Better Call Saul airs tonight on AMC with an all new Sunday February 8, Season 1 premiere episode called “Uno” and we have your weekly recap below. On tonight’s series premiere, Jimmy [Bob Odenkirk] works his magic in the courtroom.
Better Call Saul is an American drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, and is a spin-off of Breaking Bad. Set in 2002, Better Call Saul focuses on the life of small-time lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) six years before his appearance on Breaking Bad, though events during and after the original series are also explored.
On tonight’s episode as per the AMC synopsis, “Jimmy works his magic in the courtroom. Unexpected inspiration leads him to an unconventional pursuit of potential clients.”
You aren’t going to want to miss any of the unfolding drama tonight. We’ll be recapping the season 1 premiere live right here for you at 9pm. In the meantime, hit up the comments and tell us what you’re expecting from this spin-off.
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!
We see gloved hands making cinnamon rolls. The business is in Omaha. Do you remember towards the end of Breaking Bad when Saul was in the basement hiding out waiting on his new ID, he told to Walt that his life is over and best-case scenario, he’ll be managing a Cinnabon in Omaha, Nebraska. Sure enough, we see the sign and it is a Cinnabon! We see the manager and, sure enough, it’s Saul. He’s got a mustache and his name tag reads Gene.
He watches a mixer blend up some dough. Later, he wipes down the tables and then the ovens. He sweeps up the place and then carries a promotional sign out into the mall. He looks around and notices a guy looking at him. The guy gets up and walks over. Saul starts to panic but the guy passes him by and goes out into the mall to hug someone. He wasn’t even looking at Saul. This all takes place in black and white. At home, he pours a drink and watches a cable shopping channel.
He switches channels to the local weather. He goes to look outside and sees the reported snow flurries coming down. He closes his blinds and goes to a little hole in his closet. He pulls out a shoe box and grabs a videotape out of it. He pops it in the player. We see it’s a series of commercials for his law firm and himself saying Better Call Saul.
A judge waits in a New Mexico courtroom. The gallery is full and three young me wait at one table. It’s utterly silent. The judge checks his watch. He looks around and nods at the bailiff who walks out. Saul is in the bathroom rehearsing his remarks. The bailiff finds him there and give him a psst. Saul comes back into the courtroom and says – oh to be 19 again. He says he remembers 19 and talks to the jury.
He says it feels like summer will last forever. He says you also recall that you had an underdeveloped 19 year old brain and says he made plenty of stupid decisions. He says if they were in church, he’d get an amen. He says these three are knuckleheads that did a dumb thing. He says no one got hurt and the prosecution keeps saying it was criminal trespass but says it’s a bit of a reach.
Saul says these three young men are near-honor students and just went a little bananas. He says they don’t deserve to have their bright futures doomed by a never to be repeated lapse in judgment. He tells the jury they’re bigger than that. He rests his case. The prosecutor stands and pulls a TV on a stand over in front of the jury. He pops in a video tape.
We see the three idiots taping themselves and them cutting up a cadaver at a funeral home. They take turns and then argue who gets to go next. They lop off the head and wave at the camera. One dares the other to stick his wang into the neck hole. Saul complains to the clerk that he only got $700 and says he should get $700 each. The check is made out to James McGill. We’ll call him Jimmy from now on since that was his name back in the day.
She says it was his choice to try them together and he says no more pro bono work. He reminds her they had sex with a severed head. He curses and she says to have a nice day. He storms out of the courthouse and out to his car. We see a nice Caddy, but that’s not his. His is a yellow beater. He gets a call and tries to calm down. He says it’s the law office and pretends to be someone else.
He does a woman’s voice with a British accent and makes a plan to meet the client later. He cranks his rust bucket and drives off in a hail of gray smoke. The parking attendant demands $3 but he says he’s validated all day. Mike Ehrmantrout (OMG!) is the parking attendant. He tells him he has to either pay or go get more stickers. Jimmy backs up and yells out that the guy is the employee of the month.
He meets Craig and his wife and she asks why he thinks he needs a lawyer. Jimmy says of course he’s innocent and doesn’t look for guilty clients to represent. He says all he knows is what he read in the paper and says when $1.6 million goes missing from the county coffers, they usually go after the treasurer. Craig says getting a lawyer would make him look guilty but Jimmy says getting arrested is what makes you look guilty.
He tells him they’ll arrest him and stick him in a room with a cop that promises to help him straighten things out but then sticks it to him. Jimmy offers them a letter of engagement and says as soon as he signs, he can get started on the defense strategy. Craig goes to sign and Jimmy is excited but then his wife stops him and says they should sleep on it. He tells them no rush and then she reminds her hubby they have to go pick up the kids.
They thank him for their advice and he hands them something with his number on it. They head out. He heads out making calls as he goes. He’s reading off a credit card number to order classy looking yet cheap flowers. He says it should says Dear Betsy and Craig and then is stopped when he’s told his card was declined. He’s distracted and hits a skater. Another skater runs up and freaks out.
He says he videoed the whole thing. The guy he hit and says he didn’t mean to do it. Jimmy begs them not to call the cops and they ask how he’ll make things right. He says he doesn’t know and asks what he can do to make it right. The guy he hit says he doesn’t know then asks for $500. Jimmy kicks him and the guy stands up. He tells him 9.6 for effort but 0 for choice of victim.
He tells them he’s a lawyer and they need to pay him for breaking his windshield. They run off. Jimmy heads to an Asian nail salon (remember he advised Walt to buy a place like this to launder his money). He greets the owner and she asks why he worked for the guys that did that to the dead guy. He goes to the back where his office is located in the laundry room of the salon.
He makes a face then checks his voice mail and hears he has zero messages. He looks at his stack of past due bills. One envelope interests him and he opens it. It’s a letter and a check for $26,000. He tears the check into little pieces and makes a face as he does so. Later, Jimmy buttons his suit as he waits for the elevator. He takes a deep breath and steps inside.
He heads to the offices of Hamlin, Hamlin and McGill and asks the receptionist for Lord Vader. She asks him to wait but he doesn’t. He heads upstairs and greets everyone he passes by name then goes into the conference room. He yells out to Hamlin that he won’t have Hamlin meddling with the forces of nature. Howard and Kim asks what he wants. He lays down the pile of check scraps.
He asks what that $26k was and he says it’s for Chuck. He says one-third of this place is owed to Chuck. Howard says more money will be coming. Jimmy says they owe about $17 million to Chuck and says not to send penny ante checks. He tells them to do right and cash him out. Howard asks if Chuck wants to withdraw from the firm. Jimmy says he’s doing what’s in his best interests.
Howard says he thinks Chuck is going to lick this and they have his office and receptionist waiting. Jimmy says they can let a jury figure it out. He yells that they will atone and then says it’s Ned Beatty from Network. He slams out of the room. Howard follows him out and hands him this month’s filings. Jimmy says Chuck doesn’t work here and he’s not going to help him establish a paper trail.
Howard says in their line of work, you can get too caught up in winning and forget to listen to your heart. He tells Jimmy to give Chuck his love and then he walks away. Jimmy is annoyed to see Betsy and Craig, his near-clients waiting for Howard in the lobby. He gets in the elevator, goes back downstairs and kicks the crap out of a trash can to take out his frustrations.
He goes into the parking deck and finds Kim smoking. He stands beside her and then takes her cigarette for a puff. He sticks it back in between her lips. She says she can’t do what he wants. She stubs out her smoke and heads back inside. She sets the trash can back up and puts the lid back on. Jimmy grabs mail out of the mailbox then leaves his keys, phone and watch inside the box.
He heads into a house. There’s a typewriter clacking and then Chuck calls out asking Jimmy if he grounded himself. He lights a camping lantern and checks the ice chest. He goes to drain it and then dumps in more ice. He unloads some food and dumps the rest in the ice chest. He tells Chuck to stop putting bacon on the list and says he’s going to poison himself.
Chuck hands him a letter to get translated into Finnish. It’s a letter about magnetic fields to a researcher. He hands Jimmy a coffee can and tells him to reimburse himself. He asks Chuck if they can talk. He holds up the lantern to Jimmy’s face and asks if he’s okay. He tells Chuck he has to cash out of the firm. Chuck says he’s going to get better and Jimmy says sure.
Chuck says he’s proceeding from false principles and building a premise on quick sand. Chuck says what if they have to liquidate the firm to pay him out. He says people could lose their jobs including Jimmy’s friend Kim. Jimmy reminds Chuck that he built that firm. He tells Chuck he’s going under and says he’s only getting $700 each. Chuck says it’s noble work.
Jimmy says he may as well sell plasma on skid row and says money is beside the point. Jimmy says money is the point. Chuck says do good work and the clients will come. Jimmy says Chuck is broke and he can’t support both of them. Chuck says he never asked him to provide for him. Jimmy says the day of reckoning is here and he’s going to be out on the street with electromagnetism raining down on him.
Chuck hands him a check for $857. He says it’s a weekly stipend then Jimmy asks if Hamlin was there. Jimmy says Hamlin is making him a chump but Chuck insists he’s going to get better, go back to work and pick up where he left off. Jimmy tells him he’s sorry. Chuck says he understands that he’s looking out for him but says there’s a bigger picture.
He says Howard brought this and hands Jimmy a matchbook. He says he should make up a new name for his firm and Jimmy says it’s his name. Chuck says it’s a matter of professional courtesy. Jimmy asks Chuck whose side he’s on and his brother says there are no sides. He asks Jimmy wouldn’t he rather he build his own identity rather than riding on someone’s coat tails.
Jimmy leaves mad and grabs his stuff from the mailbox. He says out loud – you want to dance Howard, let’s dance. Jimmy goes to find the shady skaters that tried to scam him. He tells them they’ve got business. He asks for 30 seconds and says it could be the most profitable 30 seconds of their lives. He tells them about a young guy about their age who lived far away from here in a town called Cicero, Illinois.
He says there, he was the man. He says babes smiled at him and hoped for a smile back. He says they called him Slippin’ Jimmy and everyone wanted to be his friend. One asks why that’s a cool name. Jimmy says winter in Illinois is snot-freezing. He says most folks in Cicero were scared of winter but Slippin’ Jimmy knew it was slip and fall season.
He says when it was cold enough, he found a piece of ice and then wait for people to come by then fell. He says he made $6 or $8 grand per fall. He tells the guys he sees potential and says the skateboards are good. He asks how much they cleared on their best day. They tell him $630 and that was two falls. He says he has a job for them and offers them $2k for one hit and says they get to learn from the best.
He has them outside a driveway and shows them a Mercury Sable wagon. He tells them to burn it into their minds. He says Betsy Kettelman is the target’s name and says she comes by every day to pick up her kids form the elementary school. He takes them to a corner and tells them how to do it. He tells one to take the fall and the other to get in her face.
He says witnesses are good and says when he has her wound up, say he’s calling an ambulance but says to call him. He tells him to get up in his face and call him names. He says after that, back down. He reminds them to act like they don’t know him. He wishes them luck and heads out. Jimmy lurks outside Betsy’s house and rehearses his speech to work her over.
She pulls out of her driveway and he ducks down out of the way then calls the idiot skateboarders to warn them. One gets out the video camera while the other gets ready to skate. Betsy drives up and the other guy starts out on the sidewalk. He veers out and she crashes into him. She drives off. Jimmy checks his phone then gets a call from the kid who says he took off on them. He says she pulled a hit and run.
He tells them to stay there but they are following her. He says she’s headed to Holiday Park and says to wait on him. He says hit and run is a felony and he fell into a honeypot. They ask why they need him and hang up the phone. Jimmy tries to crank his car and calls Lars the skater kid back but he doesn’t answer. Betsy pulls up at a house and the skater kids roll up on her.
They confront the woman woman but it’s not Betsy it’s an older Hispanic woman. She says she doesn’t speak English then waves them to come in. Jimmy drives around looking for them and then spots the car. He stops in front of the house and sees the cracked windshield. He goes to the door and knocks. He peeks in the windows and then knocks again. He says to open up in the name of the law. The door opens and a gun is put in his face. A guy pulls him into the house. Holy cow – it’s Tuco Salamanco!
THE END!
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