By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – September 17, 2018)

In another terrific episode, Better Call Saul foreshadowed its own future, as well as the events to come in the Breaking Bad story we’ve already seen. It wasn’t an extended hour or anything overdone, but instead relied upon our knowledge of a certain series of outcomes to help paint the picture that would get us there. This was an incredibly well-written episode by Andrew Stanton and the rest of the creative staff, as it adeptly bounced between the three stories we’re made to care about and did nothing illogical along the journey.

First, a personal story. In the fall of 2010, I was lucky enough to be accepted at Western Kentucky University and joined the broadcasting program. It is one of the better programs of its type in the country, churning out many solid journalists that have gone on to prominence throughout the country. Back in 1997, I attended North Carolina State University, but left after the fall of 1998 as I had gone through some difficult personal issues. During that time, I also managed to completely annihilate my GPA. My first semester was very good, and as things hit me and I handled them poorly, I ruined myself. Much of that destruction was erased due to external factors that explained my mistakes, but I was truly blessed to get a second chance 12 years later.

The reason I tell that part of the story is to tell this part with more effect. Within my first few months at WKU, I chose to attend a few events in the Mass Media building featuring prominent media figures, and at one of them, I saw several important professors hobnobbing with a few seemingly fast-tracking students and some of those very figures I was there to see speak. I remember vividly writing down in the notebook I carried with me for those occasions that it was THAT room I wanted to be in, it was THAT room where my future lied, and at some point in the near future, one day I would be in THAT room.

It’s what happened, because Jesus Christ has blessed me beyond measure. At that point, I didn’t view it as such. I was arrogant enough to believe I was just that good, not realizing he gifted me all of what I had, including the focus and determination to right my past wrongs and become the first member of my family to graduate from college. My parents got to watch me walk across that stage with two scholarships and having already accepted a job at…interestingly enough…WGFX-FM 104.5 The Zone in Nashville. I was so proud. But, really, I should have hit my knees and thanked my Savior, but at least I’ve gained that wisdom in the years since.

Listening to Kim Wexler after she wowed Chuck McGill as a third year law student working in the mailroom took me back to that moment. Jimmy said to her, “That’ll be you soon.” Her response? “Yep.” And I flashed back to my notebook. She was determined to get there. She was smart enough to get there. She had the integrity to get there. I won’t say those qualities existed within me, but hopefully continue to develop.

In the present of the Saul universe, Jimmy McGill fantasizes about reopening Wexler-McGill once he gets his law license back, but that hope is almost entirely dashed thanks to Rick Schweikart’s (Dennis Boutsikaris) offer to make Kim a partner in his powerful firm, placing her in charge of a banking division she would build from the ground up. That would enable her to pass off most of the Mesa Verde work that steals her soul, and would allow her to passionately spend time on the pro bono or criminal cases where she feels she can help people.

Once he realizes his idea is assuredly dead, he collects himself at the hotel restaurant kitchen, goes back to the table, and tells her to take the job. Then, he plots the most diabolical scheme he ever has, and Jimmy almost morphs into full-fledged scumbag Saul Goodman by the end of the hour. We’re not going to feel much sympathy for Rocco, Zane, and Jed, the three thugs that mugged him and the trio that nearly had their skulls caved in by a baseball bat, because they’re street toughs with bad attitudes and they’re crooks.

Jimmy McGill, ten months from attempting to get his law license back, rather than staring into that room and saying, “That’s going to be me one day soon,” instead spends his $5,000 check on burner phones to sell on the street and plots a way to ensure he can safely move them to the dregs of society without fear of being jacked for every dime before he can get to safety. You don’t blame him, but it’s the decision to become THIS guy instead of working to do it honestly that defines Saul Goodman and is now defining Jimmy McGill.

While Kim is impressing Chuck, Jimmy doesn’t realize Isaacson was even the client, and he’s more worried about the internal Oscar pool than he is something that could make his career more possible. When he goes into the law library, it’s telling, because right there we see a guy in private considering whether he should study case law or put more effort into things. No one sees him except us, and it feels like the reason for that is because we have to know he could have done it honestly, but instead he takes the easy way out whenever the first thing goes wrong.

It’s what leads to him needing a “disappearer” that gives him the Gene identity that lands him in Omaha in fear for his life between crushing Cinnabon pastries. His choices will ultimately end his future and will undoubtedly result in Kim’s exit from his life. The partnership is going to strain the relationship further, and it’s likely this season will end with a major rift between these two that comes because Jimmy does something he shouldn’t.

Gus Fring’s story about torturing the coati that pillaged his lúcuma tree as a boy is frightening, but Giancarlo Esposito is at his best in scenes like this. It’s a complete foreshadowing of exactly how we know he’s going to handle Hector Salamanca in the future. Hector, unconscious, is the coati that won’t be mercy killed, but instead will be made miserable as Gus just keeps him alive and “keeps him for a while.” It’s insight into who Gus is, but it’s no surprise. More surprising is his willingness to listen to Mike Ehrmantraut’s shopping list for Werner’s crew, because that cost money, but Fring does it without even questioning it.

We are all supposed to take from this that Gus Fring trusts the judgment of Mike Ehrmantraut, as well he should.

Kai is probably going to be a problem, but he’ll be eradicated once that happens. The entire sequence with the workers and the speech and the bar and then Mike’s subsequent trip to the security trailer was perfectly paced and shows the level of isolation these men will be in for the better part of a year. But, they’ll be comfortable while they’re alone. And then, the meth “superlab” will be complete, Gale will arrive, and we know what happens afterward. Mike also managed to apologize for his group therapy outburst, calm the anxieties of his daughter-in-law, and re-enter his granddaughter, Kaylee’s life. So it was a busy hour for him, but a very good one.

The finish of the episode was brutal and dramatic. I can’t say I was fully hoping Huell (Lavell Crawford) and Ira (Franc Ross) were going to tattoo those three kids, but I wasn’t exactly sad they had the wits scared out of them. But, we saw Jimmy go the very very low road and basically become a criminal in that last few minutes. He was aggressive and “F–k you” about it, in much the same fashion he tried to draw out of Howard Hamlin with his plea for him to stop feeling sorry for himself and start selling. “You’re a sh—y lawyer, but you’re a great salesman,” was an awesome line.

Recall what Mrs. Nguyen (Eileen Fogarty) said to Jimmy after she agreed to take the gift phone and allow him to keep his stash in the space he rents. “Get rich quick schemes never work.”

“Just watch me,” he says.

Sadly for Jimmy McGill, he doesn’t know we’ve been watching him for over seven years, and we know the proprietor of Day Spa and Nail is wise beyond her years. The downward spiral continues…

…as does the compelling television.

I’m @JMartZone. I’m a charlatan, but there’s a time and a place. This isn’t it.