"Better Call Saul" Recap: "Bali Ha'i"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

What continues to amaze me about Better Call Saul is the fact that the show breaks so many rules when it comes to conventional television in this day and age. We have come to expect our television shows to not only be loaded with colorful characters, but they also need to keep the plot continuously moving at a brisk pace and teach us something along the way as often as possible. 

But this show, well outside of the colorful characters, it does whatever the heck it wants and the end result is always fantastic. We've seen plenty of episodes that meet the criteria of our expectations, but last night's episode of the show managed to do quite a few unconventional things storytelling wise. For starters "Bali Ha'i" actually managed to give us a taste of the mundane day to day things we rarely see on TV and manage to make it fascinating in the process and for the first time in a long time, the show went to some pretty dark places and all of it mattered to our characters and their development. 

Our focus on the routine came courtesy of Jimmy and Kim as they pushed themselves to deal with their co workers and do their best to make it through the day because they are struggling and with good reason. After all, It's clear the damage has been done at HH&M for Kim at this point and what used to be thrilling or exciting for her at work because she loved her job has now become banal as Howard continues to find ways to punish her regardless and as for Jimmy...well it's funny how Chuck's revelations are starting to make sense. Jimmy is a good lawyer, but a man easily bored unless he is in the trenches, in the middle of the action, making things happen rather than sitting in an office going over deposition items. I don't think I've ever seen Jimmy as bored as he was last night, or Kim for that matter which made the chance for the two of them to scam again all the more entertaining and tragic at once. 

But while the show managed to make the day to day life of a pair of lawyers incredibly interesting, the darker aspects of last night's episode all came courtesy of Mike and the fallout of his failed plan to get Tuco behind bars for a long time and it made for incredibly tense moments. In fact I'm fairly certain I was holding my breath the entire time Mike discovered a couple of Salamanca henchmen were hiding in his house and the badassery that only Mike can pull off made the scene all the more breathtaking. But it didn't end there, because Mike continues to cement the fact that there is no moral boundary he won't cross and no risk that he won't take if it involves keeping his daughter-in-law and granddaughter safe because only a man with nothing to lose can pull off extorting fifty grand from a crime boss.  

After all is said and done however, it's clear to me this was quite the setup episode. When daily life is put on display like this on a show this smart, there's a purpose to be served and I'm starting to wonder if this job offer Kim has on the table is going to be the first real big step in getting Saul Goodman to come to life. She is his anchor at this point and he has in many ways reformed his life to keep his love happy and this is a pair of people that are truly in love and it's sweet to see. I mean come on, she sat there waiting for his daily phone call, to hear his voice regardless of any anger she's harbored toward him. But, if she takes this job, there is a chance her talents will pull her out of Albuquerque and away from Jimmy completely and if that happens, without her being there to keep Jimmy in check, and give him a purpose...perhaps the iconic transformation we have been waiting for will come sooner rather than later. Until next time.

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