"Rebecca" is the fifth episode of the
second season of the American television drama series ''
Better Call Saul
''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...
'', the spinoff series of ''
Breaking Bad
''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hig ...
''. Written by Ann Cherkis and directed by
John Shiban
John Shiban is an American television writer and producer. He worked in both capacities on ''The X-Files'' and its spin-off ''The Lone Gunmen'', ''Star Trek: Enterprise'', ''Smallville'', ''Supernatural'', ''Legend of the Seeker'', ''Breaking Bad' ...
, "Rebecca" aired on
AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** AM ...
in the United States on March 14, 2016. Outside of the United States, the episode premiered on streaming service
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
in several countries.
Plot
Opening
In a flashback to 1992,
Chuck McGill
Charles Lindbergh "Chuck" McGill Jr. is a fictional character who appears in the crime drama television series ''Better Call Saul'', a spin-off prequel of ''Breaking Bad''. He is portrayed by Michael McKean and was created by Vince Gilligan and ...
is shown to not yet have experienced the symptoms of
electromagnetic hypersensitivity
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is a claimed sensitivity to electromagnetic fields, to which negative symptoms are attributed. EHS has no scientific basis and is not a recognised medical diagnosis. Claims are characterized by a "variet ...
, as he easily changes a light bulb in his dining room chandelier.
Jimmy McGill
James Morgan Jimmy McGill, better known by his business name Saul Goodman, is a character created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould and portrayed by Bob Odenkirk in the television franchise ''Breaking Bad''. He appears as a major character in ...
visits Chuck's house shortly after moving to Albuquerque, where he meets Chuck's wife,
Rebecca Bois
''Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western crime drama franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), its prequel/sequel series, ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–22), and its s ...
. During dinner, Rebecca is charmed by Jimmy's personality and charisma, which makes Chuck obviously uncomfortable.
Main story
Jimmy meets
Kim Wexler
Kimberly Kim Wexler is a fictional Character (arts), character from the television series ''Better Call Saul'', a Spin-off (media), spin-off of ''Breaking Bad''. Kim is primarily portrayed by Rhea Seehorn, and was created by Vince Gilligan and P ...
in the HHM document review room, where she is relegated to entry-level work and proposes that she sue HHM for discrimination and creating a hostile work environment. Kim rejects this idea, suggesting it would be career suicide because no one would ever hire her again. She tells Jimmy to worry about his own job while she worries about hers. Throughout his day, Jimmy is accompanied by junior associate
Erin Brill
''Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western crime drama franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), its prequel/sequel series, ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–22), and its s ...
, who claims to want to help Jimmy fit in better at D&M, though Jimmy realizes
Clifford Main
'' Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western crime drama franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series '' Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), its prequel/sequel series, ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–22), and its ...
directed her to "babysit" him in the wake of the controversy over his TV ad.
Kim decides that bringing a major new client to HHM is her best course of action for escaping document review, so she spends her free time calling law schools, law firms, and business contacts. Kim capitalizes on one of these relationships to land Mesa Verde Bank as a client, meaning the potential of millions of dollars in revenue for HHM.
Howard Hamlin
Howard Hamlin is a fictional character who appears in the crime drama television series ''Better Call Saul'', a spin-off prequel of '' Breaking Bad''. He is portrayed by Patrick Fabian and was created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Hamlin i ...
is happy to have the new client and acknowledges Kim's contribution, but keeps her working in document review.
Chuck promises to work on Kim's transfer out of document review and tells her a story about when Jimmy and Chuck's late father ran a store in
Cicero, Illinois
Cicero (originally known as Hawthorne) is a suburb of Chicago and an Incorporated town#Illinois, incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was ...
. According to Chuck, Jimmy embezzled money, which eventually led to the store's failure. As a result, Chuck is always skeptical of Jimmy's schemes and plans.
Mike Ehrmantraut
Michael Ehrmantraut () is a fictional character in '' Breaking Bad'' and its spinoff prequel ''Better Call Saul'', portrayed by Jonathan Banks. Mike is a former Philadelphia police officer who works for Gus Fring—and, on occasion, Saul Goodm ...
is approached by
Hector Salamanca
''Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western
The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and ...
, the leader of the Salamanca drug cartel and
Tuco Salamanca
''Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western crime drama franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), its prequel/sequel series, ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–22), and its seq ...
's uncle. Hector has no issue with Tuco spending time in prison as a learning experience, but objects to the length of the sentence he will receive for assault with a deadly weapon. He offers Mike $5,000 to tell police the gun at the scene of the fight between Tuco and Mike was Mike's, which will result in a reduction to Tuco's sentence.
Production
During the opening scene, Chuck and Rebecca discuss creating a signal based on an ear-tugging move made famous by
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...
. Burnett herself would later join the series for the role of Marion during the show's
final season.
Reception
Ratings
Upon airing, the episode received 1.99 million American viewers, and an 18–49 rating of 0.8.
Critical reception
The episode received positive reviews from critics. It holds a 93% positive rating with an average score of 8.42 out of 10 on the review aggregator site
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
. The critics' consensus reads: "The effectively subtle and refined "Rebecca" sheds light on the McGill brothers' relationship while focusing on the ways Kim is affected by the fallout from Jimmy's mistakes."
Terri Schwartz of
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
gave the episode a 9.0 rating, writing "''Better Call Saul'' took the focus off Jimmy for a great Kim and Chuck episode."
For her work on this episode, Kelley Dixon was nominated for
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series at the
68th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards
The 68th Annual Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held over two nights on September 10 and 11, 2016. The nominations were announced on July 14, 2016. The ceremony is in conjunction with the annual Primetime Emmy Awards and is pr ...
.
References
External links
"Rebecca"at
AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** AM ...
*
{{Better Call Saul
Better Call Saul (season 2) episodes