What I’m Watching: Better Call Saul

Better Call Saul: Season 6, Episode 10 “Nippy” (B)

This episode felt like a classic version of this show, an hour that proceeded along at a very slow, deliberate pace where not all that much really happened. It’s jarring to go from Kim’s departure to Jimmy becoming Saul Goodman to him being someone else altogether. The intro was ominous and purposeful, and it was great to see Carol Burnett, who turned 89 this April, in a role that befits her talents. She was just a part of Jimmy’s overall plan to recruit Jeff into his latest scheme. I couldn’t figure out where I knew him from, and I now see that he was played by Pat Healy, the memorable star of “Take Me” opposite Taylor Schilling. This was a very different role for him, one that reminded me of Damon Herriman’s character Dewey Crowe on “Justified.” It was also good to see Jim O’Heir from “Parks and Recreation” in a moderately more serious part, eating that Cinnabon ritualistically each night as Jimmy carefully calibrated every piece of his complex burglary plot. Setting up a maze to simulate what it would be like running through the mall and devising a mnemonic so that Jeff could remember what to take shows that he loves this game more than anything, and being excited about getting away with cleverness is what will likely ultimately bring him down, presuming that Gene’s fate is intricately tied to both Jimmy’s and Saul’s, and that his past will more surely catch up with him before this show ends.