Better Call Saul Review: “Expenses” Finds Jimmy Down in the Dumps

After another near-perfect episode of Better Call Saul, “Expenses” had a lot to live up to. Fans finally heard the name Saul Goodman (which at this point is like hearing someone say Beetlejuice) and it looked like Jimmy had found a new career in advertising after losing his law license for a year. The previous episode gave audiences a glimpse of Saul, but “Expenses” delved deeper into Jimmy’s life now that he’s no longer a lawyer and has to find a way to pay his half of the bills.

The episode begins with Jimmy trying to balance his mornings between court-ordered community service and trying to sell off his remaining television ads. Jimmy’s situation gets worse and worse throughout the episode as he struggles to get clients willing to pay for more ad time, getting cheated out of community service hours, and being unable to get a refund for his malpractice insurance. The losses keep piling on and Bob Odenkirk shows off his acting chops by displaying the range of emotions Jimmy is feeling.

Whether it’s desperation in dealing with his ad clients, anger when he is fighting with the park supervisor, or rage when he and Kim are talking about scamming people at the bar. The last scene showed Jimmy ratting out his brother to the insurance agency that he is mental health issues. I don’t know how this will play out in the last three episodes, but it can’t be good for Chuck. We are now starting to see the Slippin’ Jimmy that Chuck ranted about during his Emmy-worthy speech at the end of episode five.

Meanwhile, Kim is having second thoughts about what she and Jimmy did to Chuck. In a meeting with Paige, Kim is so sleep deprived and that she talks way out of line and insults her. She immediately apologizes, but she knows that she has definitely crossed a line and the legal battle against Chuck has taken a toll.

This episode marked the return of Pryce (Mark Proksch) a.k.a. the Squat Cobbler from season 2. He enlists Mike’s help once again for protection when Nacho breaks into Pryce’s house asking for the same pill capsules that Don Hector takes for his heart. Mike is reluctant to help Pryce at first, but once he figures out what Nacho wants with them, he decides to help. We all know the fate of Don Hector, but it looked like Mike would play a bigger role in making him suffer. I guess we will see if Nacho’s plan works or backfires in the coming episodes.

Overall, “Expenses” was a solid episode of Better Call Saul. Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn shined in their respective storylines and really crushed the emotional scene at the bar. Although it wasn’t on the same level as earlier episodes of this season, it looks like the last three are going to be intense.

Rating: 8/10