Better Call Saul 404 – Talk
Life in the slow lane holds no allure for Jimmy as he turns down another opportunity to work for CC Mobile, the cell phone company. His trajectory is moving in the opposite direction compared to Kim who has visions of a new career path dancing in her head. Concerned with Jimmy’s perceived lack of ambition, Kim suggests that he see a psychiatrist to get him out of his funk. This forces Jimmy to lie to her once again and then inquire if the job offer is still on the table.
Speaking of Kim, she spends the morning sitting in on some cases before the judge asks her to meet him during a recess in the court proceedings. Realizing that Kim is a tad rudderless, he tries to give her some career advice. His well-intentioned words to continue to work with Mesa Verde are taken in but Kim goes back into the courtroom after their chat and he is surprised to see her once again taking in the cases as a spectator.
The irony of Jimmy’s plight at CC Mobile is the fact that the mundane nature of the job is exactly the kind of job he’s doing in his present “witness relocated” life. While not ideal, and certainly not worthy of his quick wit or lawyerly skills the gig at CC Mobile is exactly the kind of job that would have saved Jimmy and his future incarnation as Saul Goodman more than a few headaches. Sometimes life shows people the correct path to take and they ignore it completely.
Jimmy isn’t the only character guilty of this in Talk. Nacho’s decision to take out Hector has him placed squarely in the middle of a shoot out with the twins and a rival cartel. There’s a moment when the bullets are flying and a new band of recruits arrive to take out the twins. Considering his injuries, Nacho could have stayed in the car and let fate take care of things but his decision to join the fray only ingratiates him with the Salamanca’s even more. Afterwards, Nacho realizes that Gus is pulling the strings to acquire territory from the turf war with the Espinosa cartel and that his debt to him is far from being paid off.
During group talk with Stacey, Mike deals with some unresolved feelings for his departed son, Matty. His displeasure with one of the members of the group pushes Mike to the boiling point regarding his truthfulness. The old cop never dies and Mike’s countless hours of dragging the truth out of people pays off but not without a price. His reluctance to share during the sessions has been a bone of contention but now that he’s responded to the group’s wishes he’s burned some bridges.
One that Mike doesn’t burn is featured in an excellent scene that brings Talk to a close. His confrontation with Gus is excellent and solidifies what makes both characters so great. They say talk is cheap, but that’s certainly not the case in this episode of Better Call Saul.
