‘Better Call Saul’ Season 3, Episode 2: Playing Chicken

Knowing Gus's video surveillance/drug biz, Jimmy looked like a fish out of water in Los Pollos Hermanos, changing seat, staring, his clothes. Surely he was already on Gus' radar. A little too clumsy I thought.

Lots of viewers are trying to figure out what happens next. Me I'm just so happy to see these characters slowly mesh.
I have kept believing that Jimmie, becomes Saul and changes his view and outlook much as his biblical namesake did. Which means to be asked for.Lawyer, Lawyer.....
Maybe the viewers were not catching Mike making his view of Gus and the Pollo shop using the rear view mirror. Could this be a hint by the writers that they are looking back to see the future?
After all isn't Nacho in the first episode who calls out Jimmy by saying" You ain't no lawyer, you don't have a white Cadillac with vanity plates"

I confess I didn't understand the rationale behind Chuck's plot. He expected Jimmy to break into the house while he was asleep to steal the tape? Why? Both Howard and Chuck agreed it was inadmissible, which Jimmy would surely understand as well. At any rate, if the tape had been worth anything as evidence wouldn't Jimmy assume Chuck had already made copies?

As usual the scenes with Mike are worth watching and the scenes with Jimmy are like watching paint dry. Can we ramp up his transformance from amoral geek to sleazy lawyer? Looks like Gus is pulling in Mike like a trawler in his net. Poor old Ernesto. Let's hope they let him grow a pair after being so blatantly manipulated.

Last week I commented I was fed up with the minutia and the slow pace. Well, I got the impression this week that the show is kicking into gear now. Hopefully.

For me, the best reveal was Gus - very out of focus in the background. Then walking closer and closer, but we only see his waist. But we knew is was him by the clothing he wears at the restaurant. What a "hiding in plain sight moment."

And there has to be something in the actual first time that we see Gus, face to face with Jimmy - who has just extracted his head from the garbage can - also foreshadowing of things to come between them?

Did anyone else notice that when Chuck was making sure all the doors were locked in the opening scene, that in the shot where only what looked like the doorway to a basement was lit, it seemed to intentionally show moving shadows?

Good review, but I disagree somewhat with your description of Chuck's inhumanity toward Jimmy. We must remember that Chuck's self worth and pride are so tied up in his craft, that what Jimmy did to his case file in the Mesa Verde case was far, far beyond a small betrayal. It was an embarrassment and emasculation of epic proportions in Chuck's mind, thus reasonably justifying Chuck's calculated "long con" on Jimmy.

Truly the hunt is the most enjoyable part.

In order to stay out of prison, Jimmie must destroy his brother, Chuck. Or, worse, Kim will have to do it for him. In doing this, he will forgo his humanity. Thus Saul Goodman is born!

I'm glad we have a character on television as despicable as Chuck. There are many more Chucks out there in this world, and amongst the NYT readers, than there are Jimmys. And it's the amoral self-righteous hideous Chucks that create the ground from which the Jimmys and Saul Goodmans of this world grow.

I despise Chuck. And I'm happy he exists on television for all to see.

The Chuck storyline just doesn't ring true to me. The Jimmy character is too old to be so weepy about his big brother's approval, and too savvy not to realize that Chuck is undermining him at every turn. Would Jimmy and Kim really just accept that Chuck accidentally let Ernesto handle the tape player with the incriminating tape all cued up? She's a brilliant lawyer and he's a streetwise con man. No way they fall for that.

Please, enough with the sibling rivalry angle, It's tedious and not believable. Not to mention trying way too hard to be quirky with the silly tin foil house.

Fans of BB will recall the episode in the desert when a kidnapped Saul turned the tables on Walt and Jesse, and said Kim's line verbatim: "Give me a dollar. Now I'm your lawyer, we've got attorney-client privilege."
Jimmy's expression (hurt, angry, bewildered) at the end of the episode broke my heart.

Somewhere way back in Season One I mused in this forum that the series was leading to an inevitable, irreconcilable and fatal rupture in the relationship between Jimmy and Chuck, and that this rupture would confront Jimmy with a choice: either go to jail (a fate from which Chuck had earlier saved him earlier), or dissociate yourself with Chuck completely (both personally and professionally) by changing your name and burning all traces of the relationship. It seemed evident from the beginning that Jimmy would become Saul not in spite of Chuck, but because of Chuck.

I think that time has come.

It is a testament to how good the cast is that Bob Odenkirk--despite getting the big betrayal scene--gave the least compelling performance last night. You can't take your eyes off Mike, Gus or Kim but there are times when I wish the Jimmy vs. Chuck/Howard storyline would just end, already, before I have to watch one more watch being left outside the house.

Breaking Bad fans know the creators are not above tragic endings for characters--and that Kim does not appear in Breaking Bad. I am fervently rooting for her to fly off safely to a new job in a new city, with a new boyfriend.

A

Does Mike ever sleep? What happened to his daughter in law and his granddaughter?

Will Saul's old folks come to support him in court?

Gus may be the smartest guy in the room.

I am a criminal defense lawyer in Albuquerque and like Jimmy, I am in a relationship with an attorney who is a far better lawyer than I will ever be. My wife's comment was perfect. "This show is too stressful to watch, it's too much like our real life."

I hope she was merely referring to the dynamic of two lawyers living and working together. With the exception of a lawyer who was finally disbarred after shooting someone and then taking 86,000 dollars of a client's money, no one in New Mexico is as sleazy as Saul.

There have been a million lawyer shows, but this feels fresh, a sort of like the old film Adam's Rib on the blue meth with a pinch of green chile.

Some of the filming was done a few miles and even a few blocks from our home, and the cinematography made even the mundane sections of Albuquerque look beautiful and menacing at the same time. Those desert scenes were done close to the city limits. LA might be the home of noir, but Albuquerque looks better at sunset.

My wife and I did have a spirited debate on Jimmy's charges. She said it would be merely breaking and entering, while I thought it would be full-fledged burglary as Jimmy entered the house without permission with the intent to commit the felony of tampering with evidence. As Jimmy has no record, he should be able to to bond out on his own recognizance.

I didn't want to be hooked again, but I am. Still, next time I won't watch with my wife.

I am of the belief that in any fiction the main characters must either be engaging and likable, or so repellant that they fascinate. The viewer or reader needs to care about them in some way, whether you end up rooting for them or wishing they would get knocked off. The genius thing about Better Call Saul is how far the writers and actors push the characters Chuck and Jimmy -- both repellent in their own ways -- while keeping the viewer engaged. it's an indication of how well the characters are written. I couldn't get through Breaking Bad because it went too far, too quickly, into the territory of violence and evil for my sensibilities. I was turned off after just a handful of episodes. In contrast, BCS keeps me watching because the whole point is to show how a basically good, unremarkable person can turn into a monster. It's almost a lesson in how to write a character. It's nuanced. Just when I can't stand another second of Chuck, there is a new twist to his persona. Ditto Jimmy.

As interesting as the Chuck/Jimmy dynamic is, though, Mike is my favorite character. I enjoy the quiet subtlety of Banks's acting. Watching his character's moral code get tested, and the character adapt and evolve, is fascinating.

Based on all the excellent comments on this recap forum, I know do not delete BCS off my DVR. I can go back and see things that I have missed. Keep it up.

This is a good recap. I agree that the Mike subplot fell a bit flat (we all knew the arrows were pointing to Gus), while the Chuck part was harder to predict -- and devastating at the end. (And I just want to applaud some really stellar writing, directing, casting, and acting in the opening scene with Chuck and the PI playing solitaire. I watched that part twice. Just pitch-perfect stuff from Gilligan & Co.)

Call me weird, but I felt really sorry for Ernesto caught up in the middle of this family psychodrama. Jimmy may be a crook, but Chuck is a monster. He deserves whatever he has coming to him.

I hope that in a writer's room somewhere that there is a plot tree tracing the journey of Jimmy to Saul. I am intrigued as to how it is going to happen if Jimmy does get a criminal charge or disbarred. It would stretch fiction to its breaking point to simply have Jimmy simply change his name.

How many crimes did Jimmy commit when he broke into Chuck's home at the end of the show?

I'm no legal expert, but I would say at least the following:
- Burglary
- Spoliation of Evidence
- Criminal Mischief

Having been a corporate lawyer at one time in my life, I can say that Chuck is the perfect example of that species - brilliant, obsessive, soulless, and ruthless.

"Room with a view shirt collar". LOL. Howard is such a fop. Know I really understand why Jimmy spent so much time & $$$ doing a "Howard" makeover.

Interesting to see how Mike's elaborate scheme has apparently failed, while Chuck's apparently has succeeded. But the endgame has not been reached on either, and we know to some degree how each of these schemes ultimately turn out and that the results are arguably the opposite (apologies in advance to the lunatics out there that I'm sure will complain because they think it's somehow wrong to refer to Breaking Bad when discussing this show). Based upon the scenes for next week, I think we are finally seeing the genesis of Saul Goodman, with the reference that Jimmy will be representing himself. My prediction is that Jimmy beats the rap by putting his brother on the stand and shaming him in front of a jury. And at long last, welcome Gus Fring!

Another fine show of merging (and subtle) parallels: The Lines Have It! Piercing Gazes Abound!

Jimmy's (former painting over the rainbow) and in its place a design highlighting peaks & valleys, suggesting his feelings of self-esteem vs his (eventual) feelings of low esteem. The obvious visual of the design--and Kim's piercing & calm approval of it--speaks volumes of the later scene where the firm's new hire casually mentions Jimmy's "crookedness" and the actual (last) crooked line (when Jimmy leaves in a rage to confront Chuck). As Jimmy was carefully unfurling the tape, he was trying to emulate his brother's "goodness" versus his rash way of doing things. The act of precision in the opening scene greatly contrasts the explosive scene in the end, which, of course, sets up the man vs man thematic element between the brothers for the remainder of the season. Chuck's sturdy demeanor and steely gaze in the end tells us that while he might not be out for his brother's blood, he surely will not stop the bleed-out.

Everyone's gaze spoke volumes:

Gus Fring's deadly pierce; Mike's steady gaze through the binoculars (but also without the binoculars); Kim's "look" of understanding of Jimmy's plight; Heather's intuitive stare and comment; Jimmy's (obviously obscured) look of defeat (in the final scene); and Chuck's triumphant look (in the final scene). All leading to acts of desperation, connivery, chicanery and a wholesale blast of a season!

All of us "Breaking Bad" people waiting for the arrival of Gus need wait any longer.
The minute I saw that crisply laundered yellow shirt ( even if in soft focus ) on the sweeping man, I remembered Gus' fastidiousness, and flawless grooming.
Gus is perfectly groomed, whether mopping the floors, or murdering.
Even Howard Hamlin could get some sartorial hints. Gus is more Brooks Brothers than Howard's sleek styling. Howard's jacket is a little too tight, even when not climbing walls.
I didn't notice that the new employee was Saul"s receptionist.
She is so charming working for Jimmy. For Saul, she's a burnt out misanthrope.
Saul Goodman will do that to you.
Lordy, how I hate Chuck, more and more, with each new episode.

I didn't care for this episode.

I thought Chuck would have an elaborate scheme to trap Jimmy. It came off as amateurish. Perhaps, that is the point. Jimmy's future misdeeds will make Chuck's actions look like child's play. Narratively it wasn't very interesting though. The show had a big setup for this showdown and it didn't deliver. Bob's performance was too over the top and lacked the nuance he has shown throughout the seasons. The showdown was just too obvious.

The writers masterfully set up the entrance for Gus only to have his first scene fizzle. Like the Jimmy and Chuck storyline, the Mike and Gus scenes were not inventive enough. I was expected something different and unusual. Instead we got stale and predictable.

Yes, in the scenes at Los Pollos Hermanos, the writers deliver little nuggets to the Breaking Bad faithful. They should be careful, however, not to lapse into a Breaking Bad retread.

If there's a better written show on the small screen right noe, I defy anyone to name it here.

Example: in the opening segment, there is a two-thirds of a car shot in the Los Pollos parking lot--a blue Volvo station wagon. This attention to detail is what makes one appreciate the craft Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould and crew are putting together for our entertainment. Bravo!!

Great review. Highlight for me was giving Francesca a DMV work background.
The woman she was tonight is not how we know her in BB which is more consistent with a stereotypical DMV employee.
Next highlight....conversation in the car between Jimmy and Mike. Bob O. 's comedic background once again is just brilliant with his delivery of those 007 references. Hysterical!
The long game for Chuck is he wants Jimmy to lose his license to practice law....not go to jail. Everybody hates Chuck, but I pity him and Michael McKean is brilliant at playing him. Lastly, the look on Gus' face..wow. This season is going to be much darker than the past two.

I'd really like to eat at Los Pollos Hermanos.