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Better Call Saul season 3, episode 8 recap: “Slip”

By Cory Thone

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“This is the land of the free and the home of the lawsuit.” Better Call Saul returns with “Slip.”

Slippin’ Jimmy is back, Chuck is buying soy milk, Kim is caught between a rock and a hard place, Nacho makes his deadly move, and Mike shook hands with Gus and we all squealed. “Slip”, the 8th episode of season 3 of “Better Call Saul“, was full of buildup as it laid the foundation for the final 2 episodes of the season.

We begin with a cold open flashback to Jimmy with his old partner-in-scams, Marco. They have broken into Jimmy’s parent’s old convenience store to find Jimmy’s old coin collection so they can use them for some hustles. Marco remarks about how fondly he remembered the old store, and how much he liked and respected Jimmy’s parents.

Image Credit: AMC

Jimmy, however, goes off on a bit of a rant about how his parent’s “weren’t cut out for this” and that they worked as hard as they could for something they would ultimately lose, simply because his father was too nice of a person. While others saw the McGill’s as a hard working, honest people, Jimmy saw his family pass up every opportunity that came their way. The lesson he learned at a young age was that when life gives you a window, you climb in and take everything you can as quick as you can.

Then we see Jimmy put that life lesson into action when the owners of “ABQ in Tune” decide to NOT pay Jimmy for 6 more ads, even though they had an agreement that they would do so if business picked up after their first free commercial. The brothers (played by Randy and Jason Sklar) try to negotiate their costs down to rock bottom prices and eventually turn down Jimmy’s deal altogether. Not to be out-hustled, Slippin’ Jimmy makes an appearance, as he trips over a drumstick and falls flat on his back. He then threatens to sue the store for his damages…unless of course, they purchase the video production plan at their previously agreed upon price, and then throw in a guitar for good measure.

Image Credit: AMC

Feeling emboldened by FINALLY having success in a negotiation, Jimmy butts heads with his community service foreman about his strict rules. He threatens to sue him for not letting Jimmy rest his injured back and says he’ll also represent the other people the foreman has been overly strict with, including a “rhymes-with-mug-mealer” that the foreman wouldn’t let go visit his daughter in the hospital. The foreman backs down, lets Jimmy rest his back, and the “mug-mealer” gives Jimmy $700 for his help. Not a bad way to make some cash.

Not much really happened with Kim in this episode. They further showed how conflicted she is by Jimmy and her feelings for him personally. During a lunch with Mesa Verde, Howard happens to come in and condescendingly congratulates her on her success in front of her clients. She then writes out a check for $14,000 for him to pay back her law school (WHAT LAW SCHOOL IS THAT CHEAP?) and it sparks a heated conversation between the two former colleagues. Howard lets Kim know that he’s been having to run damage control since they embarrassed the firm during Chuck and Jimmy’s court hearings. Kim hits back that she was only representing her client to the best of her abilities, and if Howard has been hiding Chuck’s real condition from his clients, that’s on him.

Image Credit: AMC

It’s a far cry from Kim’s frustrated statement last week, where she felt that “all they did was tear down a sick man” when they exposed Chuck to his own mental illness in public. Again, Kim is caught between Jimmy and her career, and at the end of the episode, we see her take on a new client to make more money since she does not trust that Jimmy will be able to make enough to pay his half of the bills. This will undoubtedly pose an issue with Mesa Verde down the line since she promised them that they would be her exclusive client.

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Chuck has come to terms with the fact that his illness isn’t real, and is all in his head. This has lead him to try and go out in the world, expose himself to electricity, and try to get back to leading a normal life. And, with the help of his therapist, it seems to be working. Chuck successfully buys apples and soy milk at the grocery store, and even walks down a frozen food aisle. He tells his therapist (or whatever she technically is) that he is dreaming of being back in the courtroom and hosting parties again. He wants to get back to a normal life.

Finally, Nacho and Mike have to make big time moves to protect the ones they love. Nacho had the best scene of the episode, as we see him create his deadly poisoned pills, and then slowly figure out how to slip them into Hector’s pockets. Nacho has become a very sympathetic character on the show this season. He is pulling out all the stops to try and protect his father, who is not aware of Nacho’s criminality.

Image Credit: AMC

In the tensest moment of the season so far, Nacho is able to successfully switch out the pills for the spiked ones without being caught. Words can’t describe the physical distress we see on Nacho’s sweaty face and shaking hands. The scene is worth several rewatches. But in the next episode, we will probably get to see the results of Nacho’s actions.

Mike gathered his money, put it into a bag, and went to see his new friend Gus at Pollos Hermanos. Mike, much like Nacho, has come to a point where he’s going to have to make a move to ensure that his loved ones don’t suffer.

Mike works out a deal where Gus take’s his savings, and if something were to happen to Mike, his granddaughter and daughter-in-law would get the money, no questions asked. For this service, Gus doesn’t want money. He wants Mike. And the two shake hands on it, and a very prosperous partnership is born.

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