from ign.com
I have to be honest that I was one of the skeptics about the Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul, whose season finale aired yesterday. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to learn any information about Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), he was so perfect being this mysterious creature who knew every trick in the book and, obviously, a guy, who knew a guy, who knew another guy. But boy, was I wrong…
Even though the last episode of the season, “Marco,” wasn’t as gripping as the previous one, “Pimento,” my skepticism has been transformed into excitement and I’m looking forward to learning more.
Mrs Kettleman crushing Jimmy (episode “Nacho”)
The first season was about setting the backstory of the major characters, the genesis of Saul Goodman, still going by Jimmy McGill, and preparing the ground for the eventual turning. The last line of the finale, when Jimmy says that what stopped him from stealing the embezzlement money from the Kettleman’s case will not stop him again, seems to be the beginning of the end for Jimmy, but I confess that the decision being made so quickly into the show was kind of a bummer. I mean, for sure the decision of going to the dark side wasn’t made on a whim, it’d been brewing for years and years of constant rejections and downright fuckery that the establishment can offer, but I think I was expecting something beyond his control, or a moment like shown in “Pimento,” where it’s learned that his brother Chuck has sabotaged him all along, which devastates Jimmy. In my opinion, this is the best episode and the scene is so powerful and enraging that all I wanted was get into that living room and beat the crap out of Chuck.
During the ten episodes, I felt that he was genuinely trying to put Slippin’ Jimmy to rest and be part of the system, working the courtrooms for $700 a piece and ultimately trying to get a big case with the Kettlemans, just to mercilessly hear that he is the kind of lawyer guilty people hire. It comes like a punch in the stomach. Coming back to his office/flat in the nail salon must be the most depressing thing of the day, even though he can finally drink the cucumber water he is denied during opening hours. In order to cause some attention, Slippin’ Jimmy briefly resurfaces and the billboard stunt happens, making Jimmy a minor celebrity in the city but not effective enough to attract real cases, as proved by the secession nutjob and the sexual toilet freak. Going to see them is just a major waste of time and resources. Jimmy then finds some solace in what he refers to as “elder law,” basically going to nursing homes and drawing up wills of figurines and minor possessions for $140. He’s the MC on bingo days and checks in every so often to leave business cards in hopes to get more wills. But he’s smart enough to realise that an assisted living facility is overcharging their clients and sees a major opportunity of a multi-million-dollar class-action fraud case.
Jimmy’s billboard, he pulls a stunt and gets minor recognition (episode “Hero”)
Jimmy’s office/home.
But his dreams of finally joining HHM are crushed when Chuck pulls his strings to make that an impossibility. Jimmy figures “what’s the point?” and goes on a binge of con-artistry in Chicago, reviving his Slippin’ Jimmy days. There is a callback to Breaking Bad when we see the Kevin Costner stunt (one of the funniest lines in BB, didn’t work for me so much in “reality;” should have stayed one of the untold stories, or maybe been more elaborate, I wanted to see how much he believed that he was Kevin Costner…) Things work fine, he and his buddy Marco make some money, they have some fun, this IS his element, right?
No, he decides to head back to Albuquerque and accept the offer of HHM of getting relatively well-paid for the fraud case but staying in the sidelines, once again conforming to what is handed to him. His pal Kim, whom I’m still not quite sure was or will be his love-interest, tips him off on a potential job offer from a firm that has just partnered with HHM for the fraud case. Even though he seems excited, at some point he figures again “what’s the point?” and having a brief exchange with Mike (Jonathan Banks) about the reasons they both didn’t steal from the Kettlemans, he finally drives away from the job offer and as if possessed by the Slippin’ Jimmy spirit, hums his way out of the system with “Smoke on the Water,” or at least that’s what is suggested.
I believe that if they wanted to impact people, the “Pimento” moment with Chuck would have been much more powerful for the transformation into Saul (or affirmation of Slippin’ Jimmy?), but I see the last episode as the final struggle, where the backsliding in Chicago poses a conflict and he still wants to become part of the system; but the arrival in Albuquerque, in that parking lot, where on so many occasions he was short on stickers, caused the switch in his head to change from “trying” to “not any more.”
I’m intrigued, obviously, but hope that the transformation isn’t so sudden. I figure that in terms of production, considering that Better Call Saul starts in 2002 and Breaking Bad in 2008, they are perhaps hoping for a six-season show, just like the mothership. And I hope they take their time in the development of characters, meaning their backstories, and the probable future excellent characters that will be introduced, just like Saul Goodman was at the end of season two in Breaking Bad. I’ve read reviews of the show and the finale and people want answers, implying that things might be all over the place for now, but all of us who have watched BB already know how things are going to end (or begin) for Saul, I even wonder if the last scene of Better Call Saul should be Walter White entering his office to get Badger out of jail. But the impatience should be overlooked by the producers and especially the network, giving the show a chance to become even bigger than it is.
All shows have highs and lows, episodes we love and episodes we hate, and Saul won’t be different. But demanding answers now is just nonsense. If people wanted a short story instead of a novel, they should have pushed for a miniseries. I’m happy with these last 10 weeks of entertainment and this is one of the few times I wish a 22-episode season was still the norm.
-- Never too many beers -- 