"Better Call Saul" Recap: "Marco"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Every man has his breaking point, I think there's a lot of truth of that. But I don't think a person's breaking point is quite what we expect it to be. We often associate it with a complete and utter snap, where everything in their life is destroyed in a matter of minutes courtesy of self loathing and anger.  But I don't think it always works that way, sometimes our breaking point allows us to evolve and grow, for better or for worse and Jimmy McGill proved that point on last night's season finale of Better Call Saul.  

Last night's episode, "Marco" took us back to Jimmy's roots, and quite frankly gave us one of the finest performances of Bob Odenkirk's career as Jimmy dealt with the fallout of his beloved brother betraying him through and through.  At first it seemed like Jimmy was going to handle it in stride. He gave the case to HH&M, discovered that Howard wasn't actually the giant DBag we all thought he was and even left instructions on how to take care of his brother to the firm before apologizing to Kim. I mean seriously, so much class was oozing from Jimmy it seemed like a different show. Then things went completely off the rails. He snapped in front of his beloved seniors during a bingo session, explaining how he was almost the "sex offender" that forced Chuck to get him out of jail and bring him to New Mexico. I'll spare the details, just know that it was a hilarious and incredible monologue and it involved a "Chicago Sunroof." 

This moment of lucidity led to Jimmy returning home to Chicago to look up his former partner in crime Marco. You may remember him from the watch scam we saw earlier in the season and well, these were some lovely scenes to watch. It's funny in fact to think back on the whole show now and see how Chuck and Jimmy interact on screen. Despite the fact they are brothers, that link you see between family is never quite there. You think for a moment that's because Chuck is mentally ill, but after the last two weeks on the show...we now know it's because they are merely brothers by blood. Chuck has no love for Jimmy and Jimmy only wants approval...the kind he finds with Marco. These two guys act like brothers, that unity is there and by getting the two of them back together, Slippin' Jimmy returns in force and the two go on a weeklong bender, running one incredible scam after another and clearly Jimmy couldn't be happier.

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But. The good times come to an end in tragic fashion. Jimmy, realizing he needs to head back home and take care of the clients that like him and need him, runs the watch scam one last time with Marco. But Marco has health problems Jimmy is unaware of...and has a fatal heart attack during the scam. At the funeral, Jimmy is given Marco's ring by his mother and as he takes a moment to breathe, Kim calls. Jimmy's dream case is getting too big for its britches and HH&M has brought in another firm to help and they want Jimmy to be a lawyer with them full time. The dream has come at last and Jimmy returns to Albuquerque to shock us all one more time. 

Mere moments away from finally fulfilling his dream of practicing law full time...he walks away from it all, taking a moment to chat with Mike about how they had $1.6 million in their hands, and why on earth didn't they take it all from the Kettleman's. Mike gives his honest answer that it was about doing a job, but Jimmy...Jimmy points out that he knows what stopped him, and that something like that will never happen again, and that was that. Jimmy left the courthouse behind and the man that was born the moment Chuck told Jimmy he wasn't a real lawyer, Saul Goodman, continued to develop and grow.  

Yet what makes this episode so worthwhile as a season finale, is how much we learned about Jimmy. Jimmy McGill was always a dark man who knew how well he could manipulate people and bend them to his will, and well...he needs that darkness. His trip back to Chicago, the scams he runs with Marco, you see the joy in his eyes and you also see that the darkness he carries with him is something that can be purged, simply because he was ready to go back and do the right thing. But the death of Marco, and Chuck's betrayal forever changed him. It not only sent him beyond his breaking point, it left him with no one left to balance him. Jimmy McGill is truly on his own now. A man without a real family, or his chosen one...and that makes for some epic storytelling...and I can't wait to see what comes next in season two.  

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