"Pimento" is the ninth episode of the first season of Better Call Saul and the ninth episode of the series altogether.
Summary
A short while after Chuck surprised both Jimmy and himself by leaving his house without wearing a space blanket, the brothers sit quietly on a nearby park bench. Chuck tries to relax and enjoy the sunshine, but keeps glancing nervously at the power lines overhead. Jimmy redirects his attention to the soft grass, successfully encouraging Chuck to take off his shoes. Finally reaching his limit, Chuck tells Jimmy that he's ready to go inside and get back to work building their case against Sandpiper Crossing. He rises and walks gingerly back toward his house, buoyant Jimmy at his side.
Act I
In Stacey's backyard, she and Mike watch Kaylee play with the adopted dog that Mike wishes to give to Kaylee. Stacey struggles with the idea of taking on a pet, but Mike assures her that the dog is healthy and worthwhile. Stacey relents and agrees to let Kaylee keep the dog. Their conversation is interrupted when Mike receives a phone call. He steps away to answer it and quietly accepts a job opportunity. Stacey doesn't ask any questions.
Schweikart seeks a restraining order against Jimmy on the grounds that his "loud and flamboyant" nature disturbs the routine of the Sandpiper residents. The judge doesn't buy it and rules in Jimmy's favor. Jimmy rides high on his victory all the way to Chuck's house, but finds that Schweikart has sent over boxes and boxes of documents, trying to drown the McGill brothers in paperwork. Chuck tells Jimmy that the case is quickly becoming too big for them to handle alone, and insists they partner with HHM. Jimmy argues vehemently against it, but Chuck eventually convinces him that it's the only way to win the case.
Jimmy crashes on Chuck's couch that night, exhausted from burning the midnight oil. Chuck steals past his sleeping brother and retrieves a pencil and an oven mitt. Wrapped in his space blanket, Chuck tiptoes outside and collects Jimmy's cell phone from the mailbox. Grimacing, he turns it on and uses the eraser end of the pencil to dial and call someone.
Act II
Mike waits in a parking garage with two thugs: a large man and a third man named Sobchak. The three intimidating men have each been hired by Caldera to provide protection for a new client. According to Sobchak, their guy has come into a plentiful supply of pharmaceuticals and has hired them to provide a little extra security during his first-ever drug deal. As they wait for their employer, Sobchak gives Mike a once-over and asks what type of gun he's "packing". Mike casually nods to a small, brown sac sitting on the nearby curb: he packed a pimento sandwich. Sobchak thinks Mike's kidding and presses him, but Mike stands firm. He didn't bring a gun.
The employer drives up in a wood-paneled minivan. An unassuming man steps out and introduces himself as Pryce. Sobchak tells Pryce that Mike is dead weight because he didn't bring a weapon. Mike calmly responds that if he needs one, he'll take one of Sobchak's. The thug scoffs and dares Mike to take it from him and holds out a gun, tauntingly. "You can make it not so easy," Mike replies. Sobchak points the pistol at Mike's head, to which Mike swiftly and effortlessly disarms him. Enraged, Sobchak lunges forward, but Mike puts him down with a single punch to the throat. He then proceeds to find and dispose of all of Sobchak's weapons. He holds up a particularly ostentatious one and offers it to the large man, who flees in terror. Mike dumps Sobchak's guns into a nearby trashcan, picks up his sandwich and heads for the minivan. An awestruck Pryce agrees to pay him the full fee for three men, and the two drive off to the meet.
Meanwhile, Jimmy and Chuck prepare for their meeting at HHM. Chuck is apprehensive, but Jimmy rubs his shoulders his suit and adds a space-blanket lining to his jacket to reassure him. Jimmy helps Chuck to the car and retrieves his electronics from the mailbox - confused to find that his phone is dead, since he usually turns it off before leaving it overnight. At HHM, Howard arranges for everything electric to be deactivated in preparation for Chuck's arrival. He shuts his cell phone off and tosses it into a bin as Kim powers down the last of the lights. The HHM employees gather in the firm's lobby and shower Chuck with applause when he enters with Jimmy. A cheerful Howard embraces Chuck and guides him upstairs, leaving Jimmy behind to balance a tall stack of files.
In the conference room, Jimmy and Chuck bring Howard and his associates up to speed on the Sandpiper case. Howard guarantees Jimmy 20% of the common fund share of the final settlement, as well as an immediate "of counsel" fee (as high as $20,000) for the referral. Everything is going well until Jimmy implies that he'll be joining HHM as an attorney. Clearing the room, Howard tries to break the news gently to Jimmy: HHM wants the case, but, "the partners" aren't interested in hiring Jimmy. Shocked and hurt, Jimmy lashes out at Howard and quashes the deal.
Act III
Kim visits Howard in his office, demanding to know why he refused to hire Jimmy. Howard coldly reminds her that she's talking out of turn and that this was a decision made by the partners. Shaken, Kim turns and begins to head out. Howard reconsiders and stops her. Not wanting the rest of the firm to hear what he's about to tell her, he instructs her to close the door.
At an abandoned power plant, a nervous Pryce debates the best way to conduct the deal. As Mike offers some advice, the buyer, Nacho Varga, arrives along with two henchmen. The deal goes smoothly until it turns out that Nacho's envelope of cash is short $20. Mike demands that Pryce receive payment in full, or the deal is off. Nacho is offended by the idea that he stiffed Pryce on purpose and can't believe that Mike would blow up the deal over such a small amount of money. Mike says that he is quite happy to believe it was an honest mistake, but insists that Nacho honor the deal. Nacho begrudgingly forks over a $20 bill.
Afterward, Mike tells Pryce that he wasn't worried about the deal, because he'd done a fair amount of research before showing up for the job. He knew exactly who Nacho was and, most importantly, he knew that Nacho was doing this deal outside of Tuco's crew, so he was incentivized to make sure the deal went as smoothly as possible. "If you're gonna be a criminal, do your homework," Mike advises. Pryce laments that he's not a bad guy and Mike clarifies: being a criminal doesn't mean you're a bad guy. No matter which side of the law you're on, if you make a deal, you need to keep your word.
Act IV
That night, Kim visits Jimmy at the nail salon and urges him to take Howard's deal. Livid, Jimmy accuses her of being bought off by Howard. Near tears, she reiterates that taking the deal is the best thing for Jimmy but leaves without going into more detail. Bothered by their exchange, Jimmy retreats to his office and finally plugs his dead cell phone into the wall. As it begins to recharge, Jimmy ruminates - something about Kim's insistence has gotten under his skin.
The next morning, Jimmy visits Chuck and tells him he's going to give the Sandpiper case to HHM. Chuck agrees that this is for the best and offers to put a good word in with Howard. Jimmy points out that Chuck could threaten to leave HHM; with the way the staff applauded his arrival, there's no way the partners would risk his return. When Chuck hesitates, Jimmy reveals that he already knows that Chuck is not remotely interested in bringing Jimmy into the fold. Since Jimmy always turns off his phone when he puts it in Chuck's mailbox, he became suspicious when he found the battery dead. A call to the phone company revealed a deleted call to Howard two nights prior, while Jimmy was asleep on the couch. Only Chuck could have made that call.
Jimmy accuses Chuck of telling Howard not to let him work on the case, and to not hire him after he passed the bar years prior. Jimmy demands to know why Chuck has been working against him. Chuck angrily replies that Jimmy is not a real lawyer, having taken shortcuts like online courses and diploma mills. Chuck believes that his brother hasn't changed from his "Slippin' Jimmy" ways, and that Jimmy poses a danger if he practices law. Jimmy realizes what his brother really thinks of him. He explains that he's brought over enough supplies to last Chuck a few days - after that, Chuck will have to fend for himself. Heartbroken, Jimmy walks out of the house without turning back.
Official photos
Trivia
- In the Breaking Bad episode "Cornered", Mike Ehrmantraut offers Jesse Pinkman a pimento cheese sandwich while staking out Tucker and Scary Skell's house.
- The cold open for "Inflatable" was originally shot for this episode, however due to Pimento running over time, they decided to make the opening scene for Act 1 into the cold open.
- The scene at the parking lot where Mike Ehrmantraut and others who were hired for the Protection Job by Pryce chat while awaiting for his arrival takes place exactly where Walter White initially plans to kill Gus by planting a powerful bomb underneath Gus's car. ("Face Off")
Production
Credits
Starring
Guest Starring
Co-Starring
Featured Music
- "Groton Farewell" by Cast
References to other media
- Sobchak refers to Mike Ehrmantraut as "Uncle Fester", a character from the television and film series The Addams Family.
- Sobchak is portrayed by Steven Ogg, the voice and motion actor for Trevor Philips in the tremendously popular video game Grand Theft Auto V.
Memorable Quotes
- "Confidence is good. Facts on your side, better. Know what you're walking into."
- ―Chuck to Jimmy.
- Howard: "It's easy money, Jimmy. No reason not to take it."
- Jimmy: "Go to hell, Howard! I'm not giving you my case. And I'm gonna tell every one of those clients what a lying miserable pig fucker you are. I will burn the whole thing to the ground before I give it to you!"
- ―Howard and Jimmy arguing.
- "Well, duly noted. Want to know what I believe? I believe that you're way out of your depth in this matter. So the next time that you want to come in here and tell me what I'm doing wrong, you are welcome to keep it to yourself. Because I don't care."
- ―Howard to Kim about the decision not to hire Jimmy on the case.
- Mike: "The lesson is, if you're gonna be a criminal, do your homework."
- Pryce: "Wait. I'm not a bad guy."
- Mike: "I didn't say you were a bad guy. I said you're a criminal."
- Pryce: "What's the difference?"
- Mike: "I've known good criminals and bad cops. Bad priests. Honorable thieves. You can be on one side of the law or the other. But if you make a deal with somebody, you keep your word. You can go home today with your money and never do this again. But you took something that wasn't yours. And you sold it for a profit. You're now a criminal. Good one, bad one? That's up to you."
- ―Mike and Pryce on the difference between criminals and villains.
- Jimmy: "I'm your brother. We're supposed to look out for each other. Why were you working against me, Chuck?"
- Chuck: "You're not a real lawyer."
- Jimmy: "I'm what?"
- Chuck: "You're not a real lawyer. University of American Samoa, for Christ's sake? An online course? What a joke. I worked my ass off to get where I am. And you take these shortcuts and you think suddenly you're my peer? You do what I do because you're funny and you can make people laugh? I committed my life to this! You don't slide into it like a cheap pair of slippers and reap all the rewards."
- Jimmy: "I thought you were proud of me."
- Chuck: "I was. When you straightened out and got a job in the mailroom, I was very proud."
- Jimmy: "So that's it then, right? Keep old Jimmy down in the mailroom. He's not good enough to be a lawyer."
- Chuck: "I know you. I know what you were, what you are. People don't change. You're Slippin' Jimmy. And Slippin' Jimmy I can handle just fine. But Slippin' Jimmy with a law degree is like a chimp with a machine gun. The law is sacred! If you abuse that power, people get hurt. This is not a game. You have to know on some level, I know you know I'm right. You know I'm right."
- ―Jimmy brutally discovering what Chuck actually thinks of him as a lawyer.