What I’m Watching: Better Call Saul

Better Call Saul: Season 1, Episode 9 “Pimento” (B+)

The way this episode started out, I would not have predicted that it would end where it did. Things were finally looking up for Jimmy, and the chance to help spirit Chuck back into public through their joint work on the case was a welcome opportunity. Going to HHM with the case was a tough enough decision, and Howard seems to have no desire to spare Jimmy any emotionless rejection since he’s delivered plenty of that already, taking down Jimmy’s self-esteem one monumental step at a time. Jimmy’s realization that it was Chuck all along who had kept him down and who resented him for getting a law degree without actually working hard for it was extremely hard to watch, and now Jimmy really is alone without any friends, with only Kim advocating for him, and risking her own reputation with Howard at that. I’d hope that Jimmy would try to hang on to the case anyway, but I’m not optimistic about his prospects. This may well be the case that turns him into Saul Goodman, but this show has plenty of time to grow. Mike taking charge when an overly chatty bodyguard showed up to do a job with him and someone who actually looked the part was pretty fantastic, and I like how Nacho was incorporated in this hour in an entirely harmless and appropriately background manner (looking actor Michael Mando up, I saw and made the connection that he played Vic on “Orphan Black,” something I hadn’t realized before). Mike talking to Price about being a good criminal was especially interesting, and I’m all about the terrific dialogue.