The origin story of Slippin' Kimmy.
"I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Howard. I wouldn't be an attorney, I wouldn't have met my husband. I owe Howard and HMM a lot."
— Kim Wexler to Cliff Main
As the point-of-no-return draws near, Kim is torn between the law and her plot against Howard. Jimmy's corrupting nature shows as he puts the finishing touches on "D-Day". Lalo digs into a weak point in Gus's operation.
Tropes:
- Applied Phlebotinum: We're never told what the liquid Jimmy and Kim purchase from Dr. Caldera is, only that it can be transmitted by touch, being subjected to it feels like "chugging Red Bulls on an empty stomach", it dilates your pupils significantly, it makes you feel hot, and the effects last for about an hour. Of course, this ends up being exactly what Jimmy and Kim need for their scheme.
- Atomic F-Bomb: Jimmy after seeing Casimiro's broken arm.
- Ax-Crazy: Lalo was already known to be this trope, but in this episode, he makes it quite literal. Not only does Lalo use Casper's own axe to threaten him, but he also takes an axe handle blow to his own body like a champ, pretends to be hurt to lower Casper's guard and then relieves the poor guy of his left foot with a single blow of his own axe.
- Bait-and-Switch: Kim's mom yells at her in front of a store manager when Kim tries shoplifting jewelry as a teen, then apologizes to the manager and offers what little she can to pay for the jewelry (which was damaged in the process). However, as soon as he's out of sight, Kim's mom laughs about the whole thing and gives Kim a pair of earrings she shoplifted herself.
- Break the Cutie: Francesca turns from the awkward yet cheerful member of the Wexler-McGill team of the previous seasons to the bitter, cynical version of her character in Breaking Bad: in the course of a single episode, she gets involved in Saul's antics against Howard despite her ethical reservations, starts dealing with the regular Saul's clientele of ne'er-do-wells and, on top of that, faces uncaring attitude from her new boss. It's no wonder that she coldly tells Saul to clean up after one of his clients (who was peeing in what looked like a standing fountain in Saul's office).
- Butt-Monkey: Howard's life doesn't seem as successful when looked at in depth. While professionally he's making progress getting HHM out of the hole that Chuck and Jimmy sank it in earlier seasons, his wife seems cold and distant towards him, not even acknowledging his "peace offering" of coffee and bluntly shooting down his invitation to a fundraiser, stating that she will go without him.
- The Bus Came Back: Casper, one of Werner Ziegler's workers, appears again after having been sent back to Germany.
- Call-Forward:
- Dr. Caldera's little black book of contacts will be among the objects retrieved by the authorities when Saul Goodman's mansion is seized by the police.
- While thumbing through the little black book, Jimmy and Kim note a business card for a vacuum repair service, that of Ed Gailbraith.
- Mike takes a trip to the Lavandería Brillante and takes a few moments to stare at one of the blue washing machines in the back of the laundromat. Viewers of Breaking Bad know that this particular washer is situated over the secret entrance to the underground site of the future superlab.
- After posing as the daughter of a Sandpiper Crossing resident, Francesca tells Jimmy that she's not going to do anything like that again. She's actually going to do it at least one more time: to distract Hank when he's about to bust Walt and Jesse in their RV.
- Lalo lying on the ground while an axe-wielding assailant stands before him is a mirror of the Twins' assassination attempt on Hank.
- Lalo chops off Casper's foot and gives him his belt to tie around his leg and stop the bleeding. A similar event happens in the Breaking Bad episode "Negro y Azul" where Hank uses his belt to stop an El Paso DEA agent's leg from bleeding out as a part of it was blown off by a bomb.
- The Albuquerque Isotopes air freshener that led to Kim' client being arrested is identical to the one hanging from the rear-view mirror of Jeff's cab.
- Continuity Nod: Zafiro Añejo, the rare premium (and fictional) brand of tequila Jimmy intends to purchase to celebrate the success of his plan, as well as being the same one Gus uses to poison Don Eladio and his men, is also the same brand Jimmy and Kim conned Ken Wins into paying for.
- Contrived Coincidence: Jimmy goes to a local liquor store to purchase a bottle of Zafiro Añejo on the morning of 'D-Day', in anticipation of a celebration with Kim when the plan succeeds. He ends up in line right behind Rand Casimiro, an unwitting participant in the scheme, which allows Jimmy to see his arm in a sling and realize their plan will no longer work. Had this chance meeting not occurred, not only would the scheme have failed, but it could easily have landed Jimmy and Kim in a lot of legal trouble if Howard had managed to trace it back to them.
- Did You Actually Believe...?: Dr. Caldera is getting out of the business and will have to sell his little black book of fixing contacts. Saul asks to have a look, and the vet agrees - only for Saul to see that the book is in code (apart from the vacuum repair guy). Though Saul may actually get the decoded version in the future, it's not yet time.
- Don't Go in the Woods: The forest around Casper's place has a rather eerie atmosphere, even if you don't take into account the fact that an armed Lalo Salamanca is lurking in the vicinity.
- Easter Egg: Dr. Calera's little black book is coded with a cipher that when decoded
has the contacts of various characters from both Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. Notable names include Nacho Varga (whose name is crossed out), Huell Babineaux, and Mr. X note . As Jimmy surmises, it is to all intends and purposes a directory for the Albuquerque underworld. - Foreshadowing: Jimmy and Francesca's conversation when she lies to HHM's secretary to get Jimmy into the Sandpiper conference call suggests this isn't the first time he's gotten her to do this kind of phone hacking.
- For Want Of A Nail: Jimmy and Kim's long con against Howard would've all gone up in flames if Rand Casimiro hadn't gone to the same liquor store as Jimmy on that morning and given him the chance to notice the real Casimiro was wearing a cast that would've tipped off their doctored photos of an actor pretending to be him as fake.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: The new opportunity to practice law helping the indigent acts as one for Kim. She could have let go of revenge and pursued a practice that would have fulfilled her and made her happy representing the underprivileged. All she had to do was keep driving to Sante Fe for the meeting with Cliff and members of the foundation that could have made it happen. But she turns around to drive back to Albuquerque because revenge against Howard is more important for her.
- Know When to Fold 'Em:
- The fixer vet Dr. Caldera, after a couple of years of arranging shady deals and having to deal with Cartel bullet wounds amongst other things, decides to not only bar the Cartel from his services but close up shop entirely and focus on being a vet.
- Jimmy advises Kim to call off D-Day upon realizing that their scheme involving Rand Casimiro has gone sideways. Kim ultimately refuses and immediately turns around to drive back to Albuquerque.
- Made of Iron: Lalo takes an axe handle to his ribcage and doesn't seem the worst for wear. In fact, he actually chortles out loud "I think you broke one of my ribs!"
- Moral Myopia: That Jimmy and Kim name the day for taking down Howard as D-Day indicates that they see Howard as the bad guy deserving to be ruined. They even name the lawn just out side the conference room of HHM as Omaha Beach. But neither can see that their quest for revenge is making them worse and worse as people, until it becomes too late.
- Oh, Crap!: Jimmy has this reaction when he happens to share a line with the real Rand Casimiro and notices that he's carrying his arm in a sling... meaning the photos he and Kim just doctored with an actor pretending to be Casimiro are going to look extremely fake for whatever purposes they were planning.
- Precision F-Strike: Jimmy lets out an f-bomb in his car, while pounding in the steering wheel in frustration, after he realizes that his ruse is pretty much busted.
- Punch-Clock Villain: The vet makes it very clear to Saul that his primary goal in life is to help animals, and that his illegal activities are nothing but a side business. He also emphasizes that once he ties up his affairs in Albuquerque he plans to punch out of villainy for good.
- Spanner in the Works: Jimmy's nebulous plan depends on faking photos of himself with Judge Rand Casimiro. A chance encounter with Casimiro makes him realize that the plan will fail: Casimiro has his arm in a sling, which the fake photos didn't account for.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Jimmy's schemes are usually quite simple, with him and his cohorts controlling most of the process, and hinging on the mark making a particular mistake that is reasonable to assume they would make in a particular circumstance, like letting their greed or anger get the best of them. The plan against Howard, however, took several weeks to play out, and was heavily contingent on multiple people behaving in a particular way to lead to the desired result, which Jimmy had very limited control over. So, unlike his previous schemes, this one actually encounters a massive, almost insurmountable roadblock when a person he's had imitated in a set of staged photographs shows up with a broken arm, which is devastating enough to the plan to get Jimmy to immediately attempt to cancel everything.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Showcased as part of Saul's growing development, as he's become a lot bossier and more condescending to Francesca since the first time they were working together, hewing much closer to the relationship they'll have by the time of Breaking Bad. He even tries to order her to clean up after a client that's urinating on a water feature, only for her to bluntly snark back, "You clean it up."
- Wham Shot:
- While in line at the liquor store, Jimmy notices Rand Casimiro is ahead of him... and is wearing a sling, which the photos he and Kim had doctored did not account for.
- While calling Kim to explain what is going on, we see that Jimmy somehow has access to the photos that Howard's P.I. had been taking of him.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: After Casper strikes Lalo's rib with the blunt end of his axe in a surprise attack, Lalo falls to the ground gasping and feebly answers Casper's questions on who he is. Then he flashes a card to show him... and suddenly slashes Casper in the face with the razor blade hidden behind it before scrambling to his feet and chopping off Casper's foot with his own axe.
