Better Call Saul Season 1 Finale Review: Go West, Young Con Man

Better Call Saul S01E10: "Marco"

After getting most of its shock and betrayal out of the way in last week's penultimate "Pimento," Better Call Saul used its Season 1 finale to examine the fallout from Chuck's admission that he was the one who'd held Jimmy back while Jimmy tried to swim for the shores of legitimate employment. But "Marco" took a very important, if somewhat subtle, step with Jimmy's character, one that put Jimmy's destiny back in the hands of Jimmy himself.

Looking back at "Pimento," it'd be easy to say that Chuck is the reason Jimmy ultimately became Breaking Bad's Saul Goodman; if Chuck hadn't intervened with Jimmy's lawyerly ambitions, Jimmy might've been hired at HHM, filled his closet with obnoxiously expensive suits, and spent the next several years handling cases alongside his big bro, far away from the strip mall where Saul eventually set up shop. But that would be the easy way out, and Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould aren't in the business of writing passive, reactionary characters with "wah wah" stories about how other people have done them wrong. Passive, reactionary characters are boring. But active characters who take control of their lives—characters like Walter White—are interesting, and "Marco" was all about giving Jimmy agency.

After calling a round of Bingo did nothing for Jimmy except remind him of how Chuck had stabbed him in the back (B as in betrayal), Jimmy flew back to Chicago and put on his old Slippin' Jimmy shoes, partnering up with his old pal Marco to run a few scams. They didn't need the money—they needed the thrill of skimming cash off some easy marks. It was a bamboozling bender to take Jimmy's mind off Chuck, a relapse into the world he was trying to escape as well as a vacation from the world he was trying to join. While lots of folks might scamper off to Vegas to erase the memory of a bad week, Jimmy prefers to travel to Chicago, pretend he's Kevin Costner, and have sex with some waitresses.

But hey, that's a completely normal response to having your spirits crushed by your own kin: Run away for a bit, collect your thoughts, and drink away some of the bitterness. However, it was Jimmy's next move after an awesome opportunity fell into his lap that really solidified as a man of his own making. Kim lined up a job for Jimmy at a Santa Fe firm that would enable him to work the Sandpiper case he'd brought to HHM, and it was everything Jimmy thought he wanted. A stable, solid gig. The chance to continue working with his existing clients. A path toward making partner. And probably a kickass office, too. He was on his way to meet his future employer... and then he changed his mind. He said no to that life.

Jimmy finally understood where he was headed, realizing it had to be in the opposite direction of the job in Santa Fe. In a sense, Chuck was right: Jimmy isn't a lawyer, at least not in the obvious sense. He's not cut out to be a partner at a law firm. He has a certain skill set that makes him a perfect fit for the man he was meant to be, and that man is Saul Goodman. He works hard, he's good with people, and he's willing to take some liberties when it comes to the law. He tried abiding by the system, but it spit him out. He had a chance to say goodbye to Slippin' Jimmy for good, but he couldn't do it. So he decided to become an even better version of Slippin' Jimmy instead.

Jimmy may have convinced himself to cut his own trail with a lie he told during one of his scams. The whole bit about the Kennedy half dollar bled into the cinematography of "Marco" during Jimmy's climactic decision. According to Jimmy, the rare half dollar with JFK "facing west, toward the new frontier, the future" was more valuable than the more common coin featuring the president looking east, toward the American past. When Jimmy was about to meet with reps from Davis and Main and cement his future, which way did he appear to be facing in the frame?

That's east, a.k.a. the plain and boring world of big-office law. And Jimmy isn't the type to retrace old steps. So he fiddled with Marco's ring, turned around, and had a chat with Mike about all the money they didn't take and how "doing the right thing" had robbed him. "I know what stopped me, and it's never stopping me again." I loved hearing him utter that line, it was goddamn perfect. And it's probably worth noting that he was headed west, toward the prosperous future, during their conversation.

So Jimmy drove off, leaving a once-in-a-lifetime offer behind not because it wasn't good enough, but because it wasn't right for him. He spent most of the season trying to be someone he's not, wearing Matlock clothes or dressing up as Howard, but his biggest successes came from being himself and working hard.

But most importantly, Jimmy's decision wasn't forced by Chuck's betrayal. He could've gone back to being a regular lawyer and snagged the dream job he'd wanted ever since he passed the bar. But instead he blasted some Deep Purple and hightailed it. Everything that happens to him after this point, good or bad, is on him.

Better Call Saul concluded its excellent first season on a quieter note, but one that was necessary with regard to the evolution of Jimmy McGill. Jimmy's transformation into Saul Goodman has begun, and Better Call Saul probably has a long life ahead of it, but no matter what, the series' debut season was a fantastic, deliberate examination of Jimmy as a character and built a strong foundation for everything to come.

BETTER READ THESE NOTES

– That Chicago scam montage was a fantastic throwback to old noir and detective stories. If Breaking Bad was mostly inspired by classic Westerns, Better Call Saul owes a lot to film noir and private dicks.

– My favorite line from that montage came from a "blind" Jimmy asking, "Sir, can you help me? Are these today's numbers?"

– R.I.P. Marco, you died doing what you loved: lying in a dark alley in an attempt to sucker some idiot out of hundreds of dollars.

– B is for Belize!

– I haven't paid too much attention to Better Call Saul's opening credits, which change with each episode, but this week's sequence, in which a "World's Greatest Lawyer" mug crashed to the floor and exploded, seemed to really align with the theme of "Marco." I wonder if the others did as well?

– People of Chicago! Keep your sunroofs closed!