Better Call Saul “Hero”

So, apparently, a sly smile actress Rhea Seehorn added to a scene in this episode encouraged the writers and producers of Better Call Saul to expand her role on the show.

I can dig that.

So far, the series has shown Jimmy talking quite a bit about his time as “Slippin’ Jimmy,” a con man who got around by tricking fools out of their money.  The cold open here, opening with his first usage on this show of the “Saul Goodman” name, shows one such con he pulled back in those days, tricking a drunk idiot out of a few hundred dollars cash in exchange for a fake Rolex.  If anything, the series seems intent on not just pointing out how smart and observant Jimmy is, but also how good he is at pure showmanship.

What he conjures is BS.  He knows it’s BS.  People who really know him know it’s BS.

And yet, it works.

That’s what this episode shows.  Jimmy doesn’t have the resources of Hamilin, Hamilin, and McGill.  Even after finding the Kettlemans, showing how he’s not an idiot, he still can’t convince them to hire him.  They try bribery instead, and Jimmy is still trying to be an honest person, meaning he tries calling it a retainer, but yeah, they don’t want his services.

Instead, Jimmy takes the money to get himself…revenge?  Satisfaction?  Hard to say.  He basically gets a look and a billboard to match that of law firm top partner Howard, and Howard sees that’s what he’s doing.  Kim sees it.  Nacho, fresh out of jail, he sees it in a different situation.  Jimmy may be a liar, but everyone seems to know he’s a liar, but he’s a good enough liar that there’s just enough potential truth to what he says that no one can really touch him.

Now, at this point, I would like to know what Jimmy has against Howard, but I am sure that’s coming.

So, really, Howard legally forces Jimmy to take him billboard down.  Then Jimmy sets up a stunt where it looks like he saves a man from falling off it, something that gets him in the local newspaper and really annoys Howard who just knows Jimmy is playing him for a sucker…and can’t really do a damn thing about it, hence Kim’s sly smile.

Now, Jimmy does do his best to keep his stunt from Chuck.  That involves hiding Chuck’s newspaper and hoping Chuck doesn’t go outside to get one, something he would normally never do because of his condition…but see, no one knows Jimmy as well as Chuck does.

Not sure where this will go with Chuck.  He doesn’t seem to approve of Jimmy’s antics when Jimmy is doing his con work, but I think part of why might have something to do with how Chuck feels about Howard, Jimmy, and whatever happened between Howard and Jimmy to make him someone Jimmy really wants to get back at.

So, what haven’t I seen yet?