Apologies on the lateness
of this review. College work has been sucking away all my energy over
the past two weeks, but now I'm back to talk about the next two
episodes of Better Call Saul. And to be honest, there isn't a
whole lot to talk about. We're still at the stage where the
foundations of the season's plot are being laid, before events really
kick off.
The main thread so far is
Jimmy trying to adjust to working in a large, professional law firm.
From the way he carries himself in board meetings, it's clear why
Jimmy would be such an attractive asset to them, given his magnetism
and gift of the gab. We see it in slightly less scrupulous ways as
well, like Jimmy ambushing a group of seniors in Texas, hoping to
score more clients in Davis and Main's push against Sandpiper. We
also get to see Jimmy's first major clash with the firm when he airs
a commercial without their consent, adding the first nail to his
coffin as a reputable lawyer.
Jimmy's most entertaining
moment is undoubtedly where he's forced to explain away Warmolt's
bizarre behaviour to the police. The show has a great way of forcing
its characters into tight situations and getting them to come up with
novel solutions; we saw it last season when Jimmy was kidnapped by
Tuco, and again when he was forced to find the “abducted”
Kettelmans. Here, Jimmy's explanation for Warmolt is hilarious in its
sheer Would-I-lie-about-this?
brazenness,
while also ending on a more serious note when Kim lectures him on
doctoring evidence. This is more a teaser for a major plot point than
a plot point in itself, but like the Davis and Main commercial, it
gives a credible explanation for how a lawyer as committed as Jimmy
could end up getting kicked out of the firm.
It also causes some
cracks in his relationship with Kim. I like how their relationship
has become a lot more open since last season, with their romantic
feelings becoming more overt as they get more comfortable with each
other. Seeing how great the two work together obviously adds to to
the tragedy of the whole thing, since the relationship can only end
in disaster.
Chuck McGill (Michael
McKean) returns, with a much frostier relationship with his little
brother, understandably. While Chuck was characterised as the
straight-laced brother back in Season 1, I couldn't help notice a
slight change in his presence here. We first see Chuck struggling to
occupy himself playing the piano in his darkened home. In the board
meetings, he has to silently watch while Jimmy dominates proceedings.
Maybe it's my imagination, but I wonder if Chuck is going to resort
to more underhand techniques this season, not so much for the good of
the firm, as out of resentment at watching his more reckless brother
become more successful than him. It wouldn't surprise me – given
how envy and bitterness was at the heart of Jimmy being forced to
leave Cicero – if Gilligan and Gould decided to link the two
brothers together thematically.
Mike's subplot also gets
a bit more development here. Staking out his daughter's house to
protect her and Kaylee from a gang is exactly the sort of compassion
mixed with cold determination we've come to expect from him. It also
links in again with Mike's disillusionment with the police; he does
it himself since the Albuquerque cops don't seem that concerned. The
“twist” where it's hinted that Stacey (Kerry Condon) may have
imagined raises more questions: is she becoming paranoid? Is Mike
going to have to become more involved with his family? How is he
going to square his responsibilities to them with his further forays
into the Albuquerque Underworld?
Episode 3 tantalisingly
ends with Nacho offering Mike a job to “make someone disappear”.
My first instinct was that it might be Tuco or even Gus Fring (just a
little something to get viewers even more lathered up). But I guess
if that were the case they would have shown just who Nacho wants
bumped off – I suppose whoever it is is someone we haven't met
before. It would also be a little too soon for Mike – who even in
this episode is reluctant to get involved in anything too deep –
would suddenly start playing politics by jumping from one crime lord
to another.
I suppose Mike's plot at
this stage, like Jimmy's, is not about linking Better Call Saul
in with its parent show. Right now it seems more of a personal story,
showing how Mike gets dragged down further into a life of crime.
Unlike Jimmy, his weakness isn't recklessness, but his sense of duty
to his family.
For the moment, the
season is proceeding at a slow enough pace. But it's certainly not
skimping on deepening and developing its characters.
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