"Better Call Saul" Recap: "Nailed"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

When it comes to revenge, things fall apart quickly and with good reason. Only the ugliest emotions and intentions are involved when you seek out a vendetta against someone and once you start down that dark path, there's no going back until you complete your goal of making someone else pay, and pay dearly. 

Revenge has in fact become the centerpiece of Better Call Saul this season as hurt feelings and incomplete agendas have come to the forefront of the story and last night's episode saw every single character indulge in their darker side as they made a point to wrong one another and in the process reveal that perhaps the creation of Saul Goodman never came from external forces or one singular event, but he was instead brought into the world by Jimmy's own actions since "Nailed" took us to places in Jimmy's psyche I never thought that we would go.  

But his grand plan to sabotage Chuck to get Mesa Verde to return to Kim worked like a charm, and we've never seen Chuck this embarrassed or this beaten and it led to what I would venture to say was the most poignant and powerful scene that I've seen in the series to date...a showdown at last between Chuck and Jimmy, with a little Kim thrown in for good measure. It was simply heartbreaking to watch Chuck pick Jimmy to pieces in front of the woman he loves, and the fury that poured out of the elder McGill came from the darkest of places in his soul because clearly...nobody messes with Chuck McGill, and if you make the decision to do so he will use his intellect and his fury to make you pay in ways you never expected. But while that showdown was impressive to say the least, the best moments in this little spat came about courtesy of Kim. 

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Watching and hearing her say exactly what all of us have been thinking all along when it comes to Jimmy and Chuck's flawed relationship was absolutely wonderful since she was one hundred percent right. Chuck has done everything in his power to keep Jimmy down and out as often as possible and the younger McGill has only sought to have nothing more than his older brother's ​​approval and it was extremely satisfying and sweet to see Chuck have to stand there and take every bit of heat from Kim as she defended the man she loves. But the show wasn't content in just giving us that epic showdown, the real stunner of this whole situation was that Kim knew that Chuck was right. Jimmy did commit the crime and the fact that she was willing to go along with the whole thing and cover for him speaks to how much she cares about him, while exposing a little more of the darker side of Kim we have come to see more of this season.

But as I mentioned before, there is a good chance that Jimmy McGill transforms into Saul Goodman by way of his own actions and for proof of that...we need not look any further than the final moments of last night's episode. Sure it made sense for Jimmy to go back to the printing shop and cover his tracks. Sure it made sense to stick around to make sure his investment paid off, but man...who knew that being humiliated would push Chuck to the limit, because I've never seen him flip out like this before and let's be honest, he is hurt bad. Which means that there is a chance his mental condition could be discovered in the hospital and he's committed. Or worse, he's hurt badly and looking at a long recovery and considering how the death of his best friend affected Jimmy, what will this do? The guilt that will come with his actions, and the fact that he hurt the only family that gave him a shot at the straight life will damage him greatly and with that kind of pain buried in his heart...it could finally push him toward a "to hell with it all" attitude and well, we all know where his life goes from there. 

Last, we also need to discuss the other revenge plot that was featured last night, the one between Mike and the Salamanca family because wow...Mike took it to the next level. Clearly threatening his family is the last thing you will ever want to do because Mike will go to the ends of the earth to ensure you pay the price for putting even an ounce of fear into him and even though Hector has all but forgotten about Mike, you have to wonder how far Mike is going to take this before he feels satisfied that the matter is square. Either way, what an incredible episode. It really seems like every single character is finally showing off their true colors now and well, turns out this show is full of some angry people and I'm sure the fury will only escalate come next week's season finale, and I can't wait to see what events will transpire that push Jimmy McGill another step closer to Saul Goodman. Until then.

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