It’s back and better than ever. Better Call Saul Season 6 premiered on April 18th for the first part of its last season, capping off the story of Jimmy McGill, otherwise known as Saul Goodman in the hit show, Breaking Bad. With this last season, there are many moments we should remember to better prepare ourselves for the end, but this time, we’re taking a look back on some of Slippin’ Jimmy’s best schemes from the show.
That’s right, from the very first season all the way to Season 5, Jimmy McGill (played by the wonderful Bob Odenkirk) has done some crazy things in order for his name to get out there and for people to know who the heck he is. Here are some of his best schemes.
When Jimmy ‘Saved’ That Guy From Falling Off His Billboard
We knew exactly what we were getting into when we started Better Call Saul. In Breaking Bad, we can see that Saul is a sleazy guy, so there was no doubt that in Better Call Saul we would see how Jimmy McGill slipped into this persona. This was one of the first moments we ever saw that.
In the Season 1 episode, “Hero,” Jimmy staged an accident where he saved a worker who was dangling off the edge of a billboard while he was filming an advertisement for his new law firm. Because of the “severity” of the incident, it started to spread across news networks and give him free publicity. As sleazy as it was, it was a great marketing technique and was the start of the slow process of him becoming Saul Goodman.
When Jimmy Replicated The Mesa Verde Documents
Kim Wexler (played by Rhea Seehorn) is someone who isn’t to be trifled with, and honestly, I can’t picture a better character to be Jimmy’s partner-in-crime in later seasons.
But, before she started working with Jimmy to try and scam people out of money, she was trying her hardest to get back into favor with HHM, and scored Mesa Verde, a local bank, as their client. However, it wasn’t long after that when HHM tried to shut Kim out of the deal due to outside circumstances.
Jimmy, knowing that the account should be hers since she was the one who put in the work to even get it, forged the Mesa Verde documents in the Season 2 episode, “Nailed,” so that way at the meeting with the New Mexico Banking Board, the application for the new branch would be delayed and Kevin (the man in charge of Mesa Verde) would then leave to sign with Kim, who could get it approved quicker. It’s a dark trick, but a great one.
The Squat Cobbling Story For Wormald
To be honest, this is equal parts disturbing and hilarious. In the Season 2 Better Call Saul episode, “Cobbler,” Jimmy is signed on represent Wormald after he meets with the police for his baseball cards debacle, but they don’t seem convinced that there isn’t something else going on, because Wormald had a strange hiding place behind his couch.
Jimmy, in order to save Wormald, comes up with a whole story that the spot was an area that contained videos of Wormald sitting on various different types of pies as a sexual fetish called “Hoboken squat cobbler.” And, miraculously, it worked. It was so disgusting and yet I found myself snickering every time I saw it.
When Jimmy (And Kim) Fake Their Identities
You always have to love when these two fake their identities together. In the Better Call Saul Season 2 episode, “Switch,” both Jimmy and Kim decide to step into a con and scam a “wealth manager” named Ken, using lie after lie to rope the man into buying them a super expensive dinner with the intent of supposedly diversifying their “assets.”
And then, after all that, they leave him with the check and they tear up the contract with their fake names, running away. It’s not as bad as some of the other cons on here, but I always like watching it.
When Jimmy Turns The Elderly Against Irene To Settle The Sandpiper Case
Okay, I’m an emotional person, so I won’t lie - I cried during this sequence because damn it, Irene didn’t deserve this and Saul was getting a little too close to how Walt did his business in Breaking Bad. In Better Call Saul Season 3, during the episode, “Fall,” Jimmy meticulously plots out the best way in order to get Irene, the class representative of the Sandpiper case, to settle, so he can get a huge payday.
The way in which he does this is despicable, tricking Irene’s friends into believing that Irene doesn’t give a damn about the settlement because she has nice things - things that Jimmy gifted to her. It all comes down to Irene breaking down because all her friends have abandoned her, and Jimmy says it was because of the money that they would receive, so in order to get her friends back, she says she’ll settle - and that way, he gets his money.
This was certainly a moment where I was not the biggest fan of Jimmy, but I can’t deny that it’s not a great ploy.
When Jimmy Tricks Chuck In Court With The Battery
For three seasons at this point, we have seen Chuck supposedly deal with an illness called electromagnetic hypersensitivity, which basically means that Chuck is "allergic" to electricity. But in this episode, Jimmy takes it upon himself to prove that it's a lie.
In the Better Call Saul Season 3 episode, “Chicanery,” Jimmy’s disciplinary hearing takes place and he stands near Chuck during cross-examination, only for it to be revealed later on that Jimmy had Huell slipped a battery, which emits an electrical charge, into Chuck’s suit without him knowing, which Chuck had carried for more than an hour - something that Chuck wouldn't be able to tolerate if his supposed illness was real.
The bar feels that Chuck’s mental illness shouldn’t affect the proceedings, but them thinking that his illness is just ‘mental’ sets Chuck off - which is exactly what Jimmy wanted. Clever. Cruel. And to the point. It means even more with Chuck’s death later on.
When Jimmy Cons The Lawyers (And Kim) At The Board Reinstatement Meeting With His ‘Crying’
In the Season 4 finale of Better Call Saul, titled “Winner,” Jimmy and Kim, are at the bar association for his appeal in order to be reinstated. Forgoing a supposed letter left by his brother, Jimmy instead tearfully says to the bar that he wants to bring credit back to the McGill name if he is reinstated and allowed to practice law again.
The ruse is so good that even Kim believes him, but it’s revealed moments later that it was all a con and he wasn’t even planning on practicing under his real name - instead using his fake name, Saul Goodman, and stunning Kim.
When Jimmy Sabotaged Howard At His Lunch In “Wexler v. Goodman”
The Season 5 episode of Better Call Saul, “Wexler v. Goodman,” had two very important Slippin’ Jimmy moments, and this was the first. When Jimmy finished representing two prostitutes in court, he decides to put them to good use and pays them to interrupt Howard’s business lunch with Clifford Main.
It’s a hilarious scene, with these two women accusing him of not paying them for their “services'' and embarrassing him in front of Cliff. It’s a great scheme from McGill in order to make him look bad.
When Jimmy Went Up Against Kim And Mesa Verde In “Wexler v. Goodman”
Last but not least, we need to talk about how Jimmy went up against Kim in “Wexler v. Goodman,” considering the name of the episode is about the two of them. In the beginning of the episode, it seemed that Kim and Jimmy had come to an agreement both on the terms of not blackmailing Kevin from Mesa Verde, and figuring out a settlement for Everett Acker. However, that was not the case.
Later, Jimmy meets with Kim and everyone else there and shockingly demands four million dollars. When they understandably are upset, Jimmy shows them rough cuts of shady commercials that are seeking plaintiffs for class-action lawsuits against Mesa Verde, and this in turn leads to Kim being the sucker in his con in order for him to get a better settlement for Acker.
Kim at this point has been witness to Jimmy’s cons, but only now did she meet the business end of one, and she wasn’t happy. But, it’s certainly a memorable moment.
With so much happening in Better Call Saul Season 6, I can only wonder what Slippin’ Jimmy’s final schemes are going to be - that is, until we meet Walter White and Jesse Pinkman again. Until then, I’ll be watching and waiting.
