Written by John Edward BetancourtTHIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...Last week when we settled in to recap Better Call Saul, we had a healthy discussion about how the series was taking a 'slow burn' approach to the creation of Saul Goodman in that the story was seemingly never going to provide us with a specific epiphany or transformation moment wherein Saul would magically appear. Instead this story had established the fact it was going to strip away one layer of Jimmy McGill at a time, until nothing remained but the titular character we were first introduced to in Breaking Bad. Which meant it was safe to assume that this week's episode of the show would continue with that tradition. We would once more explore what makes good people turn bad and every single second of that exploration would be utterly fascinating. But instead, 'Witness', turned out to be quite the pleasant surprise, because this particular tale didn't go the slow burn route at all. Not only did we get a chance to see Jimmy revel in the wonders of the seedier side of life in this story, the transformation of McGill to Goodman received quite the shot in the arm this go round as we came to discover exactly what Chuck had planned for his little brother. But before we get too deep into that, let's talk about Jimmy's taste of the underworld of Albuquerque. Because this episode picked up immediately where last week left off, with Mike hot on the trail to figure out who was having him tracked and why, and his observations eventually led to him a little restaurant known as Los Pollos Hermanos and seeing as to how the man with the gas cap tracker left said tracker in this restaurant, Mike enlisted a little help to learn more about this lackey by asking Jimmy to swing by the place for breakfast to observe exactly what was going on and well...watching Jimmy take on a different kind of case was simply a treat. After all, this is Jimmy in his element, this is the kind of stuff he lives for and another fine performance from Bob Odenkirk allowed for us to completely understand how much he missed this part of his life because the joy was ready to burst from him at any given moment and all of that was accomplished with the look in his eyes and it was just a joy to see Jimmy getting the thrill he so desperately needs. But of course what made this particular scene even cooler...was the return of Gus Fring. In fact, credit is due to the show for making his re-introduction and reveal so incredibly iconic because you could see him, just out of focus in the background, slowly making his presence known, making the exact moment when he came face to face with Jimmy all the more amazing. Either way, Gus is back and he knows Mike figured everything out and it should be interesting to see what comes next in this little game of cat and mouse. However, while it was awesome to see Gus return and see Jimmy do his thing...what Chuck had up his sleeve was far more incredible. Apparently, parts of Saul Goodman run in the family because the elder McGill plotted out quite the cruel plan for his little brother, because everything he did last week when it comes to Ernesto 'accidentally' hearing the tape was part of some larger scheme to get his brother to break into his home and steal said tape, wherein a private investigator, hired by HH&M would catch Jimmy in the act and get him thrown in jail. That elaborate plan worked like a charm, because Ernesto and the guilt on his conscience when it comes to what he heard at Chuck's house led him to speak to Kim in private and confess to her and of course, since she's still a big fan of Jimmy she was more than happy to figure out a way to build a defense against Chuck's plans, but Chuck knew deep down that there would be no rational resolution to this. He wanted to hurt Jimmy badly for what he had done and with Ernesto's confession coming to light, it was mission accomplished. Jimmy was completely and utterly shattered by his brother's actions. You could see the anguish on his face once Kim told him what Chuck had done and despite his best efforts to let it go, all this knowledge did was add fuel to a growing fire. It led to a penultimate moment where indeed Jimmy made his way to his brother's house, but not in the middle of the night, under the cover of darkness where Jimmy could quietly sneak into the house. Instead it was in the middle of the day, and Jimmy was anything but subtle. He kicked the door down, and ripped Chuck's desk to pieces to get his hands on that tape, but what caught me off guard more about this moment isn't that Jimmy did exactly what Chuck said he would do, it was what came out of his mouth while he did it. Jimmy spoke to this act ruining what was left of his and Chuck's relationship. Every ounce of pain and anger poured out of Jimmy in this moment, and he in essence finally said what he needed to to his brother and Chuck heard none of it. Instead, with his trap finally sprung, the private investigator and even Howard stepped forth and confirmed to Chuck that they were witnesses to this act and once again...Jimmy is in a lot of trouble. The reason however, I made mention of the fact that this act could serve as quite the springboard to the creation of Saul Goodman is because Chuck really is everything to Jimmy. He's the guy that got Jimmy out of jail all those years ago, gave him a chance at a better life with a job at the firm and now...it's clear he's turned his back on Jimmy. This was in many ways, the 'nuclear option' for Chuck. There's no going back or any ounce of forgiveness to be found here, especially when we all know the elder McGill will do everything in his power to make sure Jimmy has the book thrown at him and well...no one is ever the same after that kind of family betrayal, they change...and in this case Jimmy may change into someone entirely new and it's quite possible that last night could serve as the genesis of Saul Goodman because if there's one thing that can turn good people into something darker...it's having those they love go out of their way to hurt them. Until next time.
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