Breaking Bad Wiki
Advertisement
Breaking Bad Wiki

"Slip" is the eighth episode of the third season of Better Call Saul and the twenty-eighth episode of the series altogether.

Summary[]

Teaser[]

BCS 308 01

In a flashback, Jimmy and Marco break into the McGill family's abandoned store in Cicero, Illinois. Jimmy retrieves an old metal Band-Aid box from the ceiling tiles, from which he retrieves his childhood coin collection. He finds an Indian-head penny that he hopes to use in a con game. Jimmy explains that he started collecting coins after his father tried to give back a rare George Washington half dollar. Marco expresses genuine remorse for Jimmy's parents losing their store though Jimmy doesn't and he goes on to say that his family were better off not owning the store, saying that his father was only popular because he was too generous with money and implies it was solely his fault for its eventual closure. As he and Marco leave, Jimmy takes the Band-Aid tin with him.

Act I[]

Mike drives to the site of the truck robbery and retrieves a metal detector and shovel from his trunk. He uses these instruments, along with the information supplied by Nacho, to find the body of the Good Samaritan killed by Hector after the robbery. Mike anonymously reports the body to the Tribal police.

At his home, Chuck meets with Dr. Cruz, seeking to confront his EHS delusion and live a normal life again. Chuck is eager to recover quickly, but Cruz cautions him not to push himself too far. Chuck explains that he had a public "incident" which caused him to realize that his condition was in his head, and implies that the resulting epiphany caused him to reconsider his behavior.

Slippin-jimmy

Meanwhile, while preparing to film another commercial at the music store, Jimmy gets into a disagreement with the owners about pricing. When they refuse to pay him, Jimmy instructs Marshall to keep his camera rolling and pointed at him. Jimmy drops a drumstick to the ground and, after confirming the owners refuse to pay, "slips" on the drumstick, falling flat on his back. He then begins his blackmail scheme.

Act II[]

BCS 308 05

While Kim is at lunch with Kevin and Paige, she sees Howard showing up with clients from HHM. Howard makes passive-aggressive small talk with Kim and her party and mentions her being in doc review. In response, she writes out a check to Howard for the amount of money covering her law school loans and presents it to him with a similar passive-aggressive interruption. After lunch, Howard confronts Kim and reveals that he has been forced to deal with the fallout from Chuck's performance at Jimmy's bar hearing. Kim points out that Howard withheld information about Chuck's condition from HHM's clients. Howard angrily rips up the check, telling Kim that her debt is forgiven but nothing else.

BCS 308 06

That night, Nacho goes into his father's upholstery shop and crushes ibuprofen tablets into a fine powder, which he loads into the empty capsules that Daniel supplied him. He then practices slipping the pill bottle into a coat pocket. When his father shows up in the morning, Nacho claims he came to work early to check on invoices.

Act III[]

Chuck decides that he needs to confront his EHS on his own. To that end, he walks to the local supermarket without any protection. Though the EHS does seem to kick in, Chuck manages to complete his shopping without incident.

BCS 308 07

Back at Wexler McGill, Kim finds Jimmy lying on his back in his office, playing on a guitar signed by Ritchie Blackmore, which was given from the store owners through his con as well as selling them the remaining seven commercials as he had been trying to do. Despite Jimmy's assurances, Kim still expresses doubts about Jimmy's ability to cover his end of the expenses and takes on Billy Gatwood as a second client.

When Chuck returns home, he finds Howard waiting outside. Howard is delighted and impressed that Chuck managed to shop by himself, but then reveals he's not here to make a social call: an issue has come up with Chuck's malpractice insurance.

BCS 308 Nacho
BCS 308 09

That night, Nacho climbs onto the roof of El Michoacáno and breaks the air conditioner; the restaurant is hot and sweaty the next day. As Nacho counts Krazy-8's money, he sees Hector take off his coat. Nacho pretends to scrutinize one of the bills in Krazy-8's stack, claiming that it looks counterfeit. Hector asks him to come over so he can scrutinize it. While Hector looks at the bill, Nacho reaches into the left pocket of Hector's coat but he doesn't find the pill bottle. He then "accidentally" drops the remaining money which allows him to take the pill bottle from the right pocket. Nacho returns to his seat and swaps the pills with the fakes that had been hidden in the satchel containing the rubber-banded money rolls. He keeps the bottle on his lap while counting the next dealer's money. Once this dealer is gone, Nacho performs the switch under the guise of getting coffee and tosses the bottle back into Hector's coat pocket as he walks by.

Act IV[]

While picking up trash as part of his community service, Jimmy is handicapped by his back pain. A member of the work group, Freddy, asks the supervisor if he can take time off to visit his sick daughter in the hospital. The supervisor allows him to leave but warns him that he will not be credited with the hours he has worked. Having listened to the conversation, Jimmy instead deduces that Freddy is a drug dealer and that the excuse about his sick daughter is most likely a lie, but offers him a deal: for $700, Jimmy will make sure that Freddy can leave without losing his hours. Intrigued, Freddy accepts the deal.

Jimmy then lies on the ground to rest his back and the supervisor immediately reappears. Jimmy threatens to file a lawsuit against him for various, detailed reasons if he refuses Freddy to go see his daughter and Jimmy to rest his back, while allowing both to keep their hours. Panicked, the supervisor relents. Impressed, Freddy pays Jimmy and leaves. Jimmy continues to rest his back, satisfied with his particularly lucrative improvised ploy.

BCS 308 16

Late at night, Mike looks at the money he took from the truck robbery, removing it from the crawl space under his floorboards. Counting the stacks, he realizes there's no way he can spend this money without attracting suspicion. That night, he pays a visit to Gus in his office at Los Pollos Hermanos, asking him to launder the money so that Mike can give it to his family. He reasons that as Gus is running his restaurants for a similar reason, he might be able to assist Mike. Gus cautions that he and Mike can't be publicly associated given their rivalries with Hector, and the consequences that could come of this. He also warns Mike the process will be difficult, which Mike offers Gus 20%, assuming Gus wanted a share. Gus elaborates the difficulties were genuine and he had no intention of taking money from Mike's family and they shake hands.

Official Photos[]

Trivia[]

  • The scene in the restaurant takes place on March 4, 2003 based on the date on Kim's check.
  • The Band-Aid box that Jimmy takes from his father's old store appeared in the Gene flash-forward in "Uno" where it was stored in a box containing some of Jimmy's old mementos.
  • The way Chuck went into the grocery store and nearly had a nervous breakdown is reminiscent of how Walt stripped naked and fainted in a grocery store after escaping Tuco's captivity. ("Bit by a Dead Bee")
  • Jimmy plays Smoke on the Water, which was Marco Pasternak's favorite song.
    • The way he laid on the ground playing the guitar when Kim entered is similar to a scene in Breaking Bad when Mike enters while he is using chi machine and proceed to nearly beat him. ("Full Measure")
  • In the previous episode, Mike agreed to Nacho and Daniel's exchange once Nacho showed him the money and gave him "one more thing," which Mike pulled out a pad and pen in anticipation. It is revealed in this episode that Mike asked Nacho to give him GPS coordinates where the Good Samaritan is buried, murdered on Hector's orders, who had come to the aid of Ximenez Lecerda after his truck was attacked by Mike ("Nailed") ("Fifi"). Having heard Anita's story ("Expenses"), whose husband suddenly disappeared for 8 years without a trace, Mike imagines the distress of the possible family of this good Samaritan and decides to make sure that the body is found.
  • At 21 minutes into the the show, when Kim walks Kevin and Paige to their car, a 2015 Nissan Murano can be on the left side of the screen. This car would not yet be available in 2003.
  • There was a two week gap between episode 7 "Expenses" and this episode due to the observance of Memorial Day on Monday May 29, 2017 in the United States. However the episode was accidentally aired anyways by at least one foreign broadcaster and subsequently leaked online before the US airing.

Production[]

Credits[]

Featured Music[]

  • What It Is by Extreme Music
  • Days Like This by Melani Skybell
  • Cold Feet by Fink
  • Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple
  • Corrido De Un Raton by Francisco Sarrmiento
  • Hasta Mañana by Los Panchos

Memorable Quotes[]

Marco: "Your folks, they worked so hard."
Jimmy: "Yeah, they worked hard: worked a lot of hours for a lot of years, for nothing."
Marco: "I don't know Jimmy. A lot of customers, they liked him."
Jimmy: "Everybody liked him because he was a soft touch. Every deadbeat in the neighborhood owed him money. You come in here with a sob story and you leave with a pat on the back and a gallon of milk. He could have made it work, he could have sold beer and cigarettes to the kids from Mary Margaret's, but no. Not him. He was never gonna do what he had to do."
Marco and Jimmy about Jimmy's parents.

Howard: "I'm busting my ass, trying to repair the reputation of the firm and after you and Jimmy dragged it through the mud."
Kim: "I did everything in my power to defend my client."
Howard: "Oh, is that what you're calling it?"
Kim: "That's the job, Howard. And, by the way, it was very convenient of you to ignore Chuck's illness when it suited you."
Howard: "So I take you out of the mail room, send you to law school, mentor you, and you leave and stab me in the back, and that's MY fault? I'm not cashing this. Kim, your debt is forgiven, but anything else, that's on you."
Kim: "All Jimmy and I did was show the situation for what it is, and if you are hiding that from your clients, then Howard, that's on you."
―Howard and Kim arguing.

"This condition, to me it's as real as that chair - it's as real as this house, as real as you. But what if it's not? What if it's all in my head? And if that's true, if it's not real, then what have I done?"
―Chuck to Dr. Cruz about his condition.

"Just, my back hurts like hell and... people suck."
―Jimmy to Kim about what happened in the music store.

Gustavo: "It would be unwise for us to be publicly associated, wouldn't you agree?"
Mike: "Because of the Salamancas?"
Gustavo: "If they were to take notice, there would be consequences for both of us."
Mike: "I'm thinking a paper transaction."
Gustavo: "Even so. Perhaps there is a way: one with a degree more difficulty, but one I may be able to arrange."
Mike: "Would 20% overcome this difficulty?"
Gustavo: "I would not take money from your family. [Gus and Mike shake hands]'"
―Mike asking Gus to launder his money.
Advertisement