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

“I think you’re a little crooked.” 

“Witness”, the second episode of Better Call Saul‘s third season, finds Chuck (Michael McKean) is armed and ready to take his revenge on Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk). He spends his time with a watchful companion as he checks every window and door. It’s seemingly a matter of time until Jimmy takes Chuck’s bait via the help of Ernesto – and Chuck is going to be ready when he does.

Mike (Jonathan Banks) is still hot on the trail of his trackers and watches them receive a visit from a mysterious stranger who gifts them with coffee and retrieves the tracker. Mike now pursues him but quickly loses a signal, becoming frustrated as he attempts to locate him again. There are wonderful, heavy long stretches of silence here as the suspense builds, and Banks says it all with his face. He watches as his tracker picks up and drops off packages at a variety of locations, and in the morning, follows him to a very, very familiar location. He eventually emerges from the structure and Mike continues to watch through his binoculars, making note of the time and devising a plan. As Mike leaves, a pan out reveals our locale – Los Pollos Hermanos!

Over at Wexler & McGill headquarters, Jimmy continues his painting venture (that rainbow is gone, thank god), and interviews a familiar candidate for a paralegal position. Jimmy almost immediately tries to offer her the job (she’s worked at the DMV! She’s got experience!), but Kim (Rhea Seehorn) is reluctant. She eventually caves, and Jimmy tells their new employee to make sure she’s “folksy” on the phone and to mention Cracker Barrel. This tactic does not work on one caller, however; Mike is clearly not enthused when he calls Jimmy for a favor. Mike enlists Jimmy to go sit at Los Pollos Hermanos for breakfast to watch what the man with the bag does, and Jimmy is anything but subtle as he continues to dump sugar packets into his coffee, accidentally sets off the soda dispenser, and moves seats repeatedly. After the guy leaves, Jimmy attempts to dig through the trash to see if he’s dropped anything there, and is soon approached by one Gustavo Fring (the eternally great Giancarlo Esposito), who asks if he can help him with anything. Jimmy is quick on his feet and pretends to have lost his watch in the garbage, and Gus happily offers to clean it for him. Jimmy refuses, and exits the restaurant, and Gus continues to go about his business.

Mike is disappointed by Jimmy’s lack of dirt on the situation, and dismisses him. An overeager Jimmy tries to convince Mike to let him stay, but Mike sends him on his way. In the distance, Gus sweeps the parking lot, clearly having watched them. He is no idiot. Mike remains in his stakeout spot across the street, where he writes down the information for each car that enters the parking lot. An Escalade soon speeds in and out of the lot, where Victor – another familiar face – is revealed when the window is rolled down. Mike continues to follow the tracking device, and when he gets out of the car to look around (in the middle of nowhere) and sees no one, a phone begins to ring. He finds the tracker in the middle of the road, attached to a cell phone. Mike picks it up.

As Chuck predicted, Ernesto has fallen for his trick, and he goes to see Kim to tell her about the tape. Kim tells Jimmy, who is absolutely devastated for having trusted Chuck. Jimmy tries to go about his day, but this eats away at him – he goes from crestfallen to completely furious. Meanwhile, Howard goes to visit Chuck, who tells him they need to stop throwing away money on these private investigators and assuming that Jimmy’s going to try to steal the tape. His sentiments are short-lived, however, because Jimmy soon bursts into the house, absolutely livid: “You pulled a heartstrings con job on me?! You piece of shit!” Odenkirk is at his best here as he dissolves into a desperate frenzy. Jimmy searches for and destroys the tape as Chuck watches, in complete awe. After Jimmy threatens to burn his house to the ground until Chuck gives up any copies of the tape he has, Howard and the P.I. run out. They’re witnesses to the entire thing. Chuck’s won his game, and Jimmy’s definitely on his way to jail.

This episode offered a series of twists and turns and really got the Breaking Bad wheels turning. So what Easter eggs did Gilligan & Co. tuck away for us this week? Let’s have a look.

What do we have? 

A blue Volvo V70 is seen in the Los Pollos Hermanos parking lot as Mike watches his tracker walk into the fast food restaurant with his bag.

Seem familiar?

It’s gotta be the one and only Gustavo Fring’s famous vehicle, first seen in Breaking Bad Season 3, Episode 4, “Green Light“. This car acted as a visual representation for how Fring was always able to hide in plain sight, and also gave Hank a good laugh: “The guy drives a ten-year old Volvo! It’s brilliant!”

 

What do we have? 

After Mike starts to head home from a long night of tracking, the shot pans out to reveal where his stake-out ended up: Los Pollos Hermanos.

Seem familiar? 

Well, duh. Our favorite fast food chain and home to one Gustavo Fring was first introduced in Breaking Bad Season 2, Episode 11, “Mandala“, after our buddy Saul tells Walt and Jesse to wait at the flagship restaurant to meet a meth distributor.

What do we have? 

Jimmy and Kim interview a bright-eyed candidate for a paralegal position and proceed to hire her the same day.

Seem familiar? 

This is Francesca, Saul’s surly, loyal secretary, first seen in Breaking Bad Season 2, Episode 8, “Better Call Saul“. She’s certainly become a little jaded since her Better Call Saul days.

What do we have? 

A familiar, yellow-shirted figure sweeps the floors and tidies up in Los Pollos Hermanos behind Jimmy as Jimmy continues to try to figure out what his target is doing. He later surprises Jimmy while Jimmy digs through the trash, and offers to find and clean the watch Jimmy “dropped” in the garbage.

Seem familiar? 

Epic villain/drug kingpin/Los Pollos Hermanos restauranteur Gustavo Fring has finally been introduced in the Better Call Saul timeline. We know and love (or hate) him quite well, having first met him in Breaking Bad Season 2, Episode 11, “Mandala” (in a similar, distant way, too). We’re so glad you’re back, Gus.

What do we have? 

As Mike stakes out Los Pollos Hermanos, a black Escalade races into the parking lot and soon emerges again. The window rolls down, and a young man tosses his cigarette out.

Seem familiar? 

That young man is Victor (Jeremiah Bitsui), a loyal henchman of Gustavo Fring and prominent member of Gus’ Drug Empire (him and Mike later work together closely!) first seen Breaking Bad Season 2, Episode 11, “Mandala“. You also might remember him from the grisly end he meets in Season 4, Episode 1, “Box Cutter“.

What do we have? 

When Kim confronts Jimmy about the tape, she tells him to give her a dollar so that they have attorney/client privilege.

Seem familiar? 

Jimmy/Saul tells Walt and Jesse to put a dollar in his pocket so that they can have attorney/client privilege in Breaking Bad Season 2, Episode 8, “Better Call Saul“. This is not the first time we’ve seen a connection with Saul borrowing thing from Kim; in the same episode of Breaking Bad, he uses the name of Kim’s favorite movie, Ice Station Zebra, for a fake company name to evade taxes.

That’s all for “Witness”, folks! Tune in next week to see what kind of legal dilemma Jimmy’s got himself into this time.