I've always been impressed with the way these shows draw inspiration from classic American literature. On Breaking Bad Walt and Jesse find freedom from nagging wives and failed family relationships in the desert, just the way Huck and Jim find freedom on the Big River. ("Come back to the RV again, Jesse honey!")
In this episode, Jimmy and Kim are as full of mischief as Tom and Huck at the end of Huckleberry Finn. But their mischief has a purpose. Just as Tom and Huck stage an elaborate charade to terrorize the local farmers and spring Jim from captivity, Jimmy and Kim set up an entire imaginary backstory to keep Huell out of jail.
Tom and Huck can only free Jim after they've created a whole new identity for him. He's not a runaway slave, he's the Lost Dauphin. He's the Count of Monte Cristo! Everything they do is designed to make Jim seem like he's really someone else. Someone who really *deserves* rescuing.
I wish I could say that Jimmy and Kim approach their mischief differently, but they don't. They try to make Huell into someone who matters by pretending he's somebody different from who he really is. Instead of asking the tough questions about what his life back in Louisiana was really like, they invent a fairy tale about life in an idyllic town where everybody loved him. And notice that Huell never gets a chance to tell his own story. Accepting the second chance that his white benefactors offer him means keeping quiet about who he really is.
This is a fun episode that's exciting to watch. But the more you think about it, the more disturbing it is. And that's what makes Better Call Saul such a great show!
In this episode, Jimmy and Kim are as full of mischief as Tom and Huck at the end of Huckleberry Finn. But their mischief has a purpose. Just as Tom and Huck stage an elaborate charade to terrorize the local farmers and spring Jim from captivity, Jimmy and Kim set up an entire imaginary backstory to keep Huell out of jail.
Tom and Huck can only free Jim after they've created a whole new identity for him. He's not a runaway slave, he's the Lost Dauphin. He's the Count of Monte Cristo! Everything they do is designed to make Jim seem like he's really someone else. Someone who really *deserves* rescuing.
I wish I could say that Jimmy and Kim approach their mischief differently, but they don't. They try to make Huell into someone who matters by pretending he's somebody different from who he really is. Instead of asking the tough questions about what his life back in Louisiana was really like, they invent a fairy tale about life in an idyllic town where everybody loved him. And notice that Huell never gets a chance to tell his own story. Accepting the second chance that his white benefactors offer him means keeping quiet about who he really is.
This is a fun episode that's exciting to watch. But the more you think about it, the more disturbing it is. And that's what makes Better Call Saul such a great show!