Better Call Saul Review: Wexler v. Goodman (Season 5 Episode 6)

Jimmy McGill puts Saul Goodman into overdrive on Better Call Saul Season 5 Episode 6, “Wexler v. Goodman,” consequences be damned. The fantastic episode lays the seeds of the persona becoming an addiction while Kim starts to see the light among all of the dark.

The main event of the episode is the big meeting. Once Jimmy wanders in rather late and fairly pepped up, it should be obvious that things are about to go off the rails, as Saul Goodman doesn’t disappoint in the theatrics. It’s like watching a trainwreck, these crossing of lines and moral grey areas that sound so close to blackmail and extortion, but is cleverly turned away from being that at the last moment.

But it’s also a moment of incredible comedy, Bob Odenkirk performing a magic trick of being infinitely charming as his character utterly destroys any sense of his moral compass. By the end of the scene, it’s clear that Jimmy needed that high of hurting someone, but what he doesn’t calculate is that Kim is the one he will hurt the most with this.

It’s also worth mentioning that the parking garage talk between Jimmy and Kevin has this underlying sense of dread to it, as Kevin’s been this ticking time bomb for so long. The inference of violence feels like it could break out in an instant, and Jimmy’s gloating of how things are going to go his way is not like poking a bear, but rather hitting it with everything he has.

The prank on Howard is almost like a drug, the way the high from it fades and Jimmy immediately starts looking into the next thing in regards to Mesa Verde. It’s becoming a temporary fix for him at this point, this need to get back at those he sees screwing over others. While it’s not clear if this is just on impulse or if he’s driven by it, and it’s certainly open to interpretation, but there is this feeling that Jimmy feeds off of it.

Jimmy is becoming like a shark, this need to always keep moving or else it’s the end of him. Even during the scene of making the complaint ads, Jimmy is always on the move, as chipper and as excited as ever. There’s definitely an irony to his addiction to being Saul Goodman, that it’s alienating those around him and it will be his eventual downfall.

But that’s not going to stop him from enjoying it all while he still can.

It’s especially telling during the final scene between Jimmy and Kim, where her frustrations let loose, and justifiably so. He can’t promise he’ll never do it again, because he can’t help himself. He needs the chaos he causes, and he’s realizing it. He may have known deep down before, but this scene cements it.

But what this scene also does is ties Kim Wexler to her younger self. The opening scene, waiting in the cold for her mother who’s been drinking, is a sign that she is willing to sacrifice her well-being by walking miles home rather than let her mother disappoint her again.

Jimmy is her new form of disappointment, but her offer of marriage is like she’s considering tying herself to disappointment, rather than the clear answer the entire scene has been saying, which is to run. It’s a curious choice she says out loud, that leaving or doubling down are the two options she sees. From what she says, the answer is fairly straightforward, but maybe the lesson isn’t that Kim finally sees Jimmy for what he is, but rather that she is drawn in by it.

Is marriage, in her eyes, another calculation to end the Mesa Verde battle, or is it her admitting that despite all of the anger and frustration, she does not want to let go of Jimmy? Maybe she’s still in love with Jimmy, but hates Saul Goodman. Or maybe it’s that classic idea of spouses being unable to testify against their partner, as a ploy to outmaneuver Jimmy in some way, a taste of his own blindsiding medicine.

Either way, there’s this feeling that trust may be irrevocably broken, and so there’s an angle to sticking around beyond the good old days, especially with how much Kim is talking herself out of the relationship more than venting at Jimmy.

Both Rhea Seehorn and Bob Odenkirk are masterful throughout the scene when working with Thomas Schnauz’s writing, where every word and every piece has an extra layer underneath and is worth unpacking multiple times over.

Mike’s fantastic plan of slowly pointing the finger at Lalo is like watching another master at work. Each piece of the plan is so expertly planned out, and done with such finesse, it inspires confidence that Mike can get anything done. It’s probably true at this point, with all of the impressive moves he’s made over both shows.

But Mike may have lost his last bit of kindness by joining Gus. Nacho’s plea about his father is fairly direct, but Mike wants to tie Nacho’s father’s safety to removing Lalo from the board, rather than doing what’s right first. Mike has joined the pit of vipers now, and he’s already, one episode in, showing he fits into that world well through empty promises and manipulating librarians.

Better Call Saul Season 5 Episode 6, “Wexler v. Goodman,” is the descent into darkness. When kindness and acceptance should win the day, going nuclear is the response, and changes things forever. It may be in good fun, but the damage is clear.

And yet, there’s such an enthusiasm to everyone becoming their worst self.

 

What did you think of this episode of Better Call Saul? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Better Call Saul airs Mondays at 9/8c on AMC.

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