He tells Tuco the truth about who he is, and only resorts to a lie when he thinks it’s not working. In the crucible of the desert, surrounded by henchmen and about to get his finger clipped off, Jimmy initially shows good judgment, but then second-guesses himself. Even before he sees the “salsa stain” on the carpet, Jimmy is careful to refer to what happened between the skaters and Tuco’s beloved abuelita as an “accident” and admits that they showed “extremely poor judgment.” When Tuco tells Jimmy, “You got a mouth on you,” he doesn’t know how right he is. In sharp contrast to his boneheaded “clients,” who need to take a four-pronged cane to the face in order to understand who they’re dealing with, he sees a gun and knows he has to beg for his life. (Those who haven’t seen BB desperately need to read up on this guy.) And aside from expertly escalating the show’s stakes, this extended sequence is crucial to developing Jimmy’s character.įrom the moment Tuco pulls him into his grandmother’s house, Jimmy is in spin mode. So it seems wise that Better Call Saul got us back there by Episode 2, in a scene that both revisited one of Breaking Bad‘s most memorable villains and revealed the central contradiction that makes Jimmy McGill such a rich character.Ībout half of “Mijo” - written by co-creator Peter Gould and directed by Michelle MacLaren, who was a co-producer and frequent director on Breaking Bad - is devoted to the desert confrontation where Jimmy and his redheaded skater accomplices narrowly avoid murder at the hands of insane, grandma-loving drug lord Tuco Salamanca. In “Ozymandias,” this setup gave us what most fans cite as the single best episode of Breaking Bad. Miles from the strip malls and housing developments of Albuquerque, it’s the kind of lawless space where you can park your meth-lab camper or hold an whole row of enemies at gunpoint, with no one in the straight world getting even an inkling of what you’re up to. Better Call Saul Season 1 Episode 3 airs Monday, February 16th at 10pm on AMC.If Matthew Weiner’s signature setting is California as seen through the eyes of a New Yorker (or, as was originally the case, a New Jersey mob boss) in desperate need of some fresh perspective, then Vince Gilligan’s is the desert - particularly as the backdrop for a showdown. If you missed last night's episode, remember you can watch Better Call Saul online right here at TV Fanatic. ![]() What did you think of "Mijo"? Are you enjoying learning more about Jimmy McGill, his brother Chuck, and how Jimmy came to be Saul Goodman? The first two episodes have been a little slow as we dive into this character's history, but that's okay. Right now, Better Call Saul is devoting necessary time to building the narrative of Jimmy McGill and his transformation into Saul Goodman. He wants to help, but he doesn't know how. At this point, he can only be so tolerant of Chuck's eccentricities, as evidenced by his forcing Chuck to drop the space blanket. He clearly doesn't understand what his brother is going through, but he knows his brother isn't going to get better. It's obvious Jimmy cares about his brother, but that concern only goes so far. What, exactly, is he so afraid of and how did he come to be this way? Jimmy's relationship with Chuck is an interesting one and Chuck's an interesting story. The fame and notoriety his brother Chuck had before developing his, let's call it EMF-obia, and being unable to go to work, probably sullying the McGill name in the process. Money will buy him the fame and notoriety he wants. We also know that if there's one thing Jimmy McGill wants, it's money. Jimmy insists he's no criminal, but we know that's not true based on his brother's suspicions that he's fallen back into his old habits of faking injuries to scam people as Slippin' Jimmy. Nacho offers a 10% finder's fee if Jimmy will help him steal the money the Ketelman's stole from the city. That's where Jimmy McGill's services come in. ![]() ![]() And, instead of robbing from rich people, he steals from other thieves because "they have no recourse." Except instead of helping poor people, he helps himself. The end result of the dance with Tuco is that Jimmy meets Nacho, Tuco's second in command, and Nacho is a modern day Robin Hood. Judging by his reaction after the fact, I'm going with that dalliance in the desert being a wholly new experience, and the one by which he will become a criminal himself. It isn't quite clear if this is Jimmy's first run-in with criminals like Tuco, i.e., the kind who want to kill him and are moments away from cutting off his pinky fingers.
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