In the Better Call Saul recap, Kim exits HHM while trying to take a whale of a client with her the honorable way, Jimmy shops for a new commercial and Mike continues to plot his revenge….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Jimmy knows deep down inside that the right way to do things doesn’t always end up with the right results.
It’s part of the reason why he has no problem cutting corners whether it’s a lawsuit against a corrupt senior care facility or helping his new partner land a huge client after they’ve been stolen out from under her. Jimmy wants to get things done by any means necessary and he’s learned more often than not that it rarely involves walking a straight line.
So after last week’s brief cliffhanger, we find that Jimmy and Kim are ready to go partners but each of them have a vastly different way of approaching the business.
Kim wants to attack it with virtue and honor and won’t even quit her old job without a notice and a handshake on the way out. Jimmy attempts to warn her than in the lawyer business, a handshake with one arm might not catch the other stabbing you in the back, but she’s determined to do things the right way.
Jimmy, on the other hand, has plans on a commercial to pitch his business and while it seems rather harmless how he gets the job done, it’s still a precursor to the rules he’s not afraid to break and the rules he’s definitely not opposed to shattering.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of Better Call Saul titled ‘Fifi’….
Tailor Made
Despite Jimmy’s pleas to exit her old job without notice while taking her big clients from Mesa Verde along to the new law firm, Kim prefers a head on attack where she will tell Howard Hamlin to his face that she’s leaving before launching the offensive to grab the lucrative bank she brought to HHM just a few weeks ago.
Much to her surprise, Howard is magnanimous and gracious when she explains that she’s striking out on her own to start a solo practice. Kim leaves his office with a smile on her face and a sense of satisfaction that she did things the right way.
But hearing Howard make a call to Mesa Verde within seconds of her stepping outside the office was exactly what Jimmy tried to warn her about. She races to set a meeting with the bank but it’s clear that what could have been an ambush ended up as a fair fight.
Kim convinces her friend Paige and Mesa Verde president Kevin to meet with her over lunch to explain why she should be the choice for the bank going forward. While she’s not equipped with a pack of lawyers like HHM, Kim explains that she can give Mesa Verde the attention they desire because she will be an army of one for them. It’s not about Mesa Verde trying finding a home at HHM — it’s about Kim adapting to Mesa Verde and their every need.
“So why do you prefer a tailor made suit? Because it fits you and you alone. Because each and every stitch was fretted over with you in mind. Either you fit the jacket or the jacket fits you.”
~ Kim
Kim leaves the meeting floating on air and with a double thumbs up from Paige, she believes she’s found the right client to build her practice. She ends meeting with Jimmy later in the day to see a prospective office space but as impressed as she becomes by the soundproof walls thanks to the former dentistry office that occupied the space, Kim is really bursting at the seams to share her big news.
She tells Jimmy how the meeting ended and that it’s only a formality before Kim Wexler, Attorney at Law, is officially the lead counsel for Mesa Verde banks.
On the surface it appears this new join venture is off to a great start, but like any attorney will tell you — never start to celebrate until you’ve signed your name on the dotted line.
Counter Strike
With Kim playing the perfect song to get Mesa Verde to dance to her tune, Howard is on the defensive with one last shot to keep the bank on the side of HHM. He goes to Chuck to get some pointers on how to best sell Mesa Verde to stay with them but he doesn’t specialize in the laws and regulations that govern banks.
Chuck is concerned but he’s nearly livid when he finds out that not only did Kim poach a huge client on her way out the door, but she did so while teaming up with Jimmy in a new law practice. Rather than allow Howard to fight the battle alone, Chuck puts on his best suit and heads to the office to meet with Mesa Verde to keep them with HHM and put the stake in whatever law firm Kim is trying to build with Jimmy.
With the bright fluorescent light shining and cell phones ringing all around, Chuck is able to shut out the electronic world while he explains to Kevin and Paige how Kim Wexler is an excellent attorney but she’s only one person and Mesa Verde not only needs more backup but they need the professionals who work at HHM to represent them. At the end of the meeting, Kevin shakes Chuck’s hand as he found the perfect combination of words and bullshit to keep Mesa Verde at HHM.
The meeting ends up taking a toll on Chuck, who passes out after Kevin and Paige leave the building, but it’s a mission accomplished. Mesa Verde stays and Kim loses her biggest client before signing the lease on her new law offices.
Oh, Fudge
While Kim is playing by the rules and coming out on the losing end, Jimmy is busy cooking up his latest scheme, which involves filming a commercial at the local Air Force base complete with a war hero named Major Theodore “Fudge” Talbot. Jimmy brings “Fudge” along with his grandsons to visit “Fifi” — a World War II bomber that looks just like the one he flew during his time battling all the dirty Axis powers.
“Isn’t she a beauty, Fudge? Just like the one you used to fly!”
~ Jimmy
OK, really “Fudge” is just a client Jimmy helped out of a public masturbation charge, who then couldn’t pay for his defense. Meanwhile, his “grandsons” are the two film school hooligans, who helped Jimmy film the Sandpiper Crossing commercial that got him into so much hot water at Davis and Main.
Jimmy concocted this entire scenario for the sole purpose of filming “Fudge” in front of the World War II bomber so he could voiceover those shots to make his new commercial. It all works out in the end and “Fudge” is so convincing, the entire platoon comes out to take a photo with him.
Jimmy isn’t exactly breaking the rules this time but he sure is playing a winning hand.
From Our Family to Yours
The episode actually starts by following a truck traveling from Mexico to the United States hauling ice cream. Of course ice cream isn’t the only thing this truck is hauling because after passing through the border and customs, the vehicle and driver end up parked at the shop where Hector “Tio” Salamanca conducts his business.
And from a few hundred yards away, Mike watches it all unfold as he continues to plot his revenge against the Salamanca family.
Mike ends up following the truck from the ice cream shop back to a warehouse where he sees a garage and another appearance from Hector as he oversees the entire shipment, whatever it might be.
Later that day, Mike babysits his granddaughter Kaylee while they share some grandpa time drilling holes in a garden hose. Mike tells Stacy that the garden hose will be used to water the flowers in his backyard, but after they leave we see him plugging those holes with nails. It looks like Mike is ready to bust a few tires and it’s Hector’s shipment that’s going to pay.
Copy and Paste
Jimmy heads back to the new offices where he finds a dejected Kim, who just got word that Mesa Verde is sticking with HHM after getting the hard sell from Chuck. She just got gut punched and Jimmy feels even worse knowing that Chuck was the person throwing fists.
Luckily, Jimmy has a plan for vengeance after he got a call earlier in the day from his brother’s assistant Ernesto explaining that Chuck took a turn for the worse after saving HHM from losing Mesa Verde while having no protection from the electromagnetic sensitivity that usually sends him fleeing from the light like a cockroach caught in the kitchen. Jimmy shows up and sends Ernesto packing while he vows to care for his brother until he’s healthy again.
What starts out as a trip to Chuck’s house that looked like a confrontational moment for Jimmy turns into a golden opportunity when he spots two boxes of Mesa Verde files under his brother’s desk. With Chuck nearly comatose from his day in the light, Jimmy kidnaps the files and along with some help from an Exacto knife, a glue stick and a copy machine, he alters all of the paperwork for the new Mesa Verde expansion to a different address (Just FYI: this shows you what life was like before Photo Shop)
The goal — we can assume anyways — is to make HHM look inept when they draw up leases and legal documents for the new branch and it’s all predicated on the wrong address. Worst case scenario, HHM walks away with a lot of egg on their face. Best case scenario, Mesa Verde sours and goes scurrying back to Kim for a more personal and professional touch.
Jimmy gathers all the documents and puts them back into place before Chuck ever wakes up.
The next morning, Jimmy sits with Chuck while quietly celebrating on the inside that he finally got one over on his older brother. Unfortunately, the guilt begins to mount when Chuck tells him that no matter how many falling outs they may have, he knows he can always count on Jimmy when needs him most and he hopes his brother knows that he’ll always do the same for him.
Guilt has never really been a staple of Jimmy’s emotional range but for a split second he felt bad for what he just did to Chuck and the fallout from this latest colorful way of doing things may end up costing him a brother when it’s all over.
Only two episodes left of Better Call Saul this season so don’t miss the new episode next Monday night at 10pm ET on AMC and take a look at the preview below:
