"Something Stupid" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of Better Call Saul, and the thirty-seventh episode of the series altogether.
Summary[]
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Through a split-screen effect, the episode opens with a months-long montage showing Jimmy and Kim's diverging paths. Jimmy, using his "Saul Goodman" alias, continues his side business of supplying drop phones to Albuquerque's criminal element while completing his PPD. Kim moves her Mesa Verde files to her new office at Schweikart & Cokely and continues aiding the bank's expansion, while working cases as a public defender in her spare time. The montage ends with Kim climbing into bed and waking Jimmy, who stares into space.
Act I[]
From first-person perspective, Jimmy greets someone at a residential house that he plans to use as his practice when his law license is reinstated, explaining how he wants to use each room. The person visiting him turns out to be Huell, his partner in the drop phone business. Jimmy asks for Huell's opinion on whether the place would make a good law office, but Huell replies that if he was a lawyer, he would have a high-rise office and a boat.
At the hospital, Dr. Bruckner shows cue cards to Hector, testing his awareness of his surroundings. Hector's mobility is limited, allowing him only to tap his index finger to indicate affirmation. When a nurse comes delivering lunch, Hector purposefully knocks a cup of water over so he can leer at the nurse's posterior as she bends over. Hector begrudgingly continues with Bruckner's tests after the nurse leaves.
Jimmy and Kim attend a party at S&C, where he introduces himself to her co-workers. Jimmy visits her lavish office, where he looks at trophies, each signifying one of Mesa Verde's new branches, and a framed hand-written thank-you note from one of her public defender clients. Jimmy approaches a group discussion involving Kim and Rich, spitballing potential locales for a company retreat. When Rich invites Jimmy to join in and mentions that he enjoys skiing in Taos, Jimmy suggests increasingly faraway and expensive locations (ending with Aspen, Colorado), launching into a monologue and taking over the conversation; he becomes the life of the party, but both Rich and Kim appear uncomfortable. There is tension between Jimmy and Kim as they drive back from the party.
Act II[]
At Gus's warehouse, Mike collects Werner and his workers and transports them by van to Lavanderia Brillante. There, the men walk behind a plastic sheathing partition and descend down a shaft leading to the secret basement in progress.
That night, at Gus' residence, Bruckner updates Gus on Hector's progress. She shows him videotape of his most recent session, stating how his motor functions have improved. Gus notices Hector knocking over the cup and ogling the nurse, realizing that he is fully cognizant. Gus, seeing an opportunity to draw out Hector's suffering, decides to delegate his treatment to someone else and send Bruckner back to Johns Hopkins, where he has funded construction of a new wing. Bruckner wants to continue Hector's treatment, expecting him to eventually walk and talk again, but Gus tells her they should "temper expectations."
Meanwhile, in the excavation, Mike and Werner discuss blasting a section of the basement before Casper, one of Werner's workers, runs a small front-end-loader into one of the support columns and knocks it over, destroying one of the completed concrete forms. This sparks a fight between Casper and Kai, which Mike breaks up by shouting at them in German.
While selling drop phones from the back of a cargo van, Jimmy is approached by a man named Platt, who Jimmy identifies instantly as a plainclothes cop. Platt is carrying one of "Saul's" business cards, that he collected from a drug dealer using a drop phone. He asks Jimmy if he is bothered that his customers are drug dealers, and orders him to sell his phones to different clientele somewhere else. Jimmy refuses, leading to an argument with Platt. Huell walks up, seeing the confrontation. He is wearing headphones, preventing him from hearing Jimmy's warning and strikes Platt with a shopping bag, knocking him over.
Act III[]
Huell sits in the back of a police car while Jimmy tries to barter with Platt to release him. Platt reveals that he busted Huell three years previously for pickpocketing. Jimmy promises to sell his phones somewhere else if Huell is let go, but Platt refuses and Huell is driven away.
At the warehouse, Mike approaches Werner at the bar and the two engage in conversation. Werner relates to Mike, pointing to the German meaning of his last name. Kai stops by to make a drink, and lobs a couple of insults at Mike. After Kai walks off, Mike asks if he can be sent back to Germany, but Werner is reluctant to do so since Kai is his best demolition man. Werner defends Kai and the other workers, explaining that the eight months they expected to be in the U.S. is almost up yet their excavation isn't even halfway done. He suggests that the workers get an opportunity for some fresh air and a change of scenery.
Meanwhile, at the courthouse Huell has been charged for his battery of Platt and finds he is facing two and a half years in prison. Huell plans on skipping bail, but Jimmy advises him against doing so and promises he will find a way to keep him out of jail. Jimmy goes to S&C and, having found out that Platt has a history of alcoholism, asks Kim to help engineer Platt's drunken meltdown in court and get Huell's case dismissed. Kim, shocked that Jimmy has been selling drop phones behind her back, refuses to tear down Platt but agrees to look into Huell's case.
Act IV[]
Kim approaches ADA Suzanne Ericsen, seeking to reduce the charges against Huell down to a misdemeanor. Arguing that the sentence Ericsen is seeking is excessive, Kim confronts her with the fact that she prosecuted five other people charged with assaulting police officers, some of which were more violent in nature than Huell's crime, and she didn't seek the kind of jail time she is trying to get for Huell. Ericsen refuses on the grounds that Huell is a repeat offender and won't negotiate with Kim, dismissing her witness, Jimmy, as a "scumbag disbarred lawyer." Visibly stung by her disparaging of Jimmy's character, Kim tells her she does not know the whole story and leaves.
In the parking lot outside, Kim makes a call arranging a meeting with Huell while she is walking up to Jimmy at his car. She informs Jimmy that there will be no way that Huell will avoid at least some time in jail. Jimmy promises to help Kim convince Huell not to skip bail, but cryptically tells her, "You do your thing, I'll do mine." Kim, anxious that Jimmy is about to get himself into trouble, drives to an office supply store and purchases an assorted array of paper and writing implements. She calls Jimmy and urges him to hold off whatever he's planning, saying she has found a "better way."
Official Photos[]
Trivia[]
- Lasting 41 minutes, this episode is the shortest episode of Better Call Saul, and shorter than any episode of Breaking Bad.
- At least eight months and nine days pass during the opening montage. We see a promotion for Mother's Day (second Sunday of May) on the shop window, Jimmy's PPD meeting report dated June 3, 2003, the CC Mobile store has an Independence Day sale, we see another PPD report October 13, 2003, and finally, Jimmy's PPD being completed on January 12, 2004.
- At the end of the episode, about eleven months have passed since "Off Brand". In "Off Brand," Jimmy's law license is suspended for one year. While discussing Huell's case, Jimmy states that he is a month away from getting his license back.
- The fact that Jimmy is selling drop phones to criminals would seem to be a violation of his PPD conditions, as part of it stipulates that he not associate with known criminals. However this seems to not be an issue as Jimmy eventually finishes his entire PPD term. ("Winner")
- Jimmy uses his "Saul Goodman" identity once again in his burner phone business.
- During his therapy, Hector communicates by tapping his finger in the same way he would later go on to tap his bell in Breaking Bad.
- The paralysis Hector suffers for the duration of Breaking Bad is shown to be the result of Gus deliberately ending his physical therapy prematurely. If Gus hadn't done this, the doctor believed that Hector could regain the ability to walk and speak with time.
- This episode alludes to Breaking Bad episode "Grilled" in several ways:
- First, the way Hector knocks over the cup of water is reminiscent of how he knocked over the burrito plate containing the ricin that Walt planted.
- Second, the effect of Hector's insatiable appetite for women as reflected by the fake story Walt and Jesse about how he had been watching a telenovela with voluptuous women when they switched the channel. They had done with to account for why Hector is suddenly so upset overhearing Jesse and Walt planning to escape the compound.
- The pinball machine Kai plays is Williams' "The Getaway: High Speed II" (1992). However, the chiming sound effects used in the scene are from an older, pre-transistor, electromechanical pinball machine. This video demonstrates what "The Getaway" actually sounds like.
- While convincing Huell that he most likely won't serve the full two-and-a-half years for his assault on the cop, Huell counters Jimmy's objections to him skipping bail by saying that D.B. Cooper was never caught. In the Breaking Bad episode "Better Call Saul", Saul jokingly calls Walt D.B. Cooper when Walt walks into his office for the first time with sunglasses and a ball cap as a disguise.
Production[]
Credits[]
Starring
- Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill
- Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut
- Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler
- Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin (credit only)
- Michael Mando as Nacho Varga (credit only)
- Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo "Gus" Fring
Guest Starring
Co-Starring
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Uncredited
- unknown as Diana Pender
Featured Music[]
- "Something Stupid" by Lola Marsh (Opening)
- "Somethin' Stupid" by Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman
- "Letter to Memphis (Instrumental)" by Pixies (Jimmy turns on the radio in the car on the way home from the party)
- "Big Rock Candy Mountain" by Burl Ives (Mike visits the construction compound to check on the work with Gus's lab)
- "Tracey Jane" by Greg Hatwell and Marc Lane (A customer rolls up to Jimmy selling out out of the van)
- "No Aloha" by The Breeders (Jimmy turns on the radio in the car on the way home from the party)
- "Big Mamou" by Victor Walker and Fernest Arceneaux (Huell walks up with his headphones on and smacks the cop yelling at Jimmy)
- "Lady De Luxe" by Tony Hymas (Background music when Jimmy and Kim are at company party)
Memorable Quotes[]
- Kai: "Casper, do you know how long it's going to take to fix that? Maybe you like living in this hole, but we want to go home! Scheiße!"
- Casper: "You're not the big boss here."
- ―Beginning of a fight between Kai and Casper.
- Werner: "They thought they were going to be here for eight months... and they can see we aren't even halfway done. You have done a wonderful job, Michael. You brought everything we could ask for. But you can't keep men locked away forever. They need fresh air, a change of scenery. And... you understand?"
- Mike: "R and R."
- Werner: "Hmm?"
- Mike: "Rest and Relaxation."
- Werner: "Precisely. This is what they need. R and R."
- ―Werner explaining to Mike that the workers need to change their minds.
- Jimmy: "What if I told you you're not going in?"
- Huell: "Like, not at all? Not never? Because that's what it's gonna take.Yeah. Never. All right? Just don't skip."
- Huell: "How are you gonna do that? You ain't even a lawyer."
- Jimmy: "A lawyer. Dude, I don't need to be a lawyer, all right? I'm a magic man. Will you have a little faith in me?"
- ―Jimmy promises he will find a way to keep Huell out of jail.
- "There is no negotiation here, Kim. And honestly, I don't understand why you want anything to do with this. One one side, I've got a decorated police officer doing his job. On the other, you have a professional thief who threw him to the ground. And our only witness is a scumbag, disbarred lawyer, who peddles drop phones to criminals."
- ―Ericsen to Kim about the Huell case.
- Kim: "Jimmy, he can't jump bail. You'll back me up, right?"
- Jimmy: "(Jimmy nods)"
- Kim: "Good."
- Jimmy: "I mean, if you say this is the only way we can legitimately do this, well, it's the only way."
- Kim: "So you're gonna tell him to stay put?"
- Jimmy: "Yeah, sure. You do your thing, I'll do mine."
- Kim: "Jimmy, come on, what does that mean?"
- Jimmy: "Don't worry."
- ―Kim and Jimmy discuss Huell's case.
Videos[]
