Breaking Down ‘Saul’: Season 2, Episode 3, “Amarillo”

“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. McGill!” 

A cowboy get-up, commercial shoot, and web of lies were among Jimmy’s tireless antics in this week’s episode of Better Call Saul.

In Amarillo, Texas, Jimmy (in head-to-toe cowboy attire) charmingly solicits Davis & Main’s services to a bus full of senior citizens from one of the many Sandpiper Crossing retirement homes. He nervously presents his client outreach success in a HH&M meeting, sensing his brother Chuck’s skepticism. Though he reaches for Kim’s foot under the table for comfort, she recoils from him, and later explains that she’s put her own reputation on the line for him – so he has to start doing things ethically and being the lawyer she knows he can be.

Meanwhile, Mike (Jonathan Banks) visits his granddaughter Kaylee and is distressed to learn from his daughter-in-law Stacey that she’s been hearing gunshots in the middle of the night that appear to be getting closer to the house each time. Though he insists he stay the night to protect them, Stacey asks him not to. Mike obviously rejects this and spends the night outside of the house in his car (with his signature pimento sandwich in hand), but never hears gunshots – just the sound of newspapers being dropped onto driveways. Mike returns to work, exhausted, but is quickly summoned back to the house when Stacey calls him, completely distraught over what appears to be a dent in the side of the house from a bullet. She is convinced that she heard the shots at 2:13AM, and Mike asks her if she was dreaming. Stacey exasperatedly tells him that she hasn’t slept a wink, and there’s no way he could know, because he wasn’t there. Mike promises to move Stacey and Kaylee out of the house.

Jimmy, intent on making his client outreach ethically sound, pitches the idea of a commercial to Cliff (Ed Begley Jr.) and is met with some hesitance, though Cliff encourages him to plan it out and meet with him later about it. After being completely bored by a mesothelioma commercial the firm did in the past, Jimmy hires two film students (including “Kid Kubrick” who helped him shoot his commercial in Season 1) to help him shoot his own ad that demonstrates real “showmanship”. Jimmy shows the commercial to Kim at his new apartment, and proudly proclaims that it meets all the standards of the American Bar Association (though he neglects to mention that it has not been approved by Davis & Main yet).

At his old veterinarian friend’s office, Mike inquires about any jobs that might be floating around for him. There isn’t anything but a $200 bodyguard gig, which he reluctantly accepts. Later that night, while sleeping on the couch at Stacey’s house, he receives a phone call from the vet – it’s a big job, one for which he was specifically requested.

Too nervous to meet with Cliff, Jimmy buys the ad space and runs the commercial without asking, and it’s a success – but when Cliff finds out Jimmy went behind his back, he angrily calls him at night and tells him he must meet with the partners the next morning and show them the commercial. Jimmy lies to Kim again as they snuggle up to watch a movie, and they both look on vacantly – Kim’s not as oblivious as he thinks she is.

Curiosity peaked by this job offer, Mike travels to a dark warehouse where he is met by a cautious Nacho (Michael Mando). Nacho tells him he has a problem he can’t solve himself – a guy that he needs to “go away”.

It seems like some familiar faces might be on the way and it’s getting a little harder to watch Jimmy self-sabotage each week, bringing him that much closer to becoming Saul – so what Breaking Bad callbacks were hidden in “Amarillo”? Let’s take a look!

What do we have? 

Mike gifts his granddaughter Kaylee with a stuffed pig toy.

Seem familiar?

Kaylee is seen playing with this same toy and Mike uses it to distract a hitman hired by Lydia to kill him in Breaking Bad Season 5, Episode 2, “Madrigal“.

What do we have? 

Kim and Jimmy watch her favorite movie, Ice Station Zebra, a 1968 Cold War film starring Rock Hudson.

Seem familiar?

“Ice Station Zebra Associates” is the name of the company used by Saul Goodman for tax evasion, first referenced when taking on Badger’s case in Breaking Bad, Season 2, Episode 8, Better Call Saul. 

Until next week, lawbreakers!

 

[Catch up with the first season of Better Call Saul on Netflix, or watch Season Two on AMC.com, Amazon Video or iTunes]

Jade Budowski is an indecisive sometimes-writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.