Season two of ‘Better Call Saul’ premieres Monday, Feb. 15 at 10/9c on AMC.
The first season of AMC’s Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul gave us the beginning of the increasingly complicated back story of shady lawyer and fan-favorite, Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk). While focusing almost exclusively on his early days as a struggling, frustrated young lawyer desperate to find his footing, there were times when the garish personality of Saul Goodman would shine through like a beacon. With the second season set to premiere next week, here’s a look back at those moments when we saw Jimmy McGill start to hint at his becoming Saul Goodman.
He’s a bit of a cinephile.
It was never his most prominent characteristic, but Saul Goodman was a man who knew a thing or two about movies. From The Godfather to Ice Station Zebra, he was always rife with cinematic references, and in the show’s first episode, when visiting the law firm of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill on behalf of his brother, Chuck (Michael McKean), Jimmy’s rejection of their offer comes complete with his rendition of the “primal forces of nature” speech from the 1976 drama, Network.
A desperate negotiation with Tuco.
What starts with twin skater kids pulling a lowball scheme on the least gullible guy they could’ve thrown themselves in front of, Jimmy’s fierce entrepreneurial spirit takes over, which soon lands all three of them in the clutches of the nefarious Tuco (Raymond Cruz). It’s only after Jimmy somehow manages to talk Tuco down from killing the skater kids to simply breaking their legs that Jimmy starts to prove himself to be, in his own words, “the best lawyer ever.”
Finding the missing Kettleman family.
Looking to get his client, Nacho (Michael Mando), out from a murder accusation, Jimmy takes it upon himself to conduct his own investigation as to where the Kettleman family disappeared at the suggestion of Mike (Jonathan Banks). Several hours later, Jimmy finds them a few miles outside their backyard gate holding family sing-alongs in their tent. While his determination is certainly admirable, it’s the showmanship behind Jimmy’s very Shining-esque entrance that would become synonymous with Saul Goodman.
The watch and wallet scam.
Going way back to the ‘Slipping’ days, we see Jimmy as a young, mullet-sporting con man running cheap hustles in dark alleyways with his buddy, Marco (Mel Rodriguez). Even back in the day, Jimmy was known for playing the long game, and showed that even early on, when dealing with him, things weren’t ever what they seemed.
Having a suit made.
While visiting a tailor to have a very specific kind of suit made, it almost seems like Jimmy was gifted with good taste that somehow devolved into the pastel ensembles we were used to seeing Saul Goodman wear. While it turned out the suit was a very specific, and elaborate, advertising gimmick (more on that below), we did get a brief moment of Jimmy eyeing certain shirt-and-tie combinations that seemed much more in-line with his true sense of style.
Staging his heroism with style.
After Jimmy was ordered to take down his billboard for copyright infringement, he hired a film crew to produce what appears to be a commercial, touting himself as a humble lawyer chasing the American dream. When the worker slips off the ledge and dangles helplessly from his harness, Jimmy dashes to the rescue, all as it’s all conveniently captured on film. It isn’t until he pulls the worker back on the ledge that their secret fist-bump shows just how deep Jimmy’s cons can run — a trait he’d later come to master.
Jimmy’s unique branding.
When Jimmy pivoted to focus on elder law, he went with a much less conventional advertising approach than a billboard, branding Jell-O cups with his slogan ‘Need A Will? Call McGill!,’ a familiar-sounding early draft of the tagline he’d become famous for.
Representing Mike Ehrmentraut.
It’s not just that Jimmy agrees to represent Mike after a bunch of Philadelphia cops show up to his door, it’s how passionately he takes to the job from the get-go. He confidently storms through the halls, loudly demanding he be taken to his client. Not only that, but he agrees to take part in Mike’s ‘Marx Brothers’ routine, purposefully spilling coffee on one of the cops before covering for Mike after the fact. All the while, each time he refers to Mike as “my client,” you can hear the voice of Saul Goodman just waiting to come out.
The moment of clarity
In the closing moments of season one, Jimmy has what seems to be his moment of self-realization. This comes not merely by way of turning down a prestigious job interview over the possibility of cashing in big, but by tearing up the rule book and doing whatever was necessary to make it big. Off he drives, humming Deep Purple with a new direction in mind. One that, perhaps, isn’t guided by the moral compass of Jimmy McGill.
