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.
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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.
Please wait...
