Better Call Saul, S2 Recap: "Like They Say, Discretion Is the Better Part of Valour."

Jimmy drinks the cucumber water and quits law

Every time Jimmy tries to grab a cup of Mrs Nguyen’s “Customers only!” cucumber drink, he’ll get yelled at by the landlady and stop himself. Back from declining the offer from Davis & Main, he rebels fearlessly and drinks the water straight from the dispenser.

This new Jimmy is quitting law altogether and now lazing in a hotel pool too. Kim looks for him and tries to understand this new life crisis of his. Jimmy says he's done getting Chuck’s approval, and he could use his talent elsewhere, not only for law. To prove that, he tricks a loud stockbroker at the bar to pay for their expensive drinks, introducing himself as Viktor. Kim, reluctantly at first, plays along as Viktor’s sibling Giselle, both apparently have just received a huge inheritance.

Thrilled with the experience, Kim kisses Jimmy and they spend the night together.


Pryce drives a Hummer and Mike leaves

Pryce is too clueless to crime, so he buys a flashy Hummer. Realizing Pryce is now a neon light that’s drawing attention, Mike quits Pryce. Pryce says he doesn’t think he needs Mike anyway as his business with Nacho has become routine.

Seeing Pryce alone, Nacho slyly obtains Pryce’s address and real name ie Daniel Wormald, then robs Pryce’s house, stealing the drug money and his collection of baseball cards.

Mike stumbles into Pryce, who’s on his way to see the police to follow up on the robbery. Mike stops him, saying the police are on a fishing trip. He has no choice but to promise Pryce that he'll find the baseball cards himself.

He also gets Jimmy to help Pryce close the case. Jimmy concocts a story that the empty secret compartment the police discovered at Pryce’s house is for the fetish videos Pryce is making for a wealthy client. And now Pryce has to make that video as a proof.

Mike tracks Nacho to his father’s upholstery shop. Nacho refuses to return the cards until Mike brings up Tuco. Tuco's finding out about his side business is not going to end well for Nacho.


Jimmy accepts Davis & Main’s offer eventually

There’s a switch in Jimmy’s new office at Davis & Main with a warning note to always leave it on. He switches it off for a few seconds anyway, but nothing happens.

The new job comes with a brand new Mercedes, corporate housing, and cushy office with arts. His only request is his dream furniture: a cocobolo desk.

Jimmy’s in charge of client outreach for the Sandpiper case. A bar rule prohibits him from directly soliciting clients, but he can initiate contact by mail, which results in slow progress.

To sign for clients in Amarillo, he bribes a Sandpiper’s bus driver to fake a breakdown on its way to a restaurant, so he can meet with the only resident there who responded to his mail. He uses the meeting to solicit and gets 23 more clients as a result.

Chuck is wary of the numbers and warns of the consequences not doing this the right way. Jimmy dodges but says he’ll find an alternative so they are all covered.

He suggests to Clifford Main that they make a TV commercial, and Cliff promises that they’ll look into it the following week. Jimmy sees an old commercial that Davis & Main made before and is appalled by it. He goes to make a commercial for Sandpiper and airs it for a small test market without the partners’ approval.

Despite the encouraging result, the partners aren’t happy about the ad, saying it could tarnish the firm’s reputation. Jimmy’s work is under a lot of scrutiny after that, and he gets increasingly unhappy.

One night when he can’t sleep at his new apartment, he drives back to the nail salon and falls asleep easily. The way I can relate to that.

So Jimmy asks his assistant Omar to write him a resignation letter.

But upon learning that resigning before a year term means he’ll lose his bonus, Jimmy changes his mind – and strategy.

Inspired by the colourful inflatables by the roadside, Jimmy buys a bright flashy work wardrobe to stick out like a sore thumb in front of Davis & Main’s clients and does all sorts of shenanigans to annoy Cliff.

It works and Jimmy’s fired. He returns to his old car and room at the nail salon, but gets to keep the bonus and his $7k cocobolo desk that he pays Davis & Main back.


Kim and Mesa Verde

Howard sends Kim to do document review again as a punishment for Jimmy’s commercial – previously, it was when she lost the Kettlemans.

Determined to get out of it, she starts looking for new clients and lands Mesa Verde Bank and Trust through her friend Paige, a Senior Counsel at the bank, but she's only forgiven by Howard with Chuck’s help.

She starts to feel like she’s going nowhere at HHM. When Rich Schweikart offers her a position at Schweikart & Cokely, she goes to the interview.


Nacho hires Mike

Mike looks for another job from the vet but is not willing to do one that involves physical violence. But he’s requested specifically by a client to do a “next-level-pay” job. Turns out, the client is Nacho and the job is to kill Tuco for $50k. Mike asks if Nacho’s sure about killing his partner. Nacho tells Mike how erratic Tuco is, that he once killed a close associate of theirs named "Dog" Paulson, accusing Dog of ripping him off. This was proven by Tuco’s lie detector test ie Tuco’s staring at a person for a long time to determine if they are lying. A piece of Dog’s skull is still buried under Nacho’s shoulder. Mike suggests getting Tuco imprisoned instead for half the payment.

So Tuco’s facing multiple charges from the ruse, including one for illegal gun possession.

Then walks in Tuco’s uncle, the great Hector Salamanca.

For $5k, Hector asks Mike to tell the DA that the gun isn’t Tuco’s to reduce Tuco’s sentence. When Mike refuses, Hector starts to send his men, including the Mexican twins, to threaten Mike and Kaylee. Mike eventually caves but asks for $50k.

"Like they say, discretion is the better part of valour," Jimmy tells Mike after their meeting with the DA, trying to assure Mike that it was the right decision. Offended, Mike makes Jimmy take the next elevator.

Later, he returns Nacho’s $25k, saying that he has failed Nacho’s task.

Mike’s not able to let this go, though, and wants the police to pin Hector. So he robs Hector’s drug money delivery, leaving the truck driver alive, tied by the roadside. But he’s baffled as to why the incident is not on the news the following day. He then learns from Nacho that the driver was saved by a good Samaritan, whom Hector subsequently killed to cover the story.

Feeling guilty, now Mike wants to kill Hector instead of just making him go to jail. He buys a gun from Lawson the arms dealer and takes his position in the desert, aiming at Hector who’s executing the truck driver. But he’s not able to take the shot as Nacho is always in the way.

Mike gets back to his car when he hears the horn blaring, a note stuck on the windshield reads, “Don’t”.


Two separate practices

Jimmy tells Kim about Pryce’s fetish story, and they have a good laugh about it. But when he tells her about actually making the video, Kim's not happy about Jimmy fabricating evidence.

Jimmy proposes to Kim that they open their own practice. After a slightly botched goodbye while leaving her interview at Schweikart & Cokely, Kim agrees to sharing the same office and expenses but operating as two solo practitioners.

Kim manages to retain Mesa Verde at first, until Paige and Mesa Verde’s CEO Kevin Wachtell meet with Chuck and Howard. Now, dejected Kim is left with zero clients.

Meanwhile, Jimmy's making a TV commercial for his practice, steamrolling any rules in the way, so he can make the ad with little cost.


Chuck and Jimmy

In a flashback, we meet Chuck’s ex-wife Rebecca, back when they just got married. They invited Jimmy for dinner, and Chuck warned Rebecca that Jimmy was a lot. But Rebecca was charmed by Jimmy by the end of the night to Chuck’s envy.

We also learn about their parents. Their father was a shopkeeper, a very kind man who people kept taking advantage of. Chuck tells Kim that when they were young, Jimmy embezzled $14k from their father’s business. Charles Sr ended up having to sell the business and died six months after. Years later, Jimmy was out getting food for them when their mother died on the hospital bed. Her last words were asking for Jimmy, despite Chuck sitting by her side, calling her name. Chuck had never told Jimmy this.

The meeting with Kevin and Paige takes a toll on Chuck, and he gets sick afterwards. Ernie, who’s also Jimmy’s friend back in the mailroom and now is Chuck’s personal assistant, stays to look after him. That night, Jimmy takes over from Ernie.

Jimmy sees Mesa Verde’s files under Chuck’s desk and goes to find a printing shop to forge the documents, changing the address of the new Mesa Verde’s proposed branch from 1261 to 1216. Chuck uses the forged document to prepare for the filing with the New Mexico State Banking Board the following week.

The meeting with the Board turns disastrous, and Mesa Verde ends up going back to Kim.

Chuck warns Kim about Jimmy, and Kim warns Jimmy about covering his every step because Chuck is a dangerous adversary. Jimmy gets up and goes to the printing shop, seeing Ernie’s already there, asking questions on behalf of Chuck.

Jimmy bribes Lance, the printing shop’s clerk, before Ernie’s back with Chuck.

Agitated by the electricity and Lance changing his story, Chuck gets sick and falls, his head hitting the counter. Witnessing this from afar, Jimmy barges into the shop to help.

Back from the hospital, Chuck tells Howard that he’s resigning from HHM and quitting law.

Hearing this, Jimmy goes to Chuck’s. To add to his worry, he sees that Chuck's in the middle of lining his entire house with space blankets.

Jimmy tries to talk Chuck out of quitting, saying that Chuck’s not losing it, and it wasn’t an error. It was Jimmy who changed the address.

After Jimmy leaves, Chuck retrieves a tape recorder hidden on the coffee table – having just recorded Jimmy’s admission to committing a felony.

Image: AMC