For 17 episodes, fans of AMC's Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul have been waiting to see bumbling Jimmy McGill complete his inevitable transformation into the sleazy lawyer we all know and love as Saul Goodman. The show has been determinedly slow in rolling out this revelation; by the end of the first season there hadn't even been a hint of Jimmy's infamous alter ego, and halfway through Season 2 there has still been no mention of the words "Saul" or "Goodman." But this Monday's episode, "Infalatable," took a huge leap in that direction… and for the first time, Better Call Saul has officially gone full Saul Goodman.
No, Jimmy still hasn't officially adopted that pseudonym yet. But viewers saw the ethically dubious attorney we recognize from his Breaking Bad days in everything but name this week — and it all spiraled out of Jimmy's decision to quit his job at Davis & Main. Or rather, to get fired from Davis & Main, to be accurate. Although he tasked Omar with helping him draft a resignation letter, the plucky assistant raised Jimmy's attention to a glaring issue: if he quit, he would have to pay back his bonus in full. However, if he were fired without cause, he would get to keep the whole chunk of change.
So immediately set out to make everyone's lives at Davis & Main a living hell. He stopped flushing the toilet after going #2. He bought a bagpipe and played it in the office. And, inspired by a colorful suit-wearing wacky wavy inflatable arm-flailing tubeman, he replaced his somber grey-toned wardrobe with a more… colorful array of clothing. Any Breaking Bad fan would have instantly recognized the pastel suits, the neon shirts, and the garish ties. And right before our eyes, Saul Goodman was born — even if his name was never uttered.
Upon his dismissal, Jimmy moved his $7,000 cocobolo desk back into his tiny office in the back of the nail salon and traded in his company car for his familiar yellow clunker. On the one hand, Jimmy's right back where he started Season 1; on the other, things couldn't be more different now for the man-who-would-be-Saul. He's more confident — he knows exactly what he wants and refuses to apologize for it. He'll keep wearing his lurid suits; he won't pretend to be a phony female secretary on his answering machine; he'll make his own commercials on his own terms. And before too much longer, he'll be going by the fake name of Saul Goodman.
Pretty much the only thing Jimmy wanted that he didn't get in this episode was a partner. Although he approached Kim about starting their own firm — Wexler & McGill, Partners at Law — complete with snazzy business cards, she turned him down, preferring to keep their relationship personal rather than professional. (She also didn't think their legal styles would mix all that well.) And although she eventually came to him with a compromise — sharing office space and resources while keeping technically separate firms — it's clear that this half-measure isn't what Jimmy had envisioned for his future when he quit Davis & Main.
And given that Kim is nowhere to be seen during the events of Breaking Bad, we have to wonder: how long will this relationship between Jimmy and Kim last?
Images: Ursula Coyote/AMC (3)
