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This episode’s intro starts out with a flashback. We’re now inside of a flashback that’s inside of another flashback, for anyone who is counting. Can we go another level and see little Jimmy in grade school back in Cicero?

The intro flashback also features a clip of Chuck looking like a very young, posh lawyer, complete with electronic devices (though he’s ‘grounding’ himself to start the episode). We also get a shot of Jimmy, who apparently went and raided the wig department of “The Americans”.

Back to the main flashback (the show) and Jimmy is at his “office” late at night, enjoying some cucumber water and he calls his friend Kim (from the law firm) and just chats with her. We get some more insight into their background and Jimmy tries to warn Kim that the Kettlemans need to be careful, but he’s not great at being subtle or graceful and tries to write it off as being drunk.

Tune into the TV Soup Podcast (Episode 02: Better Call Saul, "Nacho" Review)

Jimmy is not a bad guy, ok. I think that the impression the writers are trying to make is that he, maybe unlike others in this world, does not want to hurt others along the way. His scams are always for money only and he only ever gets himself hurt. It’s this spirit in Jimmy that won’t let him sleep on this night. He knows that Nacho is planning something and he decides to try and warn the Kettlemans. One crazy phone call later (sex robot voice?) and Jimmy can finally sleep the rest of the night.

The following morning, after more courthouse frustrations (and hilarious television), Jimmy arrives at the Kettlemans empty house, swarming with police after the family has gone missing. The whole time, we feel like Jimmy is not giving up some important information, but really he’s just being a good lawyer and keeping his mouth shut until he really knows what is going on with the situation.

Jimmy is desperate to contact Nacho, and has many, many attempts to call him from a payphone. This scene builds tension and puts in on hold a few times, done wonderfully along with the music. Odenkirk's acting chops are really showing, as this entire scene he is alone. This might seem like an easy part - play a character you've already perfected, but younger and dumber. Looks are certainly deceiving as this acting job he's doing is really top notch.

Jimmy showed off his detective skills and discovers that the Kettlemans have kidnapped themselves. Jimmy still needs to convince everyone else of this though, as there’s overwhelming evidence to the contrary. At this point, nobody believes Jimmy, and this is a problem for him because Nacho is not having any of this nonsense and threatened to kill Jimmy if he doesn’t get him out of it, pronto.

Finally, we get an actual scene with Mike, when Jimmy tries to go back to the courthouse and is denied entry by Mike, the toll booth troll. Jimmy pokes him in a brief altercation and Mike has no problem taking care of him. Inside, where Mike may or may not press charges, the cops from the kidnapping case try to get Mike to lean on Jimmy to get him to give it up, but the condescending cops are too much for Mike. He believes Jimmy's story about the kidnapping and doesn't press charges. Finally, someone believes Jimmy.

Couple notes on Mike - he's the only character we've seen who looks older now than in Breaking Bad, which takes places about 7-8 years after BCS. It's also been 3 episodes, and they haven't said what his name is yet. He's well known to BB viewers, but he's really just the toll troll up until now for viewers of only BCS.

And what's that, an entire episode without a montage? Scoff at the idea! We find Jimmy on a trip through the woods where he's quite ill-equipped, but after what seems like most of a day of walking, he stumbles upon a tent full of the Kettlemans singing "b-i-n-g-o" and we get Saul barging into the tent with a very theatrical "Here's Johnny!".

As Saul tries to drag them out, a fight over a bag ensues and all the cash comes flying out, leaving off at that moment. We’re left on a classic Vince Gilligan cliffhanger, Jimmy is in the middle of nowhere, he’s already alerted people that he found them and now he’s standing in front of a big pile of money. I can’t wait until next Monday, but I’m sure at that point I’ll just have more questions than answers.

This episode starts off with another flashback. This time we're in Cicero (immediately recognizable due to the Daily Herald newsstand, ok, yes I live in the suburbs too). I really like it when shows play around with the timeline, and I think now we're going to get a little bit in each episode in order to show more back story of Jimmy. This time around, we see him in his prime as "slippin' Jimmy". Since it's not winter, we're getting a scam that's a bit more complicated than just falling on ice on Michigan Ave.

Jump back to the main timeline and we're still in the woods, just after Jimmy has scared the crap out of the Kettlemans. They plead with him to leave them alone, but really, they're terrible criminals (as in they're terrible at it). They had no plan aside from running after the warning call they received the previous evening. Jimmy tries to take control of the situation, but all the Kettlemans want to do is put some money in his hand and get him to go away. This, of course, won't solve their problem, but Jimmy will gladly oblige them and walks away with probably around $35k.

Tune into the TV Soup Podcast (Better Call Saul, "Hero" Review)

The end of this scene is a revelation for Jimmy. He tells the Kettlemans he can accept their money if it's a retainer to make him their lawyer, but they still won't go for it. The words are like a dagger to Jimmy - "you're the kind of lawyer only guilty people hire". This is probably two clues to Jimmy - criminals are stupid and they're probably the only people who are going to hire him. Anyone who is familiar with the character can see that this is another piece of the puzzle falling into place in the creation of the Saul Goodman that we all know from Breaking Bad.

So, Jimmy hatches a plan, but it's really more of a fight than a plan. He's pissed at Hamlin for trying to squeeze his brother, Chuck, out of the law firm. Jimmy gets himself made up to look exactly like Hamlin and puts himself on a giant billboard, complete with a rip-off of the HHM logo and the "Hamlindigo blue" color. This leads to one of the funniest scenes in the show in which Jimmy defends himself against the cease and desist while dressed almost exactly like Howard Hamlin.

"This is a classic david vs goliath story" is the line that Jimmy tries to feed to reporters, leading to everyone's favorite moment in any episode, a montage. We're fed all kinds of fun quotes "I'm talking woodward and bernstein here", "It's a miscarriage of justice" and "the war is an important story, as well". The presence of strong show runners like Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould ensures that even though we have a different writer and director for every episode so far, the show has had a consistent voice so far. I suppose it doesn't hurt that it all relies on a backbone of awesome montages every episode.

The episode gets its title from perhaps the best scam we've seen Jimmy pull so far. When it's all said and done, Jimmy looks like he was two steps ahead of everyone the entire time. This is a really fun one to watch unfold, and I didn't see it coming until Jimmy was way up on the billboard. Upon a second watch, however, you can gauge reactions and how it all unfolds and see Jimmy's big sigh before he has to run up the ladder.

Hamlin (and probably Kim) are the only ones who can easily see through this stunt (when looked at as a whole, it's pretty easy). It's also not surprising that early in the episode, when Jimmy says "upon this rock, I will build my church", he comes up with a pretty good scam to give himself a jumpstart.

So finally, we see Jimmy doing what he doesn't want to do - lie to his brother. Jimmy's face is plastered all over the front page of the Albuquerque Journal, and while that's good for business (7 phone messages!), it's bad for his relationship with his brother. So, Jimmy hides the paper, drops off his provisions and bolts without so much as looking Chuck in the eye.

Chuck, being not a stupid man, sees that all of his neighbors got their paper like they always do, so he dons the space blanket (side note: why wouldn't someone with this 'illness' live far away from civilization) and heads out into the terrifying world of electricity in order to get a copy of the paper, and he knows what's up right away.

We pick up right where the last episode left off, with a neighborhood newspaper heist, pulled off by criminal mastermind Chuck McGill. We’re confronted with two cops, who are about as dumb as all the cops in Vince Gilligan’s world. I don’t know why cops in his shows can’t be smart, reasonable people, but clearly, these guys heard “No Tasers please”, their immediate reaction was to kick down the door and fire a taser at the first person they saw.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Gilligan’s world that he creates, but for some reason, police officers, and to a lesser extent, random people inside his world (i.e. Non-named characters) are just dumb. If kicking down Chuck’s door isn’t an example of no probable cause and use of excessive force, then I think we need to talk to some new lawyers.

Tune into the TV Soup Podcast (Better Call Saul, "Alpine Shepherd Boy" Review)

Stuff like this going on in a world that normally exhibits super realism can take me out of the show. Even goofy potential clients like the guy who wants to secede or Mr. Talking Toilet make more sense than the cops who kicked down Chuck’s door.

Jimmy finds himself a niche in “elder law”, which, while boring and tedious, is probably better than defending idiots who have intimate relations with a corpses dismembered head (seriously, what a way to start the series). So, Jimmy gets done with 2 wills and a future trust, which is a decent start after his first two stops turned out to be proper kooks.

This show plays around with shadows a lot, more than most shows in recent memory. There are lots of scenes in dark places where the lighting is only on very specific things. In the scene with the lady with all of the figurines (including Alpine Shepherd Boy) as well as the following scene in the salon, only the left side of Jimmy’s face is illuminated. This side is the side with the hair part in it and the higher forehead. This is Jimmy’s exposed, real side. The other half of his face is partially covered by his hair, and we tend to only see that side stressed when he’s doing something questionable. I’m certain that this will come up later on.

So, Chuck is finally in a hospital and as a viewer, I’m hoping for some answers about his allergy to electricity. Jimmy is frantic to remove/turn off all electronic devices in the room, but one thing we realize by the end of the scene is that, in that room, that’s all but impossible. There’s batteries in most medical devices that use power (for backup), there’s power in every room on every side of him, and of course, there’s power being used by the very bed he’s lying on.

While there are a few insights gleaned in to Chuck’s illness, more questions are raised. Shouldn’t he still be in lots of pain being out in the world? Won’t living in the suburbs cause most of these problems to continue? Why didn’t he notice when the bed was turned on?

We’ve finally got a doctor saying that this “illness” is fake and is being caused by something else in Chuck’s life. Of course, if you just tased someone who was allergic to electricity, I assume that would be plenty to put them in the hospital. It’s like mainlining peanut butter to someone with a peanut allergy. Perhaps the fact that this doesn’t kill Chuck is the biggest indication that this isn’t an actual physical illness (as Howard Hamlin is afraid of at the hospital).

Back at Chuck’s house, (how did they get home, bikes?), Jimmy sees the newspaper on the floor and immediately connects the dots. He thinks that whenever he does something wrong, it makes Chuck sick. Again, we see only part of Jimmy’s face illuminated. This time, it’s the right side of the face, even from a far angle, that is lit up.

Throughout this scene, we get parts of Chuck’s face (left side) illuminated when he’s making his argument, and Jimmy, when he is being somewhat truthful, has most of his face illuminated, but when he has something questionable to bring up, it’s back to just the right side of his face being lit up. By the end, Chuck is satisfied (didn’t even ask for an explanation) and sheds his space blanket and goes and makes coffee.

We’ve gotten this far, so where’s our montage? Well, Jimmy, knowing how to pander like the best of them, gets some fashion tips from Matlock and heads into the retirement home with some complimentary jello. We wind up with a montage of old people eating jello (snack time!). We don’t get a badass song this time around, but there is a surprise at the end of the cup. Need a Will? Call McGill! Jimmy, dressed like Matlock, is going around the rec room shaking hands like some kind of local politician. No shadows on his face this time – he appears to be trying to drum up some legit business helping the elderly.

Finally we get another encounter with Mike and this time, Jimmy has the right amount of stickers (finally!). Jimmy passes him a business card, you know, in case Mike knows any old people. We go through a night and a morning of Mike’s life, boring and quiet as it is. Mike eats at a diner which we saw previously in Breaking Bad (but this show’s future…this could get confusing). He’s then parked outside of a suburban house and waits for a young lady to drive by – my guess is that this is his daughter, but that’s mostly based on what I know from Breaking Bad.

Ultimately, we get one hell of a cliffhanger when Mike gets a visit from, presumably, a few guys he used to work with back in Philadelphia. This end of episode cliffhanger is perhaps the only thing that Gilligan does better than the shadow playing, and of course, the ability of this show to make every scene they shoot look like some kind of incredibly deliberate painting.

Halfway down the stretch, this show is really starting to heat up. We’re seeing the development of Jimmy from a struggling lawyer into a guy who is getting his act together. Chuck’s conflict with electricity (or Jimmy) has finished its first act, and Mike has finally found some conflict to his story that doesn’t involve parking validation stickers. I expect the final half of this season to go at a faster pace, and to also feature another little treat for Breaking Bad fans that they won’t expect.

This episode starts off very innocently, we’re outside and Jimmy and Chuck are enjoying their feet in the grass. Chuck is trying to get more used to being outside (he’s sitting in front of the transformer). It's a quick scene, a little small talk about the case, but a big contrast from later in the episode, down to it being bright and outside, and later is all dark and shadowy. Yes, this show loves to play with lighting.

Jimmy (I wrote Saul here initially - maybe being in court really reminds me of him as Saul) argues (successfully) against a restraining order that would have kept him from seeing his clients. This was never going to stand anyways, and he's given a big thrill by an early victory, but he doesn't realize that this is just the first drop of a tidal wave his opponents are ready to unleash at him. Schwiekart is pumping him up with some false bravado before he brings in the big guns.

(Tune in to the TV Soup Podcast - Better Call Saul S01E09 - "Pimento" Review)

Jimmy gets back to Chuck’s and is snapped into reality with a ton of paperwork that Schwiekart & Cokely had delivered while he was in court. Chuck breaks it down and has to tell Jimmy that he needs to refer the case over to HHM. This is exactly what Jimmy didn't want to do. Jimmy wants to "Erin Brockovich" the shit out of the case (as a reference, this is interesting, because she's not really a lawyer), but Chuck (of all people) has to force Jimmy to see reality. "Hail Satan. I submit to the dark side".

Chuck, in the middle of the night, sneaks out to use Jimmy's phone. Think about everything he had to "overcome" in order to pull that off. That means that this phone call is incredibly important AND he can't tell Jimmy about it. What the fuck, Chuck? At least he stabbed his brother in the back in the least dignified way possible - wearing a space blanket and oven mitts.

Mike (first to work, he also does his homework) is waiting in the parking garage. He meets a gigantic dude "is this the place where we wait" and the guy from Grand Theft Auto. Literally. There's a hilarious "whatcha packing" sequence. "pimento is a cheese, they call it the caviar of the south". Their "employer" pulls up and he's worse than Walter White at the very start. The theme of this scene seems to be people who are talking way too much. Also that Mike is a complete badass.

Chuck, dressed in a foil-lined suit, heads over to HHM with Jimmy in order to refer the case to them. We see at HHM that everyone is turning in their old ass cell phones (good job props department). They cut the power to the building and Chuck gets a huge welcome from the entire firm. In the boardroom, Howard makes Jimmy really happy with the financial side of the deal, but he cannot work there. Jimmy demands an explanation from Howard, who just stonewalls him. Chuck doesn't really fight for him, and in fact almost seems to be making faces at Howard which give him up, but Jimmy is really focused on Howard. He's always taken the fall for Chuck and it's really starting to eat at him.

Kim confronts Howard after the meeting and after berating him, Howard can't stand being the bad guy on this to Kim (maybe he likes her?) and finally spills the beans (behind closed doors). Howard's been the bad guy up till now and maybe he's not all that bad, because even as a high powered lawyer, he can't stand being quite that crappy.

Mike is finally in his element that we're so familiar with from Breaking Bad. He squeezes Nacho (first sighting since ep 2) for the last $20 of the money and impresses us all with the background work he had done on the deal before getting there. Mike is like the wizened old criminal, doling out sage advice and teaching budding criminals the ropes.

The dominoes are starting to fall now, as is typical in the penultimate episode of a good series. Kim goes to Jimmy's and tells him to take the deal. She doesn't tell him about Chuck (though it's assumed that she knows by now). Jimmy goes off on her, one of his only real friends. After she leaves, he starts putting the pieces together about Chuck (his dead phone is a big clue). He has the look of a guy who knows he's about to discover a bad truth as he picks up his office phone.

Cut to Chuck's house for the final scene. Bob Odenkirk's acting all year has been great, but the last two scenes of this episode are really spectacular. I hope he's considered for an Emmy for this role. The reveal that Chuck has been the guy who kept Jimmy down since passing the bar exam is one that most of us were putting together from the beginning of the episode. The pacing of the reveal was great though. It allowed for Jimmy's long rant about the brothers working together, if that's what you really want. Chuck has a bit of a diploma entitlement thing going on, where he has no respect for the way that Jimmy became a lawyer. He knows he's still slippin’ Jimmy, but now he's a chimp with a machine gun. Funny way to put that. Jimmy isn't that guy, but Saul definitely is. Jimmy may eventually become Saul, but Chuck might be the spark that gave him life.