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"The Guy For This" is the third episode of the fifth season of Better Call Saul and the forty-third episode of the series altogether.

Summary[]

Teaser[]

In a prolonged opening sequence, an ant finds and climbs atop Jimmy's fallen ice cream cone. The cone is soon swarmed and consumed by an entire colony of ants on the city sidewalk.

Act I[]

BCS 503 01

Nacho and Blingy drive Jimmy to a garage where Lalo is working on his car. Lalo warmly greets a fearful Jimmy and states that he is impressed with how Jimmy used his communication skills to talk Tuco out of killing the skateboarders a few years previously. Lalo tells Jimmy that he wants him to carry a message to Krazy-8 inside the Metropolitan Detention Center, which would be protected under attorney-client privilege. Jimmy tries to talk himself out of the imposed job by mentioning increased rates, but Lalo hands him over the demanded fee in cash on the spot.

BCS 503 02

At the bar where he and Werner commiserated, Mike is knocking back multiple drinks. The bartender, concerned, offers to call Mike a cab so he doesn't drive home drunk. As Mike surrenders his keys, he notices the photograph of the Sydney Opera House on the wall behind the counter and demands for the picture to be taken down, remembering what Werner said about his father working on the project. As Mike walks home, he passes by a group of gangbangers who demand $20 from Mike, but he refuses to pay them. Their leader attacks Mike, who effortlessly subdues him and breaks his arm, scaring the others into allowing Mike to leave.

Act II[]

BCS 503 03

Jimmy returns to Kim's apartment and finds Kim waiting for him on their balcony. Kim is in a celebratory mood, as her schedule the following day is packed with pro bono cases instead of work for Mesa Verde. When Kim asks how Jimmy's day went, he evasively answers that he met "some interesting people" and had a few "ups and downs" but insists that he had his best day yet in terms of income. Kim appears to be aware that Jimmy is not telling her the whole truth but doesn't press the issue.

BCS 503 04

The following day, Nacho is at home watching television with two of his junkie girlfriends, one of whom is taking apart his belongings in order to supposedly clean them; Nacho mollifies her by giving her a jigsaw puzzle to solve. Nacho receives an unexpected visit from his father Manuel, whom he invites inside. Over coffee, Manuel tells Nacho that he has refused an offer to buy his upholstery shop and voices his suspicion that Nacho was behind the offer. Manuel forcefully tells Nacho that he will not flee the city as Nacho wants to do, and that the only way for Nacho to confront his troubles is to turn himself in to the police.

BCS 503 05

At the courthouse, Kim's assistant Stef comes into the courtroom to tell her that an urgent matter has come up, but Kim makes her present pro bono case take priority. The judge rules against Kim's motion to dismiss the case; outside the courtroom, Kim reassures the defendant and her family that they stand a good chance of winning at trial. Stef approaches Kim again, telling her that Rich urgently wants to talk to her. Rich tells Kim that Kevin wants her in Tucumcari to settle a land dispute while having other staff members take on her cases. He reminds her that Mesa Verde keeps them in business and that she has to "give a little to get a little"; Kim reluctantly acquiesces.

BCS 503 06

At the MDC, Jimmy is in an interview room when a shackled Krazy-8 is brought before him. Krazy-8 is initially perplexed as he never hired Jimmy, though his demeanor changes when Jimmy reveals that Lalo hired him. Krazy-8 insists he hasn't said anything incriminating to the police about the origin of the drugs. Jimmy asks if he's good at memorizing information and hands him a notepad with a written script.

Act III[]

As Jimmy watches across the street from the MDC, an unmarked police car arrives carrying DEA agents Hank Schrader and Steven Gomez. As they enter the jail and leave their weapons in a holding room, Hank and Gomez engage in conversation about expired food. They walk into the interview room and meet with Krazy-8, who has expressed a willingness to talk. Following Jimmy and Lalo's script, Krazy-8 gives the agents details about drug dealing procedures and where hidden drug money can be found. Playing his part in the charade, Jimmy loudly enters the room and pretends to have a disagreement with his client about sharing information with the police. Hank immediately sees through Jimmy's "Saul Goodman" persona, and he and Gomez are suspicious of the overblown performance. When the agents attempt to leave the room, Jimmy tells them that Krazy-8's information will lead to results; Hank insists that it has to lead to further arrests. Jimmy demands protection for his client as a confidential informant. Agreeing on that, Krazy-8 continues by sharing the exact locations of three dead drops.

Act IV[]

BCS 503 11

Kim arrives in Tucumcari and meets Paige on a barren plot of land which used to be a residential neighborhood, where only one house remains standing. The homeowner, Everett Acker, is stubbornly refusing to sell his piece of the land, on which Mesa Verde plans to build a call center. Meeting with Acker outside his house, Kim pragmatically outlines the situation—that Acker merely took out a lease on the land, but did not purchase it—but also tries to empathize with his point of view. She informs Acker that Mesa Verde has raised the contractually agreed sum for buying him out. Acker flatly refuses the new offer, dismissing her overtures as merely a tactical move by Mesa Verde and insisting that no one will ever get him to abandon his property. When Acker calls out Kim on moral grounds, she angrily rescinds Mesa Verde's offer and tells him to stick to the law like his former neighbors, who sold their homes. Even though Paige thinks Kim has brought the dispute to an end, Kim isn't pleased with the situation.

BCS 503 12

Jimmy and Nacho meet with Lalo at a dirt racing oval outside of Albuquerque, where Lalo is driving laps in his newly modified car. Jimmy informs Lalo that their plan has worked and that the DEA is now focused on confronting a competing cartel. He also informs Lalo that Krazy-8 is now a confidential informant for the DEA, meaning that he can give Lalo inside information on the agency's activities. With his task for Lalo now over, Jimmy unsuccessfully tries to talk his way out of any further cartel work and tells Lalo that he has no time on his schedule for whatever Lalo wants. Lalo simply replies, "You'll make time." As Lalo drives off, Jimmy asks Nacho in what he has gotten himself into. Nacho tells him that he doesn't want to know and there's no way back for him, stating that "when you're in, you're in." Nacho drops Jimmy off outside the courthouse, where Jimmy sees the remains of his ice cream cone on the sidewalk.

Act V[]

BCS 503 13

At dusk, Kim is driving back from Tucumcari while being updated on her pro bono cases by Stef via phone. Uneasy with her encounter with Acker, she decides to turn around and drive back to Tucumcari, reaching Acker's house after dark. Using a plank of wood to gain access to Acker's property, Kim persuades him to speak with her again. Kim tells Acker that she has visited a real estate office and has found some houses in his price range that he might like, even offering to help him move out of her own pocket. Kim is forced to admit that she doesn't know how Acker feels since she has never been a homeowner herself. She further tells him about her childhood, during which her mother often couldn't pay rent and forced the family to move from one place to another. Acker accuses Kim of making up her story in order to cajole him into selling his land and goes back into his house.

BCS 503 14

At an electrical substation, Nacho tells Gus and Tyrus that Krazy-8 is now a DEA informant. Nacho withholds the names of Hank and Gomez, as they are in Jimmy's hands. Tyrus takes out his phone and prepares a call to shut down the dead drop sites, but Gus and Nacho stop him from going through, with Nacho reasoning that Lalo will know someone talked if the DEA doesn't find the money at the dead drops.

Kim returns to her apartment and joins Jimmy on their balcony. Frustrated by the events of the day, she begins venting by throwing glass beer bottles onto the parking lot below. Without saying a word, Jimmy copies her by doing the same. They head back in after throwing all of their bottles and the neighbours have woken up to the noise.

Trivia[]

  • This episode is the second collaboration of director Michael Morris and writer Ann Cherkis on Better Call Saul. They previously worked together on season 4 episode "Quite a Ride".
  • This episode marks the earliest chronological appearance of Steven Gomez, who first appeared in Breaking Bad's "Pilot".
  • As of this episode, with meeting Lalo, Jimmy has now met all the main characters in Better Call Saul.
  • This episode also marks the last time Jimmy sees Nacho in person, though the two would have one final conversation over the phone in "JMM".
  • Domingo is carefully examined by Hank and Steven (prior to interrogation) in the same intimidating “Lie Detector” manner as he once was by Nacho and Tuco in "Gloves Off". In addition, Hank is sitting on the exact same side of the table and bearing the same deadly suspicious look at Domingo, as Tuco previously had done.
  • This episode shows the beginning of Krazy-8's work as a snitch for the DEA, which led to the bust of Jesse Pinkman and Emilio Koyama's operation in "Pilot", and reveals that it was started at the behest of Lalo. The discussion between Lalo, Jimmy and Nacho indicates that at least some of his subsequent work as a snitch was at the behest of Lalo as well.
  • Jimmy's previous troubles with Nacho, in season 1 episode "Nacho", are mentioned during his conversation with Lalo, as well as his encounter with Tuco in "Mijo".
  • When we first see Lalo in this episode, he is working on a car singing "Al Compás De Mi Caballo" by Los Imperials. This was the same song that was playing when he debuted in "Coushatta".
  • In the living room of Nacho's house is a gigantic cartoon board depicting a speeding car with a big onomatopoeia "Vroooom". This painting recalls Jesse's escape at the end of Breaking Bad and represents Nacho's intention to flee.
  • Just before Nacho's girlfriend accidentally changes channels from the soccer game he is watching, that game is shown to be an international friendly between Belarus and Mexico that took place in 2014 - several years after the events of the show.
  • Jimmy's blue mint chocolate chip ice cream being eaten by ants is symbolic of his transformation into Saul Goodman. Under practicing the law as James McGill, he enjoyed blue mint chocolate chip ice cream. When he crosses paths with a high-ranking drug lord, he relinquishes the ice cream (symbolic of James McGill). The ants eating the ice cream symbolizes James McGill being "eaten away" bit by bit; soon, Saul Goodman will be all that is left.

Production[]

Credits[]

Co-Starring

  • Mimi Fletcher as Myrna
  • Darryl W Handy as Mike's Bartender
  • La'Charles Trask as Chatty Tough
  • Joshua Horton as Injured Tough
  • Michael Morford as Big Tough

Uncredited

  • Diego Ward as Tough 4
  • Randy Gonzalez as Tough 5

Featured Music[]

  • "Jänzigrat-Jüz" by Jodlerklub Bärgblüemli Schattdorf (when ants devour ice cream left on the pavement)
  • "Toma Toma" by Taino (when Nacho takes Saul to see Lalo)
  • "Al Compás De Mi Caballo" by Los Imperials (sung by Lalo while working on a car)
  • "Thousand Ages From The Sun" by Pretty Things (heard in the bar where Mike went)

Memorable Quotes[]

Lalo: "Yeah, we got a legal problem."
Jimmy: "Oh! [chuckles] A–A legal problem? Fantastic! I'm sorry, it's just for a minute there, I thought I was gonna be... swallowing condoms filled with heroin."
Lalo: "[laughs] No. But, maybe later."
Nacho: "We have a guy sitting in MDC, picked up two days ago."
Jimmy: "Picked up for what?"
Lalo: "Yeah, we'll get to that. We need our friend to tell the cops things. Some important things."
Jimmy: "Important things, gotcha."
Lalo: "We want him to say exactly what we tell him. No more, no less. But the cops can't know it's coming from us. So, we send you in there... you tell him how to do it, and they can't listen."
Nacho: "Attorney-client confidentiality."
Lalo: "Yeah. That."
Jimmy: "[pause] Uh... that's flattering. Uh... can I offer... [takes out disposable cellphone] this? I guarantee there are five of these in MDC right now. You know, drop phones in, say, someone's "prison wallet", if you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, you talk directly to your guy. Cut out the middle man."
Nacho: "It works better if you're in there with him."
Lalo: "[gets up from chair] You're the guy for this."
―Lalo hires Jimmy on the advice of Nacho.

Hank: "[pause] And you are?"
Jimmy: "Saul Goodman. I'm Mr. Molina's attorney, and you're in violation of his constitutional rights."
Hank: "Heh-heh. S'all good, man! [he and Gomez laugh] Really? Come on. That's your name?"
―Hank laughing at Jimmy's nickname.

Hank: "Okay, Domingo! Start talking."
Jimmy: "Go ahead."
Krazy-8: "Like I said, the dealers kick up the cash. I don't know who picks it up. All I know is that there are three dead drops they run on Thursday nights, and-"
Jimmy: "Hold on."
Hank: "What? What!?"
Jimmy: "Look, I know how this goes, alright? My guy talks to you, you squeeze him out like a sponge, then you dump him back on the street. Word gets out that he's a fink, he ends up bleeding out in front of his mother's house."
Krazy-8: "What?!"
Jimmy: "No, it's not gonna happen, okay? Do you hear what I'm saying? My client is not leaving here with a target on his back."
Hank: "[taps on the table] Fine. We'll take care of him. Assuming this isn't one big jag-off, it'll look like he got out because... his lawyer's a genius."
Jimmy: "Okay, and he's... he's not just anyone's CI, either, alright? You don't pass him around like a venereal disease. He's your personal CI. So, he gets picked up: you call me, I call you, it gets taken care of, no questions asked."
Hank: "Okay, but it's contingent."
Jimmy: "Sure."
Hank: "And it better be worth it."
―Jimmy demands protection for Krazy-8 as a confidential informant of Hank et Steven.

Lalo: "Huh. So?"
Jimmy: "So, just like you wanted. Assuming the dead drops are a real thing, the feds are gonna be on him."
Lalo: "Feds?"
Jimmy: "Yeah. DEA. There's a matched pair of them, and they're into this with a vengeance. I mean, think feeding time in the lion cage. And, um... they're gunning for arrests."
Lalo: "Okay."
Jimmy: "[pause] Oh, and... your guy is now a confidential informant."
Lalo: "What do you mean? Like a rat?"
Jimmy: "No! He's not a rat, no! I mean–well, if he's a rat, he's your rat. So... Uh, put it this way. You now have a hotline to the DEA. And not just now–any time, so that's a good thing. Right? But the deal is, at some point, you might hear that Domingo is a snitch. You gotta know... he's not."
Lalo: "And what do you care?"
Jimmy: "Well, all due respect, you're paying me, but he's my client. I'd like to keep him alive."
Lalo: "[laughs; in Spanish] This dude. Good idea."
Jimmy: "[as Lalo walks away] Oh, one more thing. You're gonna have to find a different attorney for future endeavors, 'cause my schedule is just very, very tight."
Lalo: "[pause] You'll make time."
―Jimmy debriefing Lalo about Krazy-8's interrogation.

Jimmy: "Who exactly did I just set up?!"
Nacho: "You don't wanna know."
Jimmy: "I mean, if there's gonna be blowback, I don't wanna be in the middle of it!"
Nacho: "It's not about what you want. When you're in... you're in."
―Jimmy worrying to Nacho about the mess he's gotten himself into.

Kim: "Hi. Can we start over?"
Acker: "Say what you came to say."
Kim: "I went to a real estate office. I found some houses I think you might like. There's some really nice options in your price range. [shows Acker pamphlet] This one's on half an acre. And, uh... This one is older, but it has a really good view... and the neighborhood's pretty. [pause] I know moving's a big deal. I'd like to help you out with that myself, if that's alright with you. I can take off any day this week. I'll pay for it out of my own pocket. Uh... Oh! This one has three bedrooms. [pause] I know you don't wanna move, but whatever house you choose will be yours. You'll own it–and the land–forever."
Acker: "[He stares at Kim for several moments before she closes the pamphlet]"
Kim: "You're right. I can't pretend to understand what you're going through. I've never owned a house. My family never owned one either. We never owned anything. When I was little, my mother used to shake me awake in the middle of the night, yelling, "It was time to go." She was always one step ahead of the landlord. I'd thrown my things in a cardboard box, and run outside in my pajamas and bare feet. Sometimes... It was so cold... my–my toes turned blue. [beat; Acker is still staring at Kim] If we had found a house, I never would have wanted to leave."
Acker: "[pause] You'll say anything to get anything you want, won't you?"
―Kim sincerely trying to help Acker find a new home.

Videos[]


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