Better Call Saul 409
The German word wiedersehen means “meet again.” It’s often used as a farewell, “until we meet again.” In Better Call Saul 409, some characters are meeting again, some are meeting for the first time and some are saying farewell. But before we talk about that, we have to talk about the opening scene, which was predicted last week when Kim said, “Let’s do it again.”
Kim and Jimmy Pull a Scam
We weren’t sure what kind of a scam Kim had in mind, last week, but it turns out it is one that will benefit Kevin, the head of Mesa Verde. Last week he expressed a desire to change the plans for the Lubbock, Texas, branch to make it a larger and more eye-catching building. Kim replied that it would take too long to get the changes introduced into the approval process, putting them way behind schedule.
Kim and Jimmy travel to Lubbock and Kim pretends to be a harried office worker who sprained her ankle to earn the sympathy of Shirley, the clerk in charge of the zoning board paperwork. She casually lets on that her brother is not doing a very good job as babysitter for her young child, so when Jimmy bursts in to confirm whether the bag of breast milk has gone bad, it’s completely believable that he left the infant in the car outside. Kim rushes out to make sure the fictional child is okay, and Jimmy sets the leaky milk bag down on the corner of the blue prints that were already filed with the city.
When Kim gets back, she acts as if the destroyed plans might destroy her career and Shirley conspires to swap the plans, thinking they are the same. But we know the plans Kim brought with her are different in some significant way, and Kim and Jimmy head home having accomplished the swap with no one in Lubbock the wiser. They stop in a diner for dinner on the way home and Kim says they should only run scams when the outcome is “for good.” So it’s clear that while the risky nature of the scams appeals to Kim, she’s not ready to completely go over to the dark side just yet.
Lalo and Hector Meet Again
Nacho and Lalo go visit Hector in the Casa Tranquila nursing home, another location that will be familiar to Breaking Bad fans. Lalo obviously knows how Hector uses his finger to communicate, and he’s brought a solution. We get to see where Hector’s bell came from, the bell he’s seen using to communicate in Breaking Bad. Lalo reminisces about a guy at the Hotel Tulipan who kept hitting the bell to call for his servant. Apparently the Salamancas burned down the Hotel, and Lalo went into the wreckage and took the bell as a souvenir.
Lalo tells Nacho to go get some jello, and he and Hector talk about “the Chilean” but we don’t get to hear what is said. As they are leaving, Lalo laughs that Hector is the same as always. He “just wants to kill everybody.” Nacho and Gus have good cause to worry, even with Don Hector confined to a wheelchair.
Lalo and Gus Meet for the First Time
Later, Lalo and Nacho visit Los Pollos Hermanos. Gus comes out to greet them and Lalo turns on the charm, just as he did last week when he met Nacho. He and Gus go in the back office to talk in private and Lalo continues the friendly act, but it’s clear he is there to let Gus know the Salamancas are not going to let Gus take over their territory without a fight. He promises that he’ll be back for more chicken, and then he makes Nacho take him out to the chicken farm where the drug pickups take place.
Nacho is clearly not in a good position, with Lalo snooping around and Gus expecting him to play double agent. It’s hard to know who is more of a threat to Nacho and his escape plan, Gus or Lalo.
Jimmy has a Meeting with the Legal Parole Board
We’ve been under the assumption that after a year, Jimmy would automatically get his law license back, but it turns out not to be so automatic. There’s a hearing and a board of three people get to decide. Jimmy gives them a great performance, and they tell him they’ll let him know in a few days. He can’t wait, though, so he sits outside until the secretary comes out and he manages to get her to spill the beans. It turns out that they’ve decided to deny him. He won’t be getting his law license back right away. They say he’s free to apply again next year.
Jimmy runs after one of the board members and confronts him on his way out of the building. After Jimmy asks repeatedly, he’s told it’s a “question of sincerity.” Some of the board, at least, think Jimmy wasn’t sincere. Jimmy is furious and throws his briefcase against the wall in frustration.
Jimmy and Kim have an Explosive Meeting
Still quite upset, Jimmy calls Kim and they meet on top of a parking garage which is presumably near Kim’s law office. The confrontation we’ve all known was coming between these two finally takes place, and the result is that they seem ready to say good-bye to their relationship. This scene comes with a strong language warning, as Jimmy’s emotions bring out some less-than-lawyerly language.
Some of the things that have been unspoken between them finally get said. Jimmy accuses Kim of not believing him, and Kim responds that she’s been on his side since she met him. He has always secretly worried that he doesn’t quite measure up to the “real” lawyers’ expectations, and he takes out his resentful feelings toward Chuck and Howard and all of the other fancy lawyers on Kim.
Kim puts her finger on what went wrong at his hearing when she asks what they said when he mentioned Chuck. Since the incident that got him suspended was directly related to Chuck and his relationship with Jimmy, Kim realizes they wouldn’t see him as sincere if he failed to mention Chuck. As usual, Jimmy can’t understand the importance of this, which shows us how far down he has pushed his grief.
The scene ends with Chuck ranting that Kim is kicking him “when he’s down.” And Kim responds, “Jimmy, you are always down.”
Later at Kim’s apartment, Jimmy comes in and goes to the bedroom and starts packing. Nothing is said. Kim finally goes into the bedroom and Jimmy said “I messed it all up.” Kim asks him if he still wants to be a lawyer and he says yes. “Well, we can start with that,” she says. It’s unclear what this means for their relationship or Jimmy’s law career.
Werner Leaves without Saying Farewell
It’s been clear for several episodes that something was going to go wrong during the construction of the super lab. The show creators crafted this episode to build the suspense. We’re expecting the blasting could go wrong, so we watched from the edge of our seats as the explosives were set. The crew clears out of the excavation and waits above, but there’s a problem with the wiring. Werner goes below alone to fix it, and we’re afraid maybe he’s going to say good-bye for good. He has a panic attack while down there, but manages to fix the loose connection and the blast goes off as planned. The crew celebrates.
Afterward, Werner confides to Mike that he’s really like to visit his wife. He’s got it all planned out: a trip of 4 or 5 days, Kai can be in charge, Werner will leave instructions, it won’t cause a problem with the project. Mike says no, if you want to go home, finish the job. They let Werner make a long phone call home and then Werner goes into one of the houses. We’re watching him even more closely than Mike does, worried about what he will do next.
In the last scene of the show, the next morning, Mike is suspicious of some dead pixels on one of the surveillance monitors. As always, Mike’s instincts are correct. Werner has used some electronic device to short out a couple of the cameras. In the dark of night, he went through a store-room, broke through a locked door, climbed a ladder to the roof and made his escape down an exterior ladder to the ground. All around is desert, so it’s unclear how far he would have had to walk and where he would go next. We’ll have to wait till next week to find out.
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