2.08 Better Call Saul

Summary and spoilers

In an episode that could have been titled, “We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badger”, Badger is arrested while selling meth to an undercover cop. It’s coincidental or convenient that the bench he is arrested near is adorned with an ad for flamboyant but effective criminal lawyer Saul Goodman. Saul takes the case and the money for his services are paid up front via money order made out to a separate company for tax purposes.

Hank is rattled by his experiences down south, but a visit and pep talk from Walt gets him back into the office, even though he is having to fight hard to control his stress levels. His first task is for he and Gomez to question Badger, the street dealer caught with Heisenberg’s blue meth.

Walt visits Saul to make payment and finds out that Badger has been visited by the DEA. Badger’s blue meth has been traced back to the mysterious Heisenberg. Saul is happy to share what he feels is good news ᾦquot; that Badger will walk if he tells the DEA about his supplier. But Walt is less happy; in a show of cold self-preservation, he offers Saul an additional 10 grand to ‘throw’ the case. Saul refuses; desperate, Walt and Jesse don those pom-pom ski masks and abduct Saul. At gunpoint, they demand that he continue to represent Badger, while at the same time promising not to let Badger give any information to the DEA. Walt’s coughing alerts Saul to the fact that he was in the office earlier. Soon, Walt and Jesse have both taken their masks off and agreed to work with Saul to solve their problems.

Saul has a plan; he will facilitate a paid professional jail term server that Badger can finger. The cost: 80 grand. Walt and Jesse have no alternative, and no other way to keep Badger out of jail.

Badger makes the drop and implicates the stooge. It all goes down perfectly, but Hank’s reaction after the bust reveals that he’s not convinced they captured the right guy. You can almost feel that he is close to linking Walt in this scenario.

Jesse’s hand-holding with Jane ended with love-making on sleeping bags on the bare floor. Afterward, Jane reveals she is a recovering druggie and has been clean for 18 months. Later, after the events of the day, Jesse returns to his apartment to find that a king-sized mattress has been delivered. Jane drops by; Jesse flips the mattress onto the floor, and he and Jane crash down onto it, squirming together and creating that special noise that only plastic covered material can make.

Saul’s PI has discovered Walt in his classroom at school. Saul visits Walt there, not to shake him down, but rather to offer his services as silent partner to help Walt to make ᾦquot; and keep ᾦquot; more money.

Comments

Walt notices that Skyler seems a little too dressed up for her end-of-quarter Saturday overtime work at Beneke. We only get to see Skyler heading off to work; we’ll have to wait until the next episode to find out what happened there.

Memorable Moments

• The shonky TV ad for Saul's legal services

Breaking Bad Quotes

Hank: Honey, I’m home!
Gomez: Got more lives than a damn cat.
Hank: Now if only I could learn to lick myself.

Jesse: Badger’s gonna spill?
Walt: Like the Exxon Valdez.

“So if you want to make more money and keep the money that you make…better call Saul!”
- Saul to Walt