Better Call Saul: Slip

 "This is the land of the free and the home of the lawsuit."

Once again, and I know I'm always saying this, an episode that's clearly setting stuff for later proves to be a superb character piece. The dramatic episodes aren't necessarily the only good episodes.

Jimmy is still struggling to earn a living and pay his half of the office money. There's a brilliant early scene where his TV commercial racket is brutally exposed. Yet Jimmy is a con man par excellence. The pre-credits scene is highly revealing: not only is he in denial about how his selfish actions ruined his opnen and generous father, but he sees his father's honesty and integrity as a weakness. Manipulate, or be manipulated. And this is how he gets out of the hole he's in.

So he gets out of a day's community service by conning the supervisor, rather impressively, and earning himself $700 into the bargain. Why should Jimmy have to suffer consequences for his behaviour? Shame is for suckers. And worse, he seems to manipulate Kim, who adores him, into letting him off paying his half... and taking extra work, spreading herself thin. Ouch. Does Jimmy care at all about the woman who clearly loves him? Obvioisly not. Behind the surface charm is a cold, calculating, self-centred git.

As an aside, I wonder about Chuck, too. Was his "condition" always a lie? Does this episode show him finding a way to escape from having to pretend not that the condition no longer serves its purpose? I don't know, and I may be wrong that he's ben faking. We shall see.

As a contrast, other characters prominent in this episode are all, to a degree, on the criminal side. But they have morals and integrity, at least of sorts, things that Jimmy will never have. A tense and extraordinary scene shows Nacho delivering poison pills into Hector's pocket, but he's doing it for his dad. Mike is also trying to do Hector over, but he has his reasons. And then we have his arrangement with Gus at the end... Gus, too, has his principles.

A nuanced and fasdcinating episode. As ever. These characters are extraordinary.

Better Call Saul: Marco

 "It's like watching Miles Davis give up the trumpet."

This is both an extraordinary episode and an extraordinary finale. Interestingly, it's not exactly a Breaking Bad style finale with lots of action; it's a superb character piece that pushes Jimmy in a new direction.

After the revelation about Chuck, Jimmy is at a crossroads. There's a nice scene with Howard which is nicely done, the first time they meet since Jimmys realisation that Howard was never actually the problem. It's nice to see the mutual respect between the two of them. 

The next scdene, at the bingo, is superbly done, though. We see Jimmy gradually fall apart as the mask slips, as well as finally learning why he went to prison in the first place, ruining his life. It's dar, human, superbly written and performed.

And so it's back to Michigan, reconnecting with his old mate Marco, and for a week he's Slippin' Jimmy again. He gets to escape from reality for a while, and hilariously we get a grifting montage. And then... Marco suddenly dies, a symbolic death of Jimmy's past. It's back to Albuquerque and reality.

And things are looking up. Jimmy is offered a new lawyering job, with real prospects. All looks good. Yewt Jimmy is at a crossroads... and he decides not to take that path. He resolves that he's sick and tired of scruples and honesty. Ouch.

This is an extraordinary episode, extended character piece as season finale.