Written by Ryan Demarco
TO RECAP: Jimmy gathered more information from his elderly clients on the Sandpiper Crossing Conglomerate case, resulting in a mass of new representation for both him and Davis and Main. This led to Jimmy taking a few too many liberties with the case, resulting in a huge embarrassment that landed him on the chopping block with his new firm while Kim faced ramifications for being involved with Jimmy’s practice. Meanwhile, Mike and Nacho formed an alliance after Nacho asked Mike to help take care of someone. That someone happened to be none other than his boss, Tuco. Struggling with what to do and to avoid getting caught, Mike chose not to kill Tuco and instead came up with a scheme to send him to jail. Of course, by taking the lower road, Mike faced some tough costs by getting savagely roughed up for less money.
“Rebecca”: What an excellent episode this turned out to be. Getting absolutely dynamite performances from Kim (Rhea Seehorn) and Chuck (Michael McKean), as well as the return of a Breaking Bad alum in the final minutes.
Getting only a limited amount of time with Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) this week, we’re still seeing the aftermath from that disastrous commercial Jimmy devised up that painted Davis and Main in a bad light. A move that also put Kim on doc work duty at HHM, which caused a strain in her and Jimmy’s relationship. At last we saw Kim try to fight back a little by going on a search for a great new client for the firm, in order to regain her status. Overall her pushing away Jimmy’s idea of suing HHM for “mistreatment” proved to be a standout by exclaiming, “You don’t save me; I save me.” By sticking to her morals she hung on by a thread and found a client that will prove to be a huge asset to the firm. However, it didn’t get her old job back yet, leaving uncertainty in her mind whether she actually has a future where she is. I really enjoyed the focus put on Kim this week.
We also saw more insight into Chuck, who is still as frustrating to watch as he is intricate and complex. In the opening scene, we were given a flashback to a dinner with Jimmy, Chuck, and his wife Rebecca (Ann Cusack). We aren’t given any context on what happened to his wife in the present so we’re left to wonder if they divorced, or if she passed. Did this have anything to do with Chuck’s meltdown that ultimately led to his hypersensitivity? It was interesting to see how Chuck saw his brother as he arrived to Albuquerque. His frustration was very apparent when Rebecca didn’t see Jimmy how Chuck thought everyone should, an embarrassing disappointment. It was great to see him try to recite lawyer jokes to Rebecca later on in the evening like Jimmy had, getting poor results. The relationship between Chuck and Jimmy is one of the driving interests for me in this show. It requires more depth than I initially thought. It’s important for Chuck to bring Jimmy down as low as possible when he talks to others. I wonder if he was lying to Kim when he told her the story of Jimmy stealing from their own father? Hmmm.
My last big appreciation of this episode came at the end with Mike’s story. Given last week he took the lesser but more painful route of getting rid of Tuco, it’s great to see that the story didn’t end there. Instead, it only seems to have gotten worse. It was great to see Hector (Mark Margolis), Tuco’s uncle, come back. This clearly took place well before we met him in Breaking Bad, when he was confined to a wheelchair unable to speak or do much of anything. This was Hector when he was still very much involved in the Cartel. This meeting of Hector and Mike only sparks my curiosity of whether Mike has a more meaningful part of the Salamanca history than was initially thought. It really is nice to see the writers have fun with old characters, expanding more on the backstory in areas that were a little grey to begin with. What an awesome and unexpected addition to the episode!
In the limited time we had Jimmy this week, he was faced with his struggle of “doing what’s right.” Kim wanted proof that he could go one day without breaking the rules in some aspect. The assigned babysitter, Erin (Jessie Ennis), also had similar concerns by constantly telling him that he needs to work things correctly and perform his job straight. This is easily the quality Jimmy possesses that drives him apart from others in his life.
This episode was clearly championed for Kim and Chuck, who individually knocked it out of the park with their performances, to examine everything in their life that Jimmy affected. It was great to see each character have some compelling scenes that didn’t put all of the focus on Jimmy and that really ask some interesting questions with how these relationships will either blossom or dwindle in the coming years. Plus, the addition and expansion of some old Breaking Bad characters promises great things to come.
