Better Call Saul – Season 1, Episode 2 – All That Jazz ← FREE KRAUT!

Better Call Saul – Season 1, Episode 2 – All That Jazz 4

If nothing else, Jimmy McGill has fine taste in 1970s films.

It was Network in the first episode, and All That Jazz this time. But the real throwback in the episode was the deliciously insane Tuco, who is violent, unpredictable, a fine cook, and always respects the older members of his family. Tuco was the show’s secret weapon, and the long sequence that starts the episode plays off every Breaking Bad fan’s favorite memories of the meth-snorting gang leader while allowing Saul to establish that he deals with the man in a different way than Walter or Jesse. Yes, the sequence was a bit implausible and took advantage of some typical BB scenery at the tail end, but that didn’t stop it from being fun and more than a little unpredictable. (And yes, it was hilarious to hear Tuco tell No-Doz to “stop helping” when he chimed in at an inopportune moment. That guy never learned.) Saul really does never stop talking, as Tuco observes, and he does his best to save the skateboarders’ lives. Knowing what we do about Tuco, that took a combination of fast talking and a reckless, noble bravery.

But the character who will likely play the biggest role is new, a smarter underling of Tuco’s named Nacho who seems to have bigger ambitions and an interest in Saul’s less noble impulses. He’s the one who visits Saul in his small excuse of an office with the idea of finding out where the apparently embezzling county official has his money. He’s the one who suggests Jimmy’s emphasis should be on the criminal, not the lawyer.

The rest of the episode, especially the slow scene with Chuck, was less interesting. I am already bored with the running gag with Mike and the parking stickers. But overall, I’m not complaining.

 

4 thoughts on “Better Call Saul – Season 1, Episode 2 – All That Jazz

  1. FreeSeatUpgrade Feb 10,2015 8:18 am

    I read somewhere that Gilligan deliberately designed this series to ramp up slowly. I suspect the McGill brothers relationship will play that way. Something deeper than hypochondria is behind Michael McKean’s weird condition.

    One of the fun things about knowing who lives until the BB years is also guessing who does not. I look forward to seeing what becomes of Nacho. I bet it is dramatic.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  2. AV Feb 10,2015 12:07 pm

    i won’t be catching any of these till the netflix horizon, but early signs say i will enjoy, as an experiment in the expectation/jouissance/digestion cycle, reading the whole season first and seeing if the episodes themselves live up to this really rather nice account you’re giving.

    *i’m* AV. alex vause. put this loon in psych before she hurts someone.
    • ptbnl Feb 11,2015 10:25 am || Up

      The first two episodes at least are available to stream on AMC for 30 days.

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
      • AV Feb 11,2015 8:41 pm || Up

        a stream of premature jouissance? tempting…

        *i’m* AV. alex vause. put this loon in psych before she hurts someone.

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