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Recap / Better Call Saul S 2 E 10 Klick

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"You finally got me right where you want me."
Chuck: Are you telling the truth, or are you just trying to make me feel better?
Jimmy: I am saying it to make you feel better. Sure as shit wouldn't be telling you otherwise!
Chuck’s alarming state following a hospital stay moves Jimmy to make an irrevocable decision. Hector’s crimes force Mike to dispense with half measures.

Tropes:

  • All for Nothing: Mike spent quite a bit of time and effort on making sure that he could rob Hector's truck full of drug money without needing to kill the driver, even though the driver is, nominally, 'in the game' by virtue of knowingly assisting with Hector's drug smuggling. However, leaving the driver alive just makes Hector assume he was in on it, and he's killed anyway, as well as being tortured first opposed to the quick and painless death Mike could have easily given him. Oh, and a good samaritan, who is most certainly not 'in the game', ends up getting murdered as a result of Mike leaving the driver alive for someone to find.
  • Ambiguous Situation: Did Nacho happen to always cut off the path of Mike's bullet to Hector without knowing it? Or did he suspect that Mike would want to ratchet up his grudge against Hector after hearing about the Good Samaritan, and intentionally interject himself knowing Mike wouldn't pull the trigger?
  • And I Must Scream:
    • How Chuck feels when he's being carried through the hospital, and when the hospital staff are "bombarding him with elecriticity" for medical tests that he doesn't want. Undergoes another round of it during the radiology scan.
    • Lecerda when he's being subjected to Cold-Blooded Torture while he was in that shack.
  • Batman Gambit: Chuck quit HHM, knowing that Howard would assume it was Jimmy's doing, and contact him. Jimmy goes directly to Chuck's house, only to find him covering his entire living room in space blanket foil. He apparently finally believes that he was the one who made the mistake with the Mesa Verde documents, and is so distraught over it that he's quitting the law for good. To save his brother from despair, Jimmy finally confesses that it was he who doctored the documents. After he leaves, Chuck pulls out a running tape recorder and turns it off, revealing that the entire thing was a ploy.
  • Bait-and-Switch: The opening appears to show Jimmy sitting by Chuck's hospital bed after the events of the previous episode with a doctor informing him that a priest is available if he wishes to see one, implying Chuck may not survive. Then the doctor moves out of the way to reveal that a perfectly healthy Chuck is sitting next to Jimmy and she was speaking to both of them regarding the impending death of their mother, and the scene is a flashback.
  • Cliffhanger: The Season Two finale ends with somebody, who's apparently been watching him, stopping Mike from killing Hector. Also, in the last shot of the episode, we learn that Chuck secretly recorded Jimmy confessing to doctoring the Mesa Verde documents.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: Implied to have happened to the truck driver while he was in that shack.
  • Double-Meaning Title: Chuck suddenly wakes from his catatonic state, Mike very nearly pulls the trigger on Hector Salamanca with a sniper rifle, and the record and stop buttons go "click" on Chuck's tape recorder.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The flashback makes it clear that Chuck sees himself as the responsible one and Jimmy as the foolish one. Chuck doesn't view Jimmy inviting two girls to their mother's surprise party in the same positive light as Jimmy does. The rest of the family had to clean up the after party mess while Jimmy didn't lift a finger, and their mother had to drive one of the girls home.
  • Foregone Conclusion: We know that Mike won't get to kill Hector because he will die alongside Gus Fring in Breaking Bad, but the audience can be forgiven for anticipating that this is the moment that paralyzes Hector (Turns out, it isn't.) Likewise, nothing of any permanent consequence comes of Chuck's recording of Jimmy's confession, as evidenced by the fact that Jimmy still practices law in Albuquerque in Breaking Bad, albeit under the name Saul Goodman. He is not convicted (that would get him disbarred and/or unemployable as a lawyer), nor is he disbarred.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: When Chuck and Jimmy were at their mother's hospital deathbed, Chuck not only makes a scathing comment regarding Jimmy's reminiscing over a party they were all at, he also says to the nurse that no one else needs to be contacted about their mother dying (Jimmy was away from the room at the time) and lies to Jimmy that their mother said nothing before passing away, despite her asking for Jimmy by name. This just proves to you that Chuck is a jerkass who despises his brother for being their mother's favorite.
  • It's Quiet… Too Quiet: Notice that the bugs and other insects stop making noise right before the mysterious individual plants the "DON'T" note in Mike's car.
  • The Gloves Come Off: Mike decided to kill Hector after his truck heist didn't bring the effects he wanted and caused an innocent's death.
  • Match Cut: From Chuck closing his fridge door to Mike opening his car door in the desert.
  • Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Chuck doesn't overtly mistreat Ernesto, but is repeatedly dismissive and condescending, while Jimmy is always friendly and respectful towards him. When Chuck questions Jimmy how he could quickly get to the copy shop, Ernesto spontaneously makes up a story to keep him out of trouble.
  • Mood Whiplash: The episode goes from Jimmy and Ernesto's calm conversation in the hospital to a closeup of Ximenez tied up in the back of Nacho's van.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: The promo for this episode implied that Howard called Jimmy because he had become convinced that Jimmy altered the Mesa Verde documents. In reality, it was because he thought Jimmy was behind Chuck deciding to retire.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Mike managed to pull off robbing Hector's drug truck of a quarter million dollars without killing the driver, something that very few people would have bothered with even attempting. But leaving the driver alive just ends up pulling an unrelated, innocent civilian into the situation, who winds up getting executed and buried out in the middle of the desert, something that clearly bothers Mike. Oh, and the driver he worked so hard to leave alive is tortured and killed anyway when Hector suspects he had to have been in on it.
  • Nothing Is Scarier: It isn't revealed in this episode who has been watching Mike, and while their identity is revealed in the next season, it still doesn't take away from the tension of the scene.
  • The Oner: A particularly terrifying one as Chuck is wheeled through the hospital and the doctors ignore all his warnings about his condition.
  • Out of Focus: All Howard gets in this episode is a short cameo, where he informs Jimmy over the phone that Chuck has decided to retire.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Jimmy's confession to Chuck ultimately turns into this, as he makes it clear that Chuck and Howard stealing Mesa Verde away from Kim was a dick move.
  • Reveal Shot: The final scene starts with one of these, Jimmy stepping through a foil curtain and then the camera panning out to reveal the room is now clad floor to ceiling in foil blankets.
  • Shoot the Dog: Another possible explanation for Chuck withholding what their mother said before she died. Either way it definitely makes the situation less awkward rather than if Chuck straight up told Jimmy and make him feel torn up inside for ages.
  • Shout-Out: Diagnosis: Murder is playing in the hospital waiting room Jimmy and Kim are in, specifically the episode "Left-Handed Murder".
  • Significant Anagram: With this episode released, the first letter of Season 2's episode titles spell out "FRING'S BACK", suggesting that Gus Fring is behind the "DON'T" note (even if he wasn't the one delivering it in person.)
  • Wham Episode: Somebody interrupted Mike's attempt at killing Hector and left a note on his car indicating that someone has been watching him. Chuck gets Jimmy to confess to him that he altered the Mesa Verde papers, and Chuck has it Caught on Tape.
  • Wham Shot:
    • After Jimmy leaves to talk to Hamlin (and confesses to altering the documents), Chuck leans over to the living room table, and moves some foil sheets away... revealing a running tape recorder.
    • "DON'T".
  • What You Are in the Dark:
    • After the previous episode ended with Jimmy seeing Chuck collapse and bang his head, debating to do something, the episode proper continues that scene... and after a few seconds, Jimmy rushes into the copy store, begins turning off the electronics, asks that someone call 911, and checks to see if Chuck is okay.
    • In the Cold Open, after Jimmy leaves Chuck alone in their mom's hospital room, Chuck begins to cry...and when she dies calling for Jimmy, Chuck keeps that knowledge to himself.
  • You Have Failed Me: Ximenez Lecerda, the truck driver from "Nailed", is shot in the head and buried.

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