunch with Rich
and orders his beverage, the Moscow Mule. She looks at his card and holds her phone out
wondering if she should accept his offer. She notices a man and an attractive woman
outside. The man helps the woman into a
sports car. Moments later, the bartender
informs her a man has offered to pay for her next drink. She looks and sees it was the man from
outside. She accepts and the man slides
down to her offering her cheesy compliments. He introduces himself as Dale and Kim gives
her name as Giselle. (The same name she used when they bilked the stockbroker.)
Jimmy tries to work under the unrelenting critical Erin. She makes him repeat and review every detail
in the paperwork. Jimmy tries to deal
with her obvious lack of confidence and respect for him. The phone rings and Jimmy eagerly flees his
office to take a call from Kim. She
tells him, “How soon can you get to Albuquerque? I’ve got live one on the
hook!”
Jimmy arrives at the bar and introduces himself as her
brother Viktor. Dale introduces himself
as an engineer. Kim asks Jimmy if it
“all went well” and insinuates they are on the verge of being on the cover of
Fortune magazine. Kim leaves for the
ladies room so Jimmy can elaborate on the ruse.
Dale asks him if they are starting a business. Jimmy reveals they are involved in an
internet start-up, which will offer “hook-up” services. He adds they have too many investors, if they
have any more they will have to go public.
Obviously, this is said to get the man even more determined to give them
his money.
Mike arrives for a meeting at a closed ice cream shop. Nacho opens the door for him and searches
him. He calls inside that Mike has a gun,
but isn’t wearing a wire. He is allowed
in, where the cousins and Hector Salamanca are waiting. (One wears the boots
seen in Breaking Bad with the silver skulls on the toe.) Mike sits down across from Hector who says,
“Go to the D.A. tomorrow and say the gun was yours.” Mike replies the price for that will now be
fifty thousand dollars. Hector scoffs,
“The time for that has passed. You do it and live.” He goes on to threaten the lives of Stacey and
Kaylee should he refuse. Mike reaches
for his weapon. Hector is surprised he’s
willing to die for this. But he says in
Spanish to his associates that he admires the old man’s balls. Possibly that is what saves Mike as Hector
agrees to pay him in return for his testimony.
Mike is home when Nacho arrives with his money. Nacho cautions him, “You pushed it back there.
He finds out and we are both dead.” Nacho refers to the fact the “attack” was
carefully planned to ensure Tuco’s incarceration. Mike surprises Nacho by offering him half of
the money. Mike notes that Nacho’s
“problem” will be returning a lot sooner than they had hoped.
Kim looks down at the ten thousand dollar check they
received from Dale. She wants to keep it
as a memento. Jimmy has spent the night
and it seems their mutual love of the con game has brought them back
together. Kim reveals she has a new job
offer with the firm heading up the Sandpiper defense. Jimmy encourages her to take it but has her
promise he can be present when she tells Howard. He is surprised that Kim doesn’t seem happy
about it. Kim observes, “You knew what
you wanted, floating in that pool, but you changed because of me.” Jimmy says he did get what he wanted, the job
at Davis and Main.
They walk out together and kiss goodbye. Jimmy tries to fit his mug into the Mercedes
cup holder once again without success. He
retrieves a crowbar from the trunk and removes the cup holder slot and places
his mug in the hole. Clearly, this is a
symbol of Jimmy needing to break the mold in order to fit in.
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