"Better Call Saul" Recap: "Nacho"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Well, it only took three whole episodes, but I am completely sold and hooked on the wonder that is Better Call Saul. In fact I think it's safe to say now, especially after last night's episode "Nacho", that Jimmy McGill is by far the most complex character on television and I think that's what has sucked me in when it comes to this show. 

We learned so much about the man last night, courtesy of the opening flashback where we discover that Jimmy has one hell of a criminal past, one that almost sent him to jail for a very long time had it not been for Chuck taking the time to not only get him off the hook for his crimes, but to make Jimmy promise to finally go straight. Such an action explains Jimmy's guilt as he takes the time to ponder over Nacho's offer to give him a cut of the Kellerman's embezzled money once Nacho finds and swipes the cash.

It leads Jimmy to not only make a call to Kim in the middle of the night expressing his concerns for the Kellermans safety, but it also leads to an impromptu phone call to the Kellermans as well, and it leads to the worst case scenario. The family goes missing, and even Jimmy's first thought is Nacho as he takes the time to call Nacho in a panic, leading to his arrest since it turns out the cops have Nacho in custody as the prime suspect and were looking for known associates, and instead found his lawyer. 

Nacho explains how he didn't commit the crime, but the police found blood in the back of his van. Blood that belongs to the two skater crooks that Jimmy employed not too long ago. Nacho gives Jimmy the ultimatum to either get him out of jail, or see his life come to an end and that's when the show really gets interesting. Jimmy suddenly realizes that the Kellermans "kidnapped" themselves, making it look like something bad happened to throw everyone off the trail. Of course it turns out, Jimmy is 100% right, since in order to save his life, he hunts down and finds the Kellerman's on a "camping" trip a couple of hours away from their house, and in addition to their family, they brought all the money that Craig Kellerman stole from the state.


Simply put, this was a genius episode that showed off just how talented Bob Odenkirk really is as an actor. He showed off an incredible depth and range last night that I had never seen from him before. From the opening moments as criminal Jimmy, to the man he is at this point in the episode, it's obvious that Jimmy McGill is a man torn between two worlds. He knows how easy it would be to return to a criminal lifestyle, but he wants so badly to do right by his brother and walk the right path. It's a wonderful duality for the character and it made for an amazing hour of television. There's no way I'm missing an episode of this gem of a show and I'll be waiting impatiently to see what happens next. Until then...

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