Hope you're craving some fried chicken, because Los Pollos Hermanos is back, baby.
Full spoilers for Better Call Saul continue below.
For seasons, Better Call Saul viewers have wondered when Jimmy McGill would transition to become the Saul Goodman we knew and loved from Breaking Bad. While each season has tracked Jimmy's moral struggle and fight to stay "good" as he is consistently pulled to the dark side, he's firmly remained "Jimmy," despite the show being called Better Call Saul. Before this series ends, we'll inevitably find out what prompts Jimmy to change his name and fully embrace his scummy alter ego, and I wonder if tonight's episode of "Witness" officially started the beginning of that shift.
There were three major events that occurred in the second episode of Season 3 that make me think this could be the case. First, Mike finally called back up Jimmy for a favor, thus entwining their story arcs once again. Season 2 saw them largely following different journeys, but with Mike now trying to figure out who warned him "Don't," he throws himself back into Jimmy's path to have his lawyer pal investigate what shenanigans are happening at Los Pollos Hermanos.
Second, Jimmy is in way over his head with Chuck's long game. Chuck knows exactly how to play his brother, and he is out to bring Jimmy McGill down. To Chuck, Jimmy doesn't deserve the success he has and he never will. He also knows Jimmy will do anything to try to repair his relationship with his older brother. Planting the seed with Ernie to eventually cause Jimmy to break into his house to destroy the tape, thus confirming his complicity, was a cruel plan -- and one Jimmy played directly into. With two witnesses seeing this occur, including Howard, Jimmy's name is likely very much tainted. I'm not sure how much Kim can do to help Jimmy here.
Which brings us to the third big event that took place in "Witness," and what is likely one of the most significant events to happen in Jimmy McGill's adult life: he met Gustavo Fring, the owner of Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant chain and underground crime lord in Albuquerque, N.M. We know that it's through Saul that Walt eventually meets Mike and Gus, which means that from this point on Jimmy/Saul's life is inexorably tied to that of Mr. Fring. As we figure out how and why Gus is tracking Mike and how Jimmy fits into this storyline, I can't help but wonder if it's Gus, not Kim or even Jimmy himself, who help get the younger McGill out of his mess with his older brother.
All things considered, I'm glad Jimmy found out about Chuck's tape early on in this season instead of saving it as a McGuffin for later on this year. Hopefully with Gus also introduced early on, Jimmy's storyline will end up being less Chuck-focused than it has been in years past as we continue to see his descent toward Saul. A small nitpick, but I think "Witness" would have been a bit more impactful had the cold open been the dialogue-less sequence of Mike tracking his tracker back to Los Pollos Hermanos versus the scene with Chuck and the P.I. That Los Pollos Hermanos reveal was fun and impactful and set the right tone for the episode, even if those Chuck scenes did bookend "Witness."
Like Better Call Saul was quick to deal with Chuck's tapes, I hope they're also quick to deal with why Gus is tracking Mike. Mike finally got the call from Gus -- or one of his cronies -- in this episode, and the show would be smart to not drag out that storyline too long. It's one fans have been anticipating for a very long time, and now that Gus is in the Better Call Saul universe, let's start unpacking what has happened for him to have Mike, and by extension Jimmy/Saul, in his pocket.
The Verdict
The introduction of Gus Fring seems to be a trigger for another long-awaited plot point: Jimmy becoming Saul. It's welcome that Jimmy and Mike have a reason to cross paths again, and exciting that that reason is Gus. It also was a smart choice to have the second episode of the season deal with Chuck's tape, which inevitably will have major ripple effects across Jimmy's life. Is there any saving him now? We're pretty sure the answer is "no."
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