Season Two, Episode Seven — “Inflatable”
© Copyright 2016, AMC. All Rights Reserved.
By Brandy Dykhuizen. “Inflatable” brings us a hilarious, colorful and chuckle-inducing episode with a slowly increasing undercurrent of doom. In discussing how to maneuver forward, Kim and Jimmy are lay their cards on the table. To Jimmy’s apparent dismay, Kim has torn this card in half, in the hopes of taking their careers a separate but equal route. Kim seems to want a built-in safety net, not necessarily an escape route, but it still seems to deflate the newly puffed-up Jimmy. In a flashback to the late Mr. McGill’s magazine shop (that illustrates Chuck’s half-truths in the McGill family history), we learn of the moment Jimmy decided to be a wolf, not a sheep. There are only two types of people in the world for him, and if Kim doesn’t end up aligning 100% with him, she may find going into business with him will land her a job back at the Hinky Dinky before too long.
WHAT WORKED: Watching Kim’s various conflicts play out on her face really summons up the jitters for anyone who has ever had to make a huge, life-changing decision in a short period of time, or has gambled to break out of their comfort zone in hopes of a better life (which is to say, probably nearly everyone). In her interview we learn that she’s been the master of her own destiny before, opting to leave her tiny Midwestern town for Albuquerque to work her way up from the bottom. Rhea Seehorn plays panic and recovery very well – a knock at the door causes her to freeze while she is drafting her resignation letter on company time. She even accidentally calls Rich Schweikart “Howard,” much to her dismay. But while these things clearly rattle her momentarily, she always comes back to the table with her ducks in a row. She may not have all the answers yet, but she knows how to set the type of solid foundation you don’t find below an ivory tower.
WHAT DIDN’T: Stacey has to realize that Mike’s job as a parking lot attendant could never subsidize such a lovely house. She’s been pushed to the periphery because there is so much more going on in Better Call Saul, but we need to know more about what really drove her out of the old neighborhood. She’s certainly hiding something, and there haven’t been enough clues dropped yet to really figure out what that could be.
BEST LINE(s):
Jimmy: “For what it’s worth, I think you’re a good guy.” Cliff: “For what it’s worth, I think you’re an asshole.”
Jimmy: (to Janitor) “Comprende?!?” Janitor: “Dude. I’m from Michigan.”
“You win. You’re fired.” – Cliff, conceding to Jimmy’s seemingly backwards strategy.
“I tried to make it work. I really did. I’m just… a square peg.” – Jimmy, vocalizing a frequently shown metaphor.
BEST MOMENT: Jimmy’s metamorphosis was amazing, from the dawning realization that spreads over his face as he watches the inflatable tube man dancing in the parking lot to his pointed, salmon-suited swagger into the law offices of David and Main. It’s not so much one moment that makes this extended scene work so well, as it is the pinballing between subtle, self-assured smirks, utterly undisguised power plays and ferocious peacocking in front of a largely bewildered audience. For the sake of argument, let’s say that the best moment lies in Jimmy’s parting of the seas, as he makes room for a rainbow of new threads in the middle of an ocean of dull, grey big-boy suits. It also brought to mind Jay Gatsby’s hundreds of brightly colored shirts – another man who made a career of bending the rules to get what he wanted.
EPISODE’S MVP: Jimmy pulls the rug out from under his fellow lawyers by utilizing complete buffoonery to gain an odd upper hand. From orchestrating perplexing distractions to literally shitting on the company’s code of conduct by refusing to flush the toilet, Jimmy’s lack of shame and dignity ensures that he is fired for just the right reasons, and thus can keep his bonus. Odenkirk rises to the occasion by making McGill’s brazen belief in his own innocence seem authentic, despite how offensive his actions are.
© Copyright 2016, AMC. All Rights Reserved.
SAD MUSTACHES:
– The realtor who shows Stacey her new house is the same one Marie Schrader steals from in the Breaking Bad episode “Open House.”
– When Mike approaches Jimmy in the courthouse, we can see Jimmy sketching the logo for “Wexler and McGill” on his legal pad, much like a love-struck teenager would scribble “Jimmy hearts Kim” on a notebook waiting for class to start.
– $4 for two cartons of Kools. Cartons.
– Kim’s slip-up at calling Schweikart “Howard” echoes Jimmy’s assertion that Schweikart is indeed just another Howard by another name. Is she more upset at the embarrassment of the situation, or at the realization that Jimmy is kind of right?
9 out of 10
Next: “Fifi”, soon.
Before: “Bali Ha’i”, here.
