Better Call Saul, Season 6 Episode 12, Waterworks.
Fantastic stuff.
The underlying theme of redemption in this episode served two purposes.
In the end, Kim actaully found redemption by finally coming clean, and in doing so we
are also provided with what I believe is the ONLY viable path to redemption for Saul Goodman.
We get a brief glimpse into Kim Wexler’s life after Jimmy McGill, and in that little
window we see that she settled down into her new pedestrian life with her new man and her
new style earning an honest living.
Back in her heyday as Kimmy Corleone, she was looking for elaborate clever ways to ruin
poor Howard.
But now the biggest decision she needs to make is whether or not Miracle Whip is a good
substitute for Duke’s Mayonnaise.
Seeing the other side of her phone call with Jimmy, Kim advised Jimmy on the proper course
to redemption - turn yourself in!
But in typical Kimmy Corleone fashion, it’s do as I say and not as I do, and Jimmy called
her out on her bullshit.
Because that’s what it was - bullshit!
Yep, yep, yep.
Empty words, in a world where Kim knows full well that actions speak louder.
The phone call forced Kim to face her own inner demons, where she no doubt recognized
her own hypocrisy.
Kim stepped up to the plate and showed a willingness to face the music.
She returned to Albuquerque and presented an affidavit to the court and to Howard’s
wife confessing the entire truth about what really went down with Howard.
And with that, Howard’s good name has been restored, and the truth is out that he wasn’t
some wild hooker loving cokehead.
Kim came clean, and while she seems to believe they won’t prosecute, perhaps she is mistaken.
And Kim knows Cheryl can go after her in a civil suit.
Kim also implicated Jimmy for his role in the Howard ordeal, although she still outright
lied when she suggested doubt about whether Jimmy is alive, even when she knows damn well
that he is.
All things considered, Kim is far from the most noble character in the Breaking Bad universe.
She doesn’t hold a candle to true class acts like Walt Jr or Nacho’s old man.
But in a world where breaking bad usually means crossing the point of no return, Kim
found redemption.
First she knew she had to get out of her toxic relationship with Jimmy, she ultimately appears
to have changed course where she began her way down a good choice road, and her redemption
culminated when she confessed her crimes, and cleared Howard’s good name.
If that is not redemption in this world, I’m not sure what is.
Why are you telling me this and not him?
Because I think you’re made of sterner stuff.
Oh God!
You want me to say something?
Yeah.
You should turn yourself in.
Kim advised Jimmy on his best course of action, but as we know from last week, he instead
went the other direction full steam ahead with his identity theft scheme.
His misplaced faith in an amateur like Jeff is already costing him big time.
For starters, Jeff was the one who bought that laptop for his mother.
But then Jeff went into full panic mode when the two police officers were just trying to
eat as they had a heated debate over what constitutes a fish taco.
So Jeff gets arrested as a suspected thief, Goodman knows they have nothing on him, and
he has it all planned out that Marion will use his expertise to get Jeff off the hook.
Only Goodman is being so careless that he slipped up again.
First Marion witnessed a supposed pet lover throwing a fit over the damned dog!
And now he slipped up over his expertise about Albuquerque, a place he claimed he’d never
been.
Marion proved every bit as sharp and observant as she was first portrayed, and she figured
out his secret.
Goodman did indeed underestimate her.
It appeared as if Saul was tempted to strangle Marion then and there, but he stood down,
and she used her Life Alert and informed the authorities that she was being threatened
by a wanted man, one Saul Goodman.
A lot of people might mistake this as Jimmy showing a moment of humanity when he decided
not to kill her, but I don’t think that’s the case at all!
Jimmy was also planning to whack the cancer patient in the back of the head with a doggy
urn, but he was never put to the test because the cancer patient passed out again.
But the truth is, McGill never really got his hands dirty.
He didn’t have it in him.
Walter White may not have been formidable when it came to inflicting damage on others,
he was no Mike Ehrmantraut in that regard, but Walt wasn’t afraid to get his hands
dirty when needed.
Goodman never got his hands dirty.
Sure, he would suggest sending someone to Belize, and he knows a guy who knows a guy
who WOULD get his hands dirty, but Goodman never had the stomach for it.
When he was put to the test against Marion, I think it was more a matter of him lacking
the balls to actually murder someone in cold blood.
Saul simply was not made of stern enough stuff to inflict violence on others.
Forget Mike Erhmaentraut, forget Gus Fring, forget Tuco Salamanca, or hell, forget any
of the Salamancas - Goodman didn’t even have the mettle of a Jesse Pinkman or a Walter
White.
And speaking of Pinkman, it’s interesting that we see him in that cameo scene with Kim.
Wexler had just taken her first step towards redemption when she finalized her divorce
from Goodman.
And here we have Jesse Pinkman, a criminal murderer who escaped via the same route as
Goodman, through Ed the vacuum guy.
Unlike Kim, who was complicit in the cover up of Howard’s murder and whose actions
led to said murder, Kim never actually killed anyone in cold blood.
Pinkman did!
He murdered Gale in cold blood, and while it can be argued he found some degree of redemption
after all the suffering he endured, Pinkman never faced the music and came clean the way
Kim did.
And the fact that it didn’t take Goodman long to abandon his miserable existence for
self-preservation under the guise of Gene Takavic, how long will it take Pinkman to
break bad again?
Or will Pinkman ultimately find redemption and follow Kim’s lead?
We may never know Pinkman’s fate beyond his escape to Alaska.
But right now, Kim helped pave the way to a viable path of redemption for Goodman - turn
yourself in.
And after Goodman called Kim out on her bullshit, she stopped talking the talk, and began walking
the walk.
Will Kim go the extra step and notify the authorities she was contacted by Jimmy?
Is Jimmy gonna flee and get away?
Is he gonna run until he gets captured or killed?
Or will he follow the example of his ex-wife and turn himself in to face the music.
Whatever happens, I thought Waterworks was outstanding!
Dare I say tight!
Tight, tight!
Tight!
But honestly, I wasn’t expecting anything less and it lived up to the lofty expectations.
I for one am very fired-up to see the series finale of Better Call Saul.
Thank you very much for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night.
Pollos Hermanos, Pollos Hermanos, delicious chicken grilled or fried.
Pollos Hermanos, Pollos Hermanos.
Would you call that a fish taco?
I mean can anybody call this a fish taco?
I mean legally.
Stop waving that thing at me.
Look at this!
You may kiss. Pst. Pst. One more.
Aww shit!
Oh my God!
I will file these tomorrow.
Alright, well, have a nice life Kim.
I mean technically it isn’t actuall mayonaisse but.
Yeah.
Technically I don’t think this is mayonaisse.
But close, right?
Yep.
You want me to say something?
Yeah.
You should turn yourself in.
Do what?
You heard me.
So what!
So what.
Screw them!
Remember, the winner takes it all!
Pollos Hermanos, Pollos Hermanos, delicious chicken grilled or fried.
Pollos Hermanos, Pollos Hermanos.
You know Quasimodo predicted all of this.
What is this?
That my friends is Albuquerque's public enemy #1.
But you said we’re done.
You said cross to the other side of the street if I see you coming.
Tell me, how much product can you churn out with a setup like this.
Alright we’re done!
We’re done with the questions.
Now I need you to say it, “we’re done”.
Come on.
Say it!
“We’re done”.
Say it.
We’re done when I say we’re done.
We’re done.
It’s over until…
Kim.
I’m glad you’re alive.
It’s over.
Yep.
No!
I’m not going.
I’m done.
There’s a criminal standing in my kitchen threatening me!
He’s a wanted man!
And his name is Saul Goodman!
You’re done!
You are done!