Quite a Ride
The fifth episode of Better Call Saul season 4.
We open in a flash-forward, during the final hours of Saul Goodman & Associates, as Saul, looking dishevelled and sporting a broken nose, retrieves a bag full of cash from the ceiling while Francesca shreds documents. Saul tears open the "We the People" wallpaper behind his desk and takes out his shoebox, which he places inside his luggage. He hands over two wads of cash to Francesca. Saul tells her that the police will undoubtedly come talk to her at some point, and asks her what she is going to tell them. "Talk to my attorney," she laconically replies. Saul then give her Ed's business card, and tells her to say that "Jimmy" sent her. He also asks about their appointment on November 12. Francesca replies that she will be there, "but if it doesn't ring at 3 on the dot, I'm gone." Jimmy just assures her that it will. Believing that they have taken care of everything, Jimmy somewhat awkwardly tries to lighten the dower mood as he quips, "Quite a ride, huh?" and offers Francesca a hug. But she just waves off his gesture with a nonchalant "Yup," and walks out to dispose of the shredded documents. As soon as she is out the door, Saul goes to his desk and takes out a disposable cell phone from his desk drawer and calls Ed. After finishing the call, Saul immediately breaks the phone, and takes a last look around his office with a look of utter defeat on his face.
Meanwhile, in the present day, Jimmy initially struggles to attract business to CC Mobile despite the massive sign he painted on the storefront windows. After an indeterminate amount of time, he does get a visit from the owner of a contractor business, who's interested in getting phones that can protect his calls from the IRS. Jimmy offers him a disposable cell phone that he can use to communicate without being eavesdropped or tracked. Jimmy is ultimately able to convince the man to buy in bulk.
In a parking lot at Denver International Airport in Colorado, an unnamed Frenchman steps off the airport shuttle and approaches a rental car. He finds a set of keys hidden in the right front wheel well, and in the front cupholder, a cell phone. The second he picks up the phone, it rings. Mike is on the other end of the call, and instructs the Frenchman to drive into the Rocky Mountains, and park by a specific mile marker on the side of a remote two-lane road. When he gets to this point, Mike calls him again, and instructs him to don a black hood in the trunk, then stand on the roadside with his luggage. After the man dons the hood, Mike and his driver, Nick, pull up in a windowless van. With Nick driving and Mike riding in back with the Frenchman, they drive south several hundred miles to Albuquerque. The Frenchman, a structural engineer, is not allowed to remove his hood until he is deposited in the Lavanderia Brilliante, where he is told to analyze the feasibility and the work needed to excavate a new basement in secret. After a short rudimentary survey, he confidently concludes that he can do it in the span of at least six months, more time than a tunnel he once dug under the U.S.-Mexico border. His attitude makes clear he's not professional enough for the tastes of Mike's employer and can't be trusted to keep trade secrets. After receiving a short phone call from Gus telling him to reject the candidate, Mike thanks the Frenchman for his time and has him returned to the pickup point with a return plane ticket in hand.
At the courthouse, Kim does public defender work at the behest of Judge Munsinger. Her latest client is a teenage boy named David Estrada, who has been charged with throwing a cinder block through a jewelry store window. Kim negotiates with DDA Bill Oakley, leveraging him with the fact that David was arrested based on a statement he gave to police before he was Mirandized. Oakley is forced to agree to her plea agreement and gives David four months' probation with time served. When David expresses ingratitude for getting his sentence reduced, Kim urges him to go back to his grandfather, beg for a job, and turn his life around.
That night, Jimmy suggests he and Kim watch Doctor Zhivago on television, but Kim declines, as she needs to review Viola's paperwork for Mesa Verde. Jimmy tries to watch the film while Kim does her work, but grows restless and turns the TV off. He falsely tells her he has things to do at work despite the late hour. Back at CC Mobile, Jimmy falsifies some receipts, sorts cash in the register, and takes a large stock of drop phones before leaving the store.
Jimmy hits the streets, intent on selling his drop phones to any criminals who are willing to pay for them. The first customers he attempts to approach are three youths, who think he's an undercover cop and refuse to purchase. Undeterred, Jimmy goes to the Day Spa and Nail, and dons one of his old tracksuits. In this new guise, he walks up to shady characters at the Dog House, who prove to be more willing to purchase phones, sometimes in bulk. Eventually, Jimmy sees the Dog House's patrons leave as a biker gang rolls in. Although he is intimidated by the bikers, Jimmy approaches them with the last of his supply and manages to convince them to make purchases. After the bikers leave, and Jimmy is about to drive away, he is mugged by the three youths from before.
Kim wakes up in the early hours of the morning to find Jimmy in the bathroom, tending to his injuries from the mugging. After she treats him with ice and iodine, Jimmy criticizes himself for misreading the situation and not recognizing the youths as muggers sooner. Jimmy suddenly agrees to see the therapist Kim recommended.
The following morning, Jimmy spends the day removing his sign from the CC Mobile storefront. Meanwhile, Kim takes a taxi to her next public defender client Denise, who is an hour late to her appearance in court over a drug possession charge. While she persuades Denise to come with her to the courthouse, Kim mutes an incoming phone call. While Denise changes, Kim receives a second call; it's Paige, who tells her that an error has come up in Viola's paperwork and that Kim is needed right away. Kim hangs up on Paige before leaving the house with Denise. When Kim finally makes it to Mesa Verde, Paige admonishes Kim for hanging up on her and reminds her that she promised to put her focus solely on Mesa Verde. Kim apologizes and promises that it won't happen again.
With the failure of the Frenchman, Gus orders Mike to bring in another structural engineer, Werner Ziegler, who is hooded and taken by van to the Lavanderia Brilliante. After making much more thorough measurements of the building, particularly an area around one of the laundry machines, Werner gives Mike a detailed run-down of all the logistical challenges of excavating the area beneath the industrial laundry without compromising the building or drawing attention from people above-ground. Gus emerges from the shadows and asks if Werner is saying the job is impossible; Werner replies that it will be difficult, dangerous, and expensive, but (most importantly) it is very much doable. Impressed, Gus introduces himself to Werner and greets him in German, taking him on for the job.
When Jimmy goes to the courthouse to check in with his PPD supervisor, he runs into Howard in the bathroom, who is fidgety and disheveled. Despite initially insisting that everything is fine, Howard alludes to suffering from insomnia ever since Chuck died. Jimmy suggests that he see Kim's therapist, but Howard replies that he is already seeing someone twice a week. After Howard leaves, Jimmy tears up the note of Kim's therapist and flushes it down the toilet. During his PPD meeting, Jimmy lies to his PPD supervisor about meeting with known criminals. When the supervisor asks what Jimmy plans to do once his PPD is up, Jimmy goes off on a small tirade about how he will get his law license back, reestablish his legal partnership with Kim, and become a "damn good lawyer" who people are going to know about.
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch: When a load of dangerous-looking bikers show up at The Dog House, a clearly-nervous Jimmy decides to try selling them his last few burner phones. Despite their tough appearance and mannerisms, they buy the phones without much fuss, only for Jimmy to be promptly mugged by the teenage boys he'd encountered earlier in the night.
- Bandage Wince: Jimmy winces when Kim applies disinfectant to the cuts on his face after he has been mugged.
- Blatant Lies: Howard's therapy shrink is helping as much as he claims. This prompts Jimmy to tear up the post-it Kim gave him and flush it down the toilet.
- Blindfolded Trip: For security reasons, Gus doesn't trust local engineers with his secret basement. Instead, he recruits outside contractors from Madrigal. To further protect themselves, Gus has extra measures placed to ensure that anyone who fails the job interview knows minimal details about the project. The candidate flies into Denver, where they are directed to a car in the parking lot with a prepaid parking ticket, keys hidden in the wheel well, and a burner phone in the cupholder. Mike and Nick wait in a windowless van overlooking the lot, and call the candidate when they find the car. Mike then directs said candidate over the phone to drive to a dropoff point in the Rocky Mountains. Once there, the candidate is told to take out their luggage, and don a black hood sitting in the trunk. Then, Mike and Nick show up, put the candidate in the back of their van, and drive him all the way down to Albuquerque, not removing the bag until the candidate is inside the laundromat.note Then the candidate does an analysis of the site, calculating the needed time and required labor, while Gus is discreetly observing them from the shadows. The candidate never sees Gus, they only talk to Mike. If Gus rejects the candidate, he calls Mike to tell him as much, then the rejectee is re-bagged, put back in the van, and dumped back on the Colorado road where he left the car with a return plane ticket in their pocket.
- Book Ends: We see the start of Jimmy's drop phone selling career juxtaposed with its (initial) ending.
- Cannot Spit It Out: While Saul is rushing to gather his items before meeting up with Ed the Extractor, he briefly fails to use the phrase "box cutter", only making vague hand gestures to Francesca before he finds it in a drawer.
- Call-Back: Kim runs into the same problem Jimmy had with defendants loaning proper attire.
- Call-Forward: Subtle example: Gus speaking German, which helps put the German architect greatly at ease, recalls his implied close association with Peter Schuler.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The teenagers that Jimmy first tries selling cell phones to end up being the guys who mug him.
- Consummate Professional:
- Subverted with the French engineer. He appears and behaves very professionally, but does not give the project a serious consideration and is more worried about getting the contract and the payment than doing the job properly. Gus has Mike unceremoniously reject him and ship him back to France.
- By contrast, Werner, despite having a more haggard appearance, a nervous disposition and stomach problems, proves to be every bit the professional Gus requires. He treats the job seriously, takes his time with his measurements and calculations (and does them all by hand, not with a computer), lays out the types of equipment and schematics he will need, demonstrates an awareness of the surroundings and need for secrecy, and does not try to sugarcoat how difficult the project will be.
- Continuity Nod: In the Cold Open, Saul still has the tape on his nose from when Jesse beat the hell out of him for helping Walt poison Brock.
- Crusading Lawyer: Kim seems to be turning into one, one who cares deeply about her public-defender clients and not so much about the big corporate account that pays her bills.
- Double-Meaning Title: "Quite a Ride" becomes a metaphorical reference to all of Jimmy, Kim, Mike and even Howard embarking on their own life journeys that are fraught with difficulties. It's also a reference to the extensively prepared rides that prospective engineers being interviewed for Gus Fring's project are taken on.
- Expy: The French engineer could be thought of as one for Inspector Clouseau of the Pink Panther films. Both have very similar appearances right down to the trim little moustache. And both exude a confidence that is hard to take seriously, and that far exceeds the actual extent of their abilities.
- Failed a Spot Check: As Jimmy lampshades, he really should have spotted the three teenage hoodlums watching him and realized that they were getting ready to rob him.
- Flash Forward: The episode opens during the events of "Ozymandias", when Jimmy contacts Ed the Extractor after saying goodbye to Francesca for the last time.
- French Jerk: The first architect Gus recruits turns out to be one. After a superficial survey of the building, he announces that he can finish the job in an unrealistic amount of time (Gus and Mike have already done the calculations), dismissing all concerns about the real difficulty of the project. Then he brags about his work on a cross-border tunnel, which disqualifies him in multiple ways: it proves that he underestimates the job (comparing a tunnel to excavating and building a new basement under an existing building without detection is like comparing apples and skyscrapers), it implies that he has cartel connections which could be dangerous, and it means he can't be trusted to keep quiet about projects after they're done.
- Germanic Efficiency: Werner manages to fit the bill for what Gus is looking for in terms of contractors.
- Heroic BSoD: Feeling the guilt over Chuck's suicide, piled on by both Jimmy and Kim, has given Howard insomnia and driven him to see a therapist twice a week.
- Honest John's Dealership: The French architect tries to get a contract by casually assuring Mike that he can excavate and build the superlab in a matter of months, in total secrecy, with little difficulty. Gus being Gus, he sees through this line of BS, and the guy quickly finds himself being sent back home.
- Hope Spot: The French engineer seems pretty certain he'll be selected for this job. He seems surprised when Mike informs him that he's been rejected.
- The Insomniac: Howard isn't getting much sleep these days, what with Chuck's suicide weighing down on him rather heavily.
- Ironic Echo: Like Chuck, Kim makes a clerical error that costs Mesa Verde time and resources. And like Chuck, it's not the mistake itself that irks Paige, but Kim's rude handling of it.
- Jitter Cam: The opening scene is filmed using this, as opposed to the show's usual steadicam. This is to get it as close to Breaking Bad's style as possible due to it taking place during that era.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Zig-zagged by Jimmy, as his attempting to sell his last few burner phones to a biker gang against his better judgement is what causes him to get mugged (albeit not by the bikers themselves) and lose all his profits from the night. However, he decides against reporting it to the police, as doing so would be effectively admitting that he had been associating with criminals while on probation. It also causes him to (temporarily) abandon his scheme to sell burner phones to criminals, since he realizes that he is not cut out to be a street criminal. On the other hand, the incident only reinforces his desire to be a successful lawyer, no matter what it takes.
- No One Sees the Boss: Mike's role in the recruitment process. Gus is there for the job interview, but he's just eavesdropping. The candidate only ever sees Mike while they're conducting the survey. If Gus decides that the candidate doesn't pass the qualifications, he gives a phone call to Mike from across the room to say so. When Werner displays his professionalism by meticulously measuring, planning, and then giving a realistic assessment of the timeframe and needs of the job (and more thorough than the other candidate), Gus is sufficiently impressed that he comes out of the shadows to personally welcome him aboard.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Howard is far from the composed and smooth lawyer that the audience is familiar with when Jimmy sees him in the washroom. It suggests that Howard has significant struggles of his own, such as becoming The Insomniac and his lingering guilt over feeling responsible for Chuck's suicide.
- Title Drop: Saul says it to Francesca during the opening Flash Forward.
- Trash the Set: Downplayed: the Flash Forward opening sees Saul tearing apart his office to get at the miscellaneous items he had hidden in the walls while Francesca shreds paperwork. Not only that, but there's a brief shot of a pile of matches on the floor, implying that Saul's going to burn it before he leaves.
- Trunk Shot: Shown eight times during the montage of Jimmy selling the burner phones in front of the "Dog House".
- Ungrateful Bastard: The first of Kim's PD clients complains that he's going to be stuck on probation for four months, when he would have gotten a year or more worth of jail time without Kim's intervention. She points out that she was only able to get him off with such a light punishment due to Loophole Abuse, and that unless he takes his probation seriously, he will get actual jail time; Kim also warns him that she will not bail him out a second time. Fortunately, this reality check seems to get through to him.
