Better Recall Saul: "Rebecca"

Welcome to the TV Recap series Better Recall Saul that chronicles the adventures of Better Call Saul and a young criminal lawyer as he cuts his teeth down in ABQ (and his Breaking Bad buddies might stop by to wish him luck). Feel free to join every Tuesday as the adventures unravel and the story behind one of the funniest and sleaziest lawyers in TV history begins to take form and remind us why he is such a great character in the first place. Is this spin-off meant for greatness, or is it the worst idea that AMC has ever done? You'll have to read on to find out the truth.

Season 2, Episode 5: "Rebecca"

“You have a tendency to overuse the 
words ‘clearly’ and ‘obviously.’”

- Erin (Jessie Ennis)

Plot:

With Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) still working with the firm, he is now assigned an assistant named Erin (Jessie Ennis), who doesn't allow him to have any fun. He cannot go back into his old ways. Meanwhile, Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) begins to do the heavy work by calling clients and trying to gets cases closed. When she discovers that Chuck McGill (Michael McKean) has also decided to work the graveyard shift, he shares stories about their mother Rebecca (Ann Cusack), who ran a business until she was robbed. He doesn't blame Jimmy, as he thinks that he is a good kid. Meanwhile, Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) meets up with Tio Salamanca (Mark Margolis) to discuss Tuco's recent arrest. If Mike takes some of the blame and lowers Tuco's sentence, then maybe they will be on good terms. To say the least, it doesn't seem like that will be easy.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

MVP:

Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn)

While the episode may have not had a lot happen, there was plenty of strong moments to suggest why Kim is such an important character. She doesn't just put up with Jimmy's nonsense. She is a hard worker who wants to get ahead, even if she gets stuck doing the miserable side of things at late, late hours of the evening. Most of the episode focuses on her doing this, and it produces some of her most sympathetic moments in the show's run to date. The montage in which she does a series of calls is itself a grueling look into what patience and endurance can do when wanting to stand for justice. Considering how little Jimmy cares about that, maybe their friendship isn't going to last much longer - or at least not in the same passionate way that it has been going.

Best Scene

For the most part, the only side of Chuck's relationship to Jimmy that we have seen has been through personal moments. In most cases, it would feel a little redundant to have them recite their past to each other for the sake of exposition. Here, Kim gets a peak into the McGill world as Chuck tells a story about their childhood together as they deal with a business that unfortunately went under when they were robbed. While the story isn't damning Jimmy for the crime, it suggests that maybe Chuck is too naive to see evil in  his own brother. Maybe there will be a bigger revelation as the season progresses, but this story is one that reflects the show's writing at its best while allowing just enough ambiguity to be misleading.

Overall Thoughts

While most people are head over heels in love with Better Call Saul, I have to admit that I am one of those that has trouble loving it as a whole. Yes, Breaking Bad is an impossible feat to match in quality; and it's been difficult to not just resort to the inferior comparisons. However, I do think episodes like this reflect why I am having trouble calling Better Call Saul even halfway as good. While it brings back Tio Salamanca for a small cameo that cements the ABQ universe even more, I find myself wondering what did this episode amount to? It wasn't just that this episode felt like it had filler, but that the past few have fallen victim to this trend. It's a decent episode, but I still felt like it didn't have enough material to sustain its running time in a captivating manner.