'Better Call Saul' Recap: "Witness"
Cameron Lee ‘20 / Emertainment Monthly Contributor
Spoiler Alert: This recap contains spoilers for season 3 episode 2 of Better Call Saul.
Gus has arrived! Yes, after months of anticipation Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) has finally made his grand entrance. This episode- besides from the appearances of Gus and his chicken restaurant- also gave us more exciting Breaking Bad, callbacks like the first appearance of Jimmy’s/Saul’s future secretary Francesca, and Victor, Gus Fring’s henchmen who has a fondness for boxcutters (hint, hint). It also propelled the plot into dangerous territory for Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk).
We begin with a quick intro of Chuck (Michael McKean) looking through his blinds at dawn. We also learn that he’s hired a private investigator, who is currently sitting in his kitchen. Mike (Jonathan Banks) is following the car that he reverse-bugged through various money drop locations all around the area. There’s very little dialogue except for Mike eavesdropping on the switch-off of the gas cap. Morning breaks and Mike is puzzled, when the man goes into a building and leaves behind the bug and all of the cash.
The camera slowly pans up to reveal the building as none other than Los Pollos Hermanos. Mike recruits Jimmy to help him spy on the man who he was following. In a wonderful sequence all due to the show’s amazing cinematography, the camera pans around the entire restaurant as Jimmy orders a meal. The tension builds as Jimmy takes the whole “spying” thing a little too far. After five minutes the man leaves the restaurant with the bag; Jimmy is puzzled by this, we can see Gus blurred in the background. Jimmy tries to look for any evidence in the trash bin but gets stuck. He throws his watch in as he hears someone coming. He looks up to see Gus asking if there’s anything he can do to help.
Gus retrieves Jimmy’s watch, clearly knowing what Jimmy was trying to do this entire time. Jimmy leaves and explains everything to Mike leaving both of them really confused. Later on in the day, the bug starts to move again thanks to Victor speeding off and Mike goes back into pursuit mode with Gus watching from the porch of the restaurant. Mike finds the bug in the middle of an open road with a cell phone attached to it. The phone rings, and Mike answers it; the scene ends before he we know who was on the other line.
Meanwhile, Jimmy hires Francesca as his secretary. Kim (Rhea Seehorn) gets a call from discount-Steve Urkel, Ernie, who tells Kim about the tape (Chuck’s plan is in motion). Kim tells Jimmy about the tape which greatly upsets Jimmy and causes him to storm out of the office. Howard (Patrick Fabian) tries to suggest different strategies regarding Jimmy. Lucky for them, Jimmy breaks down the door and destroys the tape, angrily cursing out Chuck for betraying him. Howard and the security guard come out of the other room and confirm that they had witnessed what had just occurred. Uh oh, Jimmy better get a lawyer fast because he is in a career ending situation (thanks Chuck- what a bastard).