Better Call Saul “Bali Ha’i” Review

You guys know the
drill, SPOILERS
ahead…

When is a bright
yellow coffee cup not
a bright
yellow coffee cup? When it’s a gigantic metaphor for a shifty lawyer
who
can’t fit in to his new digs. I
will say there was something satisfying in
seeing this neutered version of
Jimmy snap and put a crowbar to
that cup holder.
Looks like it’s safe to assume that Jimmy has reached his
boiling point. The
new job,
the new car, Erin the babysitter, the watered down personality has
finally
taken its toll and Jimmy has
reached that threshold where applying a
crowbar to a cup holder seems like a
rational thought. This could be
the first
real crack in the cocoon that allows Saul Goodman to emerge in all
his flashy
suit goodness.
Speaking of flashy colors I do love that yellow coffee mug and
how it stands
as a reminder that this larger
than life character is being
bottled up by the job he took to impress the
girl. Everything in Jimmy’s life

has dulled since he began working at this new firm and that coffee cup
stands as
a middle finger to the
Jimmy who is trying to be something he’s not.

Think
of
Jimmy’s attempt at a
straight life as an elementary school science fair
project. He’s surrounded
by people who can create working
models of the solar
system and that one kid who sort of made penicillin with
moldy oranges, and
there’s
Jimmy. Just standing around with a rocket that won’t take off. The

personality of Jimmy McGill is too large
to be bogged down by the rules of this
firm, and mind you those rules are
the law. You know, small details.
But we
don’t watch Better Call Saul to see him obey the rules, we
watch to
see Jimmy navigate
his way around them.

There is a large feeling of
displacement
watching Jimmy wake up in the middle of
the night in this great
apartment. He’s the kid who shows up to a Star
Trek convention dressed

as a wookie. As we discussed last week, Jimmy doesn’t feel that he deserves

this and a large part of me
believes he doesn’t want it either. Or at least not
on these terms. I think
Jimmy wants a life like this but
he wants to earn it his
way, not by trying to prove Chuck wrong or make Kim
like him more. Jimmy has to

take care of Jimmy so when he returns to the nail saloon office to get some

sleep he’s at peace. This is
a person and a place he
recognizes.

Watching the watered down
commercial air in the middle of the

night, where the key demographic wouldn’t see it, was probably the last
straw.
How else can you explain
the late night bowling/basketball mixed with the
leaving for familiar
pastures? Or even later in the episode
where he picks up
and leaves to meet with Kim giving no word. Zero effs
given. The commercial that
Jimmy
put together was fantastic work and should have been his golden boy
moment.
Instead he just went about
presenting it the wrong way and continues to
be his own worst enemy. Jimmy
knows he has a talent or knack for
getting
people’s attention and that the airing of that lame commercial
(they didn’t
even change the
fonts!) is going to bring a rapid end to his relationship with
the
firm.

It looks like Jimmy won’t be
the only one looking to bust out
of their cocoon as Kim, fresh out of the
basement but still top of the shit

list, is starting to realize her self-importance. I love the tracking shot
with
her and Howard as they
are walking towards their meeting. If I’m just being
honest I just love
tracking shots. If you’re looking
for a list of great ones
look no further than Tarantino, first season of
True Detective, or both

seasons of Daredevil (those fights ya’ll. Those.

Fights.)

Howard continues his reign as
king of the bag of D’s and seems
like he’s doing his best to force Kim out
of the firm. From leaving her

stranded to fend for herself at the hearing, the small office with no time
to
unpack, and not allowing
her to leave for lunch are Howard’s way of making it
an easy choice for
Kim. “No Chuck I didn’t fire her,
she left on her own.”
Luckily Kim is seeing right through this and is
starting to understand that
she’s
a pretty good lawyer. It helps when the opposing firm is trying to woo
her
away from her current job. While
the offer seems genuine it seems like it
could be too good to be true. Yes
she has the option of becoming
partner but at
what cost to her career? I got the impression that jumping
ship would burn a lot
of
bridges for Kim who seems to be the series whipping boy.

One more

thing about Howard, I have crafted a
new theory where I think that he could very
well be a cyborg. No, hear me
out! Did you see him walk down that
hallway?! He
reminded me of that senator Ben is running a campaign for in
Parks and
Rec. The one
that would just stare at the wall until he had to turn it on
for the camera.
I got that vibe from Howard
during the tense walk, you can
almost see him hit the on switch as that smug
grin spreads across his face

before entering the conference room. Just a theory but if it turns out

that Better Call Saul is
a story of time travel and cyborgs just
remember where you heard it from
first. I’m just
saying.

Moving on…Kim
and Jimmy finally mended fences this week as
she was still giving him the cold

shoulder despite how much she enjoyed his singing voicemails (that singing

message is where this episode
gets it’s title for those curious). The two of
them working together
hustling another poor, unsuspecting sap
is interesting
because I wonder if Kim is looking for an avenue to vent her
frustrations or is
this
something she kind of enjoys because she’s a natural at it. One thing that

isn’t up to debate is that the
two of them make a good team, and I’m starting
to wonder if at some point
Jimmy and Kim break off from their
respective firms
and start their own. Maybe phase one of the Saul Goodman
office? Still shaping
out that
theory.

Elsewhere Mike continues to have
the most interesting story on the show,
and maybe that’s because of how
deeply rooted in Breaking Bad
it is or
maybe because of the tension or maybe it’s all of the above.
Mike seems to be
ahead of
everyone at all times (looking at you Hector) and the scene where he
returns
home to realize that there are
goons in his house was another perfect
use of the tracking shot. Those
idiots had no chance against Mike who
quickly
got the drop on them.

“We were just supposed to scare

you.”

“Then try
harder next time.”

Although it looks
like they might have
unraveled Mike a smidge, but I want to
believe the
handshaking was more the adrenaline wearing off than nerves. You
can’t phase

Mike!

Unless you’re The Cousins, who as expected made their return
to
the Breaking Bad
universe. This was the absolute best way to introduce
them as we know
that everything Mike does is for
his granddaughter. Their
appearance on the roof top looking down at them was
both intense and legit

scary, and probably the first time Mike took the seriousness of the threat.
Even
pointing a finger gun at
his granddaughter seems like a huge mistake but it
brings about the desired
results as Mike makes his deal
with Hector with a pay
raise. Mike’s no fool and plays the game his way
even if it’s against someone
as
powerful as Hector. The fifty grand that he gets for his troubles seems

reasonable and since Mike is old
school in every way, gives twenty-five grand to
Nacho because Tuco will be
home sooner then
expected.

While I don’t
think the story with Hector is done
(where’s Gus?!) I do expect this to be
the
last of The Cousins for awhile. They served their purpose here and got
Mike to
make a deal. Keeping
them around at this point will seem like Breaking
Bad overkill.
I’m still liking my brother in-laws
theory about Mike being
the one who puts Hector in that wheelchair. It’s
possible.

And while

we’re talking about Mike we should take notice that at some point his story
and
Jimmy’s are going to
have to intersect, and this late in to the season I’m not
sure how they’re
going to pull that off. I’ve
felt for the last few weeks now
that Jimmy has kind of taken a back seat
here, and while I haven’t minded

because the story telling has been so sharp, it is his show and at some
point
all lines are going to have
to go through him.

I now open the floor to
you fellow Geeklings. What
did you think of this weeks
episode? Were you happy
with the use of The Cousins? What characters from
Breaking Bad would
you
like to see show up next? What do you think the future holds for Kim and

Jimmy? Let me know your thoughts in
the comments
below.

 

Images from AMC