Written by Jim
February 24, 2020

For the past 4 seasons, we’ve been eagerly anticipating the turn of Jimmy McGill to Saul Goodman. After the season 4 finale we all knew that turn was nigh, and with the season 5 premiere it has finally come. It’s official – you can check the records on file at the courthouse – Jimmy McGill is now Saul Goodman.

While I love to watch Saul scheme and scam his way through the legal system, it’s the way that those scams affect his relationship with Kim that is the heart of the show. Despite the leisurely pace of individual scenes, the show is wasting no time tearing into that relationship. Whether it’s the pure adrenaline rush of pulling off a risky scam or the way he’s able to help her unwind and forget about her problems temporarily, something about Jimmy always keeps Kim coming back. However, this season’s major question seems to be, “Will the same be true of Saul Goodman?”

Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler has been fantastic opposite Bob Odenkirk’s Jimmy McGill throughout the series, and this episode is no exception. The scenes where her and Saul dance around the edges of their weakening relationship trying to find something to understand in the other’s actions are some of the episode’s best. She plays the line between admiration and disgust with Saul and herself perfectly, letting us know how she feels about the situation but not exactly what she’s going to do about it. That keeps it exciting.

Given that Kim isn’t seen in Breaking Bad and there’s no consideration of her when Gene moves to Nebraska, Hoovering the breadcrumbs of his life up behind him as he goes, I get the feeling that they’re setting up a heart-breaking fifth season for the couple, though.

On the other side of the legal fence, you’ve got Lalo slathering his charisma all over the north side of the border, looking for the crack in Gus’s story. And he finds it. If you missed it, you could be forgiven. One of the things that makes Better Call Saul so good is that the writers trust the audience to remember the previous story beats and don’t hold your hand unnecessarily when those events become important again.

Lalo’s investigation of the “chicken prison” tonight is a perfect example. Before exiting that scene, Lalo remarks that the “South wall’s gonna look beautiful”. Now remember back to the season 4 finale when Werner was tricked into revealing information about his job to Lalo over the phone while staying at the spa. Lalo said specifically that “the concrete is standing by” and his men could “start pouring”. Lalo even asks, “That’s the south wall?” prompting Werner to reiterate. So when he comments about the south wall tonight, we understand that he sees through Gus’s lie. It’s incredibly effective and efficient writing.

Pulling off an equally graceful feat is the Gene portion of the episode. After letting his paranoia die down long enough to crack open his sandwich baggie and tattered copy of “The Moon’s a Balloon”, Saul gets made. But instead of using his diamonds to disappear again, he decides to fight back. His proclamation that he’s going to “fix it myself” is the most Jimmy-like thing we’ve seen out of Gene. Jimmy never lets anyone get one over on him. He’s always going to have the last word and get what he wants. Whether he’s getting even with Chuck, pushing his luck with Kim, pressing her to scam her clients until she shouts at him, or scamming to get his law license back, Jimmy will fight until he wins. That Gene still has some of that fight left in him is easily the most exciting thing that has happened in Nebraska during this entire prequel series. We’ll see in the next 9 episodes just how much fight he has left and just how much trouble that will lead to.