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"Quite a Ride" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of Better Call Saul and the thirty-fifth episode of the series altogether.

Summary[]

Teaser[]

BCS 405 01

In 2010, shortly after the fall of Heisenberg at the offices of Saul Goodman & Associates, Saul retrieves a satchel full of cash from the ceiling while Francesca shreds documents. Saul breaks open the wall with the "We the People" wallpaper behind his desk and takes out a shoebox, which he places inside his luggage. He hands over two rolls of cash and a lawyer's business card to Francesca, before telling her to take a phone call on November 12. Saul offers Francesca a hug before she leaves to dispose of the shredded documents, but she scoffs and walks out. He then takes out a disposable cell phone from his desk drawer and calls Ed Galbraith, asking for an emergency extraction in coded language.

Act I[]

BCS 405 02

Back in 2003, Jimmy initially struggles to attract business at CC Mobile, despite the massive sign he painted on the storefront windows. After an indeterminate amount of time, a pickup truck pulls up and a customer steps into the store. When the customer, the owner of a contracting business, asks whether Jimmy's services can protect him from the IRS, Jimmy offers him a disposable cell phone that he can use to communicate without being eavesdropped or tracked. Jimmy is ultimately able to sell a whole stack of drop phones to the customer.

BCS 405 03

In a parking lot at Denver International Airport in Colorado, a Frenchman steps off an airport shuttle and approaches a rental car. He finds a set of keys hidden in the right front wheel well. Inside, he finds a cell phone in the cupholder. When he picks up the phone, it rings with a call from Mike, who gives him directions to a wooded area in the Rocky Mountains. The Frenchman drives to the location Mike instructed, by a mile marker on the side of a windy road. Here, Mike calls him again, instructing him to don the hood stashed in the trunk and stand on the side of the road with his luggage. After the man dons the hood, Mike and a driver, Nick, put the Frenchman in the back of a windowless van and make a long drive to Albuquerque. The Frenchman, a structural engineer, is not allowed to remove his hood until he is inside Lavanderia Brilliante. He's being hired to conduct analysis on the feasibility and the work needed to excavate a new basement. He confidently concludes that he can do it in the span of at least six months, more time than a long, deep tunnel he once dug under the U.S.-Mexico border. His attitude makes clear he's not suited to Mike's employer's new project and can't be trusted to keep secrets. After receiving a short phone call from his employer telling him to reject the candidate, Mike thanks the Frenchman for his time and sends him back to the rental car with a plane ticket.

Act II[]

BCS 405 04

At the courthouse, Kim is doing public defender work. She is defending a teenage boy, David Estrada, who has been charged with throwing a cinder block through a jewelry store window. Kim negotiates with DDA Bill Oakley, confronting him with the fact that David was arrested based on a statement he gave to police before he was read his Miranda rights. Oakley is forced to agree to her plea agreement giving David four months' probation with time served. When David expresses ingratitude for getting his sentence reduced, Kim urges him to go back to his grandfather, beg for a job, and turn his life around.

BCS 405 05

That night, Jimmy suggests he and Kim watch Doctor Zhivago on television, but Kim tells him she needs to review Viola's paperwork for Mesa Verde. Jimmy tries to watch the film while Kim does her work, but grows restless and turns the TV off. He falsely tells her he has things to do at work despite the late hour. Back at CC Mobile, Jimmy prints out receipts, sorts cash in the register, and takes a large stock of drop phones before leaving the store.

Act III[]

Jimmy approaches three youths in his car and offers them drop phones, but they dismiss him as a "narc" and tell him to beat it. Jimmy goes to Day Spa and Nail, looks through his stock of tacky clothes, and dons a tracksuit. He walks up to shady characters at the Dog House drive-in restaurant, who prove to be more willing to purchase phones, sometimes in bulk. Eventually, the Dog House's patrons quickly scatter leave as a biker gang rolls in. Although he is intimidated by the bikers, Jimmy approaches them with the last of his supply and manages to convince them to make purchases. After the bikers leave, and Jimmy is about to drive away, he is mugged by the three youths from before.

Act IV[]

BCS 405 13

Kim wakes up in the early hours of the morning to find Jimmy in the bathroom, tending to his injuries from the mugging. After she treats him with ice and iodine, Jimmy criticizes himself for misreading the situation and not recognizing the youths as muggers sooner. Jimmy suddenly agrees to see the therapist Kim recommended.

BCS 405 14

The following morning, Jimmy spends the day removing his sign from the CC Mobile storefront. Meanwhile, Kim takes a taxi to the home of a woman named Denise, who is an hour late for her appearance in court over a drug possession charge. While she persuades Denise to come with her the courthouse, Kim mutes an incoming phone call. While Denise changes, Kim receives a second call; it's Paige, who tells her that an error has come up in Viola's paperwork and that Kim is needed right away. After refusing the request, Kim hangs up on Paige before leaving the house with Denise. Later, at Mesa Verde, Paige admonishes Kim for hanging up on her and reminds Kim that she promised to put her focus solely on Mesa Verde. Kim apologizes and promises that it won't happen again.

Act V[]

Mike escorts another structural engineer, Werner Ziegler, to Lavanderia Brilliante via the same blindfolded trip in the van as the Frenchman. Werner is much different from the Frenchman; he's more unkempt in appearance, has a nervous disposition and stomach problems, and conducts his measurements by hand instead of by computer. After making much more thorough measurements of the building, particularly an area around one of the laundry machines, Werner explains the logistical challenges of excavating the area beneath the industrial laundry without compromising the building's structural integrity or drawing attention from people above-ground. Gus enters and asks if Werner is saying the job is impossible; Werner replies that it will be difficult, dangerous and expensive, but not impossible. Impressed, Gus introduces himself to Werner and greets him in German, hiring him for the job.

Jimmy steps into the courthouse restroom and finds Howard, who is disheveled. Despite initially insisting that everything is fine, Howard alludes to suffering from insomnia. Jimmy suggests that he see Kim's therapist, but Howard replies that he is already seeing someone twice a week. After Howard leaves, Jimmy tears up the note of Kim's therapist and flushes it down the toilet. Later, while submitting to his court-mandated PPD check-in, Jimmy lies to his PPD supervisor, denying that he associates with known criminals. When the supervisor asks what Jimmy plans to do once his PPD is up, Jimmy goes off on a soliloquy about how he will get his law license back, reestablish his legal partnership with Kim, and become a "damn good lawyer" who people are going to know about.

Official Photos[]

Trivia[]

  • The teaser was shot in film, to match the quality of Breaking Bad, as opposed to digital which most of Better Call Saul was filmed in.
    • During the teaser, Jimmy asks Francesca to confirm that she will be in place on November 12 at 3 p.m. to receive a phone call that Jimmy must receive on a specific pay phone. November 12, 1960 is Jimmy's birthday. ("JMM") It is very likely that this detail is the key element in the presence of this scene that takes place during the Breaking Bad timeline. This is later revealed to be a call from Saul himself checking up on how things have progressed since he went into hiding. ("Breaking Bad")
    • This scene is apart of one of the three "Better Call Saul" episodes that show events from Saul's perspective during the Breaking Bad timeline; The first during "Ozymandias", the second during "Better Call Saul" and the third during "Granite State".
    • This scene is the only time Saul refers to himself as Jimmy during Breaking Bad timeline.
    • The box that Saul extracts from the wall of his office is the same one that Gene searches inside of for a video tape with Saul Goodman's commercials. ("Uno")
  • "It's the best money can buy." echoes what Saul will say to Badger during his first scene in Breaking Bad. ("Better Call Saul")
  • After being beaten by Rocco, Jed and Zane, Jimmy is lying on the ground and it is possible to see that he is wearing the same walking shoes that he had offered to Irene Landry. ("Fall")

Production[]

Credits[]

Co-Starring

  • Eric Steinig as Nick
  • Drew Moore as Biker Boss
  • Sheypan Draus as Skeeve
  • Jamie Javier Guerrreo as Driver
  • Chris Wright as Hustler
  • Todd Lawson LaTourrette as Skell
  • Cosme Duarte as Dog House Customer

Uncredited

  • TBA

Filming Locations[]

  • CC Mobile located at 5805 Menual Blvd NE, Albuquerque NM, where Jimmy is working is shown again a few times in this episode.
  • The Wash Tub laundry mat at 101 11th NW Albuquerque NM. Jimmy goes out to sell some pay as you go phones. He visits the Wash Tub Laundry Mat.
  • The Dog House at 1258 Central Ave NW, Albuquerque NM. Also seen in the scene where Jimmy is selling phones. Featured a few times in Breaking Bad episodes.

Featured Music[]

  • "Even the Nights Are Better" by Air Supply (Jimmy in the cell phone store)
  • "Your Love Rolled Over Me" by Timothy (Jimmy in the cell phone store)
  • "I Don't Mind" by Jamie Dunlap, Scott Nickoley & Stephen Lang (Jimmy in the cell phone store)
  • "Lara's Theme from Doctor Zhivago" by Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra (Jimmy watching TV, Kim working)
  • "Street Life" by Crusaders feat Randy Crawford (Jimmy driving around Albuquerque at night trying to sell cell phones)

Memorable Quotes[]

Saul: "Okay, when the cops come talk to you, and they will, what are you gonna tell them?"
Francesca: "Talk to my attorney."
Saul: "Yeah. Tell them that Jimmy sent you. Okay? Where you gonna be November 12th at 3 p.m.?"
Francesca: "I'll be there. If it doesn't ring at 3 on the dot, I'm gone."
Saul: "Don't worry, it's gonna ring. Well, I guess, that's it. Quite a ride, huh?"
―Jimmy settling the last details and saying goodbye to Francesca before disappearing.

"It's the best that money can buy."
―Jimmy pretending to be on a phone conversation with a client, to get the attention of a potential customer.

Bill Oakley: "Eight months jail."
Kim: "Four months probation."
Bill Oakley: "But what happened to six?"
Kim: "You're annoying me."
Bill Oakley: "You can't play chicken with me. I invented chicken."
Kim: "Wow. Okay."
―Kim pushing Bill to accept her offer.

David Estrada: "I'm gonna have a probation officer on my ass for four months?"
Kim: "David, listen to me. Here's what you're gonna do: today after you leave here, you go straight to your grandfather's restaurant and you will beg him for a job. Any job. If he tells you to srcub the grill, you scrub the grill. If he tells you to clean the toilet, you clean the toilet. You will show up on time. You will smile. You will say "please" and "thank you." You will keep your nose clean, you understand?"
David Estrada: "(David challenges Kim)"
Kim: "Because if you don't, you will go to jail. Grown-up jail, with grown-up bad guys. Picture that, David. Really picture it. And know this, I'm not gonna do a damn thing about it next time. You got it?"
David Estrada: "(David agrees)"
Kim: "Okay."
―Kim explaining to David Estrada that he must take his life in hand.

Jimmy: "Did you get that ink in Los Lunas?"
Biker Boss: "Las Cruces."
Jimmy: "Off by one."
Biker Boss: "And you've been inside?"
Jimmy: "No, I haven't had the honor, but I used to be a lawyer. Emphasis on "used to be." And I helped a lot of gentlemen such as yourself, and your friends here. And one thing I learned from working with my clients in the New Mexico corrections system is that private conversations are few and far between. The man is always listening on those landlines, so.... Word to the wise, if you wanna talk to your friends on the inside, there is a simple solution."
Biker Boss: "Yeah? What's that?"
Jimmy: "This little baby. It's the most compact model on the market, it can be hidden in any number of places. And if you buy it from me, with cash, it's completely untraceable."
Biker Boss: "How much?"
―Jimmy convincing a gang of bikers to buy his prepaid cell phones.

Kim: "It sounds like you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Jimmy: "Back in the day, I would've spotted those low-rent, little skeeves from a mile away. And they would've known not to roll me."
Kim: "Yeah? How would they have known that?"
Jimmy: "I don't know, just... Because, back then, I guess I was one of them."
Kim: "Well, those days are over."
Jimmy: "Yeah. But..."
―Jimmy criticizing himself for misreading the situation and not recognizing the youths as muggers sooner.

Kim: "Paige, I'm so sorry. Let's get this fixed right now."
Paige: "It's fixed. I had to pull everyone on the floor to retype and proof the submission because we didn't have the files. And your paralegal didn't know where they were."
Kim: "I really like to apologize to Kevin personnaly if he's available."
Paige: "He's not. Let me be very clear. The mistake is not the issue here. Everyone makes mistakes. But I need to know your head is in this. You made us a promise that Mesa Verde would be your sole focus. When we need you, we need you. We're not a client you hang up on."
Kim: "I'm really sorry Paige. It'll never happen again."
Paige: "I hope not."
―Paige admonishing Kim for hanging up on her.

Howard: "You ever have insomnia?"
Jimmy: "Not really."
Howard: "Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
―Jimmy worrying about Howard's bad looks.

PPD Supervisor: "Have you thought about what you're gonna do once your PPD is up?"
Jimmy: "I have some plans."
PPD Supervisor: "Okay. Such as?"
Jimmy: "Until then, I'll show up here every second Monday of the month like clockwork. I'm gonna keep my job at the cell phone store and in 9 months and 24 days, I will get my law license back. My partner and I, we'll get a new office. It'll be like it was, but bigger and better. Everything will be better. I'm gonna have more clients, I'm gonna win more cases, I'm gonna be a damn good lawyer. And people are gonna know about it."
PPD Supervisor: "Okay. So... lawyer."
Jimmy: "Yeah. Lawyer."
―Jimmy overinterpreting the question of his PPD Supervisor and sincerely expressing that his love for Kim drives all his actions.

Videos[]

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