Better Call Saul Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Off Brand
Ron Gilmer
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It took two and a half seasons, but Saul Goodman finally surfaced, just not in the way we expected.
On Better Call Saul Season 3 Episode 6, the results of the disciplinary hearing were revealed, with predictable results.
Chuck was devastated (as you might imagine), holed up in his dark house, too ashamed to accept help from his distraught ex-wife.
Kim and Jimmy were cute together, as usual. It was nice to see them having a happy moment.
It will be a very sad time when they finally end up apart, I'm not gonna lie.
I know Jimmy can be a snake, so I can't wait to see what the last straw will be that finally sends Kim running for the exit.
Kim: So now the question you must ask yourselves is this: is the legal community better with Jimmy McGill in it? I believe the answer is a resounding yes.
Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould are masters at storytelling, so they must have a whopper of a betrayal waiting for poor Kim.
Rhea Seehorn has really grown into the role, going from a relatively weak link to a strong point. It must be challenging performing alongside all of those amazing actors.
She has risen to the challenge as an actress. Her chemistry with Bob Odenkirk is fantastic. I've said this before: the small bits of business she does – the looks, the touches, the little smiles she gives Odenkirk – are very organic and real.
I know Jimmy used Rebecca to screw over Chuck, but her attitude with him afterward was not cool at all.
Jimmy was totally straight up with her about his motives, and the last thing he needs is a guilt trip.
It's obvious the whole thing devastated Jimmy, but he wasn't the one who was trying to destroy someone's life. That's 100% on Chuck, crazy or not.
Rebecca: I want you to come with me to get him to let us in. Jimmy, he needs our help.
Jimmy: No thanks. I've already kicked my door in for the year.
Rebecca: You owe it to him.
Jimmy: I don't owe him squat.
Rebecca: Jimmy, you lied to me. This was never about helping Chuck.
Jimmy: If you feel misled I apologize, but I think I was clear. I told you I had to defend myself, and Chuck would need help afterwards, which he does.
Rebecca: You got what you wanted. Now it's time to do what's right.
Jimmy: Yeah....no.
Rebecca: Jimmy, he's still your brother.
Jimmy: Not anymore, he's not.
Rebecca: Chuck was right about you all along. He's mentally ill, what's your excuse? Enjoy your champagne.
As soon as Jimmy learned about the tape, Chuck was dead to him, so no one should be surprised that Jimmy would do whatever it took to save his career.
Yes, Chuck is mentally ill, but so many people enabled his behavior (Jimmy included), you can hardly lay the blame at Jimmy's feet.
I don't know if I totally buy Chuck's attempt at getting better. His homegrown version of cognitive behavior therapy – from holding batteries, to going out into the big, bad, neon world to use a pay phone – seems doomed to failure.
Maybe that's why he called Dr. Cruz, the ER doc from previous seasons, played by the wonderful Clea Duvall. We'll see if he truly wants to get better or if this is just another scheme.
Chuck, you're at a crossroads. You can keep looking backwards, stay focused on your brother, what he's up to, or you can go forward. And Chuck. listen to me. Jimmy's just not worth it.
Howard
Howard the coward did his best to get Chuck to move on, but as we know all too well, his only allegiance is to the mighty HHM.
He'd have to actually have a heart in order to care about other people. I'm really starting to dislike that guy.
The whole TV commercial shtick was very funny, and it was nice to see them get back to something a little more light-hearted.
His interactions with Drama Girl, Sound Guy, and Camera Guy were vintage Jimmy.
I loved it when he tried to see if any of them were ready for their close-up: woof, indeed.
The payoff was completely unexpected. I never thought this would be the time Saul Goodman would finally see the light of day, but it was very cleverly executed.
Kim: Saul Goodman?
Jimmy: Yeah, like, it's all good, man.
Kim: That guy has a lot of energy.
Jimmy: It's just a name.
Kim: Uh huh.
His cheesy, low-budget commercial reminded me of the famous west coast used car salesman from back in the day – Cal Worthington, whose tagline was "Go See Cal." Sounds a bit familiar, right?
Or, for you east coasters, the famous commercials for the electronics store Crazy Eddie, whose tag was "Crazy Eddie: his prices are INSANE."
We know the Saul Goodman name was a big part of his scams back in his "Slippin' Jimmy" days, so it's one more brick in the wall in his gradual transformation.
Of course, Kim doesn't know that. But she does know the scammer side of Jimmy all too well.
He pledged to pay his half of the expenses for his year-long suspension, but can he really pony up all that money doing normal, legal stuff?
I think we already know where this is headed, and it isn't good.
The b-side concerns Nacho, who gets caught in the middle of the turf war between Gus and Hector.
Gilligan is giving lots of layers to Nacho, turning him into a rather sympathetic character.
He clearly isn't comfortable with the nasty parts of the drug trade, and it all comes to head when Hector tells him about his latest plan.
Hector: I want a new front -- my own.
Nacho: Don Hector, my father is a simple man. He is NOT in the business.
Hector: You will teach him.
Nacho: Don Hector, please.
Hector: Don't worry. I'll take good care of papi. He'll make money: a lot more than with his sewing machine.
He wasn't jazzed about working with cray cray Tuco and sought out Mike to help with that problem.
Now Hector is threatening his father's business, which crosses a line for him.
The medicine Nacho took, which fell out of Hector's pill bottle, will loom large at some point, I'm sure. Will that play into Hector eventually having the stroke we know befalls him later? It has to mean something big, right?
Who works for who, huh?
Hector [to Nacho]
That's another thing I love about this show: fitting all the puzzle pieces together that Gilligan gives us knowing what we know about the ultimate outcomes of these situations in Breaking Bad.
The continuity people must have such headaches, what with the limitations we all know exist when you're dealing with a prequel. Breaking Bad fans are very knowledgeable about every little thing, so any screw ups will be met with scorn.
This week's Breaking Bad callbacks were very nice indeed. First, we saw Tyrus, the Fring henchman who eventually took over for Victor, who met a sad end at the business end of a box cutter wielded by his boss.
But the big reveal was two-fold. Showing us the first time Gus saw the industrial laundry was very cool.
It appears he buys the business first and foremost as a front to launder money (pardon the pun), because it's still a few years before he builds the multimillion dollar underground meth lab there.
The second, and much bigger, shocker was seeing the perpetually twitchy Lydia from Madrigal! I never expected to see her again, frankly.
She got what she richly deserved on Breaking Bad, dying from ricin-laced Stevia at the hands of the man himself, Walter White.
I wonder if this is a one-off, or will she be woven into the story with a bigger role. While I hate her character (she IS evil, after all), she is fun to watch on a purely comedic level.
Bringing back all the beloved side characters from Breaking Bad is fantastic because they are getting meatier storylines allowing us to learn more about them.
It's not nostalgia just for the sake of it. They have a plan, and so far it's working to perfection.
Mike basically had a walk-on scene, which was a little disappointing, but I'm sure he will be brought into the Gus/Hector war soon enough.
We had another winner this week. The Saul personality finally came out, which will quicken his descent into the man we all know and love.
As I see it, the Kim/Jimmy situation is the major drama going forward. Will their break up come this season? Sadly, I think it will.
I wonder at what point (if ever) it will become a show about Saul, Mike, Gus, and Hector, a straight up Breaking Bad prequel, shedding the Kim and Chuck angles.
The Chuck arc seems over to me unless they have something up their sleeves yet to be seen.
The Kim story seems to have a short shelf life, too, but we'll see how long they take to resolve it.
The push into more Breaking Bad stuff really resonates with me. Tell me your opinion in the comments section. Is there too much Breaking Bad? Or not enough?
And, as always, you can watch Better Call Saul online, right here on TV Fanatic!
