[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 6, Episode 4 of Better Call Saul, “Hit and Run.”]
Better Call Saul is getting back to Jimmy’s (Bob Odenkirk) transformation storyline as he becomes closer and closer to the criminal lawyer fans knew from Breaking Bad in “Hit and Run.”
After last week’s sad Nacho (Michael Mando) reveal, Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) is antsier than ever to ward off any sneak attacks that could arise from Lalo (Tony Dalton), and Kim (Rhea Seehorn) is determined to see her and Jimmy’s scheme through in the installment. Below, we’re breaking down all of the key moments from the entertaining episode, so beware of spoilers ahead.
Secret Observation
In the show’s opening moments, a couple that viewers have never seen before bike through a suburban neighborhood and have a conversation. As they chat, it seems like the episode’s title may come into play, but instead of being hit by anything, when the couple enters their home, it’s filled with surveillance and security personnel, but it’s unclear why they’ve got cameras trained on Gus’ door until later in the episode.
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
Pulling One Over on Howard
Howard (Patrick Fabian) is seen driving into a parking lot where he leaves his Jaguar parked and ready unaware that Jimmy is looking to steal the car for his and Kim’s scheme. While Howard appears to attend an appointment with a therapist where he discusses challenges he’s having in his marriage, Jimmy is outside dressed as a Howard lookalike and as he takes the car with the keys Huell (Lavell Crawford) made for him, Jimmy places an orange cone in the empty spot.
Meanwhile, as this occurs, Kim anxiously looks around her as she sits at an outdoor cafe. She begins to adjust her seat, making sure she can see everything around her, and places what appears to be a recorder under the table moments before Cliff Main (Ed Begley Jr.) joins her. On Jimmy’s side of things, he pulls into the Crossroads Motel where he encounters a character that Breaking Bad fans will remember.
Because apparently, Wendy (Julia Minesci), the prostitute who appeared in the original series, is part of this scheme as Jimmy tries reiterating the importance of timing, making it clear her role in the scheme has already been discussed between them. She’s rather annoyed when he rushes her too fast away from the vending machine as she was looking for a root beer.
(Credit: AMC)
As for Kim, she continues her conversation with Cliff, buying Jimmy time to drive down the street in Howard’s car. While Cliff talks to Kim, she discusses wanting to make more connections and he opens up about his son’s issues with drugs, making it clear that Jimmy and Kim want to stir up doubt in Cliff about Howard’s sobriety. When Jimmy comes ripping through the street in the car, he pushes Wendy into the street, causing a scene and concerning Cliff in the process as he buys into the idea that it’s Howard behind the wheel.
Following the setup, Jimmy returns to the parking lot to find another car in Howard’s spot after someone moved the cone he placed down. And so, he has to think quick and park the car in a no-park zone and change some signage around to not stir doubt in Howard about his surroundings when he goes to leave the therapist’s office. Meanwhile, Kim drops Wendy back at the motel and offers her free legal advice whenever.
When Wendy notices a car parked across the street, she voices her annoyance, saying that means there’s no work for the rest of the day, believing them to be undercover cops, but Kim isn’t so sure as the car ends up following her out of the lot before taking off in another direction. At home, Jimmy tells Kim about his ordeal with the car and sign and she laughs. Kim shares that Cliff bought the situation they presented and admits that despite having ulterior motives to meet with the man, she got carried away about talking business with him.
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
Kim also brings up the car that was following her, mentioning how she thinks they’re being followed. Jimmy tries reassuring her it’s nothing and that she only feels that way because she didn’t get caught in her scheme.
New Opportunity
At court, Jimmy discovers that no one wants to work with him as they all believe he helped Lalo escape from having to pay consequences for his crimes and did so knowing he was a cartel man. Of course, Jimmy did know, but the situation was a little more complicated than Jimmy cares to share, and so he is essentially a pariah among his peers.
But he’s less of a pariah among potential customers who want in on the lawyer who worked with Lalo Salamanca. When he arrives at the nail salon to meet with clients there are quite a few individuals who are eager to pay whatever they must to get out of their legal troubles, including another Breaking Bad alum named Spooge (David Ury), otherwise known as the man who had his head crushed by an ATM.
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
Kim on Alert
As for Kim, she’s continuing her meetings with clients at restaurants and notices the car that was following her the other day is now parked outside. When she goes to confront the men, asking if they’re following her, they apologize if they made her uncomfortable and drive off. Later, when she goes to leave the restaurant she returned to, she looks out the window for the car, but Mike (Jonathan Banks) calls her attention. He tells her that he’ll answer any questions that he’s allowed to answer and says that he’s trying to solve the Lalo Salamanca problem.
Believing the cartel man to be dead, Mike explains to Kim that he’s believed to be alive and for that reason, there’s a car following Kim to keep an eye out on her and Jimmy in case Lalo tries to strike. Kim asks why he’d share this with her and Mike tells her it’s because she’s made of stronger stuff than Jimmy and she realizes that Mike’s the man from the desert. But an even deeper realization comes to the surface when Kim remembers that Mike is from the courthouse parking garage, identifying him in the real world as well as the cartel one.
Later on, Kim meets Jimmy in the parking lot of a strip mall where he drags her over to the future front of his offices. Kim seems on edge and nervous, no doubt from learning about Lalo’s potential status, and gives Jimmy a bit of a hard time about the location he’s eager to set up as his own. Ultimately, she tells him she loves it and makes him promise to keep the odd toilet that’s placed in the middle of the space when he opens it.
Gus at Home
In a sequence towards the end of the episode, Gus returns home and goes about collecting his mail, removing his shoes, and changing his outfit. When he removes his shirt, a bullet-proof vest is uncovered as he slips into something less Los Pollos Hermanos and more crime boss. As he goes downstairs and walks towards the laundry area of his basement, Gus pulls some levers and pushes some buttons to reveal a hidden tunnel space where he is able to access the house where surveillance was set up in at the beginning of the episode. It turns out that Mike is helping run things out of the home as Gus remains antsy over Lalo’s disappearance.
Where is the Salamanca wild card? He hasn’t made an appearance since Episode 1, which is pretty suspicious. Hopefully, viewers will have an answer sooner than later as Better Call Saul Season 6 continues.
Better Call Saul, Season 6, Mondays, 9/8c, AMC and AMC+
