Better Call Saul 407
There seem to be a number of people saying and doing something stupid in Better Call Saul season 4 episode 7. But none of these people is Nacho, who is still resting up, apparently. Fans of Nacho should be happy to note that after 3 weeks in absentia, it looks like Nacho will return next week, if the episode 8 preview is to be believed.
Nothing Stupid About the Opening Montage
This episode has 2 montages, both with unusual and effective choices for songs. The title of Better Call Saul season 4 episode 7 comes from the song in this opening montage, Somethin’ Stupid, an old Sinatra song (though this version was a cover by Lola Marsh). The split screen shows things separately from Jimmy’s and Kim’s perspectives as almost 10 months pass, during which
- Kim moves her file boxes to her new partner law office, gets her cast off, meets with bankers, plays public defender and helps Mesa Verde open multiple new branches.
- A fancy metal sign is hung outside Kim’s office with her name on it.
- Jimmy moves boxes of cell phones to a van and sells them with Huell (while putting up a “be back in a jiff” sign on the door at the CC Mobile store), and makes his monthly PPD meetings.
- Jimmy orders business cards promoting his drop phone business under the name “Saul Goodman.”
During this time, Jimmy and Kim go from brushing their teeth together, eating dinner together and sleeping facing each other, to going through their morning routines separately, eating dinner alone (he eating cereal at home and she eating take-out at her desk) and sleeping (or lying awake, in Jimmy’s case) facing opposite directions.
Jimmy’s Choice of a Potential Law Office is Stupid
The creators of Better Call Saul pulled another fake-out on us, by showing Jimmy’s sales pitch for a new dual-partner law office from the point of view of an unseen person. We hope it’s Kim, though we know it can’t be, so we’re wondering who Jimmy is trying to recruit as a new law partner or at least lease partner. It turns out he’s practicing his spiel on Huell, who thinks he’d be better off on the 40th floor of a glass high-rise.
Jimmy’s Suggestions for Retreat Locations are Increasingly Stupid
Kim takes Jimmy to a party at Schweikart & Cokely. At first, Jimmy is mixing well with Kim’s co-workers. He remembers everyone’s name and details about them.
Jimmy checks out Kim’s office, which he measures as almost twice as big as the “partner” office in the space he’s considering for his new offices. He checks out Kim’s shelves, showing the recognition from Mesa Verde and from her public defender clients, and feels the need to overcompensate by showing off.
Rejoining the party, he chimes in on a discussion of where to hold the yearly company retreat. Jimmy’s suggestions become more and more outlandish and extravagant, ending with him impersonating a company jet while Kim silently re-thinks inviting him at all. Rick Schweikart tells Jimmy, “You certainly don’t think small.” Kim falls short of saying what she really thinks when she comments, in the car on the way home, “Well, that was something.”
Gus Knows His Choice of Doctors for Hector was not Stupid
Breaking Bad fans get a special treat in the form of paila marina, a clam stew Gus is cooking for Dr. Maureen Bruckner from Johns Hopkins. This is the same stew Gus cooked (separately) with Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in the same house in Breaking Bad. So this gives us more evidence for our theory that Gus lives alone and also tells us he has the same house now as he does later in Breaking Bad, so he amassed quite a fortune before the meth empire that grew because of Walt’s special recipe.
While the stew is simmering, the Doctor shows him video documenting the magnificent progress Hector has made in the 10 months since Gus visited him in the dark of night. Hector is sitting up and can understand and answer yes or no questions, which he does by pressing his finger down on the table (the bell has not yet been introduced, but you can see it’s coming). Gus realizes that Hector intentionally knocks over a cup of water — we’re not sure if he does it to make extra work for the female orderly or so he can ogle her back end as she bends over to wipe it up. My vote is that it was a little of both.
Seeing this intentional action tells Gus that Hector has had enough rehab. The Doctor thinks that Hector can regain the ability to talk and maybe even walk again, with the proper treatment, but Gus wants to temper expectations and leave Hector to suffer as a mute invalid for the rest of his days.
One of the Germans Does Something Stupid
We’re treated to another montage, showing the German work crew suiting up in the warehouse, donning ear covering to block out any outside noise, and riding to the laundry in a cargo truck. As the last laundry worker punches out for the day, the crew arrives and enters the site of the future Super Lab via the same catwalk we see Walt and Jesse using in Breaking Bad. Work has progressed in the intervening 10 months; the area is excavated and support posts are in place. There’s heavy equipment (how they got it down there I can’t imagine) but the concrete walls aren’t in place yet. Werner tells Mike that one more blast has to take place, to remove a rock that is at the base of the future elevator shaft.
We learn, however, that they are behind schedule. The crew expected that the job would last 8 months, but the aren’t even halfway done and it’s already been almost 10 months. Kai is getting impatient and short-tempered, and takes out his frustrations on one of the other workers who does something stupid with the heavy equipment and knocks over one of the support beams; some of the other workers join in and a fight threatens to break out. Mike shows off his rudimentary knowledge of German by yelling for the “boys” to cool it in their own language.
Jimmy Wants to Keep Huell from doing Something Stupid
Jimmy has been leaving the boring CC Mobile store, where no one is buying cell phones, and donning his colorful sweat suits and selling drop phones in unused parking lots where a different kind of clientele can be found. Business is booming, with many customers buying several phones at a time. But one of Jimmy’s “Saul Goodman” business cards is found in the possession of a drug dealer when he was busted, and the arresting officer comes to visit Jimmy and tells him to find a different place to do business. Jimmy says he has a permit and “rights” and we start to see him sounding more and more like Saul Goodman.
Huell comes back from picking up lunch at a nearby sub shop and, wearing headphones with the music turned up loud, doesn’t realize the man Jimmy is arguing with is a cop, so he knocks him over with the take-out bag. The policeman arrests Huell and in a later scene we find out they’re ready to throw the book at Huell for “battery on a PO.” Huell tells Jimmy he’s going to jump bail, and Jimmy knows he needs to find an alternative.
Mike’s Deutsch “Sounds Stupid”
Meanwhile, Mike and Werner discuss the problems the delay has caused: the men need fresh air, a change of scenery and — Werner leaves the rest unspoken and Mike fills in “R&R.” Mike understands what they really need, but Werner likens it to the naps Kindergartners take. Kai overhears them talking and says naps are for babies and Mike’s “Deutsch” sounds stupid. After Kai is out of earshot, Mikes asks about the possibility of sending Kai back home, but Werner says he needs him, and “they’re all good boys.” But we know things will be coming to a head soon, and it seems like a plan to get the men out of the warehouse might be what happens next, though only time will tell whether that would be something stupid to do.
Kim is Worried Jimmy will do Something Stupid
Desperate, Jimmy decides he needs Kim’s help to keep Huell out of jail. He visits her at her office, where he mentions that he’s only got a month left before he can practice law again. But that’s not enough time; Huell needs help now, and to get it for him, Jimmy has to explain to Kim about his drop phone business. He then suggests they make the arresting officer look bad in order to get Huell off, listing several specific ways this can be done. Kim squirms around in her seat, contemplating Jimmy’s request and weighing which is higher in her affections, Jimmy or the Law.
Kim makes it clear she’s “not tearing down a cop,” but she seems to think she has an idea and she gets Viola to look up case law for her. As Jimmy leaves and Kim has Viola close the door behind him, we realize their interaction in this scene was much more like a client and his lawyer than like two people who are domestic partners in life.
Later we see Kim at court, attempting to negotiate with Suzanne, the prosecutor, on behalf of Huell. Suzanne won’t budge, saying Huell has to go to jail because he has a prior conviction and he assaulted a policeman. Further, she characterizes Jimmy, the only witness, as “a scumbag disbarred lawyer who peddles drop hones to criminals.” Kim insists, “You don’t know the whole story,” but it’s clear Kim is shaken that this is how a colleague would view the man she shares a bed with.
When Kim makes it clear Huell will have to go to jail, Jimmy says, “You do your thing, I’ll do mine.” Kim is pretty sure Jimmy’s “thing” is not what she would advise her client to do. She’s worried Jimmy will do something stupid. Then we see Kim driving and we’re a bit worried about that, but Kim has learned her lesson and is driving responsibly now. She seems to come up with a new plan, however, and does a quick U-turn and heads for an office supply store. After loading her cart with notebooks, pens, markers, note cards, post-it notes and folders, she calls Jimmy and tells him to put his plan on hold. “Listen, I have a better way,” she says, as the episode ends.
We’ll have to wait until next week to see what it is. Leave your theories in the comments below.
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