'Better Call Saul' Recap: 'Expenses'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Suffering is a huge part of character development at any level of storytelling, because in order for a character to learn something and grow, they have to go through some level of personal pain, and find a way to overcome it. But there is a tight rope to walk when it comes to suffering. If you put the character or characters through far too little of it, they never quite earn what's coming next in their fictional lives, and if you do too much of it, there's a sense of cruelty that is lended to the story and it seems as though you're punishing the audience over anything else.

Or...if you're the writer's room of Better Call Saul, you take suffering to a whole new level, wherein the story seems to be given a life of its own and loses a touch of control, reminding people of their own tough struggles in life and how sometimes...they can snap us under the right circumstances. Because that's exactly what was on display last night in 'Expenses', suffering and lots of it as every single character dealt with the fallout from their recent actions in the toughest of fashion and this was a wonderful way to tell this tale simply because their pain was relatable to all of us, even the shadier stuff, as was evidenced by Mike's journey in this episode.

After all, he's been struggling with willfully causing harm to others to fulfill his sense of revenge for some time now and despite trying to stay away from such affairs, and working instead to help others, the darkness he's dabbled in keeps calling to him and he steps in to help Pryce out in executing Nacho's plot to bring down Hector Salamanca and it was simply fascinating to watch Mike go back and forth all night between good deeds and bad ones and since he is the strongest character on the show, perhaps he suffered the least in this story since it seems he's going to work to offset every bad deed with a good one going forward and maintain a little balance in the universe. 

While Mike seemingly accepted where his life is heading in his later years, Kim was dealing with a suffering of her own, by way of a guilty conscience. Despite displaying her incredible skills as a defense attorney in front of the Bar Association, there's a cloud hanging over what she helped do to Charles McGill, one that looms large and one that exploded into a storm of its own when she went to Mesa Verde for a routine meeting with Paige. It was during this meeting that Paige ranted and raved about the brilliant defense she and Jimmy put together against ol' Chuck since she read the transcripts of the case and well, for the first time ever we saw Kim straight up snap at someone since she was nasty and mean with Paige regarding some of the details of their forthcoming deals in Utah, and it was ugly enough that she took a moment to apologize to Paige for her actions and outright admit that she felt awful about what happened in court and that all she accomplished was to help embarrass a sick man. While Kim is also a strong character, it's clear what's happened over the past few weeks is starting to break her down just a little bit, but she'll likely be able to soldier on.

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But despite the strength that Kim and Mike displayed during their personal crises, there's one man on this show we truly need to worry about...and that's Jimmy McGill because holy cow...is he taking quite the beating right now. A few weeks ago he had everything he could ever want. He was starting out with his own practice. He had the support of his lovely girlfriend, but all of that is gone now. In part because of Chuck, in part because of his own transgressions, but the weight of everything that has happened is putting him in a tough place and last night he truly, truly suffered, despite the fact he seems to be able to handle some of the tough stuff being thrown his way. After all, while community service is a bear and unenjoyable for Jimmy he is making do with it, and finding a way to film commercials around the four hours he spends cleaning garbage off the highway, but the rest of it...well the rest of it seems to be breaking him down. 

After all, his commercial business isn't going well. It's a few ads here and there but the revenue simply isn't there, and the work is bleeding him dry, and the uncertainty that goes with such quick work is forcing him to even give airtime away and the realization that Saul Goodman Productions is a rousing failure through and through is eating at him big time, to the point where it was heartbreaking to see him sitting alone in a parking lot staring off into the distance. To make matters worse, his car is finally giving out and it just seems as though poor Jimmy can't get a break. Heck, he even empties his bank account to pay the rent and keep the illusion going that everything is just fine. But while those merely seem like tough times and it does seem like Jimmy is getting by as best he can, it's what is happening inside his soul that should be of grave concern. Because he is burying all the pain and all the resentment and anger that is coming with this suffering and there's trouble to be found in that. 

Because the darkness that comes with all that has a place to hide and grow inside James McGill now, and it is growing at a healthy pace. Our first warning sign when it comes to this was evidenced when he and Kim went out for drinks and they played a little game where they figured out how they could scam someone and get away with it. But one man in particular caught Jimmy's eye because he reminded him of Chuck and that's when the darkness came out as Jimmy outlined how he would destroy this man with a sense of twisted glee and while Kim was able to talk him down from that, he still found a home for this anger and rage when he visited the insurance company that handled his malpractice insurance in the hopes of getting a refund on it and after being told no, he finally broke down in tears and while some of the sorrow that poured out of him was legitimate, that fury took over again and he let it slip that Chuck is mentally ill, and had a breakdown at the hearing, effectively putting an end to Chuck's malpractice insurance as well and it was an act, that Jimmy clearly found joy in. 

In the end, what made Jimmy's story this week so incredibly fascinating and heartbreaking is that, this was all another stepping stone toward the Saul Goodman we know and love. The grey area that Jimmy used to operate in is becoming far more black and the only joy he's finding these days is through anger and revenge and by going after Chuck yet again, and finding comfort in such an act is a slippery slope to go down. One bad act will lead to another, the guilt over such things will fade and eventually, Saul will take shape and charge and do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. If anything this was a heartbreaker of an episode to watch, and sadly, I'm sure Jimmy's actions will only have further repercussions with his brother because Chuck does love dishing out a slice of revenge. Either way, bravo to the show for going to such dark places in this particular episode and for helping to continue to shape and mold the man that Saul Goodman will eventually become. Until next time.

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