Marco (Better Call Saul)

"Marco" is the tenth and final episode of the first season of the AMC television series Better Call Saul, the spinoff series of Breaking Bad. The episode aired on April 6, 2015.

Plot

In a flashback, young Jimmy, after being arrested and then released with Chuck's help, goes to the local bar in his hometown of Cicero, Illinois to say goodbye to Marco, his friend and partner in crime who pulled off cons on unsuspecting people. Jimmy decides to move to Albuquerque to live an honest life and gives up his cons, which disappoints Marco.

In the "present", Jimmy returns to HHM, where he goes through with the deal and hands over the case to them, revealing that he figured out Chuck's involvement. Howard apologizes to Jimmy for being hostile and gives Jimmy his of counsel fee of $20,000. Jimmy also requests Howard take over buying Chuck's groceries and daily newspapers. Howard is duly impressed with the amount of care Jimmy had shown to Chuck over the past year. Afterwards, Jimmy returns to the retirement home, where he hosts a game of bingo for the residents. After an improbable string of letter "B's" are drawn, he suffers a nervous breakdown in the midst of the game and rants to the residents how he had taken revenge against a man named Chet, who owed him money and cheated with his wife, by defecating through the sunroof of his car (a move he calls, "Chicago Sunroof"). However, Chet's children were present in the backseat. Since Chet had connections, he had the District Attorney file charges for indecent exposure, which could get Jimmy tried as a sex offender. Fortunately, Chuck managed to have the charges dropped, but Jimmy attributes that one event for his current situation. He quits hosting the bingo game midstream and storms out of the retirement home.

Afterwards, Jimmy decides to take a vacation to his hometown of Cicero, Illinois. In Cicero, Jimmy enters a bar and reunites with Marco. After reminiscing and catching-up, they almost immediately run a spurious "rare, JFK half-dollar" scam on an unsuspecting businessman. Jimmy and Marco then spend the rest of the week running more cons. At the end of the week, Jimmy wakes up to find multiple messages from his elderly clients asking where he is. Jimmy explains to Marco that he is a budding elder law attorney, and that he must return to Albuquerque to see to his clients. Marco is envious that Jimmy has a legitimate career, pointing out how he himself has nothing to live for other than his cons. Marco convinces Jimmy to stay for one last fake Rolex con, to which Jimmy reluctantly agrees. However, during the con, Marco suffers a heart attack and collapses. Jimmy rushes to his aid, his last words being "I screwed-up. Jimmy, you know what, this was the greatest week of my life". At Marco's funeral, Jimmy inherits Marco's pinky ring, the ring he will wear throughout Breaking Bad.

Before returning to Albuquerque, Jimmy is called by Kim. The Sandpiper case has grown too big for even HHM to handle, requiring them to partner with Davis & Mane, a Santa Fe based firm. D&M is interested in hiring Jimmy and placing him on a partner-track because his clients like him. In addition, Chuck cannot block the decision since D&M is a separate firm. Jimmy drives to the courthouse to meet his new prospective employer, but as he walks through the parking lot toward the courthouse, he looks at Marco's pinky ring and stops. Back in his car about to leave the parking lot, he stops at the gate attended by Mike. Jimmy asks him why they didn't take the $1.6 million they took from the Kettlemans. Mike recalls Jimmy didn't take the money because he wanted to do the "right thing", while Mike himself did not take the money because he was "hired to do a job and he did it." Jimmy then assures Mike he will not make the same mistake again, and drives off while humming "Smoke on the Water", the same song Marco was humming just before his fatal collapse.

Production

This episode was written and directed by series co-creator Peter Gould, who also wrote "Uno" and "Mijo" earlier this season.

According to Gould, all the scams depicted in the episode are based on real-life cases.^[1]

Reception

Ratings

Upon airing, the episode received 2.53 million American viewers, and an 18-49 rating of 1.2;^[2] including Live+7 ratings, the finale was watched by 5.76 million viewers, and had a 2.8 18-49 rating overall.^[3]

Critical reception

The episode received a highly positive reception from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, based on 22 reviews, it received a 86% approval rating with an average score of 8.6 out of 10. The site's consensus reads, "The investment into Better Call Saul's first season pays off with a finale that is at once comic and tragic, as Jimmy's conversion to Saul nears completion."^[4]

Roth Cornet of IGN gave the episode a 9.0 rating, concluding, "Better Call Saul gave us an exemplary first season of television. The finale brought us to the moment where Jimmy made the decision to abandon his attempt to walk a righteous path and, instead, give over to his baser drives and desires. A more open-ended conclusion may have felt more emotionally impactful. On the whole, though, this was a gorgeously designed and executed episode; one that leaves enough room for – what we hope will be - an equally extraordinary second season."^[5] The Telegraph rated the episode 4 out of 5 stars.^[6]

References

External links

• "Marco" at AMC
• "Marco" at the Internet Movie Database