space
head
head head head
Home Contact RSS Feed
COMICS   •   MOVIES   •   MUSIC   •   TELEVISION   •   GAMES   •   BOOKS
TV Review: Better Call Saul 1.9 “Pimento”
space
Empress Eve   |  @   |  

Better Call Saul Episode 1.9 Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) and Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk)

Better Call Saul
Episode 1.9 “Pimento”
Directed by Thomas Schnauz
Written by Thomas Schnauz
Starring Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Michael McKean, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Kerry Condon
AMC
Air Date: Monday, March 30, 2015, 10pm

In Better Call Saul Episode 1.9 “Pimento,” Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) finally has a way to make it out of the mailroom, so to speak, at the Hamlin, Hamlin, and McGill law offices. Jimmy has stumbled upon a valid case-action law suit, but it’s too big for him and his lawyer-on-hiatus older brother, Chuck (Michael McKean), to handle. So, much to his reluctance and at Chuck’s behest, Jimmy agrees to reach out to his nemesis Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) at HHM on the case to go after the Sandpaper Crossing Assisted Living facility, which has seemingly been mishandling (i.e., stealing) the finances of their elderly residents.

Meanwhile, in an effort to help his widowed daughter-in-law and his granddaughter with their finances, Mike (Jonathan Banks) takes on a new gig outside his little parking lot clerk booth. After years in law enforcement, the former Philly cop is taking an off-the-books job, so to speak.

As Better Call Saul is a prequel to Breaking Bad, we know Mike ends up being henchman to Gus Fring’s drug lord, but we didn’t really know how he got there. In “Pimento,” we really see what Mike’s made of. Call the bald, elderly man “Uncle Fester,” but Uncle Fester will kick your ass. And remember those parking stickers he insists on collecting, no excuses? Well, imagine how unyielding he can be when the stakes are higher. This is the Mike we know from Breaking Bad, the Mike who scared the pants off us in those early Bad episodes — the Mike who knows his shit.

But back to our main man Jimmy. Over the course of nine episodes now, we’ve seen what motivates him — he wants his brother’s approval; he wants to stick it to Hamlin, who’s never seemed to like him for some reason; and wants to prove to everyone around him that he can go from the swindling Slippin’ Jimmy he once was to a being a successful lawyer. Making Chuck proud of him and having his brother’s once-low opinion of him elevated seems to be the great motivator for Jimmy. And now, he’s done the hard work to get what will likely be a multi-million dollar case-action suit off the ground. Now, he can finally move up from the metaphorical mailroom AND get his ailing brother out of the house and back at work. Once at HHM, Jimmy and Chuck can work together, which seems like Jimmy’s dream ever since he secretly earned his law degree from the University of American Samoa online law school.

All the pieces have finally fallen into place and Jimmy is about to have all his dreams come true — a massive financial reward, the respect of his peers, and a major team-up with his brother. But, something goes wrong. What is it? What’s getting in the way of all of Jimmy’s dreams? It doesn’t seem fair. Then again, we don’t know how much bad karma he racked up during his Slippin’ Jimmy days; but surely, he’s redeemed himself by now, right?

It’s hard not to see Jimmy come out on top and to win. Even though he was plenty slippery as Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad, he was just so lovable and easy to root for. This is a guy who is just so likable. So, seeing him in his early days in Saul struggling so much and being let down every week is heartbreaking.

There’s only one more episode left in this first season, so something has got to give whether good or bad. And something major has got to happen to end this inaugural season, likely something very bad. Will Jimmy lose Chuck for good? Or maybe Kim? I know I don’t want it. I want it all to change and for Jimmy to be number one. But, that’s not going to happen. Jimmy needs to get on the road to “Saul” and to do that, he had to have no more reason to stay the straight and narrow course.

The next installment of Better Call Saul, Episode 1.10 “Marco,” the Season 1 finale, written and directed by Peter Gould, airs on AMC on Monday, April 6 at 10/9c.

Episode 1.9 Image Gallery

Episode 1.9 Video

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

space
space
Previous Article
space
Next Article
«
»
space
space
space
Amazon.com
space
You may have noticed that we're now AD FREE! Please support Geeks of Doom by using the Amazon Affiliate link above. All of our proceeds from the program go toward maintaining this site.
space
Geeks of Doom on Twitter Geeks of Doom on Facebook Geeks of Doom on Instagram Follow Geeks of Doom on Tumblr Geeks of Doom on YouTube Geeks of Doom Email Digest Geeks of Doom RSS Feed
space
space
space
space
The Drill Down Podcast TARDISblend Podcast Westworld Podcast
2023  ·   2022  ·   2021  ·   2020  ·   2019  ·   2018  ·   2017  ·   2016  ·   2015  ·   2014  ·  
2013  ·   2012  ·   2011  ·   2010  ·   2009  ·   2008  ·   2007  ·   2006  ·   2005
space
Geeks of Doom is proudly powered by WordPress.

Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press

Geeks of Doom is designed and maintained by our geeky webmaster
All original content copyright ©2005-2023 Geeks of Doom
All external content copyright of its respective owner, except where noted
space
Creative Commons License
This website is licensed under
a Creative Commons License.
space
About | Privacy Policy | Contact
space