Better Call Saul “Something Beautiful”

So…does Mike care about Jimmy?

I figure that’s a good question.  Jimmy has a new scam in mind, and he goes to Mike because he needs a partner for it.  It involves switching out a Hummel figurine worth a sizeable amount of money to collectors for a nearly identical and far less valuable one from the copy company Jimmy interviewed for.

Now, Jimmy believes that this is a scam that won’t hurt anybody.  The copy guys don’t seem to know how valuable the thing is.  They probably won’t notice a difference.  Jimmy can’t break in himself because he doesn’t really have the skills.  And yes, the scam does more or less go off without a hitch.  The only issue is the copy guy is sleeping in his office and the burglar Jimmy pairs with needs a distraction to get out again.  Jimmy can provide that.

The burglar in question is not Mike.  Mike turns Jimmy down.

At first glance, I would think this is because Mike has a code, and this job is a violation of that code, so he won’t do it.  He doesn’t see a flaw in the plan.  He asks if the copy guys wronged Jimmy.  The answer there is no.  Mike won’t ruin the scheme or anything.  He just won’t be involved with it even if it’s an easy four grand.  He does advise Jimmy not to go through with it–obviously Jimmy does anyway–but he won’t be a part of it.

Then he says he’s sorry about what happened to Chuck.

Huh.

I have always gotten the impression that Mike, at best, merely tolerated Jimmy.  Jimmy to Mike is something of a clown who screws around too much.  Mike is a man of few words while Jimmy is a man of too many.  There seemed to be some thinly veiled contempt for Jimmy at times.  It makes sense.  Mike doesn’t really suffer fools.  But here he is, advising Jimmy not to go through with the plan because it isn’t really Jimmy or it isn’t really right or something.

You know, when Mike Ehrmantraut says something is a bad idea that shouldn’t be done, maybe don’t do it.

Regardless, this is an episode where Kim gets more emotional at Chuck’s backhanded goodbye letter than Jimmy does and Nacho learns the hard way how Gus Fring fakes a robbery.  But it was that one moment between Mike and Jimmy in a diner that really got my attention in an otherwise stellar (as always) episode.