“The thing you folks need to know about me? I got nothing to lose. Christ, you should see my office.” – Jimmy McGill
After an episode mostly about Mike’s past, Better Call Saul this week returned to a focus on Jimmy. In the cold open, Mike finally shrugs off the Philly cops (with a nice gesture to the more veteran of the partners befitting a man who really does want to do the right thing) and cuts Jimmy loose to continue pursuing elder law. Chuck (Michael McKean) is doing better (though what was the business with Jimmy unloading a bunch of files on Chuck? Was this a scheme to get Chuck back in the saddle is something more sinister afoot?) and Jimmy is trying to drum up business as the emcee of a bingo tournament. This time Jimmy is backed by the $30K “retainer” from Craig and Betsy Kettleman (Jeremy Shamos and Julie Ann Emery and he’s got big dreams of a big legitimate office with his lover Kim (Rhea Seehorn) by his side.
Unfortunately, Kim doesn’t want to give up her spot at HHM and, worse still, the Kettleman’s are going to be a problem. Despite Kim’s best efforts to get them a deal that won’t involve Mr. Kettleman going to prison for 30 years, the couple (spearheaded by Betsy who calls the shots in this family) continues to insist on their innocence and refuses to budge on anything short of exoneration. They fire Kim (getting her in trouble with the higher ups at HHM) and go back to Jimmy, holding the retainer over his head to pressure him into retaking their case even though Kim begs him to send them back to her. It’s not a pride thing with Kim who is unexpectedly shaping into one of the more interesting characters on the show. She knows she’s gotten the Kettlemans a terrific deal and she worked really hard to get it.
I kind of love the Kettlemans and especially the mercenary way Betsy has her eyes on the money and a seeming willingness to let her husband rot in jail just to keep it. Also, have we talked yet about how smoking hot Emery is in an Albuquerque soccer mom kind of way? She made an equal impression in a smaller role in Fargo as well, but that’s another story.
Anyway, with a clever assist from Mike involving a stack of money coated in a spray that shows up under ultraviolet light, Jimmy discovers where the Kettleman’s are hiding their embezzled money and he has it delivered to the DA thus forcing the Kettlemans back to Kim and the deal she offered.
Better Call Saul was billed as being about how Jimmy McGill became Saul Goodman and it’s still that, but once again Jimmy was offered a clear and simple path toward doing the wrong thing and once again he did the honest thing. Maybe he was inspired by Chuck’s determination to get better. Maybe he was discouraged by Kim’s reluctance to join him. Whatever his core motivation, Jimmy rather unexpectedly seems to be moving further away from “Saul” rather than closer to him. We know what Jimmy becomes because we’ve seen his future, but we had no reason to believe he’d take such a circuitous route to get there.
Like Jimmy, Better Call Saul isn’t taking the easy way out. It’s not drawing a clear line from A to B to C and that’s what makes it one of the better shows on TV right now. Instead of playing up to the audience’s ample expectations and pandering to the lowest common fan denominator, Vince Gilligan and crew are actively working in the other direction, gleefully delaying the inevitable. The result is a much subtler and potentially more rewarding show than any prequel can be expected to be.
Once again, a lot of that freedom is owed to AMC’s quick 2nd season pickup of the show, but I for one am glad the show is taking full advantage of it. Part of me feared the worst about the show going in, but it has so far completely shattered my expectations and laying the groundwork for something great.