"Better Call Saul" Recap: "Inflatable"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

I think we have all entertained the idea of becoming our own boss and setting out in the world to conquer our respective career field at some point or another in our lives. After all, we've worked in jobs that are lackluster where we know if we were in charge we could do better and simply because...the idea of relying on yourself to get everything done has a wonderful allure to it all.  

It is a decision that has been a long time coming on Better Call Saul, and one that we really haven't revisited since last season, but that all changed on last night's episode of the show and it's a huge deal that Jimmy has circled around back to it. I say that because I think when all is said and done, "Inflatable" will be the episode that is remembered as the turning point. The moment if you will when James McGill became Saul Goodman. Granted the moment never arrived when he called himself that, but the foundation for his troubled future was laid down last night. 

Yet what's ironic, the first real step down his darkened path didn't come from Chuck breaking his spirit or anything family related, it came from Kim and one now has to wonder if she was and always will be the reason that Jimmy turned because his love for her and his need to be around her, while beautiful and sweet in its own right...is clearly dangerous. He bases so many decisions around his love and this episode was no exception. I thought it was the sweetest thing ever that he wanted her at his side in a law firm once again and it was equally as sweet that we essentially learned that the only reason he was working at Davis and Main all this time was to keep Kim happy and show her that he is worthy of her love by walking the straight and narrow. 

But all of that changed in an instant when he discovered she was ready to leave HH&M and that's when Saul started to show his true colors at last in one of the funniest sequences the show has ever put together as Jimmy did his damndest and succeeded in getting fired from Davis and Main all to keep his bonus. Plus, the wild and colorful suits we've been waiting for him to don finally arrived in his closet and that's my point about how this was the moment that Saul came to life because while his sleaziest moments in this episode came from the whole plan to get fired, those suits represent something more. They represent the man he wants to be. In many ways those suits are his own superhero costume, waiting to bring that other persona to life and the clock is now ticking on Saul's creation.

Let's get back to talking about Kim however and how she relates to Saul's creation as well. Because after flat out admitting to Kim that he needed to do things his way, and being rebuffed by her at first to join up...she still wants a shot at being her own boss and is ready to join forces with Jimmy after all and that simply cannot end well. Regardless of her bad streaks here and there this season we all know Kim believes firmly in the law and what it stands for while Jimmy believes in something far different...winning what he thinks is a just cause. There's no way this union will work, and while he didn't quite accept her request in those final moments, I don't see why or how Jimmy will say no. This is what he has been waiting for, and when it falls to pieces, and it will because of their different views of the law, the only thing left standing...will be a new man, forged from a broken heart and with nothing to lose, known only as Saul Goodman. Until next time.

---