Television

Standard Of Review: On 'Better Call Saul,' A Man Got To Have A Code

Minor criticisms aside, culture critic Harry Graff is enjoying this season of the show and looks forward to where it goes with two key characters.

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Saul GoodmanIn the immortal words of Omar from The Wire, “a man got to have a code.” While that adage may ring true for some television characters, the two main characters on Better Call Saul, Jimmy McGill and Mike Ehrmentraut, both have had difficulty strictly adhering to a set of rules in recent episodes, causing negative consequences for each (this column will contain spoilers through this week’s episode “Rebecca,” as well as minor spoilers for Breaking Bad).

Jimmy violates both the New Mexico Rules of Professional Conduct and (more interestingly) the written and unwritten rules of law firms. Jimmy has the best intentions; the Sandpiper Crossing fraud case is his baby, and he has parlayed originating the case into a swanky job at prominent Sante Fe law firm Davis & Main. If a huge office and a doting personal assistant were not enough, Jimmy has an ostensibly “cool” boss, Clifford Mane (Ed Begley, Jr.), who strums his guitar during office hours. Unlike most attorneys new to Biglaw, Jimmy is not required to conduct legal research or review documents. Instead, his purview is “client outreach,” or finding potential named plaintiffs for the class-action lawsuit against Sandpiper.

But in order to engage in successful outreach with clients, Jimmy’s first instinct is to break one of the cardinal ethical rules for attorneys – no direct contact with prospective clients. Jimmy barely even attempts to acquire clients via traditional channels. Instead, he pays off a bus driver to allow him to speak to a group of senior citizens to convince them to join the action.

After Jimmy’s brother Chuck questions Jimmy’s methods, Jimmy attempts a more legal tactic to acquire clients for the Sandpiper case – direct commercial advertising. But in doing so, he runs up against something he is not used to – law firm politics. Clifford expresses reluctance at the prospect of a commercial, causing Jimmy to take matters into his own hands, filming a commercial himself and airing it in Colorado. This incenses Clifford, who almost fires Jimmy. It also has negative unforeseen effects for Kim, who is put in the doghouse by Howard (because Kim had recommended hiring Jimmy in the first place) and forced to do document review. Jimmy’s obliviousness to the ways of law firm life is further exposed when gunner junior associate Erin is condescending towards him for not using the Davis & Main “house style,” such as the proper way to indent and capitalize briefs.

One of the interesting aspects of Better Call Saul is that we know that Jimmy is going to turn out ok. We know that, as of the second season of Breaking Bad, Jimmy is the extremely successful, albeit morally unsound, attorney Saul Goodman. He will have blanketed Albuquerque with advertisements. Even Jesse Pinkman – not exactly a legal scholar – knows Saul’s name. Audiences love Saul’s unethical and often illegal nature. Despite this, it is tragic to watch Jimmy fail so hard at being a firm lawyer. Jimmy may not be as bright as his brother Chuck, but his heart is in the right place, as he truly cares about obtaining justice for Sandpiper residents. But his “Slippin Jimmy” persona just does not fit in at stuffy law firms, even with a managing partner who plays the guitar during the day.

Mike also suffers from not following a code – his own. On Breaking Bad, Mike delivers his iconic “half measures” speech after Walt asks Saul to get Jesse arrested after Jesse proposes a plan that Walt views as reckless. Mike confronts Walt, informing him that Jesse should not go to prison. Mike continues by recounting a story from his days on the Philadelphia police force in which he used “half measures” instead of “full measures” by not killing a serial wife-beater when he had the chance; merely threatened but not killed, the criminal eventually killed his wife. Mike concludes the story by stating, “I’ll never make that mistake again.”

It turns out that Mike does in fact make that mistake again during last week’s episode. Nacho attempts to hire Mike to kill Nacho’s business partner Tuco, who has become borderline unhinged. After Nacho presents Mike with a fairly well-reasoned plan to kill Tuco without detection, Mike balks, instead deciding on a convoluted, half-measured plan to provoke Tuco into beating him up, thus sending him to jail for assault and possession of a firearm. Mike’s plan is ostensibly a success, as Tuco takes the bait, repeatedly punches Mike, and is subsequently arrested. But this success comes at the price of Mike’s face, which is beaten to a pulp. To make matters worse, in this week’s episode Tuco’s uncle (and cartel enforcer) Hector Salamanca confronts Mike and bribes him in an attempt to convince Mike to tell the police that the gun did not belong to Tuco.

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Why did Mike, despite his later blustery talk in Breaking Bad, decide not to engage in “full measures” and just kill Tuco? Perhaps Mike – who was a cop for many years – will murder those that have crossed him but is more reluctant to kill someone with whom he does not have a relationship. But by doing so, Mike has likely hurt himself in the long run. Not only is his face bruised, but he now has to choose between staying loyal to Nacho or getting in bed with the cartel. Based on Breaking Bad, I have a pretty good feeling which way he chooses.

My only real criticism of Mike’s plotline (besides the fact that it made me say to myself: “you know, Nacho’s plan to murder someone in cold blood seems pretty reasonable!”) is the fact that the show brought back Hector, one of the most indelible minor characters from Breaking Bad. As I have written before, I do not necessarily mind when Breaking Bad characters show up on Better Call Saul (such as Krazy-8 last week). But I don’t want this to happen very often, to the point where the audience watches Better Call Saul just to see their favorite Breaking Bad characters one more time. And I particularly do not like the way this week’s episode introduces Hector. In that scene, Mike is sitting at a diner, as a man walks through the front door, his face somewhat out of focus and difficult to see. The man then sits down in front of Mike as the camera pulls back, showing the man’s back and hat only. Once the man orders coffee, the camera finally reveals that the man is indeed Hector. Of course, director John Shiban filmed the scene this way so as to be a huge reveal for Breaking Bad fans. But it is a very odd staging for audiences unfamiliar with Breaking Bad and watching Better Call Saul with fresh eyes.

Despite this minor criticism, I have really enjoyed this season and look forward to where the show goes with both Jimmy and Mike. And let’s hope that I express more skepticism for the next proposed murder on the show.

Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at harrygraff19@gmail.com. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.

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