Cobbler (Better Call Saul)
| "Cobbler" | |
|---|---|
| Better Call Saul episode | |
| Episode no. |
Season 2 Episode 2 |
| Directed by | Terry McDonough |
| Written by | Gennifer Hutchison |
| Original air date | February 22, 2016 |
| Running time | 47 minutes |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
| |
"Cobbler" is the second episode of the second season of the AMC television series Better Call Saul, the spinoff series of Breaking Bad. The episode aired on February 22, 2016.
Plot
Teaser
As Chuck plays the piano at his home, he is interrupted when Howard arrives to deliver groceries. They discuss the Sandpiper case as well as Jimmy's employment at Davis & Main. Chuck is reluctant about Jimmy joining D&M, though Howard says it was mostly thanks to Kim's efforts that D&M were willing to hire him. After Hamlin leaves, Chuck returns to his piano, turns on the metronome, and stares at it silently.
Plot
Before a meeting between Hamlin Hamlin & McGill and D&M, Kim rearranges the seating so that she and Jimmy sit side by side. She asks Jimmy how he is adjusting to his new firm. On a break, they share a cigarette, a kiss, and she gives him a thermos with "World's 2nd Best Lawyer" written on it. They agree to meet later that night. At the nail salon Jimmy receives his new company car, a Mercedes-Benz, and is frustrated that his new thermos does not fit in the cup holder like it did in his old beater.
At the courthouse, Mike is surprised to see Daniel arrive in his Hummer. Daniel tells him about the burglary at his house and Mike cautions him about talking to the police. Daniel, however, is adamant about getting his baseball cards back. In order to prevent Daniel from possibly implicating him in the drug deals, Mike offers to find the baseball cards. He tracks down Nacho at his father's car restoration shop and asks for the return of the baseball cards. Nacho at first brushes him off, until Mike threatens to inform Tuco about the drug deals. Mike negotiates a deal where Daniel trades his Hummer to Nacho in return for the baseball cards and $10,000. The police are still calling Daniel to come in for an interview.
During a meeting between HHM and D&M, Chuck appears and sits in as an observer. Jimmy is hesitant to continue at first but with silent encouragement from Kim he continues to discuss the Sandpiper clients. When Jimmy asks Chuck why he came to the meeting, Chuck simply says he came to "bear witness". Moments later, Mike phones Jimmy, asking for his assistance. Jimmy accompanies Daniel to a police interview, where Daniel tells the detectives there is no need to keep the case open since he has retrieved his cards. The detectives are still skeptical, so Jimmy talks to them privately about a failed gay love affair and the stealing of the cards as revenge. To provide Daniel with an alibi, Jimmy "explains" that the space behind the couch contained fetish videos of Daniel sitting on various types of pies and crying. The detectives, taken off guard by the outrageous story, believe Jimmy.
That night, Jimmy meets with Kim and tells her the story of Daniel's case and the fabricating of a video that was needed as evidence. Kim is appalled that Jimmy has possibly jeopardized his career. Jimmy counters by asking why she was willing to play along with conning Ken. She retorts that it had nothing to do with work. She asks him why he was willing to falsify evidence to exonerate a client and, when Jimmy cannot provide a satisfactory answer, Kim says, "I can't hear about this sort of thing ever again" to which Jimmy responds, "You won't".
Production
Bob Odenkirk was said to have inspired the name of the episode and fetish portrayed in the police interrogation room scene. Peter Gould said "There weren't as many names. In fact, I don't know that we named it at all. I think (Jimmy) just said, 'He sits in pies.' He pitched the idea: 'Sex acts all have a name. Shouldn't there be a name for this thing?'[1]
"On this show, he mostly is a performer, but every once in a while, you see that he really is one of the great comic minds of our time. That was an example of Bob giving us a direction that we ran with, and then he ran with it in performance. And I just love it. I have to say, that was an interesting evolution of that scene. I'm really proud of it."[1]
Reception
Ratings
Upon airing, the episode received 2.23 million American viewers, and an 18-49 rating of 1.0.[2]
Including DVR playback, the episode was watched by 4.373 million viewers and attained an 18-49 rating of 2.0.[3]
Critical reception
The episode received critical acclaim from critics, with much of the praise going to Bob Odenkirk's performance, Jimmy McGill's character development and the police interrogation room scene. It holds a 100% positive rating with an average score of 8.5 out of 10 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The critics' consensus reads: "With sharp dialogue and a seamlessly developing plot, "Cobbler" steers its central character ever closer to the horribly compelling tumble from greatness Better Call Saul is building toward."[4] Terri Schwartz of IGN gave the episode an 8.8 rating, noting that the episode "made excellent use of Bob Odenkirk's humor, delivering some of the funniest moments of the series".[5] The Telegraph noted how "amid the chuckles were intimations of darker days ahead".[6]
Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A- rating, comparing the police scene to the bar scene from the previous episode, saying
It’s the criminal defense equivalent of the Viktor-with-a-K con from the premiere, a web of pure fabrication that plays right into the police’s jaded worldview: People are sick; anything’s possible; it’s almost too crazy not to be real. But to seal the deal, Jimmy buys some baked goods and films Daniel sitting on them. It’s not clear he needed to do this to convince the police. Rather, as he’s gleefully recounting the scam to Kim, it seems that he takes some pleasure in humiliating the idiotic dipshit. In doing so, though, he crosses a line—he fabricates evidence. Kim’s horrified, but for Jimmy, it’s a way of being both Slippin’ Jimmy and James M. McGill, Esq. He’s keeping it isolated from Davis & Main, he assures her; strictly pro bono work. He’s trying to have the cocobolo desk and flip the forbidden switch at the same time.[7]
Nicholas Parco of The New York Daily News said of the police scene and the episode as a whole that "Sure, McGill [...] is nowhere near the Goodman that Breaking Bad fans fell in love with, but in the final scene of the aptly titled “Cobbler,” the evolution shines through more than ever.[8] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix called the scene "the funniest Breaking Bad universe moment since Jesse thought Walt was going to build a robot, and the show sending a reassuring message that it will do just fine whenever the switch in Jimmy's office flips permanently to the Saul position."[9] David Segal of The New York Times called the scene "my favorite scene of this very young season. I particularly loved the notion that as convincing as Jimmy was, the cops apparently ended the interview less than fully persuaded that a lover’s spat, and the aforementioned fetish, explained the home robbery of Daniel Wormald, the world’s most irritating naïf."[10]
Jonathan Banks's role as Mike was received positively by critics as well. Sean T. Collins of The New York Observer said "Mike’s material is strong even by his own standards. His dynamic with Daniel Wormald [...] is exasperatingly entertaining enough to come with the Curb Your Enthusiasm soundtrack. [...] And it’s worth pointing out that in deciding to help reclaim the cards only after Dan reveals some of them belonged to his dad, we catch a glimpse of the tragic father-and-son backstory we learned about Mike in Season One’s strongest episode."[11]
References
- 1 2 Sepinwall, Alan (February 22, 2016). "How Bob Odenkirk helped inspire the funniest 'Better Call Saul' scene yet". HitFix. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ↑ Welch, Alex (February 23, 2016). "Monday cable ratings: 'WWE Raw' reigns supreme, 'Better Call Saul' falls". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
- ↑ http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/03/06/cable-live-3-ratings-feb-22-28-walking-dead-has-steady-growth/
- ↑ "Cobbler". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
- ↑ Schwartz, Terri (February 22, 2016). "Better Call Saul: "Cobbler" Review". IGN. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
- ↑ Power, Ed (February 22, 2016). "Better Call Saul, season 2, episode 2: is it goodbye to Daniel Warmolt?". The Telegraph. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
- ↑ Bowman, Donna (February 22, 2016). "Better Call Saul asks what it means for Jimmy to be "morally flexible"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
- ↑ Parco, Nicholas (February 22, 2016). "Jimmy McGill eager to 'break bad' in Episode 2 of 'Better Call Saul' — (SPOILER ALERT)". The New York Daily News. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ↑ Sepinwall, Alan (February 22, 2016). "Review: Jimmy pulls a 'Better Call Saul'-style stunt in 'Cobbler'". HitFix. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ↑ Segal, David (February 22, 2016). "'Better Call Saul' Season 2, Episode 2: What's Hoboken Got to Do With It?". The New York Times. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ↑ Collins, Sean T. (February 23, 2016). "'Better Call Saul' Recap 2×02: Mike Drop". The New York Observer. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
External links
- "Cobbler" at AMC
- "Cobbler" at the Internet Movie Database