History Recap / BetterCallSaulS6E10Nippy

[[Recap/BetterCallSaul Index]] | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E1WineAndRoses 1]] | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E2CarrotAndStick 2]] | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E3RockAndHardPlace 3]] | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E4HitAndRun 4]] | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E5BlackAndBlue 5]] | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E6AxeAndGrind 6]] | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E7PlanAndExecution 7]] | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E8PointAndShoot 8]] | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E9FunAndGames 9]]| '''10''' | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E11BreakingBad 11]] | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E12Waterworks 12]] | [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E13SaulGone 13]]]]-]]]

* BetrayalInsurance: Jimmy deliberately sets up the caper so that he has serious evidence of a federal crime against Jeff, so that Jeff can't blackmail him or turn him in to the authorities. Jeff points out that Jimmy is equally implicated in the crime, and Jimmy agrees that the only way he'd turn Jeff in is if he had nothing to lose, explicitly referencing MutuallyAssuredDestruction.

* GladYouThoughtOfIt: Kathy, the department store manager, is the one who suggests that the box can be kept on the loading bay overnight after evidently buying Gene's story about Buddy having a big (and messy) pick-up fur his next job, and the only other available delivery lorry being four hours away.

* BatmanGambit: The heist depends on Kathy (the department store manager) suggesting that the box be kept in her loading bay overnight.

* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: After weekly deliveries of Cinnabon to their room and some idle chatter about college football in Nebraska, Gene manages to befriend the security guards to distract them while Jeff executes TheCaper. And fortunately for Gene and his crew, Frank seems to always turn around to finish his pastry, away from all the security cameras.

** While mapping out the store in preparation for the heist, a sign in the background reads "A SPLASH OF COLOR FOR FALL." The caper is the first real sign of happiness or peace Gene has shown in this drab and dreary post-Saul existence, just a brief moment reliving the vibrant, colorful life he led as Saul.

* DefrostingIceQueen: Nick, the other guard at Frank's office, is initially cold and distrustful towards Gene, remembering him for a strange incident when the latter shouted "get a lawyer" to the detained shoplifter. Few visits later, he is seen excited to throw Cinnabon packages as if they were baseball balls with Gene and Frank.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Call me Gene!"'']]

** When Jeff tells Gene that the whole plan to rob the department store seems crazy, Gene comments that what ''really'' seemed crazy was a broke 50-year old chemistry teacher [[Recap/BreakingBadS2E8BetterCallSaul coming to his office]], and a year later having [[Recap/BreakingBadS5E10Buried a stack of money as big as a Volkswagen]].

** When Jeff tells Gene that the whole plan to rob the department store seems crazy, Gene comments that what ''really'' seemed crazy was a broke 50-year old chemistry teacher [[Recap/BreakingBadS2E8BetterCallSaul coming to his office]], and a year later having [[Recap/BreakingBadS5E10Buried enough money to fill a Volkswagen]].

* CelebrityParadox: Chuck mentions Creator/CarolBurnett by name in an early episode of the show, and here she plays Jeff's mother.

* CrocodileTears: Played with, as Gene starts faking a breakdown to distract Frank, but reality starts to seep in when he thinks about Chuck, and how alone he really is, and he has to collect himself for both the scam eventually working and all the emotions he's dredged up.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The manager of the department store notices a heavy shoe scuff on the floor as she's preparing to close up and asks for it to be polished away by maintenance. Later, as Jeff is executing the robbery, he slips and falls on that newly-polished spot and almost ruins the entire heist.

----

* BaitAndSwitch: AMC's summary for the episode reads thusly: "A new player enters the game." One would assume that this was referring to either Jesse or Walt, when in reality it refers to Jeff.

** "Gene", with his balding hair, glasses, and moustache, looks strikingly similar to Walter White. This is brought even further when he meets Jeff and his friend. The friend is wearing a jacket with a beanie that evokes Jesse's look. The effect becomes even scarier during his final confrontation with Jeff where Saul threateningly makes him say that he and Jeff are done, echoing the way Walt threatened him by saying "[[Recap/BreakingBadS5E1LiveFreeOrDie We're done when I say we're done.]]"

Gene continues with his routine, taking the cinnamon bun down to Frank, and gives Jeff the signal. Jeff climbs out of the box and begins robbing the department store. Everything goes off without a hitch... until Jeff comes across the recently-buffed patch of floor and slips, knocking himself out. Gene watches the whole thing with horror. When Frank finishes his cinnamon bun and begins to turn around, Gene fakes an existential breakdown to hold his attention. As he sobs that he has no friends or family and that no one would remember him if he died tomorrow, Jeff regains consciousness, stashes his haul in the empty box, and staggers into the bathroom to hide until morning. Gene concludes his fake breakdown and leaves, taking a moment to collect himself once he's alone.

In the far future, "Gene" revives Slippin' Jimmy to make new friends, take care of an imminent problem and get a long-lost taste of his glory days.

* ShownTheirWork: In-universe example. The first time the guard wants to talk about college football, Jimmy has to bluff his way through the conversation. Afterward, he makes it a point of reading up on all the games so he can fake being a fan as well. In a meta-sense, the players they discuss are actual members of University of Nebraska football team around 2010-11.
** It's more than that; the conversations between Gene and Frank are a pretty accurate recap of the 2010 Nebraska season, including losing to unranked Texas, (Taylor) Martinez setting a freshman passing record, and debating the qualifications of then-coach Bo Pelini. The only thing that's remotely wrong is not knowing whether Nebraska was to join the Big 10 conference (that had been decided several months earlier).

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: After most of the series took place in the early 2000's in Jimmy's past with the [[FlashForward Flash Forwards]] to early 2010's Omaha reserved for season premiere [[ColdOpen cold opens]], [[FormulaBreakingEpisode for the first time]] an entire episode is devoted to Gene Takavic and his new life in Omaha, dealing with the fallout of Jeff the cab driver having recognized him.

** The intro starts as the standard ''Better Call Saul'' "Episode 10" variant, now (much like the other intros) degraded to the point of being almost totally black and white, until the music suddenly distorts and the image changes to a blank video screen that just says "Better Call Saul" (accompanied by sound which indicates someone has just taken the cassette out of the video player).

* MinimalistCast: For the first time in the series, Bob Odenkirk is not only the ''only'' starring cast member to appear, he's the only one credited at the beginning. This is also [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS1E6FiveO only the second episode]] in the whole series [[AbsenteeActor to not feature]] Creator/RheaSeehorn.

* TheUnreveal: As Gene talks with Marion, she tells him that Jeffy and his friends got mixed up with a bad crowd back in Albuquerque. Whether or not these bad folks are people we already know is never stated.