Better Call Saul Debut Recap ‘Uno’: Meet Slippin’ Jimmy McGill

In the Better Call Saul debut recap, we find out what happened to Saul Goodman after ‘Breaking Bad’ ended and then go back to a time when he was just a poor schmuck lawyer named Jimmy McGill…

By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer

When Vince Gilligan first crafted the world of ‘Breaking Bad’ oh so many years ago, the focus on his story of Mr. Chips becomes Scarface was centered around the world of Walter Hartwell White and his descent into a life of blue meth, murder and the kingpin business. Little did we know when the show started that almost every character Gilligan painted would be someone we’d be intrigued by whether they were there for one episode or the whole series.

Among those interesting characters was a lawyer named Saul Goodman (created by Peter Gould, who will be the show runner on this series), who first appeared in season two and also happened to be one that stuck around (almost) to the very end. He helped Walt hide his money, find business contacts to sell his meth and basically formulate any number of unscrupulous plans to keep his client piled high with cash and well under the radar of any Federal law enforcement.

When Walter’s cover was finally blown and everybody figured out that the sweet science teacher that was once known as Mr. White had transformed into a lethal drug lord named Heisenberg, there was nowhere left for Saul to go but out. Far, far away from the dry, dusty streets of Albuquerque, New Mexico to a mall somewhere in Middle America where his days would be spent kneading dough and slathering frosting on top of cinnamon rolls.

Thus begins the journey of the ‘Breaking Bad’ spinoff series titled ‘Better Call Saul’ and the first episode was simply tremendous.

The story begins in that Omaha, Nebraska mall where Saul is now known as Gene — a balding, mustache wearing Cinnabon manager, who finds the most excitement in his day when a shady character, who could have been a client in a former life, instead runs out to greet an old friend. This isn’t New Mexico and it certainly isn’t the height of Heisenberg’s reign of terror. This wasn’t money laundering, handing out burner phones or ordering up murders like you or I order a soda at a drive-thru.

This was Omaha, Nebraska and a fucking Cinnabon.

Without a word, the opening sequence (shot brilliantly in black and white, which only added to the drabness of Saul’s new world), shifts to Gene’s new digs. He’s living in a house somewhere in suburbia, sipping scotch from a glass and trying to avoid looking outside as the forecast starts calling for snow. Finally, Saul goes to an old shoebox hidden deep inside his house and there underneath a pile of passports and paperwork, he finds a VHS cassette.

He goes back to the TV and pops in the video before melting back into his Barcalounger and presses play. The video is a compilation of all the great Saul Goodman commercials that ran on Albuquerque television stations for so many years. You need a lawyer? You need a get out of jail free card? You need help and no one is around to help you? You better call Saul.

The scene shifts again and we’re inside a courtroom.

These are the days long before Saul was a manager at the local mall Cinnabon. Hell, these are the days before he was even called Saul Goodman.

No, this is the time when the lawyer with morals looser than a Republican hanging out at a truck stop bathroom was working as a public defender named Jimmy McGill. Jimmy psyched himself up by standing in a bathroom and reciting lines, each time believing more and more that this was going to be the one word or single phrase to save his clients and score him a win. Of course there wasn’t much hope considering his clients were three teenage dipshits who broke into a morgue, cut the head off a dead body before having sex with it and everything was caught on video, but Jimmy was still determined to try.

The loss was expected when the jury rendered their verdict, but the bottom line was Saul would still get paid. His day only got worse when he realized that representing three clients in the same trial doesn’t yield him triple the pay from the government, but instead one check for $700 and a job (barely) done. On his way out of the courthouse, Jimmy ran into a toll booth operator who wouldn’t let him pass without paying or having the proper validation on his ticket. Enter the first look at ‘Breaking Bad’ fave Mike Ehrmantraut (and boy was it good to see him again!). His appearance was brief, but Mike will be back later this season.

Saul Goodman’s practice was based out of a strip mall office with billboard and television ads touting his services, but Jimmy McGill couldn’t afford marketing much less the magazine where his spots would appear. As a matter of face, most of this debut episode was focused in on Jimmy’s destitute life as a lawyer for hire than no one was hiring.

He worked out of the backroom of an Asian nail salon in a room that was probably a closet last Tuesday. Jimmy answered his phone and played Mrs. Doubtfire, trying to convince potential clients that he actually had a secretary. He drove around town in a beat up Subaru and the only good move he had all day was busting two skateboarding teenagers who tried to make a fast buck by jumping in front of his car, smashing up his windshield and claiming injury. Jimmy saw through it, but that was about as clever as things were going to get for him this day.

The rest of his time was spent trying to convince county treasurer Craig Kettleman to hire him as an attorney after allegations of embezzlement starting flying around when over $1 million dollars came up missing. Just when it looked like Craig was ready to sign on to receive the expert services of Jimmy McGill, attorney at law, his wife Betsey intervened and implored him to take a night to think it over.

Jimmy’s only real client right now is his own brother Chuck, who suffers from EHS (electromagnetic hypersensitivity) or at least a mental condition that makes him believe he has the disease. Chuck was once a partner in a profitable lawfirm, but he’s been out of work for a year already due to his disease and Jimmy is trying to get the other partners to buy him out and give him the money he so richly deserves for helping to found the business in the first place. Chuck’s former partners aren’t willing to pay and to make matters worse on his way out from a rather unpleasant meeting, Jimmy sees the Kettleman’s shaking hands and smiling at their new attorneys, who just happened to be the same ones who refused to pay off his brother.

And poor Chuck just wants his brother to believe that he will bounce back from this. He’s writing letters and trying to be the same person he was before this disease gripped him tight and Jimmy getting sarcastic isn’t helping matters much. The problem is Jimmy’s not exactly flush with cash right now and unless he can get his brother the settlement he so richly deserves, neither one of them will have a roof over their heads much longer.

So Jimmy comes up with a plan to make some fast cash as well as get a little revenge against a nosey wife who wanted her husband to take a night to think about things before signing him up with another attorney. He wanted to get Betsey Kettleman and it never hurts to make some cash in the process.

Jimmy tracks down the skate boarding twins who tried to con him out of $500 (of course Jimmy is driving a Subaru that would only be worth $500 if there was a $300 hooker in the backseat so money isn’t his friend these days) and he tells them the tale of ‘Slippin’ Jimmy’ from Illinois.

It seems ‘Slippin Jimmy’ was the master at fighting the perfect patch of ice, falling down hard and cashing in to the tune of thousands of dollars. He has a plan where the twins will pull their injured skateboarder routine on Betsey Kettleman, Jimmy will show up like a white knight and earn the boys at least a $2000 payday, he’ll get a chunk as well and they’ll stick it to that damn treasurer who may or may not have over a million dollars in the bank right now.

Jimmy gets the teenagers on point from the exact route Betsey drives each day to the light poop colored car she drives around town.

When the station wagon happens by, the boys spring into action complete with a video recording of the incident and a dozen witnesses sitting at nearby tables outside a restaurant. The crash goes perfectly, but the driver doesn’t come out and check on the injured boy and instead after a few minutes, they just pull away in great haste.

The kids call Jimmy frantic about what just happened, but he’s not seeing bad news and instead thinks about the windfall from a hit and run accident. This isn’t just a few thousand dollars now. This is a felony!

The boys pursue the car as well and eventually track the station wagon back to a part of quaint, suburban Albuquerque that looks all too familiar. The woman gets out of the car, but it’s not Betsey Kettleman. No, it’s actually an elderly Latino lady who doesn’t speak much English at all. The boys try to shake her down for money so she invites them inside the house.

Meanwhile, Jimmy’s in hot pursuit until he finally spots the car and the skateboards. He parks and runs up to the door and begins pounding while informing whoever is inside that he’s an agent of the court and they need to open up. Unfortunately when the door finally swings open, there’s a gun in Jimmy’s face and the arm brandishing the weapon is none other than Tuco Salamanca.

‘Breaking Bad’ fans already know how Tuco’s story ends, but seeing this in the beginning, the genesis of these characters we know and love, is like watching the first ‘Star Wars’ prequels except, you know, this was actually good!

The second episode of ‘Better Call Saul’ airs on Monday night at 10pm ET before permanently shifting to Monday nights at 10pm each week.