"Better Call Saul" Recap: "Switch"

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

To me, Better Call Saul was one of the finest television shows to grace our screens in 2015. It was dark, gritty, fascinating, filled to the brim with a stellar cast and performances and most important of all...it was a great American tragedy. Sure we all know how this one ends, someday Jimmy McGill will become Saul Goodman, but to see the man he was before those gaudy suits is something special...and heartbreaking.

In fact, a shattered heart is where the season one finale left us, with Jimmy discovering that his brother Chuck, had done everything within his power to sabotage Jimmy's career because he simply believed that his little brother was incapable of ever being a good lawyer or a good person and well...I'm fairly certain we all thought that was the moment that Saul was born and in many ways he was, but last night's season two premiere, "Switch", showed us that a complete fall from grace takes more than a moment and quite frankly, this episode actually managed to be more heartbreaking than the season one finale.

I say that because this one picked up immediately where we left off, with Jimmy making the decision to no longer do the right thing and well, what came next was just plain ugly, thanks to its sense of realism. Instead of exacting revenge upon his brother, or going on some epic path of self destruction, Jimmy McGill simply walked away from it all, quitting his job and scamming a hotel so he could spend his days lying in the pool to get some sun and let the world that has done him wrong just pass him by. But it wasn't that particular part of his decision that was uncomfortable to watch, it was the pain on Jimmy's face when Kim came to make sure he was okay. You could see and feel the hurt this entire episode, which made his push to scam Ken the stockbroker all the more pathetic. Jimmy simply felt there was nothing left for him to do in this life but run cons, despite the fact that Kim and everyone else at Hamlin and McGill believed in him. 

That all led to the best part of the night, the fact that despite the fury within him, Jimmy still felt conflicted about his decision to walk away from the job opportunity of a lifetime. If Saul Goodman was born the moment Chuck told Jimmy he was never a lawyer and never going to be a lawyer, he clearly needed time to grow because there was a sense of satisfaction in watching Jimmy suck it up and head to Davis and Main to work on the Sandpiper case. But despite the awe and respect that Jimmy commanded when he walked through those doors, the darkness was still there, growing slowly and I always love it when a show gives us something subtle to work with and really...there was no moment more powerful than those final seconds in his office, where he felt the need to flip the switch that was labeled to never be turned off. Those are the formative moments for Saul Goodman, the baby steps if you will...he's in there, waiting for his moment to shine and it's only a matter of time before the right moment brings him out into the open.  

I have to say, what a wonderful way to kick off season two. In addition to the wonderfully engrossing storyline for Jimmy, we were treated to more of Mike and the idiot I.T. guy he works for, Daniel, and I say idiot because the decision to fire Mike as his bodyguard was disastrous since it led to Nacho robbing him blind and I have no doubt that this storyline will be central to season two. Because you don't spend that kind of time showing off Daniel's schemes without giving us some kind of payoff, in fact I'm betting he is going to become this season's version of the Kettlemans and perhaps help nurture the birth of Saul. Either way, it didn't take long to slip right back into the world of Jimmy McGill last night and this episode was so solid it was like we never left, only because the character remains fascinating and because we are all dying to be there for the moment when Jimmy crosses over to the darkside, despite the fact we don't want him to. Until next time.

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