Similar to unpacking after a long trip, I’m not sure where to start with unpacking last night’s “Quite a Ride”. The Saul Goodman cold open is probably a good place to start. It was jarring for two reasons; 1. It was so saturated compared to the usual color palettes of Better Call Saul. 2. It’s the first time we’ve seen Saul on this show. There’s also the significance of November 12th, three on the dot.
I doubt whatever fruits this clandestine meetup bares it will heavily alter the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul universe timelines, but it is an intriguing piece of information to just…put out there and walk away. The drawer of burner phones for Saul is nice tie to the timeline we’re currently in with Jimmy; does this mean we’re getting close to the timelines converging? It seems like it. I was half expecting to see Skinny Pete and Badger lurking on the edges of Dog House parking lot.
I think one of the most frustrating things about Jimmy is if he could stop scamming for two seconds, he could actually be pretty successful at selling literally anything. He practically legally scammed his first C.C. Mobile customer by preying on his fear that the government was indeed listening in on his calls. I mean, Jimmy could be a cult leader! That’s not a great comparison, but it’s a little bit better than getting jumped by three punk ass kids in the Dog House parking lot at one in the morning.
Sheesh. And it was all going so well, right? He successfully sold 1-2 burner phones per person; how much money did he launder? He more than broke even. Before he got jacked that is. But a true testament to Jimmy exceptional gift was gab was when he assimilated into that sorta biker gang (he could’ve been an undercover cop!); “get those tats in Las Cruces?”.
He is a natural born carnival barker, he could sell lighter fluid to someone whose house is on fire. The hardest part of watching Jimmy get his ass kicked is that I didn’t feel bad for him. What’d you expect?! Jimmy can be high key when he starts to feel like he’s getting on a hot streak. This whole plan, much like the Hummel Heist, but worse, is fuckin’ stupid. Like Kim trying to save people by moonlighting as a D.A., they both don’t need to be doing so much, and yet, they love self sabotage too much.
It’s interesting that that’s the strongest trait Kim and Jimmy share in common. Anyway, for now, it would seem the dust up temporarily scared Jimmy straight, but it’s always a ticking clock scenario with him. Good news is, he’s still not going to do any work on himself by going to see a therapist. It is an incredibly childish line of thinking to see Howard, who has insomnia which has no bearing on his therapist, and assume that therapy is stupid or won’t work on him. Flush it down! Away with you, repressed feelings!
I hope Kim kept a copy of that therapists information because Kim, baby, what is you doing? You can’t save any of these, no offense, deadbeats. That dude whose sentence you argued down from jail time to four months probation? He will one hundred percent fuck up and end up in this same spot again soon enough. Not really anyone’s fault, I just don’t think, ‘beg for a job to scrub toilets’ is the career day that guy needed to succeed.
Even though watching Bill swap courtroom barbs with Kim (and Jimmy, obvs) is a hilarious thrill, I can’t picture Kim getting any long term warm and fuzzies if she continues to be Captain Save a Courtroom Ho. Unlike Jimmy, where his physical dressing down (and realization that he might be ‘out of touch’) got him to temporarily keep his nose clean, Kim’s verbal dressing by Paige seemed to have the reverse effect. Kim’s mouth said it’d never happen again, but her head probably said, kiss my ass- I do what I want. Does Kim think that if she can save one of these cases, she can, by proxy, save a future Jimmy? Kimberly, you in danger, girl.
We didn’t check on Nacho’s possibly life threatening gut wound, but we did find out what Mike’s next job for Gus is. It’s to oversee the hiring of the architect for the construction of his underground super meth lab! There was a French guy, who’s overconfidence made him not a viable fit.
Then, we meet a nauseous Eastern European (question mark) who’s cautious calculations won over Gus in the most ominous way; how is ALWAYS walking down darken hallways? Another puzzle piece has snapped into place for Gustavo Fring and his master plan; the only way Gus could make this more evil is if he rapped his fingers together like Mister Burns, but that would be too on the nose.
3.5 stars
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