Wexler v. Goodman

"Wexler v. Goodman" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the AMC television series Better Call Saul, the spinoff series of Breaking Bad. The episode aired on March 23, 2020 on AMC in the United States. Outside of the United States, the episode premiered on streaming service Netflix in several countries.

"Wexler v. Goodman"
Better Call Saul episode
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 6
Directed byMichael Morris
Written byThomas Schnauz
Original air dateMarch 23, 2020 (2020-03-23)
Running time51 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

Plot

In a flashback to Kim's teenage years, Kim's mother is late picking her up from school in Red Cloud, Nebraska because she has been drinking. Kim walks away and refuses to ride home with her. Kim's mother angrily yells that Kim never listens to her.

Jimmy’s film crew and local actors film at the nail salon. Kim arrives and tells Jimmy she does not want to pursue the attempt to blackmail Kevin and offers a settlement to Everett Acker, with Kim personally making up the difference between what Kevin agrees to and a $75,000 payment. Jimmy says Acker already agreed to accept $45,000, so he concurs. After representing two prostitutes in court, Jimmy unnerves Howard by paying them to disrupt his business lunch with Clifford Main.

Nacho meets with Gus, Victor, and Mike, and pretends not to know Mike. He reports on Lalo's plans to reveal the locations of Gus’s street dealers to police. Gus tells Victor to ensure that only low-level employees are arrested, and if necessary, to hire new ones to sacrifice. Gus tells Nacho that from now on he will report to Mike. After Gus leaves, Nacho warns Mike about Gus’s ruthlessness, but Mike reminds Nacho that he told Nacho of the risk he took when he tried to kill Hector Salamanca.[lower-alpha 1] Mike discreetly feeds police information about Lalo's car and its connection to the murder of Fred the money wire clerk,[lower-alpha 2] then uses a tip from Nacho to have police converge on Lalo’s location and detain him.

Jimmy meets with Kim, Rich, Kevin and Paige to complete Acker’s settlement and stuns everyone by demanding $4 million. When Kevin ridicules this demand, Jimmy shows them his video – rough cuts of commercials seeking plaintiffs for class-action lawsuits against Mesa Verde, which unfavorably depict Kevin’s father Don. Kim’s insight from Sobchak’s photos of Kevin’s house is that Mesa Verde’s logo is based on a photograph which the bank did not obtain permission to use. Jimmy uses the threat of lawsuits and an injunction against displaying the logo to persuade Kevin to accept a settlement that includes cash for Acker and the photographer.

When Kim comes home, Jimmy is apprehensive but says Kim and he should celebrate. Kim vents her anger at Jimmy for going back on their deal and making her the "sucker" for his con. She says they either need to end their relationship — or get married.

Production

The name of the Native American photographer referenced in the episode, Olivia Bitsui, is a reference to the daughter of actor Jeremiah Bitsui, who plays Victor.[1] When Kim arrives home, Jimmy is playing the well-known guitar riff from the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water".[1] This is the same song Jimmy's con artist partner Marco was humming when he died, and the same one Jimmy was humming when he left the courthouse parking lot after initially turning down the job offer with Davis & Main.[lower-alpha 3] The guitar he plays is the one he acquired from the music store owners when he staged a slip and fall accident after they refused to pay for the commercial he produced for them, another occasion when he played "Smoke on the Water".[lower-alpha 4][2]

Reception

"Wexler v. Goodman" was acclaimed by critics. At Rotten Tomatoes, it received a perfect 100% approval from 13 reviews with an average 9/10 review rating, with a summary "Like a cookie full of arsenic, 'Wexler V. Goodman' delivers the fun and the toxic, enthralling viewers with Jimmy's plan before delivering a series of gut punches they aren't soon to forget."[3]

Ratings

"Wexler v. Goodman" was watched by 1.40 million viewers on its first broadcast,[4] which was a slight decrease from the previous week of 1.45 million.[5]

Notelist
  1. from "Expenses"
  2. from "Winner"
  3. from "Marco"
  4. from "Slip"
gollark: Ah yes, highly advanced "ender modem and computer" technology.
gollark: Also, it seems like your ore tripling setup runs off creative tanks?
gollark: I can join in, you say? Time to make CUBES!
gollark: And what do you plan to install inside for oxygen?
gollark: Are iron doors air-sealed?

References
  1. Sepinwall, Alan (March 23, 2020). "'Better Call Saul' Recap: Girl, Interrupted". Rolling Stone. New York, NY.
  2. Nick, Mangione (June 6, 2017). "Slippin' Jimmy Returns on Better Call Saul". Geek.com. Ziff Davis, LLC.
  3. "Wexler v. Goodman". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  4. Metcalf, Mitch (March 24, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.23.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  5. Metcalf, Mitch (March 17, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.16.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
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