(Author’s note: Margaux couldn’t be here today, so you’re stuck with me, the mean parent who makes you eat cauliflower and won’t let you drink beer before bed.)
I’ve long suspected that Michael McKean would end up being the secret weapon of Better Call Saul, and after “Alpine Shepherd Boy,” I’m pleased to announce that I was right. Again. Suck it, everyone. McKean so fully and ably embodies Chuck McGill, his illness and his anxiety, and just getting snapshots of his life is at turns terrifying, nerve-wracking, and tragic. The opening scene where the cops were pounding on Chuck’s door was as tense as anything you’d see in True Detective or Breaking Bad, due in no small part to McKean’s voice, wavering on the edge of panic, and the almost intrusive direction of Nicole Kassell (The Woodsman), who put us right in Chuck’s very uncomfortable shoes.
It’s not secret that Better Call Saul is a show with a lot of facets. It can do drama, it can do dark comedy, hell, it can even do slapstick. “Alpine Shepherd Boy” was its predictably successful foray into family drama.
Before Jimmy finds out about Chuck’s episode, he’s making the rounds to clients who called after his escapade on the billboard. He visits with Ricky Cipes, who wants to secede from America, and pays Jimmy in $100 bills with his own face on them (totally a thing I would do); there’s a man who invents a toilet that is in no way appropriate for children (“You’re so big, Chandler!”), and finally a little old lady who wants to divvy up her porcelain figures in ludicrously specific ways. (The long shot of Jimmy waiting in the living room while the woman rode her chair down the stairs was bleakly hilarious.)
Kim mentions that Jimmy might have a future in elder law, but then they get the phone call about Chuck. He’s being held at the hospital by a Dr. Crews (hi, Clea Duvall!), who wants to commit him. This is the scene where Michael McKean proves exactly how indispensable he is to the cast. He explains to Crews what’s wrong with him, and why he can’t be committed. It’s heartbreaking but undeniably impressive; Chuck’s knowledge of the law and ability to argue it have not faded at all, and like Jimmy says to Dr. Crews, “He’s smarter than the two of us put together.”
Back at home, Jimmy has to explain to Chuck that the billboard scheme wasn’t the return of Slippin’ Jimmy, and it’s hard to tell who he’s trying to convince. It’s scenes – and episodes – like this that prove that Better Call Saul would be a great show even if it weren’t tied in to Breaking Bad. In fact, just thinking about it again has convinced to up the star count by half. “Alpine Shepherd Boy” was an unusually reserved episode of a show that, like its protagonist, can be loud and blunt (in a good way, of course). There was no scheming, there was no mention of Nacho or the Kettelmans; Jimmy didn’t even mention a case. (He did, however, make an attempt to get into elder law, dressing up like Matlock and handing out Jello cups with his slogan at the bottom: “Need a Will? Call McGill!” The rhyming has begun.) Honestly, five episodes into what is so far a stellar first season, I can’t think of anything that Better Call Saul can’t do.
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