'Better Call Saul' Season 5 Episode 8: Jimmy drinking his own pee makes fans call 'Bagman' best episode
Spoilers for Season 5 Episode 8 'Bagman'
Creator Vince Gilligan, who blessed us with the 'Breaking Bad' universe over a decade ago, directed the most recent episode of the show's prequel 'Better Call Saul'. And even though the ominous Heisenberg and his meth labs are significantly absent in the prequel revolving around Walter White's lawyer Saul Goodman, aka Jimmy McGill, it is the little things that show Jimmy's transgression from an idealistic attorney to an amoral lawyer of the degenerate that has won over fans.
It is especially so in Episode 8 of Season 5, titled 'Bagman'. As Jimmy goes to retrieve Lalo Salamanca's bail money from the cartel, he leaves behind his personal belongings on his quest for survival, making that transformation even more poignant and symbolic — something that fans can't stop gushing over.
As Jimmy ventured off into the desert, we saw him confronted by a group of cartel members who aren't happy about all that bail money leaving them and decide to ambush and corner him. Of course, Mike saves the day, thus sparking off survival in the thick of the desert kind of dynamic with his no-nonsense attitude fronted by Jimmy's humor and eventual despair as he realizes the gravity of the path Saul Goodman has set upon.
Through his course of survival, Jimmy leaves a bunch of items behind — he has to, more like, but a certain fan thinks they all symbolized the things he has to leave behind to fully transform into Saul Goodman. "Jimmy's Esteem, gone. Drinking pee out of a Davis & Main bottle — Jimmy's leaving his professional past behind. Him leaving the space blanket in the dust shows he's leaving his personal past behind. The Bullet hole in Kim's cup means he'll leave Kim behind to protect her."
Come to think of it, these are extremely plausible. And perhaps noticing the same, fans have now labeled 'Bagman' as easily "One of the finest episodes of the entire series. This penultimate season continues the trend as one of the best shows currently on TV," as shared a fan on Twitter. Another tweeted: "Tonight aired the greatest episode of this current season of #BetterCallSaul and one of the (if not the) best episodes of the whole series! Hilarious, gut-wrenching, suspenseful and nucking futs! It's a great BrBa episode that's not actually a BrBa episode!"
For some fans, "Better Call Saul was an experience tonight. I'm still amazed that as much as I love Mike Ehrmantraut, the writers are always able to make me love him more. Excellent work from the cast & crew. Mike is my MVP." And for others, it was "a masterpiece of television. Every episode exceeds any expectation you can have for this show. It is full of humor & heartache. It’s melancholic & hopeful. It’s beautiful. I love this show more than I love most of my family."
Of course the poignant symbolism in the episode got Gilligan his due share of recognition, as a fan wrote: "I can’t believe that just happened! Vince Gilligan, you are a genius. Period." Another shared: "that Better Call Saul episode tonight! OMG. Vince Gilligan directs another epic hour+ of TV. An all-time classic BCS." A third fan pointed out: "Tonight's #BetterCallSaul reached Breaking Bad levels of suspense and intensity. What an amazing episode. Best one so far in this incredible season. Bravo Vince Gilligan and @petergould."
And while fans also drew parallels of Jimmy's head covered in a makeshift durag the way Heisenberg and his sidekick Jesse Pinkman's was in that one scene in the desert from 'Breaking Bad', there was no overlooking the fact that Jimmy Mcgill just drank his own pee to survive in the desert and his transformation into Saul Goodman couldn't have been marked by a better, milestone moment. As one fan noted: "SAUL THE PISS DRINKER! BRAVO VINCE!"
'Better Call Saul' Season 5 airs on Mondays at 9 pm only on AMC.
