'Better Call Saul' episode 8 review: 'Rico'

For a show centered on a lawyer, it's surprising how little the actual law factors into AMC's Better Call Saul. Save for your occasional homage to All That Jazz as Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) does the public defender dance, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould finds themselves with a character who breaks the law far more often than he ever saves it.

Perhaps that's what makes this week's "Rico" so jarring at times. As our protagonist continues to do the right thing in wake of his unsung Kettleman victory last week, Jimmy wants to crack down on some economic mistreating of some of his clients, in a case which would go beyond his Albuquerque backdrops. After some dumpster diving and quickly handed client protection involving a roll or two of toilet paper, Odenkirk's character gets some juicy information and, much to his surprise, he finds his sick brother Chuck (Michael McKean) throwing off his space blanket to help.

At the heart of "Rico," beyond all the legal mumbo-jumbo and quick-and-flashy editing, is this brother relationship. Although explored sometimes in this season, most notably in "Alpine Shepherd Boy", this episode is the first time audiences truly get to see the chemistry they share. Although touched upon but mostly unexplored before, there's something quite lovely and heartwarming about seeing these oddball characters come together.

Their kinship, especially with Chuck back to his old self, shows how much he cares for his younger brother, and also how Jimmy looks up to his big-time older sibling. Plus McKean and Odenkirk's performances makes these characters feel like they've had a long-standing bond to one another. They give their relationship a depth it needs to thrive and excel. It can only be heartbreaking when we finally see Chuck's demise, whenever that may be.

In addition to this brotherly bonding—which is also explored in "Rico"'s cold opening flashback as Jimmy is seen getting his lawyer's license and also working low on the totem pole at HHM—Mike (Jonathan Banks) pops up once or twice either to take care of his granddaughter or to care for a dog he got at the shelter. Both the animal and child, for the record, have the exact same amount of lines. Seriously, has this little girl ever said anything whatsoever in Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul history? One must ask. Anyway, while it's always fantastic to see Mike back in action, these scenes always feel out-of-place and disconnected to the story at large in "Rico." It makes the episode more uneven than it needs to be.

Additionally, director Colin Bucksey, who also helmed "Hero" earlier this season, plays up the visual metaphors here at tad too much. To show Chuck literally cleaning up Jimmy's mess of shredded papers from the nursing home dumpster is a little too on-the-nose, as is the visual metaphor of light versus dark captured by the light and held upon as the brother team of lawyers talk their way through a case action with the nursing staff's attorneys. It's not as though these efforts are unappreciated, but they do feel a little too obvious to work. Breaking Bad, whether referencing literature or history or just the emotions of the moment, had much more subtlety and nuanced to metaphors such as these.

Those said, however, writer Gordon Smith, who also penned this season's fifth episode "Five-O", does a really nice job in grounding all the legal talk in a still appropriately adult manner but still helps common folk understanding the situation at hand. Some may say all this jibber-jabber about laws and class actions drag "Rico" down, but it's hard to imagine it won't find an audience, especially with how many Law & Order and Judge Judy episodes exist on our planet.

Even though it focuses on Breaking Bad most charming character, Better Call Saul still needs to find its full groove. It relies somewhat too heavy on that show's success and its attempts to copy it are definitely noticeable. That said, however, Gilligan and Gould's new series definitely has come into its own these past three episodes, maturing in dynamic and engaging ways not found in the original series. "Rico," one of the smartest and downplayed episodes to date, has a lot to like. It's mature examination of character is well-guided and studious, and makes these characters, especially Chuck, seem more fleshed out than ever.

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