‘Better Call Saul’ season 2, episode 8 review: Jimmy, Kim, and the Mesa Verde massacre

After spending “Better Call Saul” season 2 dealing with a wide array of highs and lows, it started to feel as though Monday night’s new episode was going to be the time when Jimmy McGill started to figure everything out. He had a new plan when it comes to working with Kim at their separate-but-together law office, and she had her one major client all lined up in Mesa Verde. She was the one who brought them to HHM, and it made sense that from here, she would continue to fight for them in a different way.

However, then came Chuck McGill, suddenly okay enough to get into a meeting and convince Mesa Verde to not leave, after all. He swooped in and cost Kim her client, and immediately after the meeting fell sick once more. This is certainly another argument as to how part of Chuck’s problem is mental just as much as it is physical, since his struggles do not render him incapable of ensuring that he takes Jimmy down a notch or two.

We still do not quite know where this arrangement with Jimmy and Kim is going, but for at least the majority of the hour we found it fairly entertaining. We just wish that we could get to whatever the new phase was sooner rather than later.

Then again, we could say the same for Mike after what was probably his most boring episode of the entire season. He’s planning his retaliation, but that’s really all it was: Planning. Much of what matters is still to come for this character, and while we’re excited for it, we have to get a little bit of something more than a really terrifying-looking garden hose to have us invested.

“Better Call Saul” is to us in a funk; it’s compelling, but where are the big moments to get people talking? Why are we moving at such a glacial pace? Even if it made for a shorter series, we’d rather get to the birth of Saul Goodman sooner rather than later. Grade:B-.

(Photo: AMC.)