Due to accepting a foolish bribe a few weeks ago, Jimmy has no choice but to side with the criminal duo, knowing that he would have to account for the whereabouts of “every single penny.” In a sticky situation, the protagonist manages to make out of it with originality. In another couple of sequences that further show the disparity between the wealthy and the worthless, Mike ends up waiting outside the Kettleman mansion to see Craig pick up the bait – the rest of Jimmy’s earnings. On the stakeout, he sees one of the adults take the extra cash to the upstairs bathroom. Mike then sneaks in, grabs the loot and brings it to his lawyer pal.
That robbery sequence, set to a jazzy, electrifying number, is slick and satisfying – the first real job Mike will do as the cleaner for the man who will be Saul Goodman. The bodacious size of the family’s home – who knew they would need more savings? – then becomes a delightful comic note when Jimmy comes by to lay out his new rules. (The lawyer even refers to the posh living room as something out of a catalogue.) In a terrific shot that recalled his initial elderly visit in “Alpine Shepherd Boy,” Albert shoots Jimmy patiently waiting on a different plane (on the main floor) from the other characters as they scurry around upstairs for the money that isn’t there. What the shot says, opposite from the tight framing in the restaurant earlier in the episode, is that it is not yet quite time for Jimmy to be on the same level as these cutting criminals.
Which level is he most comfortable with? Well, the parking garage where he meets Kim for a couple of honest heart-to-hearts. Jimmy may dream of a team at big heights, looking over warm Albuquerque, but the only place where he gets to Kim is far below the ground. These sweet moments help to, ahem, ground some of the wackier characters and exchanges – the spritely Betsy Kettleman, for one – and allow to give Jimmy some humanity that will take more time for him to grow out of than initially prophesized.
On her first Better Call Saul outing, Kondracki does a terrific job showing the barriers to mobility in New Mexico. Either the settings are shown with vast establishing shots, as with Jimmy’s dream suite, Chuck’s bare living situation or the lavish lobby of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill, or everything is in tight quarters – a crammed restaurant bathroom, the compressed cubicles at the aforementioned firm. Jimmy may want to move up in the world, but to get to that direction, he has to turn into Saul Goodman.
Just as Jonathan Banks gave a wrenching turn at the end of “Five-O” last week, Bob Odenkirk gets to mine for dramatic gold at the finish here. As a man struggling to keep his composure as he comes to terms with how lofty his big office dreams may be, his confident walk turns into a angry man’s kick, followed by a tearful slump onto the floor. (He even struggles to answer his phone with that indulgent English lilt.) It is not just the office he needs. He needs someone to fill its offices. With Kim assigned to the Kettlemans and Chuck finding greater independence, Jimmy also needs someone to share in his emptiness. In a strange way, he would probably find a bit of compatibility with the protagonist of another AMC drama.
