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canyonwalkerRecently I wrote about Better Call Saul episode 1.04, where Jimmy rescues a construction worker from a billboard and makes the local news as a hero. While most characters in the episode take the story at face value, Jimmy's rival, Howard Hamlin, sneers that it was staged. That it's a fake, a scam, from a known con artist.
In the moment Howard seems like a total asshat for calling Jimmy a scammer when everyone else is lauding him as a hero. But was Howard right? Did Jimmy stage the accident and rescue for publicity?
Some fan sites treat it like it's not even a question. Jimmy staged the billboard accident, they state. But does their matter-of-factness come from a reveal in a later episode where Jimmy outright admits it was a con (note: I'm posing this as a hypothetical, not a spoiler!), or is there enough evidence right there in episode 1.04 to support a firm conclusion?
Showrunner Vince Gilligan and his team are sneaky at the craft of writing scenes that appear one way when watched initially but are revealed to be the opposite on further consideration. I'd say they're even too sneaky. Consider their ham-fisted post-facto evidence that Walt poisoned a child in Breaking Bad. Plus, American TV audiences are not accustomed to having to figure things out. We're (sadly) used to morality plays written in such heavy-handed fashion the villains practically walk around with lighted "BAD GUY 👇" signs flashing over their heads. 😅
That said, I believe there's enough evidence in episode 1.04 to conclude Jimmy's daring rescue was a scam. It's not beyond-the-shadow-of-a-doubt level proof, but it's fairly convincing. Five Things:
In the moment Howard seems like a total asshat for calling Jimmy a scammer when everyone else is lauding him as a hero. But was Howard right? Did Jimmy stage the accident and rescue for publicity?
Some fan sites treat it like it's not even a question. Jimmy staged the billboard accident, they state. But does their matter-of-factness come from a reveal in a later episode where Jimmy outright admits it was a con (note: I'm posing this as a hypothetical, not a spoiler!), or is there enough evidence right there in episode 1.04 to support a firm conclusion?
Showrunner Vince Gilligan and his team are sneaky at the craft of writing scenes that appear one way when watched initially but are revealed to be the opposite on further consideration. I'd say they're even too sneaky. Consider their ham-fisted post-facto evidence that Walt poisoned a child in Breaking Bad. Plus, American TV audiences are not accustomed to having to figure things out. We're (sadly) used to morality plays written in such heavy-handed fashion the villains practically walk around with lighted "BAD GUY 👇" signs flashing over their heads. 😅
That said, I believe there's enough evidence in episode 1.04 to conclude Jimmy's daring rescue was a scam. It's not beyond-the-shadow-of-a-doubt level proof, but it's fairly convincing. Five Things:
- We know Jimmy's a scammer. This was part of his character introduction in the pilot, where he catches a pair of young men trying to scam him and invites them to work with him to up their game.
- Jimmy's been a scammer for years. In a flashback at the start of this episode we see him in his "Slippin' Jimmy" mode years earlier scamming bar patrons in Chicago. Running scams was how he supported himself for years.
- The construction worker was up on the billboard catwalk for quite a while. He made a show of starting to tear down the vinyl multiple times, stopping each time as if waiting for a cue from Jimmy, who was having trouble getting the makeshift camera crew to set up the shot correctly. Clearly there was some level of coordination between Jimmy and the guy on the catwalk to stage a scene for the cameras.
- When Jimmy pulled the worker to safety, the man scoffed, "It took you long enough!" That points heavily to it being planned. A construction worker in a real emergency would probably be effusive in praising the person who rescued him, especially if it was a Good Samaritan who rushed in at risk to himself before emergency responders with training and equipment like the fire department arrived.
- Jimmy hid the newspaper with his front-page hero story from his brother, Chuck. While it could be that he didn't want Chuck to think he earned success from anything other than his legal acumen, Chuck is also well aware of Jimmy's "Slippin' Jimmy" con-man days. Chuck rescued him from a con gone wrong, and his requirement for helping was that Jimmy go straight. Jimmy seems afraid that Chuck would see the rescue a new "Slippin' Jimmy" scam.
